Table of contents for Season Preview 2022 in FourFourTwo UK

Strap yourselves in: the rollercoaster is about to begin again. This season will be one hell of a ride, with the small matter of a World Cup bang in the middle of it. As always, there are plenty of exciting questions ahead of the new campaign. How will Erling Haaland get on in the Premier League? Will Erik ten Hag actually be able to restore glory days to Old Trafford? How will Chelsea fare in the post-Roman Abramovich era? Will Fulham manage to stop yo-yoing? Can Sunderland challenge for successive promotions? How will Stockport do back in the EFL? And will Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney see Wrexham promoted out of the National League this time? All those and many more will be answered between now and May, in what…

Why do you support Tottenham? I was born in Ponders End, a mile and a half from White Hart Lane. Both of my parents were Irish, and if you’re Irish and born in the 1940s, you were legally obliged to support Manchester United. My father wasn’t into football, though, so being born by the ground, Spurs became my team. Actually, my aunt’s family knew the team doctor, Brian Curtin, and she later worked for Mike Varney, Spurs’ physio in the ’80s. What was the first game that you ever attended? Tottenham vs Burnley in the old Second Division, November 1977 – I was nine. We won 3-0, Glenn Hoddle scored and I mainly remember being swept up and down the terraces; that sway of people moving backwards and forwards. At…

Man City face Liverpool in the Community Shield on July 30 – but the fixture’s a mere tribute act to the original competition. The Sheriff of London Charity Shield began in 1898, between the best pro and amateur teams in England – Sheffield United took on Corinthian at Crystal Palace but endured two draws, after a replay. Presumably fed up of travelling, the Blades suggested a trophy share. Well, it was 6ft tall – try getting that on a train. The brainchild of London sheriff Sir Thomas Dewar wasn’t going well when Queen’s Park (Scottish, last time we looked) played Aston Villa a year later – another draw, no replay. Corinthian were the first outright winners against Villa in 1900, four years before battering Bury 10-3 – but pro sides…

Kenny Dalglish asked me what I was eating, I panicked and said “I believe it’s some sort of croquette”. He said “Thanks very much”, took a couple for himself and walked away. Toby Tarrant Going up an escalator at Heathrow, Teddy Sheringham went past us on the down escalator. @PrestwichBlue Nick Barmby in St Stephen’s shopping centre in Hull. The lad I was working with shouted “Barmby!” – Barmby then proceeded to walk over and give us a stern warning that his name isn’t ‘Barmby’, but Nick. @NWPool09 Shaun Wright-Phillips once said to me “F**king hell, you’re tall” at a bar. @LordLinton Mark Lawrenson asked me how much a drum kit was, but I didn’t work at the music shop. Gareth Masala Went to a reserve game with a mate…

DEAN SMITH WALSALL TO HEREFORD | 1994 £80,000 PEDIGREE Smith – still Hereford’s record buy, some 28 years later – was rejected as a midfielder by Newcastle, joined local club Walsall, moved to centre-half and was quickly earmarked for the captaincy. A dressing-room leader even as a teenager, he was a sort of lower-division Gareth Southgate – but he took mean penalties, too. THE SITUATION Having sold the lovely-haired Darren Peacock to QPR in 1990, Hereford scored a nice sell-on fee in 1994 when he joined Newcastle – so they splashed it, in a bid to end 16 years in the fourth tier. Walsall, meanwhile, were skint: Smith reluctantly left to save the club (just as well, given he’d later start his managing career there). GOOD VALUE? A hit at…

EDWIN VAN DER SAR “I couldn’t believe how good he was – he exceeded all of my preconceived ideas. I played with Iker Casillas at Real Madrid and he was excellent, but Edwin had the presence: he was brave, he made great saves, he was a dominant player.” GARY NEVILLE “A leader, fit as a flea, aggressive and a good passer: I hated facing him. That said, I scored against Man United at the Anfield Road end [in 2001-02], when I opened up my body and curled the ball past Fabien Barthez. Gary got the biggest bollocking ever from Sir Alex, apparently, because he had told him that’s where I scored most of my goals from.” RIO FERDINAND “Quick, strong, amazing on the ball – Rio could have played in…

