For the final part of our 2013/14 preview we look at the newly promoted teams. Will any of them have what it takes to beat the drop?
Cardiff
The Bluebirds (can we still call them that?) were comfortable in securing promotion from the Championship last year and never looked in any danger of falling away. Experienced heads like Craig Bellamy and Peter Whittingham were instrumental in that success and will have a big say in how they fare this season too. Andreas Cornelius, a £7.5m signing from FC Copenhagen is the only arrival so far this summer but it seems as though they’ve got a few quid to spend. They eventually missed out on Victor Wanyama, but supporters will take heart in the fact that a £10m bid was made at all, more new faces will surely follow.
In Malky Mackay they have one of the brightest managerial prospects around, and with a few shrewd signings could do OK next season.
Hull
Hull have been one of the more active teams in the transfer market this summer. With good reason too, the squad that got them up looked woefully ill equipped for a tilt at Premier League survival. Of the signings made so far, Allan McGregor and Curtis Davies look useful, and the likes of Maynor Figueroa and Danny Graham might do a job too. The Tigers have also been linked with Wilson Palacios and Lee Cattermole, so they’re probably not done yet. But will all these players be enough to keep them up? They’ll do well to finish 17th if you ask me.
Crystal Palace
Despite spending an eye-watering (if the rumours are to be believed) £6m on Peterborough’s Dwight Gayle, the Eagles aren’t expected to be pulling up trees in the transfer market this summer. The board have made it clear that a good chunk of the TV money received will be invested on infrastructure rather than gambled away on trying to secure top-flight survival. Ian Holloway has experience of this approach of course, after so nearly keeping Blackpool up on an even smaller budget than the one he’s operating with now. He’ll know then, that signing the likes of Kevin Phillips and Jerome Thomas on frees will leave him with an uphill batlle, but it’s one he’ll no doubt relish.
The loss of Wilfried Zaha will be a big blow too and the chances of them staying up are slim. They’ll have fun trying though and we’ve got at least 9 months of Ian Holloway quotes to look forward to, if that’s your kind of thing.
Read the rest of the 2013/14 previews here;
PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR
PART FIVE