Season Preview - West Ham United

Last season: 15th, 41 points; UEFA Cup first round; FA Cup fourth round; Carling Cup second round

Transfers:

In: Craig Bellamy (Liverpool, £7.5m); Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal, £3m); Richard Wright (Everton, free); Scott Parker (Newcastle, £7m); Julien Faubert (Bordeaux, £6.07m)

Out: Carlos Tevez (Manchester United, loan). Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, £5m); Paul Konchesky (Fulham, £2m); Marlon Harewood (Aston Villa, undisc); Tyrone Mears (Derby, £1m); Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa, £7.5m); Shaun Newton (Leicester, free); Roy Carroll (Rangers, free); Sir Edward Sheringham (Colchester, free)

Official Website: http://www.whufc.com/

Official Kit:

West Ham were almost completely written off and were almost doomed to life in the Championship – but then came Alan Curbishley and the magic of Carlos Tevez and together they pulled off a miracle almost on the lines of the Houdini Act Harry Redknap’s Portsmouth pulled off a couple of seasons back.

Though Tevez has left for the Theater of Dreams – West Ham have made a flurry of changes and Curbishley has got in some great players. Bellamy, Parker and Ljungberg have all been great signings. The mid-field looks pretty decent on paper – Parker, Ljungberg, Faubert, Boa Morte, Bowyer, Etherington, Mullins etc. Dean Ashton coming back from injury would also ensure West Ham added fire power in the front. They also have a great goal-keeper in Green.

There is absolutely no chance of this team going down the relegation tunnel at the end of this season. Backed by an extremely wealthy owner - Eggert Magnusson,West Ham after a decent amount of spending in the transfer season should definitely be challenging for a European spot.

Schedule via English Soccer Talk:

"West Ham's schedule brings 3 winnable games out of 4 in August and the same in September. The first spot of prolonged difficulty doesn't come until the end of November-mid December when road games at Chelsea (East-West London derby) and Blackburn are in the middle of home dates with Tottenham (London derby) and Everton.

West Ham play Reading, Manchester United (both at home), and Arsenal in succession to bring in the new year, and close out their season with a trip to Old Trafford followed by a home game against Aston Villa. All-in-all, it's a schedule that should allow West Ham to think about a top half finish."

EPL08.com prediction:

League Position - 10

There's absolutely no chance that the Hammers are going to get caught in a relegation battle again. They've acquired some real good players - Ljungberg, Bellamy and Parker and coupled with Alan Curbishley's massive experience, I expect the Hammers to squeeze into the top half.