Realistically

Good question, and nice to be reading about football again. Isn't this going to be the most fascinating season for a few years? How will the big changes effect Man U ? Will Chelsea continue their improvement? Are Arsenal as good as they were? I think these three will dominate again and it will not be a run away for any of them as it was last time. If this is true it will be hard for Pool to break into the top 3 positions this time, but who knows? Fergie might not be around if he gets pissed off. Arsenal are moving into a new home and still have some internal player problems.

I would be surprised if Pool did not finish at least 4th. The Euro result has to be a small plus to confidence but it won't help much in away games at places like Blackburn or Bolton in the rain. Pool were so lacking in confidence in some of this type of game last year.

It's still a bit early to make a guess of how much league improvement we can expect as we dont know what new players will be arriving, but I cannot think of a better way to get them to gell than playing 3 home and away games against quite easy opponents in an important competition. Far better than those meaningless friendlies and no reason they should not work in the sides favour....as long as they win most of them of course.

In other words....I haven't got a bloody clue, but there is every reason for fans to be optimistic and expect a decent season and a move forward.

LC