How will Norwich, Swansea and QPR fare and in year two? Posted on Thursday, 26th July 2012 by Andrew Masters Few people would have felt comfortable betting on the survival of any one of the newly-promoted clubs at the start of last yearâs campaign, let alone all three. Yet, for only the second time in the history of the Premier League all three former Championship teams managed to avoid the drop. Now, the question becomes will the survivors follow the lead set by the other set of three to accomplish the feat back in 2001-02 (Fulham, Blackburn, Bolton) and enjoy an extended stay in the top flight? Or will year 2 mean a dose of reality for the upstarts and a trip back through the trapdoor to the Championship? Q.P.R. seems to be in the best position for prolonged success despite barely escaping the bottom three last season, thanks to the deep pockets of its new Malysian majority owner. On the field, a promising side is bolstered by the additions of Park Ji-Sung and Ryan Nelsen while full seasons from Bobby Zamora, Shaun Wright Phillips and Djibril Cisse should see Rangers improve on their dismal goal difference (worst among all the clubs who stayed up). But most importantly for long-term survival is whatâs happening off the field. Q.P.R. has money to spend. I donât think Park will be the last signing of the off-season for Rangers and with a board thatâs sights are set on Champions League football I expect London will have to get used to another top-flight regular. Swansea makes for a tougher call. The Swans have done well to deal with the loss of bright young gaffer Brendan Rodgers to Anfield by snapping up the well-respected Michael Laudrup, and as a result may hold on to some of their better players. Even if some of their players do exit prior to the season Swansea should look to Stoke, another recently promoted success story, for a survival outline. Stick to what you do best. Rodgers had the Welsh side playing some of the prettiest football around last year utilizing âthe English Xaviâ Leon Britton to perfection in the center whilst getting the most of players with something to prove like Danny Graham and Joe Allen. Swansea proved it is the system as much as the players that drives positive results and they would do well to remember that again this season despite the change in the backroom. I donât think Swansea will reach the heights of last seasonâs campaign but a top-10 finish is definitely not out of the question. Norwich City may have the toughest task ahead in 2012-13. Paul Lambert was obviously a talented manager to squeeze a 47 point season out of a squad whoâs biggest name player was plying his trade for Shrewsbury Town as recently as 2009. For Chris Hughton matching or surpassing this number will be a big ask. John Ruddy, Grant Holt, and Anthony Pilkington led the way to a surprising 12th place finish but many of the Canaries wins were due to their opponent underestimating them. Clubs donât get this same luxury of surprise in year two. Teams will be ready for Norwichâs direct style of play and Hughton may not be able to get off to a hot start like last season while he works out the tactical kinks. If Norwich City is to sustain itself in the vicious Premier League it needs to invest this summer or risk another decade back in lower league football. Read more at http://thisisfutbol.com/2012/07/blog...FM9EgZoExg7.99
I think out of the three Norwich will struggle the most but that's not a certainty. I think putting money on Wigan for the drop would be a better bet. They can't do their Houdini impression again.
I think that`s a pretty fair assessment Kiwi. I feel we need to start the campaign off better than we did last season, otherwise we might find ourselves in a bit of trouble. My main goal for this season again is survival. If we play the more attacking game, although not all-out attack, then I think we`ll be OK. Norwich may well feel the same as our side, survival being the main event. Lambert had them scoring lots of goals, while conceding quite a few as well. It will be intereston to see how CH gets on. Your side should have the biggest chance of doing well. A manager who has been there since last season & knows what it`s about. Get the players playing like the end of last season, without the sendings off, and you`ll be alright again.
While taking off the rose tinted glasses, why do so many of you guys think we will have a crap season this time round? Is Paul Lambert really the only manager to make our players play well? If yes, then who is to say Laudrup will be able to do as well as BR did? It makes no sense. We have kept ALL our key players and added a few decent additions. While I am not saying we will end up around mid table again, I see no reason why we should struggle any more than you guys.