01 Last season, who became the first side in English football history to pick up 100 yellow cards in a top-flight campaign? 02 Nottingham Forest are back in the Premier League after 23 years away; which Reds boss has had the longest individual stint since? 03 Among the 20 current Premier League clubs, only one has a badge that doesn’t feature any letters whatsoever. Name that club. 04 Which striker, playing for a club that finished in the top six, was flagged offside more than any other player across the 2021-22 season? 05 Which four clubs will be the Premier League’s most northerly, southerly, easterly and westerly in 2022-23? 06 Manchester City’s new striker, Erling Haaland, scored a lot of goals in his 67 Bundesliga games for Borussia Dortmund –…

THE PLAN Bournemouth’s previous Premier League spell lasted five years. The Cherries built memories aplenty, but this time they’re looking for more tangible foundations. A new training complex is on the horizon and an extended top-tier stay could result in a bigger, more modern stadium. Stars with bags of potential should help. Dominic Solanke, Ryan Christie and Lewis Cook all possess the ability to control games, and at Bournemouth’s best last season they squeezed the life from teams like a boa constrictor. They also had the Championship’s best defence, with Irish goalkeeper Mark Travers, 22, keeping a league-high 20 clean sheets. It’s a tough task but, with the returning David Brooks now cancer-free and raring to go, this is a stronger Cherries side than 2019-20. THE COACH Scott Parker is…

THE PLAN Where do you start? Probably with the new owners, who need to instil some stability since Roman Abramovich’s messy withdrawal. Now the Russian’s gone, taking his sanctions with him, it needs to become a west London buzzword. Thomas Tuchel is rebuilding his shattered side after multiple high-profile exits – most notably Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid – and, with Todd Boehly steering the boardroom after chairman Bruce Buck and director Marina Granovskaia also departed, it feels very Year Zero. The Blues require long-term thinking, getting their house in order by avoiding the errors (sorry, Big Rom) that have left an expensively assembled squad top-heavy in some areas. Support Tuchel, make several shrewd additions, and Liverpool and Manchester City will seem much closer. THE COACH Thomas Tuchel is the…

THE PLAN Survival – all fairly straightforward, really. Or is it? To achieve their goal, Fulham must halt a streak of being relegated as soon as they’re promoted stretching back to 2018-19. It can be done – just look at Wolves, who went up as champions in the same season Fulham began their yo-yo obsession. The Cottagers have achieved the feat themselves, remaining in the Premier League for 13 seasons after they were first promoted in 2000-01, but their last two efforts to stay afloat have not gone particularly well. Despite wildly different approaches to recruitment, both ended in the same result: doom. First, the Londoners made 12 signings costing an eye-watering £100m; on the second occasion in 2020-21, they built a weak side based on loanees. Getting it right…

THE PLAN Like a mischief of magpies bewitched by anything sparkling in the sunshine, silverware remains Liverpool’s enviable objective. Jurgen Klopp’s relentless gegenpressers came within a whisker of sealing an unprecedented quadruple last season, only to fall agonisingly short of the two biggest prizes. Major surgery has been necessary with Sadio Mané leaving for Bayern Munich, and ensuring that €100m replacement Darwin Nunez gets off to an explosive start, while dovetailing effectively with Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz, could be decisive. Or give the ball to Trent. The 23-year-old Alexander-Arnold made more expected assists, key passes, forward passes, crosses, through-balls and shot-creating actions than any other Premier League player in 2021-22. He’s a right-back. THE COACH Is there a single manager in world football more revered by his…

THE PLAN Not a day since October’s takeover has passed without people (non-Newcastle supporters) throwing around words like “Mbappe”, “Neymar” or “250,000-seat-Greggs-Arena”. If the club is to become a genuine world football force then it’s going to be gradual, not ‘Eddie’s Samba Mags Premier League Title 22-23’. Last season’s improbable 11th place – they are the first top-flight side since 1990-91 to fail to win any of their opening 14 league matches and avoid the drop – suggests the top eight is possible. That may sound boring, but the season Manchester City signed Robinho, they were 18th at Christmas. Being backed by the sovereign wealth fund of an authoritarian nation means decisions are on front and back pages. Some fans will find that impossible to look past, others won’t give…

THE PLAN ‘Spursy’ no longer. Twelve months on from last summer’s disastrous hiring process, Tottenham now have one of the world’s best managers at the helm, held their nerve in the run-in to pip Arsenal to the final Champions League spot, had the Premier League’s joint-top scorer – who wasn’t even Harry Kane – and, at the end of it all, revealed a £150m transfer kitty. It just doesn’t sound like Spurs. Now the plan is to put all of their eggs in the Antonio Conte basket and construct a side in his well-disciplined image. Armed with one of Europe’s most fearsome attacks – Kane, Golden Boot winner Son Heungmin, Dejan Kulusevski and recent pickups Ivan Perisic and Richarlison – plus £25m midfielder Yves Bissouma and defender Clement Lenglet, they…

