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WRITER'S PREDICTIONS FOR 2006/07 11-8-06
With the new season little over a week away the ComeOnBoro.com editorial staff make their predictions for the first season under Southgate's charge.
Feel free to make fun of them come May.
Steve Goldby (Editor)
Where will Boro finish?
Between 9th and 12th.
Who will go down?
Sheffield United, Wigan and Fulham.
Who will win the title?
Arsenal.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Yakubu.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Lee Cattermole.
Other thoughts.
I back Steve Gibson's appointment of Gareth Southgate 100% but can't help worrying that it will take the new boss a couple of seasons to get into the groove. A trophy-less, mediocre season beckons.
James Bassett (Writer - The Anti News & The James Bassett Column)
Where will Boro finish?
Tenth.
Who will go down?
Sheffield United, Wigan and, Martin O'Neill or not, Aston Villa.
Who will win the title?
This is the season that Chelsea implode. Liverpool will win the title.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Yakubu.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
James Morrison.
Other thoughts.
The Southgate-sized hole in our back-four requires some urgent attention, but otherwise the squad is in decent shape. I can't foresee anything like the highs of Basel or Steaua for us this season, but I can't imagine anything like the lows of Villa or Sunderland either. A tepid, mediocre season wouldn't be the end of the world.
Harry Haverton (Writer - The Bloody Rubbish Column)
Where will Boro finish?
We'll do well this season and get back into Europe so I'm going for sixth.
Who will go down?
I'd love to say Newcastle but realistically they won't. So I'll go for Sheffield United, Watford and Charlton.
Who will win the title?
I can't see past Chelsea again.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Viduka if he plays more than 30 league games. If not, then Yak.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
I think it will be somebody who we don't know yet because there is no fear of releasing players without replacing them so there must be more in reserve. Stand by for the launch of another Cattermole who we don't know about yet.
Other thoughts.
I don't think we have a chance of winning a cup so the league is the best route back to Europe and we can do it. Our fixture schedule will be light compared to last season so there are no excuses as far as I can see.
Lee Hart (Match Programme Contributor)
Where will Boro finish?
Personally, I think we'll finish in the top eight. I'm the optimistic type. I think Southgate will have a cracking debut season, and if we add some steel to our defence there's no reason we can't be challenging for Europe again.
Who will go down?
I think Watford will be the first club back down, my other two choices would have been Pompey and Villa, but with Portsmouth continually signing new players I think they could be a mid table side this season, and with Villa just getting Martin O'Neill I think he can steer them away from the drop zone. Sheffield United won't last long I don't think and personally I feel Wigan were a one season wonder, they'll be back down this season.
Watford, Sheff Utd and Wigan are my relegation picks.
Who will win the title?
Chelsea look too strong yet again, but with Manchester United now adding a bit of class to their midfield, I think if they sign a top class striker along the lines of Torres or even someone from the teams in turmoil in Italy (Ibrahimovic would have gone down a treat in the Premiership). I'm going to go for Manchester United. I can see them replacing Van Nistelrooy and getting another one or two players.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Without a doubt it has to the Yakubu, he's possibly the best player we've got. He's the complete striker and at 23 he's got experience to gain and time to shine. I can see him getting twenty league goals this season.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
I think the academy player that will have the biggest impact for us this season will be James Morrison. Personally, he would be my first choice on the right side every time, he's got pace and he's not afraid to take people on. He'll make his mark in the Premiership this season.
I think Cattermole is going to have an important role to play this season though. We all fear the inevitable slide down the table when Boateng gets injured and I think this is Cattermole's season to stop that from happening and start to fill George's boots. If Boateng is out injured then we have capable cover to hold the midfield together.
Other thoughts.
I think before this season kicks off we really do need to add to our squad. There's promise of glamour at the Riverside: an exciting manager, star signings, but so far we've got an in-house manager who's not even qualified and a former Sunderland player... And we wonder why we're not selling tickets?
We need signings. Rumours and false hope are getting us nowhere. What is going on behind the scenes to have players rejecting us? Malbranque, for example, and most recently that Yank no one had heard of claimed he even knocked us back.
We need someone with a bit of flair for the midfield. Personally, I've got belief in Rochemback, he needed time to settle but we still need another midfielder that can give us the spark. Juninho. Zenden. these are the type of players we need.
Another problem area that worries me is our defence. It's in dire need of a revamp; the only player I have any faith in is Riggott. Sort it out, Southgate.
Toby Higgins (Writer - The Rockcliffe Files)
Where will Boro finish?
Fifteenth.
Who will go down?
Watford, Sheffield United, Reading
Who will win the title?
