Premier League Season Preview: Newcastle United
Andrew Jordan@@Andrew_Jordan
Senior Writer IAugust 1, 2010
With the Premier League season now rapidly approaching, I have decided to take a look at each of the 20 sides that will be playing at the top level of English football during this upcoming season.
To start off my countdown, I have decided to actually go in reverse order, with Wolverhampton starting off the list and Arsenal concluding it right before the start of the Premier League season.
In the eighth installment of this series, I will be looking at Newcastle United, who finished first in the Championship last year, earning an automatic promotion back into the Premier League a year after being relegated.
Review of Last Year
A year after being sent down into the Championship after being in the Premier League for the last 16 seasons, Newcastle refused to be deterred from their quest of once again being in the top flight in English football.
And Newcastle were able to run over their competition by gaining 102 points in the Championship and reclaim their spot in the Premier League.
Transfers:
Incoming Players:
James Perch (Nottingham Forest), Dan Gosling (Everton) and Sol Campbell (Arsenal).
Departing Players:
None
All times are GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
Major Questions Going into This Season:
1. Will Newcastle be able to stay up?
The biggest question surrounding the Magpies has to be if they could stay up after being promoted.
Newcastle could stay up if they repeat their performance of last season in the Championship, but that truly will be an extremely hard task to do.
2. Could Newcastle achieve success on the road?
One of the major reasons why Newcastle went down two years ago was the inability of Newcastle to do well away from St. James Park.
Newcastle did well away from St. James Park last year, but will need to do better than the 12 points gained away in the 2008-2009 season.
3. If Newcastle stay up, could they contend for a spot in the top half of the table?
Newcastle are a great side at St. James Park no question, but it all comes down to how well they play away from home that will determine if the Toon could challenge to make it into the top half of the league.
4. Will Newcastle return to their old ways soon?
For the last decade, Newcastle have been a shell of their old dominant selves, with the tipping point being their relegation from the Premier League in 2009.
A promotion back to the top flight obviously is a major step forward, but more major steps must be made before the Toon are once again among the best in England.
In case you want to see a preview of Stoke City's Premier League season, please click here.