01 Big guns Sheffield Wednesday, now in their second consecutive season in League One, ‘enjoyed’ their most recent stint in the top flight when? 02 Ipswich captain Sam Morsy has won seven caps – including one at the 2018 World Cup – for which African nation? 03 Which side were relegated from League One last season after going 27 games without a win to finish the campaign? 04 Which League One manager won the Premier League Golden Boot in 1998-99 and 2000-01 but never lifted a major English trophy? 05 What was odd – and unique – about Cameron Brannagan’s four-goal haul as his Oxford side demolished Gillingham 7-2 in January? 06 The shirt of which current League One team appears in the classic mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap? 07…

ALDERSHOT TOWN Mark Molesley has been one of the league’s most active managers this summer, landing the trio of Ollie Harfield, Tyler Cordner and former Northern Ireland international Josh McQuoid from his old club, Weymouth. Whether they and other arrivals are enough to help the Shots move away from the table’s lower reaches remains to be seen. 21ST ALTRINCHAM A historic season lies in wait for one of non-league’s most famous names, as Alty go full-time for the first time. The extremely talented Phil Parkinson (no, the other one) has honoured the occasion by making some shrewd moves in the transfer market, with Jordan Hulme returning and Jake Cooper joining permanently. Professional status should benefit Parkinson’s squad – although that hasn’t always proven to be the case in non-league’s top…

1 LATE DRAMA Hammam-Sousse and Zarzis were both about to be relegated from Tunisia’s top flight this year, when the latter’s defending became bizarrely casual, and someone in the crowd shouted, “Let them score!” A late goal saved Hammam-Sousse and relegated Metlaoui, who’d annoyed Zarzis during a match days earlier. Cue riots in Metlaoui, five-year bans and $16,000 fines for two Zarzis players, and the ordering of a playoff, but Metlaoui refused to turn up to face Hammam-Sousse again. 2 BOTTLE JOB After a Cremonese player crashed his car after a match in 2010, tests found that he and team-mates had inadvertently taken sedatives – prompting accusations that water bottles had been spiked. Fingers were pointed at goalkeeper Marco Paoloni, accused of trying to fix the match to pay gambling…

If you’re a football club owner from Italy called ‘Massimo’, the chances are that you’re a bit nuts. Signor Cellino caused absolute chaos at Cagliari and Leeds before taking his own personal brand of unhinged to Brescia in 2017 – and Massimo Ferrero wasn’t exactly conventional either. The scruffy-haired film director took over Sampdoria in 2014, on the same day that he plea-bargained against a sentence for fraudulent bankruptcy, then swiftly announced that his first act as president would be to “change our anthem, which sucks”. Ferrero soon became known for weird antics during matches – tying a scarf around his forehead to look like Rambo while manically celebrating goals, grabbing control of a TV camera in a joking bid to direct the action, and invading the pitch after a…

How did your move to be Greece boss in February come about? To be honest, I came to Greece for a different reason - to watch a match that was cancelled because of coronavirus, so I made a few meetings with football people here I know. Somebody said ‘Do you know the manager of the national team is leaving?’ That took me to another meeting, then a Zoom meeting and I suppose it was timing. More or less, I know Greek football and that helped a lot. I know most of the players. How much of a help is your previous experience in the AEK Athens dugout, between 2015 and 2016? It’s very important. Massive for many reasons. The main one is to learn the mentality. If it was a…

NII LAMPTEY CM 93/94 The real Lamptey had difficult spells at Aston Villa and Coventry; the virtual one was an explosive attacking midfielder available for a pittance from Anderlecht. ‘Nil’, as it was originally misspelled, would dominate midfields in this early version. LUIS ENRIQUE CM 97/98 He wasn’t exactly an undiscovered gem – Enrique was a fulcrum of Barcelona by this point – but the future Spain boss was one of the first world-class utility stars of CM, able to play in any outfield position. Any. Outfield. Position. In those days, gamers had no need for the enganche, the inverted wing-back nor the segundo volante, nor for variously coloured dots on a pitch map – not when they had Luis Enrique in his stated position of Defender/Midfielder/Forward (Right/Left/Centre). KIM KALLSTROM…

