The Premiership starts tomorrow, the buildup is all over today's TV, radio and newspapers so its impossible for me not to get up for it. If you're a regular reader of this you will know I'm a huge Man City fan, and a lot of the buildup has been centering around us this year with our massive spending and new signings, which is nice to see but to be honest I think I preferred it when there wasn't as much pressure on our players and manager, it could really have an adverse effect if we don't get off to a good start.

Our signings so far have been impressive, although quite attack orientated.
1) Emmanuel Adebayor - A HUGE signing, he's an excellent player I have constantly admired at Arsenal. He's a great aerial threat which we never really had last season, and he can score incredible goals (That volley against Tottenham comes to mind). Most importantly though signing him has taken away a massive goalscorer from Arsenal which could be key if we're to leapfrog them into 4th place. Doesn't yet look fully sharp but will be an excellent signing for us!!
2)Roque Santa Cruz - Quite similar to Adebayor, perhaps not worth the £17million we aparrently paid in my eyes. His first season was excellent but his injury history and poor form last term means I'm still quite sceptical about this deal. I felt the same when we signed Bellamy though, and Hughes again has managed to get the best out of him and he's been an excellent player for us so hopefully Sparky can have the same effect on RSC and he'll be good for us. He won't start every game but he'll play a decent amount so the goals will come, but I doubt if we'd signed Adebayor first he'd currently be in our squad.
3)Carlos Tevez - He will be as key off the field as on for bringing the dressing room together. He is a world renowned name and as much as any United fan says he's not worth it, he'll be rubbish etc, I'm sure that will spur him on and he'll be great for us. His workrate is fantastic and an asset to any team, and as much as United fans say they don't, they would absolutely love to have him in their squad!! He looked good against Celtic but short of fitness as he's just coming back from long injury so I don't expect too much for the first few weeks.
4) Gareth Barry - An excellent signing, Villa losing him is a massive blow to any ambitions they have, and he is exactly what we need to get more control in midfield and improve our form away from home. Until his blunder against Holland (don't care, its only a friendly) he's been class for England and he looked amazing for us against Celtic. He is the signing I am most pleased about, as even though we have an abundance of players who can play the holding midfielder position (Zab, Kompany, De Jong, Richards) he is a class above and twice as good as De Jong in my eyes who needs to improve his distribution.
5) Kolo Toure - Another big signing because our defence is the weakest area of our team. He is a proven player, a steady head and a leader off the pitch and I can't wait to see his and Dunne's partnership this forthcoming season. Hopefully Toure being at City will now mean Richards plays less of a key role and Toure's influence may mean he gets his head screwed on a little bit more and concentrates on improving as a player and not a DJ.
6) Stuart Taylor - A much needed reserve goalkeeper after Hart's loan move to Birmingham (excellent deal for the club and player's development) and only really having Kasper Schmeical as a worthy replacement.

I am really happy with our business so far, we have strengthened where we need it and built upon our strengths. It may not be over yet with potentially another defender in the form of Lescott or Upson coming in which would of course be nice but I'm confident in the defenders we currently have. Dunne, Toure, Kompany, Bridge, Zabaleta, Onuoha, are all excellent players with great attitudes who will come on leaps and bounds this season. Richards is also gifted and can be a star for us if he's applied in the right way, Garrido, Tal Ben Haim are good backup (TBH has actually looked quite good in preseason! haha) and then we have talented youth players wanting to come through like Ryan McGivern and Ben Mee who are both meant to be good and I would expect to play some part next year.
In terms of League positions I don't really want to make too much of a prediction because it all depends on how they gel and how other teams (United, Arsenal, Liverpool) adapt to losing good players like Ronaldo, Adebayor and Alonso. I would definitely expect a top 6 finish after the money we've spent, anything less than that and Hughes will be out of a job. Beyond top 6 anything can happen though so I will take the season as it comes and maybe review my prediction at Christmas. I do expect us to challenge for one of the cups though or at least have a decent run, we start in the League Cup against Crystal Palace and while we always do bad against smaller teams (typical city) and its seen as a "small trophy" we haven't won anything for 34 years so if we did I would go absolutely apeshit! I can dream!!

We start against Blackburn away tomorrow, and while I have high hopes for the season, I think Blackburn will be extra physical tomorrow after David Dunn's comments and while giving away their gameplan before the game is a big mistake I hope we can capitalise on, Blackburn is always a tough place to go (we were very lucky to draw last season) so I am predicting an opening day loss.
I can't wait for Robinho's magic this season

League Champions : Chelsea
FA Cup : Liverpool
League Cup : Man City ;)
Champs League : Barcelona
Relegated : Burnley, Portsmouth, Wolves

I'm doing 2 fantasy footballs this year, one with college people on premierleague.com and one with Benicassim people on SkySports.com.

BRING ON THE FOOTBALL!!!
(I've missed it lots)