1. The Competition
The main problem for Newcastle this season is that their competition has strengthened and improved over the summer months. Fellow strugglers Aston Villa have drafted in 6 new players, including the acquisition of defender
Jores Okore from FC Nordsjaelland in a £4m deal. More importantly for them, they've held onto in-form Christian Benteke, and look poised for a much better season than last time out. Bitter rivals Sunderland have been particularly flush with cash this summer, and also look much stronger for their forays into the market. Eight new signings have come in the door for the Black Cats in a spending spree by manager Paulo Di Canio. Emmanuele Giaccherini has been their big-ticket signing, the Italian international midfielder
a £6.5 million buy from Juventus. Jozy Altidore, the US interational striker, has also j
oined from Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar, and goalkeeper Vito Mannone has also arrived at the Stadium of Light from Arsenal. Norwich have also strengthened their side, bringing in prolific Celtic frontman Gary Hooper for a
reported £5 million fee, and Javier Garrido from Lazio, among 6 new faces at Carrow Road. Southampton have flashed the cash this summer as well,
spending £12.5 million prising Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama from Celtic, and £8.5 million on Croatian defender Dejan Lovren. Fulham have made some astute deals as well, bringing Ghana international Derek Boateng to the Premier League, as well as securing QPR midfielder Adel Taarabt, defender Fernando Amorebieta, and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenberg to replace the departing Mark Schwartzer. West Brom have added journeyman Nicolas Anelka, Goran Popov, and Diego Lugano to their talented squad, while West Ham
have secured Andy Carroll from Liverpool, and Spanish 'keeper
Adrian from Real Betis. The new teams are also looking good. Hull City Tigers have drafted in Premier League experience in Maynor Figeroa, and
Sunderland pair Ahmed Elmohamady and Danny Graham, the latter on a loan deal after being signed 6 months ago by the Black Cats. Cardiff City have spent over £17 million this summer. They've signed Stephen Caulker from Tottenham, and highly-rated 20-year-old FC Copenhagen star
Andreas Cornelius, beating off stiff competition from other Premier League clubs. Crystal Palace have also drafted in 6 new signings, among them former Premier League top scorer Kevin Phillips. The bottom line is that Newcastle, despite being among the worst of the sides to stay up last year, do not look any stronger than they did in May. The other sides around them do, and in some cases, much stronger. The three promoted sides don't look great shakes either, but only once in 21 years have all 3 promoted sides gone straight down once more, and it's hard to see Newcastle trumping them all come May.