You’re best known now as an outspoken radio pundit. Was that always the plan? It started when I was at Billericay – they’d call and ask about Spurs, and it grew from there. I thought, ‘I’m not Steven Gerrard, I’m not Frank Lampard; I’ve had a very good career but no one wants to hear that boring, politically correct view that a lot of footballers will give you’. I’m just a normal bloke. I had ups and downs, I messed it up, made a lot of mistakes. I simply wanted to be honest. Has it ever got a bit out of control on air? The Spurs and Arsenal stuff always gets a bit heated, but the person who really dug me out was our producer Joe, who came in and…

Refreshed? Ready? Good – because this season is going to be busier than all before it. If nothing else, it’ll certainly be the most unique, with that small matter of a World Cup halting games in the Premier League, Championship and Scotland’s top flight for a number of weeks this winter. Leagues One and Two will carry on as normal while fans launch their pints around Boxparks – a strange feeling no doubt, but surely a novelty to embrace around the festive period. All the football: what’s not to like about that? @JamesAndrew_ @FourFourTwo WANT MORE? FIND US HERE… FourFourTwo.com @FourFourTwo @FourFourTwoUK FourFourTwo FourFourTwo…

THE PLAN Arsenal fans didn’t really know what to expect from their freshly renovated side in 2021-22. At least if football hadn’t worked out for most of the new arrivals, they were still young enough to go to university. Well, the goalposts have moved – now, top four is a must. Still, the signs are good. Bukayo Saka is one of the most outstanding wingers in world football, regardless of age. Ben White and Gabriel have formed a formidable centre-back partnership, Aaron Ramsdale was largely excellent behind them and Gabriel Martinelli, Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard all developed nicely. Newbie Fabio Vieira posted 14 assists for Porto last term, more than any player 21 and under in Europe’s top six leagues, while Gabriel Jesus is the multi-faceted goalscorer the Gunners…

THE PLAN From the outside looking in, you’d think Brentford’s plan would be simple Premier League survival, but Thomas Frank and his team have other ideas. Ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, Bees players only had a few minutes’ topflight experience between them, but 12-goal Ivan Toney, Rico Henry and Christian Norgaard – above, boasting a league-high 80 tackles last term – showed they are more than capable of mixing it at this level. Fifteen goals from set pieces helped – only Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal hit more – as the west Londoners finished 11 points clear of the relegation zone in 13th place. The mid-season switch to 4-3-3 put more players in the final third, and the Bees will be aiming to better last term’s achievement – and they’ll…

THE PLAN Continue last season’s progress. Among the favourites for relegation, a refreshed and rejuvenated Crystal Palace steered well clear of the drop zone throughout, finishing 12th. In Patrick Vieira’s debut Eagles campaign, Palace amassed more points, scored more goals and conceded fewer than the previous year under Roy Hodgson, all while playing a more progressive brand of football. Vieira will aim to continue the evolution and turn 15 draws into more wins. The Frenchman wants his team to be flexible – a switch to a back three has been mooted – and will continue rotating in midfield and up front depending on the opposition. This season could also bring additional minutes for gifted academy products Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, a fleet-of-foot winger, and left-back Tayo Adaramola. THE COACH Patrick Vieira may…

THE PLAN The club’s target for their opening two seasons after promotion was simply to stay in the Premier League, so with that objective achieved, Leeds can crack on, right? Not so fast. Following a ninth-place finish by going down to the relegation wire with Burnley left everyone shell-shocked, and what felt like natural next steps – progress towards Europe, work on expanding Elland Road – don’t seem that simple any more. Instead of building on Marcelo Bielsa’s legacy, Leeds blew it all up, and 2022-23 feels like starting again in the unknown. The rush to sign players – two from Jesse Marsch’s former employers, Salzburg – suggests planned rebuilding, but dealing with high-profile departures might be the biggest test of the new coach while making his ‘energy drink football’…

THE PLAN Manchester City hoovered up 93 points and bagged 99 Premier League goals last season with no recognised striker. Now armed with Erling Haaland, who struck 62 goals in 67 Bundesliga games at Borussia Dortmund, the question hanging over City is how he fits into Pep Guardiola’s system. Who changes: Pep or his new signing? The Catalan’s track record with Samuel Eto’o, Robert Lewandowski and Sergio Aguero is very encouraging, but each had early difficulties. Similarly, it took £100m man Jack Grealish time to settle last term, even if the calf king carried the ball into opposition boxes more than any other Premier League player. After near-league perfection once again, City want Haaland’s clinical edge in the Champions League above all else. Just don’t mention Zlatan Ibrahimovic. THE COACH…