Chelsea
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Yakubu
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Seb Hines
Other thoughts.
'Fans Favourites' like Hasselbaink, Southgate and Queudrue have all moved on, and with them goes years of first team experience. While in midfield we look strong, I fear that the partnership of Viduka and Yakubu will prove as ineffective as it did last term, and we will struggle to fill the gaps at the back. A tough year, with no cup runs beyond the quarter finals.
Rob Dixon (Writer - The Rob Dixon Column)
Where will Boro finish?
Fifth. The Southgate era gets off to a bang! We'll be relegated the season after.
Who will go down?
Watford, Reading and Fulham. Sheff United will be made immune from relegation by the FA due to the popularity of Warnock's highly entertaining weekly rants.
Who will win the title?
Chelsea, but once again they will get tonked at the Riverside while Bollock and Shevy will be the flops of the season.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
The Yak will spend the season tapping in sitters from all of Viduka's knockdowns and cheeky backheels. Either that or Rochemback will finally correct his goal-radar and bang 'em in for fun from fourty yards out (like he does for me on Pro Evo 5).
Which academy player will make the most impact?
I'd like to say Adam Johnson but how do you fit him in the same team as Stewie Downing? Super Lee Cattermole will continue his rise to dominance with an England cap and the launch of his own line of vests and cardigans.
Karl Watson and Tom Warnock (Writers - Watson & Warnock)
Where will Boro finish?
Twelfth
Who will go down?
Watford, Sheffield United & Reading
Who will win the title?
Chelsea
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Yakubu
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Lee Cattermole
Peter Holmes (Writer - Letter From Australia)
Where will Boro finish?
I'd love to say in the top six but realistically I reckon a competitive ninth.
Who will go down?
The Bride will never go down so I call her Arsenal and apart from Linda Lovelace ;-)... Watford are a cert, Sheffield Unitd will struggle to bridge the gap and I reckon Fulham will flop with a late capitulation. I would've said Villa but O'Neill totally changes that equation but I still think they'll struggle.
Who will win the title?
It's time for Liverpool to finally add the EPL to all the other silverware the thieving scallies have nicked over the years.
Any fucker but Chelski will do really!
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
YaYaYakubuuuuuuuuuu!!!! Twenty plus and some net-bursting beauties in that lot!
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Lee Cattermole will continue in the vein that will make him a transfer target for Manchester United, Spurs and Liverpool with consistent form that will propel him into being an England U21 regular and eventually captain of junior England and eventually Boro.
Special mention for Adam Johnson who will scare the diarrhoea out of many a full back as an impact player off the bench and also David Wheater who will become a very valuable squad player bringing composure to his obvious defensive ability. McMahon will be brilliant and fucking hell have we got some talent or what gushing forth from the Academy which is bursting at the seams!
Other thoughts.
Transitional season, massive learning curve but the pre-cursor to something big and silver. One of the most intense EPL seasons for many a year and very competitive from top to bottom from first kick to last. Chelski will look human this year while their Rouble billionaire will look more simian by the day. I'm sure I saw that ugly fucker in the ape cage sucking on a banana at Taronga Zoo in Sydree the other week. Return to Bridge of the Apes anyone?
Gordon Dalton (Match Analyst)
Where will Boro finish?
I'm wavering between a relegation dogfight and a push for Europe under the new regime. Somewhere comfortably in the middle whilst we rebuild the team will do me. Thirteenth?
Who will go down?
Obviously I'd say Newcastle, but that won't happen now they have Duff and Parker in midfield. I've always wanted Villa to go down for no specific reason, and this might be the year they really struggle. I think Sam Allardyce is losing interest in Bolton, but let's go with: Villa, Watford, Reading.
Who will win the title?
Liverpool. Chelsea may well win Chumps League but I reckon they have overstretched the team unit with Ballack and Shevchenko, neither of which I don't think Mourinho wanted.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
If Yakuba can start running at people again instead of with his back to goal then he'll net twenty and we'll be flying. Want more goals from midfield.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Got to be Cattermole, building on last year. Hoping Adam Johnson can follow in Downing's footsteps, but with more crosses, goals, tackles etc.
Briggsy (Match Analyst)
Where will Boro finish?
Without the distraction of European football I think we'll really excel in the Premier League this season. We haven't really had the impact in the transfer market that many would have hoped, but let's not forget the squad we already have. We have a squad more than capable of holding their own and capable of a top eight finish. Having said that I believe we'll see a couple additions to our squad between now and the end of the current transfer window. We are targeting players in particular that will improve our squad. These type of players don't become available very often and when they do they carry a hefty price tag and I don't think we are the type of club that will be held at ransom anymore.