I can't see any of us struggling tbh. Believe we will all finish mid table. Can't see norwich struggling any more than we could though. As stated above, they havnt lost any key players, so bit unfair really.
Not lost players YET. Just like us. Fact is, I don't think your new manager is half the one that Lambert is. He did well in the Championship with Newcastle but was fortunate enough to keep a Prem squad together - hence the 100 plus points. Did OK after that but was tactically inept in the playoffs with Brum - something you could rarely accuse of Lambert. I really have my doubts about him. Laudrup is an unknown quantity but has all the credentials and some good experience. The 'fit' seems perfect for us, but you're right to say we just don't know. I am concerned about his rather obvious lack of Prem experience and he knows little about our players. He's going to have to learn fast. I worry about QPR. Not my favourite bunch (no offence) but everything seems in place doesn't it? I expect them to do the best of the three this time, with us second and Canaries last. I actually think all three should stay up but you never know. Christ I should have been a politician.
norwich are a one season wonder imo and will struggle badly. swansea have enough about them both defensively and in attack to finish 15th or above. QPR i think will finish marginally above swansea...
I think all three should be fine. Perhaps QPR with their money and Hughes now settled in will finish the highest. Swans and Norwich have new managers which is not going to help, so I figure we will be more or less neck and neck again. I do favour Laudrup's contacts over those of CH, however, so I think we might just edge them in the final table.
Norwich have the best striker out of the 3 teams and best midfield, but we probably have the weakest defence Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using Tapatalk 2
ha ha. I love norwich - they're my second team, but I'm also sorry, no...if there was one area we excelled in last year it was midfield... The addition of Snodgrass will help Norwich a great deal, but then compare Michu & de Guzman and I actually think (provided we keep Allen) we've got one of the best midfield's in the league! Which is bonkers, but I think I actually believe that... :S
I just don't think Holt will have such a fine season this time. He was awesome last season and deserved to go to the Euro's but given England's position of 'picking form players' (I'm being ironic - remember Capello picking the injured Gareth Barry) he was never going to go cos he wasn't from a fashionable club. Always rated Snodgrass though so I'll probably be happily eating my own words come May next year. It's all going to be very interesting. The teams coming up have loads of stupid money (Hammers going £17m for Carroll) and great set-ups so it's all to play for. Who knows. This could be the year where Wigan can't avoid the drop, Stoke get a taught a footballing lesson and Fulham limp off to the championship. Roll on 4 weeks time!! STID.
Its not bonkers, its close to the truth. Even if Laudrup comes in and things don't work out, your team aren't exactly going to start playing badly when they've had a style of good football drilled into them. If anything, he will leave things as is and a little bit of man management and some effective new signings will make you maybe a bit stronger. And to give credit to Hughton, Birmingham did play some good stuff in the Europa League last season. The only reason they didn't challenge for a automatic spot more effectively was prob through the huge number of games they had to play All three teams to be comfortable I reckon
That is equally illogical. Last season everyone wrote him off as he had never played about the Championship before and having come up from L1 just the season before. Scored 15 goals and played just 60% of the games. I think he will play more this season as I believe we will play 4-4-2 more often, especially at home. On that basis alone he should be able to rack up 10-15 goals once again. When he is bang on form he is near unstoppable, so naturally we hope that happens often enough. Agree Stoke could have a struggle this season. They were poor last season and do not appear to be making waves in the transfer market (yet)
TC chill. It's my opinion, doesn't have to follow the same logic as yours. I may have factored in that he's a year older, he gets injured in the first 10 games and he's been eating too may of Delia's pies in the off season. How's he looking pre-season?
TC - makes me laugh you are so hypersensitive at times. Opinions don't have to be logical do they? Sometimes it's 'just a feeling'. What's wrong with that? For what it's worth I agree that Holt won't have such a good season. And yes, it's just a feeling. Sorry about that. Oh and I don't like him so I'm openly biased.
All three will be fine. Wigan, West Brom and West Ham are all going down as Norwich, QPR and the Swans are all a lot stronger