THE PLAN For Nottingham Forest’s first Premier League campaign in nearly a quarter of a century, the primary target will not be survival, but beating Derby’s record-low 11 points total. Even in such rarefied company, local pride trumps most things. More tangibly, of course staying up will be the number one aim, and Forest have as good a chance as any promoted team. Owner Evangelos Marinakis is ambitious, which in these situations is a quick way of saying “he’ll spend a lot of cash” – £17m has gone on former Liverpool frontman Taiwo Awoniyi, who averaged a goal every other game for Union Berlin in the Bundesliga last term. Four of last season’s key players were loans – Djed Spence has moved elsewhere – so summer business will have to…

THE PLAN Continue snapping at the heels of the Super League teams, hold off the Saudi money and fashion another European run. All using one striker, apparently. The renaissance under manager David Moyes has been startling, with West Ham shifting from perennial relegation candidates to European semi-finalists and achieving the almost impossible task of making supporters forget how bad the London Stadium truly is. The immediate task is to get the transfer policy back to the consistency that brought the arrivals of Tomas Soucek, Jarrod Bowen and Vladimir Coufal, and away from the profligacy of buying Said Benrahma and Nikola Vlasic. With the squad verging on the elderly, the time for a rebuild is due as all efforts again go into keeping Declan Rice, now captain after Mark Noble’s retirement.…

01 Following Derby’s relegation to the third tier, which club is now the current longest-serving team in the Championship? 02 With a capacity of 34,742 – still more than nine Premier League clubs – which ground is now the second biggest in this division? 03 Hull manager Shota Arveladze fired Ajax and Rangers to league titles as a player – but for which country is he the all-time top scorer? 04 Of the 24 current Championship clubs, how many of them haven’t made an appearance before in England’s top flight? 05 Burnley have been promoted from the second tier three times since 2008 – twice under Sean Dyche and once under which manager? 06 Which keeper made last term’s PFA Team of the Season in his first full campaign at…

At long last, it was welcome to have a proper title race again in 2021-22. Thankfully for us all, this campaign promises to be equally engrossing. A rejuvenated Celtic pipped Rangers by four points, but the Hoops won’t be complacent after watching their great Old Firm rivals come within a whisker of Europa League triumph, then beat Hearts to lift the Scottish Cup. For all the tit-for-tat spats that consume Glasgow’s football scene, it was refreshing to watch two fine teams slug it out. Now, both have strengthened over the summer months. Ange Postecoglou will have the total trust of Celtic’s hierarchy after working wonders in the transfer market, while Rangers will have the funds to back Giovanni van Bronckhorst after their extended run in continental competition. What’s more, both…

WHO? Forward for Saudi Arabian side Al-Shabab, known to almost nobody outside the Middle East country before representing them at their first World Cup in 1994. THE MOMENT Picked up the ball deep inside his own half, five minutes into the Green Falcons’ last group game against Belgium, then did his best impression of the roadrunner – legging it past one, past two, past three, past four, before firing the ball into the net. True, the last Belgian defender should have tackled him, but it remains one of the most memorable solo goals in World Cup history. Meep meep. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? A 1-0 win put the Saudis into the last 16, a feat they’re yet to repeat in four finals appearances since. Al-Owairan was named Asian Footballer of the…

SCORING GOALS IN THE DARK Clare Shine (Pitch, £19.99) A gifted young athlete who also played camogie (the women’s equivalent of hurling) for Cork, Shine played her first game for Ireland women’s football team when she’d just turned 20. Though bubbly and outgoing on the outside, Shine’s social anxieties meant that the Dutch courage she sought – downing drinks to kick off nights out with team-mates – quickly became increasingly self-destructive. She’s unflinching about her suicide attempt in Cork after one grim night out, her spell in a mental health hospital, and the strain that drug and alcohol addictions put on her family. Following a period of sobriety, and after scoring a late winner for Glasgow City in the Scottish FA Cup final, Shine fell off the wagon over lockdown…

