No crystal ball tips from me... just my hopes to make a fun, exciting season

IT’S that time of the year when I’m supposed to display a startling insight by predicting what will happen in the new season.

I’m pretty sure, though, that you’re already bored to the back teeth of a long, snaking line of ex-pros clearing their throats and loudly proclaiming that Manchester City will be the team to beat... as if they’ve just given you the lottery numbers.

So, instead, I’m going to offer my hopes for the new campaign and what COULD happen to make the sport we love so much more exciting, more accessible and simply more fun for all of us. Wish me luck!

REAL COMPETITION

I’ve already hinted at this in my opening sentences, but there’s not much joy in football if a team blows everyone else away by spending 10 times more money than anyone else to employ the best of everything to deliver trophies.

I know it’s easy to argue it’s always been that way, and it’s true. Sides with the most money have always been at the top of the pile. But not to the extent that it’s currently happening.

I said last week I was genuinely shocked to see a team spend £100million on a player, and yet now we have three (if you realise that Messi’s wages alone will cost PSG that much).

The problem is, City, PSG and to a slightly lesser extent Chelsea have now effectively bypassed the FFP rules. I’m not criticising them. The clubs with the most money will always find creative (and legal) ways to legitimately work around them.

If it’s your club, then you don’t have an issue, so I’m not suggesting it’s wrong. It’s just that any club which can utilise the sovereign wealth of a state to stay within the rules can skew the whole nature of sport.

I have nothing against PSG, I’m excited about their incredible forward line, including Messi (above). I have nothing against my old club City, or Chelsea, for that matter. But I’d love to see other clubs take the competition to them. In that regard, my next two hopes predict who may provide that in the Premier League.

LIVERPOOL STAY INJURY-FREE

Look, I’m not saying Liverpool are underdogs. Brentford are underdogs. Hell, Marine are underdogs. But they can’t spend like City, Chelsea or United, not when finances are so ravaged by Covid losses.

They do have a first XI that can match any club side in the world. The problem comes – and this is not a criticism of any of their players – when you compare the rest of the squad.

They have quality players, such as Virgil van Dijk (below), but City have a second team that is the equal of their starting line-up. That’s what you’re up against. And they almost certainly will add Harry Kane to that.

If Liverpool used up all their bad luck last season, then they can take City on, at least give them a run for their money. Getting all their best players on long contracts will foster a sense of belief there, create a spirit and sense of common cause that can create momentum and belief.

I can see Chelsea challenging, too, with Manchester United making up the top four. Unless my next hope comes through.

LEICESTER ARE THE SURPRISE THAT’S NO SURPRISE

They’ve challenged convincingly for the top four in the past two seasons, missing out only on the final day both times. So I’m hardly Nostradamus by suggesting they can do it this time.

It would be great to see them knock United out of the top four, though (and I swear that’s got nothing to do with the M62 rivalry!).

They have quietly built an impressive squad, signed some quality players, and reacted brilliantly to setbacks.

When Wesley Fofana was injured and out longterm, they immediately reacted by signing Jannik Vestergaard (right).

That is seriously impressive business at short notice. I’ve regarded him as one of the best in the Premier League, and he has vast experience now. A real defender. They can beat any side on their day, and reach the top four this season.

The rest of my hopes are for football in general.

VAR SORTS ITSELF OUT

Can’t stand it, personally. Would scrap it immediately if I had my way. There were some decisions last season – like Patrick Bamford’s disallowed goal (above) and the penalty against Andy Robertson – that were criminal.

But it’s here to stay in one form or another, and I hope – pray – that the form it settles on is the one we saw in the Euros.

They used VAR sensibly. Swiftly. Soundly. There were no sevenminute interludes while we tortured over the position of an armpit, there were no constant replays in slow motion that proved the Earth is flat.

They gave the benefit of the doubt to the referee and picked up only glaring errors, of which there are actually very few. They also had a far better interpretation of offside. No left elbows, no dodgy lines. Just common sense. Let’s keep it that way. And on that note….

REFS REALISE IT’S A CONTACT SPORT

Another, better interpretation from the Euros. I loved how refs let the game flow, realised it is a physical game, there can be contact and laughed when players threw themselves around like they were in the WWE.

Players quickly clocked on to it. They knew it was pointless rolling around, even the diving and time-wasting wasn’t as bad.

It infuriates me to see a 90-minute game reduced to about half an hour’s action because of all those antics. If all the referees got wise to it, made examples of it and, most of all, let the game flow, it would change things immediately.

Finally, on a personal note, I want to see forwards flourish. So my last hopes are for the strikers’ union.

JACK GREALISH STEPS UP TO THE TOP LEVEL

He’s a wonderfully exciting talent, has already shown he’s quality. But I’ve seen it before: a big fish in a small pond gets into a bloody big pond... and struggles. He has all the attributes, though, and I’d love to see him develop further under Pep Guardiola (both below). When you’re a big fish, there’s a tendency to try to do everything yourself, which probably explains criticisms of hanging on to the ball too long, of overplaying and failing to deliver.

At City, he is surrounded by world-class talent and will see, in training every single day, the awareness, the class of the players such as Kevin De Bruyne, who still are team first, individual second.

Guardiola preaches that philosophy, too, and I think, if Jack absorbs it, he can achieve what De Bruyne has achieved and reach that level of being the best in the world.

THE NEXT GENERATION OF STRIKERS EMERGES

There is quality out there at a young age. I love Marcus Rashford and what he stands for AND I love his personality on the football pitch. Can he take the next step? I sincerely hope so.

Same with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has so much potential and so much more to deliver that it’s almost frightening.

Then there are the less experienced forwards who have suggested they have more to come. Ollie Watkins at Villa is a fascinating one. Every single year he’s progressed. Where can he get to?

Brentford have another striker who could be as good as Watkins. Ivan Toney (above) is hardly a kid, but he’s fought up the hard way, and 31 goals in the Championship last season suggests he has something special. I’d love to see him do it again.

I really like Patrick Bamford, too, he has a touch of the Fowler about his movement in the box, and he’s a decent kid too. So that’s my wishlist, though there’s one final hope, which I believe will make football MUCH better:

A PROMISING YOUNG MANAGER GETS HIS CHANCE

There’s an up-and-coming boss who has had success at every club he’s taken charge of so far, has transformed clubs and turned them around. He’s done it in leagues across the world and now he’s ready to do the same closer to home if the chance comes along. No names, but I can testify he’s got star quality…..!!!