I’m just catching my breath after the most incredible Test Series between England & India that concluded at The Oval last Monday. Five matches full of intensity that swung back and forth in terms of momentum, and ultimately ended 2-2.
As I said on my podcast last week — try explaining that to a newcomer to cricket! You can have almost 25 days of such fierce competition and, after all that, end up with a draw.
It must be the back-to-back nature of our international summer of cricket that makes me feel I haven’t caught my breath since the end of the last Premier League campaign.
As a Forest fan, there was so much to look back on. If someone had offered me 7th on the opening day of the season, I’d have snapped their hand off. It’s important to remember that too when thinking about what could have been.
Having been in the Champions League places for a good chunk of the season, it was disappointing to miss out — but I’ll be looking forward to trying to make diaries work and get to our first City Ground European night with my friend Sean.
As soon as the curtains came down on last season, you felt like it was going to be a big transfer window for lots of different reasons.
Man City looked short when Rodri was injured last season and it exposed a few areas in their team. Much has been said about the changes needed at Old Trafford too, and as soon as Ange Postecoglou left Tottenham, you could see some comings and goings in their squad.
The FIFA Club World Cup has split this window in two, with City and Chelsea able to make some early summer signings. I’m excited to see what Liam Delap does at Stamford Bridge, linking up with Cole Palmer.
But with João Pedro’s arrival too, how much game time will Delap get? I hope that doesn’t impact him too much, as he’s such an exciting talent. I’d have had him with Chris Wood up top at Forest.
Speaking of Forest, Anthony Elanga going up to Newcastle is a big loss. Whether Dan Ndoye coming in can be a like-for-like replacement, time will tell. Our biggest ‘signing’, I think, is actually holding on to Morgan Gibbs-White.
Some of the game’s most respected journalists and pundits said his move to Tottenham was a done deal! I saw one of those photoshopped graphics of him in a Spurs shirt and thought it had happened.
Our biggest ‘signing’, I think, is actually holding on to Morgan Gibbs-White.
So for the club to post a video of Gibbs-White next to owner Evangelos Marinakis, committing his future to the City Ground, was huge. He was a key figure in the squad last season who exceeded expectations, and I think he will be a big part of what Nuno Espírito Santo will be looking to achieve this coming campaign.
This season feels like a hard one to predict, and in my mind, you can never read too much into pre-season form and results. We start with Brentford at home, and I’m interested to see how they do in the post-Thomas Frank era.
They’ve been in and around mid-table the last couple of years, which is where Forest have positioned themselves as a club.
Everton are another big club who will be looking to climb up the table with David Moyes back at the helm. I’m surprised they haven’t attracted a few more names with Moyes in charge and the pull of their new stadium.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, I think, will be a shrewd addition for them. He did a great job at Leicester and just lacked game time at Chelsea. Moyes is the sort of manager you can see getting the best out of him.
Predicting Premier League placings is getting harder and harder. But if I was to try and predict a top four this year, I’d go with Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Moyes is the sort of manager you can see getting the best out of him.
No huge surprises in there, and I think Chelsea come in with some momentum after winning the FIFA Club World Cup.
Forest will hopefully be hunting for those European places.
At the other end of the table, I hate to say it, but the three promoted teams, I feel, are going to have a big battle on their hands.
Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland are no strangers to the Premier League, and Sunderland in particular have spent money to strengthen their squad ahead of the season. It’s always a big gamble to see how new players come together, and I’d be happy to be proved wrong if a couple of them manage to survive.
I’m looking forward to it kicking off now — both for Forest and for my Fantasy Premier League team. It’s arguably the most difficult time of the season, trying to pick your XI for the opening weekend!
Good luck to all the fans out there for the year ahead, and say hello if you see me at the City Ground or at an away game.
The guys at Fitzdares have given me a £500 free bet pot to use on a selection of the major sporting events of my choice.
Last year, I was able to raise a whopping £2,992.50 for Motor Neurone Disease. Here’s what I’m going with to kick off the new season…
£50 EW Cameron Young @ 22/1
BMW Championship, 14th Aug — 17th Aug
£100 Nottingham Forest @ 11/10
Nottingham Forest vs Brentford, 17th August
£100 Draw @ 5/2
Man Utd vs Arsenal, 17th August
£100 Jannik Sinner @ Evs
Mens’ US Open, 24th Aug — 7th Sept
£100 Aryna Sabalenka @ 12/5
Womens’ US Open, 24th Aug — 7th Sept
Stuart Broad is Fitzdares’ Brand Ambassador.
