My 2011/2012 Predictions

This week is the date in every football fan's diaries where they are allowed to put £10 aside out of their hard-working cash to put on what they will think will happen over the course of the next 10 months.

Football being football means that 9/10 of the aforementioned will no doubt lose their money, however we do it because we love a prediction, a statement and a reason why we want to waste our money away.

Yesterday I threw down my cash in Coral, in the shape of a Lucky 15 across the top four divisions in England. Here's my picks, and why:-

Premier League - Manchester United - 6/4 fav

For me, Man Utd won the league by default last year. Their squad on paper wasn't amazing, and if you drew comparisons with that side to the side 5-10 years previous, it had nothing on it. For example the centre midfield partnership of Carrick and Fletcher is nowhere near as good as the duo of Scholes and Keane. To put it bluntly, they were the best of a bad bunch. And yet, with the signings they have made this year, more than just the Premier League could arrive at Old Trafford. They have bought quality. Ashley Young is arguably one of the best English wingers, and the purchase of Phil Jones is brilliant in the fact he already holds top class quality and yet he's two years younger than me! Hernandez had an amazing 1st season, and he will no doubt continue that kind of form, and if Rooney hits the ground running from the off this year, I think it will be hard to catch the Red Devils this season.

Championship - Leicester City - 4/1 joint fav

Leicester hold all the credentials to be worthy winners in England's second tier this year. In Sven-Goran Eriksson, they hold a manager who knows a lot about club football, and what it takes to win trophies. He's had his introductory season, and now is the season where he can push for silverwear. Admittedly, they relied heavily on loans last year, however, now they have injected the cash into permanant transfers, and the quality they have bought is incredible. Nugent will add so much firepower, whereas the likes of Neil Danns will help improve an already lethal midfield. But it's their defence they have sured up the most. They have bought a goalkeeper who's dad was part of a 1999 Treble winning side, and six top class defenders, most notably Paul Konchesky and John Pantsil who holds plenty of top flight experience, and Matt Mills, who was one of the best defenders in the division last year, and also scored in Reading's play-off final defeat to Swansea. All the elements are there, and I back them to all come together for the Foxes.

League 1 - Sheffield Wednesday - 6/1

I picked out Sheffield Wednesday mainly down to the form they showed at the back end of last season. Boss Gary Megson looks like he now has a grip of his squad and is a manager who I think can lead this team to success, sorry Blades fans. Their activity in the transfer market has been sensible. The experienced Jose Semedo will plug any holes in midfield, whilst Julian Bennett is a great acquisition for this level. Going forward they might need a striker, but they do hold quality in attackers Clinton Morrison and Gary Madine, with support coming from midfielders Chris Sedgwick and Giles Coke. Other people may fancy the likes of Huddersfield or Preston, but for me, Wednesday will be the ones top of the pile at the end of the year.

League 2 - Rotherham United - 16/1

Didn't quite go for an obvious choice in League 2, however I feel this division will be wide open. A lot of people have backed Crawley, and with the finances they hold why not? (not to mention the prolific Matt Tubbs) However I've picked the Millers on the basis of a few key factors. The first being they STILL hold a striker who WILL score for fun at this level and until he snapped up, will continue to push Rotherham up that league. Le Fondre has been linked with moves away this term but it's a reflection of what happened last summer, he didn't go anywhere. The second is the manager. Andy Scott proved punters wrong in 2008/2009 when he won the league with Brentford, from there he then established the London side in League One before being dismissed unfairly in my opinion. But the gaffer knows what it takes, and having been there and done it before, he will feel hungry to repeat the success. After finding some gems in the transfer market, Conrad Logan on load will help the goalkeeping problem, this team, who were unlucky to miss out on the play-offs last year, I feel will be up there yet again.

So there's my picks, and if all four come in, just over £600 comes my way, though i don't expect that to be the case. Because as I said, 9/10 will probably lose money gambling on title winners during pre-season, and I bet I'm not that 10% that wins something...