Crystal Palace
So after a 8 year absence, a Kevin Phillips penalty in the Play Off Final against Watford in May propelled the Eagles back into the promised land. In addition, we also welcome back Ian Holloway back into the Premier League after 2 season. Despite the fact, he may mellow his press conferences down, much to the pressmen and fans alike, he will bring back his attacking style in an attempt to prevent the
'hiding to nothing' he spoke of after the Wembley triumph. And so it is in this department for which I have most concern for. 30-goal hero Glenn Murray is out with a knee injury until the New Year at least and the supply path that helped Murray accrue such a total, Wilfred Zaha, has gone to Man United. To rectify this, Holloway has made two purchases in the hope that this partnership will steer them clear of trouble: Dwight Gale and Marouane Chamakh. Gale, like Murray, scored a load of goals in the Championship (13 goals to be exact), in vain though as Peterborough fell into League One and much is expexted that he can bridge the divisional gap and try to emulate Andy Johnson's 25 goal haul in Palace's relegation season of 2004-05. Chamakh, however, has already had Premier League experience from Arsenal, and much to fans' disappointment, it hasn't been too effective. Bar the first 5 months of his spell, when he'd been readily finding the net, Chamakh has been more likely spotted on the bench and making appearances in the League Cup. Undoubtedly, Palace fans will hope that the shift in expectations between them and Arsenal will help Chamakh cut out his peripheral figure and rediscover his Bordeaux and early Arsenal form. However, Holloway's attacking philosophy will leave them vulnerable at the back and due to the lack of top flight experience, they may not able to claw many points back from losing position. It could just end up turning like Blackpool's season a couple of years ago: entertaining but relegation will end the adventure
Prediction: 20th