Who will go down?
I'm going for Reading, Watford and this might surprise a few but I'm going to say Wigan.
Who will win the title?
It's really hard to look beyond Chelsea. But I don't think they'll win with such a big margin. I think Liverpool will be very strong this season.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Feed the Yak and he will score.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
It has to be young Adam Johnson. He's a year older, gained a bit of weight and his trickery will cause problems for defences next season.
Udayan Mukherjee (Writer - Udayan Mukherjee's Column)
Where will Boro finish?
Difficult to predict... Assuming the players gel, and a solution can be found for that gaping hole we have at the back, a comfortable 9/10th place and reason to crank it up a notch the following season.
Who will win the league?
As much as it pains me to say it, it has to be Chelsea. Liverpool could be the dark horses though.
Who will go down?
I asked a chav this, and all he said was 'yer mam' before adding 'on me'. Unfortunately this meant I had to apply my appalling lack of footballing knowledge, although it seems like a no brainer - Sheffield United, Watford and Reading.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Yakubu.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Lee Cattermole. Adam Johnson comes in a close second.
Other thoughts.
Malcolm Christie to break his legs again thus confirming my suspicions that his legs are indeed made of breadsticks.
Pogatetz to actually be admitted to a nuthouse.
Boro to win the F.A. Cup final.
Newcastle to win the... Aha.ha.ha. No sorry, thats just ludicrous.
Kean Thomas (Writer - The Weekend That Was)
Where will Boro finish?
Head says somewhere between 13th and 17th. Heart says top six.
Who will go down?
Sheffield United, Watford and Charlton Athletic.
Who will win the title?
Chelsea. Unless there's a huge implosion..then it'll Manchester United or Liverpool.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
The Yak. Will he get over twenty??? I doubt it.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Super Lee Cattermole - hoping SMc will remember how good he is and call him up to the England squad.
Other thoughts.
It's going to be a season of struggle...unless Southgate is some kind of tactical genius..
Andy Morgan (Deputy Editor)
Where will Boro finish?
Sixteenth. Our defence was poor last season and contributed to us finishing a disappointing fourteenth. We conceded a shocking fify-eight goals (the time we last went down it was sxity) and with Franck Queudrue leaving and no one to really bolster the defence it can only get worse. The hope is the return of Tony McMahon, one of the most promising right-backs in the country after his long-term injury. However Premiership attackers had started to suss him out before his injury so it will be interesting to see how he copes.
The likely defensive partnership will be Riggott and Pogotetz and this might actually benefit the side as the Austrian was more comfortable in that position last season. I still do not believe he is a Premiership player though and McClaren's persistence in picking him over Queudrue was one of last season's enduring mysteries. If he can curb his 'Mad Dog' image then he may do a job for us but he needs to control his temprement in a big way and stop giving away rash free-kicks on the edge of the penalty area. Another stopgap is Julio Arca, a midfielder playing in defence. It looks like we are trying to cobble a team together from scraps, a view that is only bolstered by the news that we are hoping to sign the average Brett Emerton and Slyvin Dystin.
Whether Riggott has the maturity to marshall a defence remains to be seen but making Boateng as captain is a good move. If he can be free of injury then we have an okay chance but now that Doriva has left we lack cover in the centre of the pitch should this inevitability happen. If the training pitch is like the landmine site it has been of late then we could really struggle.
The hope is that Southgate will be able to instil some passion in the side, something that was sadly lacking on many an occasion last season. But he is still a rookie manager and when the going gets tough it could be hard to get out of the nosedive. Hopefully he can learn quickly but if not, it could be a very uncomfortable season.
Who'll go down?
Wigan, Sheffield United and Fulham (although it could be any one from about eight this season really)
There are simply too many poor or average sides in the League at the moment and this means that the three promoted new clubs may find it easier to compete with about half of the League than it would otherwise have done. Of those three Reading are the most likely to stay up due to the backing of their chairman, who is very much in the Steve Gibson mould. They also ran away with the Championship title last season and although Sunderland can attest to having done that and then getting relegated, I just see Reading as having too much quality not to go down.
Sheffield United are the weakest of the three newboys and are, like Wolves, one of those teams that have been knocking at the door for too long. Like Wolves again though, I expect them to go down at the first time of asking.
Wigan, like Ipswich before them had a delightful honeymoon season in the Premiership but I think this season they will be found out. This is particularly the case should Pascal Chimbonda, their best player last season, decides to walk out on the club.
