LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 23: Artur Boruc of Southampton fails to stop the shot by Gylfi Sigurdsson (not pictured) of Tottenham Hotspur during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton at White Hart Lane on March 23, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

32 Flags Premier League Preview Part 2

With the Premier League season less than a week away, 32 Flags is breaking down the Premier League to give you a snap shot of each team. Today, we’ll be looking at the last 10, alphabetically. That’ll be Newcastle through West Ham United.

Newcastle United

Manager:

Steve McLaren

Most Influential Player:

HULL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 31: Tim Krul of Newcastle United celebrates the opening Newcastle goal by Remy Cabella during the Barclays Premier League match between Hull City and Newcastle United at KC Stadium on January 31, 2015 in Hull, England.  (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

HULL, ENGLAND – JANUARY 31: Tim Krul of Newcastle United celebrates the opening Newcastle goal by Remy Cabella during the Barclays Premier League match between Hull City and Newcastle United at KC Stadium on January 31, 2015 in Hull, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Tim Krul

Last Season’s  Finish:

15th

Predicted Finish:

Relegation survivor

Transfers In:

Georginio Wijnaldum, CAM, for £14.5m from PSV

Aleksandar Mitrović, ST, for £13m from Anderlecht

Chancel Mbemba, CB, for £8.5m from Anderlecht

Transfers Out:

Davide Santon, LB, for £3.26m to Inter Milan

Remie Streete, CB, Free Transfer to Port Vale

Adam Campbell, ST, Free Tansfer to Notts County

Ryan Taylor, RB, Free Transfer to Hull City

Sammy Ameobi, LW, On Loan to Cardiff City

Preview:

Newcastle fans will want to forget the dumpster fire that was the end of last season when John Carver almost dropped them to relegation. Now Carver is gone and the rebuilding begins. The team is bringing in talent and while it won’t automatically bring them back to the top half of the table, they should survive relegation.

 

Norwich City

Manager:

Alex Neil

Most Influential Player:

Cameron Jerome

Last Season’s  Finish:

3rd in Championship

Predicted Finish:

during the pre season friendly match between Cambridge United and Norwich City at the Abbey Stadium on July 17, 2015 in Cambridge, England.

during the pre season friendly match between Cambridge United and Norwich City at the Abbey Stadium on July 17, 2015 in Cambridge, England.

Relegation survivor

Transfers In:

Robbie Brady, LW, for £7m from Hull City

Graham Dorrans, CM, for £3m from West Brom

Youssouf Mulumbu, DM, Free Transfer from West Brom

Jake Kean, GK, Free Transfer from Blackburn Rovers

Andre Wisdom, RB, On Loan from Liverpool

Transfers Out:

Luciano Becchio, CF, Free Transfer to Belgrano

Mark Bunn, GK, Free Transfer to Aston Villa

Remi Matthews, GK, On Loan to Burton Albion

Carlton Morris, ST, On Loan to Hamilton

Preview:

The Championship playoff winners have the luxury of the extra TV money they received to get the players needed to stay in the Premier League. Whether or not they do remains to be seen. With a wide open field for the three relegation spots, this is Norwich’s best opportunity to stay in the Premier League than in previous seasons.

 

Southampton

Manager:

Ronald Koeman

Most Influential Player:

Graziano Pellè

Last Season’s  Finish:

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 27:  Graziano Pelle of Southampton reacts during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Queens Park Rangers at St Mary's Stadium on September 27, 2014 in Southampton, England.  (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 27: Graziano Pelle of Southampton reacts during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Queens Park Rangers at St Mary’s Stadium on September 27, 2014 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

7th

Predicted Finish:

Midtable

Transfers In:

Cédric Soares, RB, for £4.7m from Sporting Lisbon

Maarten Stekelenburg, GK, On Loan from Fulham

Steven Caulker, CB, On Loan from QPR

Transfers Out:

Nathaniel Clyne, RB, for £12.5m to Liverpool

Morgan Schneiderlin, DM, for £24.6m to Manchester United

Preview:

Southampton has exceeded expectations last season but now that they’re in Europa League, the team must be able to compensate for the added games. With the set up of this team, unless they make some more moves, Southampton may suffer a similar fate as Everton and be negatively effected by the Europa League.

 

Stoke City

Manager:

Mark Hughes

Most Influential Player:

STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - MAY 09:  Charlie Adam of Stoke City celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur at Britannia Stadium on May 9, 2015 in Stoke on Trent, England.  (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND – MAY 09: Charlie Adam of Stoke City celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur at Britannia Stadium on May 9, 2015 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

Charlie Adam

Last Season’s  Finish:

9th

Predicted Finish:

Midtable

Transfers In:

Joselu, CF, for £5.75 million

Shay Given, GK, Free Transfer from Aston Villa

Glen Johnson, RB, Free Transfer from Liverpool

Transfers Out:

Asmir Begovic, GK, for £7.73m to Chelsea

Steven N’Zonzi, DM, for £7m to Sevilla

Preview:

This isn’t your older sibling’s Stoke team. Stoke is no longer the “park the bus” struggling to score side and now they have become a more balanced team. Mark Hughes has put a great team together and is making a push for the Europa League. While they may fall short, Stoke is now a solid midtable team.

 

Sunderland

Manager:

Dick Advocaat

Most Influential Player:

SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - AUGUST 24:  Jack Rodwell of Sunderland celebrates scoring his goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Sunderland and Manchester United at Stadium of Light on August 24, 2014 in Sunderland, England.  (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND – AUGUST 24: Jack Rodwell of Sunderland celebrates scoring his goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Sunderland and Manchester United at Stadium of Light on August 24, 2014 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Jack Rodwell

Last Season’s  Finish:

16th

Predicted Finish:

Relegation

Transfers In:

Jeremain Lens, LW, for £8m from Dynamo Kyiv

Younès Kaboul, CB, for £3m from Tottenham

Sebastián Coates, CB, for £2m from Liverpool

Adam Matthews, RB, for £2m from Celtic

Transfers Out:

Connor Wickham, ST, for £9m to Crystal Palace

Preview:

Sunderland stayed in the Premier League due to the magic of manager Dick Advocaat. All throughout the season, Advocaat (Mrs. Advocaat’s insistence) maintained he would retire. Then in the middle of the offseason, Advocaat announced he is coming back. But has Advocaat stayed in a year longer than he should have?

Continued on Next Page (Swansea City to West Ham United)

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @phillipbupp

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