“It’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling as if every season is likely to be a struggle for Bolton Wanderers, but their recent Premier League history doesn’t really bear this out. After they returned to the Premier League in 2001 they struggled for a couple of seasons but, broadly speaking, they have had a decent record since then, managing four consecutive finishes in the top eight during the middle of the decade. Even last season, they pulled clear of the relegation places during the second half of the season and ended up nine points clear of the relegation places, in fourteenth place in the table. Bolton Wanderers supporters will probably be looking for a season of consolidation and improvement over the coming nine months, and there is nothing to suggest that their team won’t be capable of exactly this.” (twohundredpercent)

“The first decade of the new century saw Blackpool take a most modern route from the basement of the Football League into the Premier League. A decade ago they were in what we now know as League Two, but they will start the new season in the Premier League having been promoted three times via the play-offs. They’re the the first team to have managed this, but will this promotion prove to be a step too far? The obvious statement to make is that they are the pre-season favourites to return from whence they came, but there are reasons for Blackpool supporters to feel optimistic about the new season.” (twohundredpercent)

“Blackburn Rovers finished last season in a creditable tenth place in the Premier League but, with just over two weeks left until start of the new season do Blackburn supporters have cause to be concerned that, this season, the trapdoor may be a little close for comfort? They have, after all, had an exceptionally quiet summer in the transfer market and, if the bottom half of the table does feel as if it is likely to be a pretty congested place to be over the next nine months, the dread possibility of a return to the Football League may loom in the back of supporters’ minds, though these doubts may start to recede if the club passes, as it is expected to, into new ownership although, as supporters of many other clubs will testify, moving into new ownership is far from a guarantee of future success.” (twohundredpercent)

“Between the battle at the top of the table and the chaos at the bottom of it, the achievement of Birmingham City in finishing in ninth place in the Premier League last season feels as if it was rather overlooked. It was their first season back after promotion the year before and, significantly, it was their highest league position since 1959. Those that continue to look back at the 1970s as being somehow the halcyon days of the club (which, one rather suspects, may at least in part have entered into local folklore because of the club’s dominance of their cross-city rivals Aston Villa) would do well to look at last season’s final Premier League.” (twohundredpercent)

“Supporters of both Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United could have been forgiven for choking a little if they happened to see this article on the BBC’s website today. On the front page of the site was a story that would certainly leave both sets of supporters with a feeling that their hearts were beating in their throats – that Spurs were looking at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford as a possible alternative to redeveloping White Hart Lane.” (twohundredpercent)

“What do football fans enjoy seeing most, aside from goals for their team? The couple of pre-season friendlies I’ve been to this summer were fairly typical of what I usually witness during a season, in that moments that drew most applause involved skill – a player in possession beating an opponent, quick interchanges of passing, accurate shots forcing goalkeepers to make diving saves. The physical engagement that is reckoned to be one of the essential characteristics of English football – players getting stuck into tackles and visibly expending energy throughout the game – rarely stirs spectators in quite the same way.” (WSC)

“England are out – finished, end of story. We did not go out on penalties, nor were we ‘very unlucky’. We were well beaten by a team that were man for man better than us. The Media may cry foul about Lampard’s goal, or the fact our pampered players play too much football, but isn’t it time we simply faced up to the fact that actually we are not as good as we like to believe?” (The Ball Is Round)