Something just says Fulham to me too. They've always been there or there abouts in the Premierships lower reaches and I don't know how long their current run is sustainable, with their present fan base. They too have been supported by their chairman but the quality in that side is lacking. Queudrue will be a good signing but do they have the firepower to stay in the top flight for much longer? It'll be between them and Watford but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Hornets could finish seventeenth come the final day.
Who'll win the title?
Arsenal
I think Chelsea will implode this season, too many big stars and not enough team spirit. Italy won the World Cup with team morale, the Greeks the Euro Championships and you can eleven talented individuals on the pitch but they do not necessarily make the strongest team. Morinho has done well to cope with the stars so far but I think many of them not playing as often as they would like will lead to unrest in the dressing room.
The only challengers I think who are serious are Arsenal. They have a new stadium which will be a big fillip, as will Thierry Henry's signing of another contract. The disruptive Sol Campbell has gone and I see them having a revived energy. Reaching the Final of the Champions League will also give them a serious boost and they remain the strongest team bar from Chelsea.
Who'll be Boro's top scorer?
With the lack of new signings it's hard to look beyond the Yak. He had barron spells last season though but my belief is that that came from him and JFH playing in too similar a style. Both Yak and his likely strike partner Viduka can hold the ball up but they are different players and could complement each other well.
Another player to watch out for is Massimo Maccarone. Shamelessly ignored by McClaren if he can get a run in the team under Southgate's incumbancy I think he can do great things. All the Italian needs is confidence and in bagging the last-minute winners against both Basle and Steaua Bucharest I think this has been restored. Give him a run of ten games and see what he can do. He could pleasantly surprise.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Lee Cattermole or Tony McMahon.
Cattermole started to show how good a player he was at the end of last season and I expect him to blossom into something even better for the forthcoming campaign. If he has bulked up a little bit over the summer then he can add strength as well as creativity to his game and could become a complete midfield player. His passion in times of trouble is what got us out of our malaise last season and I believe that the pictures of him crying after that 4-0 defeat against Villa made the players release, particularly Southgate, how important it was to change things around.
We missed McMahon last season. God how we missed him. I don't believe Stuart Parnaby to be a Premiership standard player as he was caught out far too many times last season (just look at the Sevilla match to see how they focussed on that weakness) so McMahon's return will be welcome. He was composed and assured for such a young lad in his first spell playing for the club two years ago and I expect him to grow in stature this season. We will need him to as the defensive situation is worrying at present.
Darren Beattie (Writer - The Darren Beattie Column)
Where will Boro finish?
I'm thinking the top ten. I'd say just outside of Europe with a good, respectable eighth position.
Who will go down?
Watford, Fulham and ermmm Manchester City.
Who will win the title?
Chelsea - Shevchenko and Ballack just add to the dream team this year.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
Yakubu for the second year running.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
Seb Hines.
Other thoughts.
Stewart Downing will establish himself as the perfect left winger for England.
Christopher Bean (Writer - The Bean Preview)
Where will Boro finish?
It is pretty hard to predict where we will finish this season, due to the unknown quality of Gareth Southgate's management skills. We could have a brilliant season and finish well in the top half, or it could be a desperate season trying to survive. But I am feeling optimistic this season, I think we will miss out on Europe, that can come next season. But we will claim a very solid eighth place.
Who will go down?
Sheffield United - I just cannot see The Blades surviving this year. They are a hard working team but you just need to look at all the teams that have tried that in the past. With the exception of Bolton they have all gone down.
Charlton Athletic - I believe the Addicks are going to miss Curbishley a lot this season, and I do not think Iain Dowie is the right man for the job. Charlton will fight until the death but I think they will perish come the end of the season.
Newcastle United - They have one striker fit at the moment and his name is Ameobi. That spells trouble! Also you need to take into account Mr Roeder's managerial record (check my premiership preview for full details) which may be a comical coincidence, but I am a sucker for things like that. Bye bye Geordies!
Who will win the title?
Believe it or not I have a feeling Manchester United will be champions come May 2007. I reckon there will be a big ego clash in the Chelsea changing room especially in the midfield. Arsenal will need time to adapt to their new stadium, and I think Liverpool won't win the title under Benitez.
Who will be Boro's top scorer?
I am not normally one to be predictable when it comes to these things but there is no question it is going to be Yakubu. If he can reproduce the form he had from the start of last season and make it last for the whole campaign he will be touching the twenty-five goal mark.
Which academy player will have the biggest impact?
We have a great luxury at The Riverside that the majority of the players that are coming through the academy are making a name for themselves on the big stage, but the one who I think will stamp his authority is David Wheater. I have only seen the lad a couple of times but he looks impressive and has an aerial presence which we were lacking for last season.
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