The New Season

It's among us again. The football season is just days away from starting up again. You and I know that the next 9 months will be a mixture of joy, despair, disbelief and pies. Forking over your hard-earned cash to see you team trounced 4-0 on a bitterly cold January day makes you think "Why are we doing this again?" But all becomes clear when the week after when your team's deflected free-kick finds it's way into the corner of the opposition goal to score you a dodgy 3 points against a team with 6 players injured and defender with one leg. The joy of winning is why we watch.

The new season may be a great one for your team. You could find the play-offs. Maybe even promotion. Or you could have an average season. Sat around mid-table glaring bemused at your manager who's never heard of a 'striker' or 'counter-attack'. Or even worse could be become of your team, as you could be handed the pain of watching them slip down a division.

Forget all that European nonsense for now though. Lets get back into the spirit of rainy afternoons with Bovrils and our pointless superstitions. We'll go through that same Saturday morning routine. Whatever it may be, reading the lucky newspaper, eating a lucky burger, buying a programme from the lucky programme seller you know your team is still going to end up losing 3-0. But after the initial depression and sadness, you'll laugh it off and say, "We'll do it next week!"

Here we go then. 9 months before we talk to fans of other clubs as equals again. Best of luck to your team for the 2011-12 season.

Oh yeah finally I know I'll regret it but I thought I'd stick a few predictions in before the start of the season.

Premiership: Manchester United
Championship: Birmingham City
League 1: Sheffield United
League 2: Rotherham

League Cup: Chelsea
FA Cup: Liverpool