ALJOSA ASANOVIC Two members of Derby’s 1996-97 squad are now national bosses – Igor Stimac has managed India since 2019; fellow Croat Asanovic took charge of Zambia this January. Previously the Zambian FA’s technical director, his only previous job as a manager was with Melbourne Knights. RALF RANGNICK The German has had 15 different spells as a club manager – six months at Old Trafford was probably enough to persuade him never to do it again. He’s moved on to the international scene: his first game as Austria boss was a 3-0 win in Croatia, although he later lost home and away to Denmark. RIGOBERT SONG Cameroon’s failure to win the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil meant a promotion for former Liverpool and West Ham defender Song, fresh…

01 THE MOST UNIQUE SEASON… EVER There have been 123 seasons in Football League history, stretching back to 1888. Not one of them had a whacking great World Cup in the middle of it… until now. OK, so people weren’t exactly thrilled when the first ever winter World Cup was declared, after FIFA suddenly realised it was 40 degrees during Doha’s summer. Who knew? And let’s face it: we’ve missed having a World Cup this summer – June weekdays are actually quite barren without looking up what time Ecuador versus Senegal kicks off. But the winter edition is on. Not only does that give us all something to look forward to, it also adds a genuine novelty factor to this domestic campaign – even if two years of COVID mean…

Rotherham seem to have become the ultimate yo-yo club in recent years. Why do you think you’ve found yourselves bouncing between the divisions so frequently? It’s difficult. I don’t claim we were the biggest club in League One and I don’t think we were one of the favourites last season, but we always seem to perform very well in the third tier. The gap between League One and the Championship is big for us – it might not be so big for clubs like Sunderland, but for us or Wycombe when they went up, it is. The hardest part is trying to recruit players who you think are going to improve the squad, and also convincing them that you’re not going to come straight back down again. I don’t want…

JOHN MCATEE GRIMSBY TOWN LOWDOWN As far as first seasons at a club go, scoring 16 goals, including pivotal strikes in a play-off semi-final and the final itself, will do nicely. Now, McAtee is turning 23 and about to be a very interesting proposition in the Football League. The all-action frontman was a bundle of energy in Paul Hurst’s frontline, bagging the Mariners’ Player of the Year award and plenty of attention. “He kind of enjoys it when you take him off at the end,” winked Hurst in May. “I think he enjoys the adulation.” HIGHLIGHT McAtee’s magnificent 20-yarder in a madcap 5-4 semi win over Wrexham helped to secure his team’s swift return from non-league back into League Two. Dig it out. DID YOU KNOW? His kid brother James,…

After moving to England from Trinidad & Tobago, you spent nine years with Aston Villa. What were the highlights? Because of what I’ve done at Manchester United, people overlook what I did at Villa. It’s crazy. No one has done anything better at Villa than me in the Premier League, yet that seems to be brushed under the carpet. I was involved in two finals at Wembley, winning the League Cup twice. I had a really good rapport with the supporters. I’m a bit disappointed that I don’t get the recognition I deserve for my time at Villa. Jack Grealish went for £100 million. Even though people were disappointed, they still see him as a hero at Villa. But he wouldn’t even lace my boots when you look at what…

You came to national attention in Brazil with Fluminense, one of the biggest clubs in the country. How did you get there? I first started playing football barefoot on the streets of Bage, my town in the south of Brazil, before joining professional team Internacional. We became state champions in 1981 and that’s when Fluminense took notice. After joining, I played in their junior team for eight months, then helped the senior squad to three state championships and the 1984 Brazilian Serie A title. Even then, things were precarious and I had no money. I told my mother that I wanted to quit football and study to be a vet. Then the club said they would give me a new deal and a flat to live in, so I ended…

THE PLAN Chevy Chase could’ve done a better job of arranging a European Vacation than Aston Villa over the past 12 years. The national lampooning since the Villans last enjoyed some continental competition in August 2010 has included relegation humiliation and the ridiculous Tony Xia era turning the former European Cup winners into a (justifiable) laughing stock. Yet, after more than a decade to forget, Villa are demanding to be taken seriously again. Highly rated French defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara (above) and Sevilla’s 2019-20 Europa Leaguewinning centre-back Diego Carlos, like Philippe Coutinho, have been wowed by the Steven Gerrard factor. Villa might win the best-of-the-rest transfer window, but only Europe or a trophy will give the Holte End the last laugh. THE COACH You don’t need to scrutinise Steven Gerrard’s…

