Last Season: Finished 13th in Premier League - 42 pts
Manager: Gareth Southgate

INS:
MF Didier Digard - 8m US
MF Marvin Emnes - 6.4m US
AMF Nathan Porritt - Sr. Contract

OUTS:
MF George Boateng
M F Gaizka Mendieta
DMF Fabio Rochemback
MF Jason Kennedy
FW Steve Thompson
ST Lee Dong-Gook
GK Mark Schwarzer
MF Lee Cattermole

Possibles:
ST Andrew Johnson - Everton
DMF Tom Huddlestone - Tottenham
MF James Harper - Reading
MF Michael Bradley - Heerenveen
MF Edu - Valencia
MF Jimmy Bullard - Fulham
FW Leroy Lita - Reading

What`s Left in the Kitty - 10m US

What Lies Ahead:
Aug 16 Tottenham (H)
Aug 23 Liverpool (A)
Aug 30 Stoke City (H)
Sep 13 Portsmouth (A)
Sep 20 Sunderland (A)
Sep 27 West Brom (H)
Oct 4 Wigan (A)

Possible Starting XI:
GK Ross Turbull
RB Luke Young
CB David Wheater
CB Robert Huth
LB Emmanuel Pogatetz/Andy Taylor
RMF Gary O'Neil
CMF Didier Digard
CMF Julio Arca
LMF Stewart Downing
FW Afonso Alves/Mido
FW Tuncay Sanli/Jeremie Aliadiere

How They`ll Stack Up:
I`ll be honest, I wasn`t a fan of Gareth Southgate when he came in. Something about players just going directly into management at the top level seems wrong to me. However, Southgate has shown himself to be astute, level headed and fair - and he is deserving of the reputation he is developing as one of the top young managers in the game. This summer he has done a good job of dumping some of the wage bill and adding some quality youth to the squad. Midfield was the only area he was concerned with coming into the off-season and it is `mission accomplished` in addressing it. Despite their league position last season, this is a decent team that should have done better. What Southgate now needs to work on is keeping his team focused for 90-minutes - and get Afonso Alves starting the way he finished last term. Three of their first four games should tell the tale. Going into his 3rd season at the helm, safe to say this is the most crucial campaign of Southgate`s brief managerial career. They could use some experience at GK - Ross Turnbull hasn't looked Premier League calibre in the pre-season - but for the most part, Southgate has done what he felt he needed to do this summer. I don't think they'll break the top-7 but they should improve on last year's place by 1-2 spots.

Coming Up Monday - Newcastle United