THE PLAN For a team that managed to lose six Premier League matches on the spin, having also played 11 without a win during a previous spell, things turned out all right for Brighton last season. In fact, the Seagulls’ ninth-place finish was the highest in the club’s history. The plan now is to build on it and even push for Europe – an aim that would have seemed purest fantasy just a few years ago. Key will be turning some of those 15 draws into wins, by turning all of their possession and territorial dominance into chances, and turning chances into goals. Only four Premier League teams last season, and five in 2020-21, had more touches in the opposition area, yet only four teams scored fewer goals. Finding the…

THE PLAN Most Evertonians are realistic enough to acknowledge that sorting out the abject shambles of recent years won’t happen overnight. No team conceded more goals from set-pieces (19) or won fewer points on the road (10). Some supporters still dream of returning to the table’s higher reaches, but short-term desires are restrained; yearning for a blueprint, a sense of direction and stability. By recruiting a young manager with a point to prove, appointing a new director of football in Kevin Thelwell and reorganising the club following a ‘strategic review’, there is hope that these more modest desires could be met. But then, this is Everton. And, as most Blues know only too well, it’s the hope that kills you. That, or the exit of Richarlison, whose 10 goals delivered…

THE PLAN The table might not lie, but it is prone to telling a few porkies. Ultimately, Leicester ended ‘only’ a place outside the European spots last season, but a side ravaged by injury and poor form suffered for large spells and only came eighth after battering impoverished rival pushovers Norwich, Watford and Southampton in their last four games. In all, it means their task is altogether more straightforward now: do better. Brendan Rodgers’ men have spent the last two seasons balancing continental clashes with domestic duties, resulting in their thrilling romp to the Europa Conference League semi-finals. But spending midweek nights watching their rivals jet off won’t be fun; instead, Leicester’s players will be desperate to make their lighter schedules count as they push for the top six once…

THE PLAN It’s a(nother) new dawn at Old Trafford, with incoming manager Erik ten Hag the new messiah for a mismatched, underachieving squad. Red Devils fans no longer expect annual bus parades or even a serious title challenge, but attacking football, some semblance of structure when the team loses the ball and a top-four finish would be nice. Aside from bedding in his new faces, Ten Hag must help Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire rediscover their mojo, and find a way to win matches that doesn’t solely rely on a wantaway Portuguese pensioner saving the day – Cristiano Ronaldo’s 18 goals delivered 14 points on their own, more than any other Premier League player. Scoring more than a measly seven goals from set-pieces would be a…

THE PLAN Saints have been in a footballing demilitarised zone for years now. Too good to go down, not good enough to push on, they’re merely… existing. Sooner or later, conflict needs to kick them into action, especially as the stars of St Mary’s are no longer being plundered with boring regularity and Ralph Hasenhuttl has slammed the managerial revolving door shut. With leadership throughout the side, there’s an opportunity to end this stasis and trouble the top half if the right faces arrive – because already, Che Adams, Mohammed Salisu (who last season won possession more regularly when pressing opponents than any other Premier League player) and free-kick cheat code James Ward-Prowse have significantly more to give than a third straight 15th-place finish. THE COACH Ralph Hasenhuttl sits behind…

THE PLAN As drastic as this may sound, it’s time for spinal surgery at Wolves. Jose Sa has been a revelation – the Portuguese goalkeeper had the Premier League’s best save percentage last term – but those in front need mixing up. Boss Bruno Lage has hinted he’d like a pacy back four capable of playing a high line – Romain Saiss has already left, after 200 appearances, but it’ll be intriguing to see where linchpin Conor Coady fits into such a plan. In midfield, energy has been required for some time and it’s an area where Wolves are light on numbers. A decision may have to be made on Raul Jimenez, too, who has understandably been a shadow of his former self since his skull fracture. His reserve is…

01 Which side were victims of a wild five-goal swing on a final day that saw to their automatic promotion hopes? 02 Which current League Two club made it to the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1980-81, sadly losing to Carl Zeiss Jena? 03 New Crawley manager Kevin Betsy won seven caps for which country, representing them at a glorious 2011 Indian Ocean Island Games? 04 Simon Weaver at Harrogate is the longest-serving manager in England’s top four divisions. In what year did he join the Sulphurites? 05 Ex-referee Mike Dean is a fan of which team, and was famously spotted on TV wildly showing his support in 2019? 06 Grimsby and Stockport return for 2022-23 – but how many teams have gone straight back down since guaranteed…