With the Community Shield being battled for this Sunday and just more than two weeks to go before the League kicks off, one would expect most managers to have all their pieces in place and working them as a unit. No surprises. All potholes covered.

Why is it then that those who need to do so much in the transfer window have done so little?

It would appear that both the medal decorated Scots and the well-dressed Italian understood their homework assignment, while the Portuguese man, the Englishman and the Frog have walked into the transfer-isle waiting for discount tags.

Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool have welcomed a fair share of new faces. Sir Alex has continuously proved in the past that early preparation has its benefits. A little more than a week ago he claimed the club had completed their spending spree and whether or not that’s true, it’s a healthy psychological advantage. There is still much speculation around the club’s acquisition of Wesley Sneijder, which would be a fantastic bit of business considering they could do with a top shelf player in a more central role. Then again, great progress was made last season despite an average midfield, and if anyone can squeeze the juice out of a Lemon, it’s Fergie. I expect a solid campaign from the Mancs, as always.

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Aston Villa have accepted a £20million offer from Liverpool for England winger Stewart Downing.

The Reds have been chasing the Villain for some time now, having previous bids of £12.5million and £15million rejected. The former Middlesbrough man was also a target for Arsenal‘s Arsene Wenger, but Downing indicated that he would prefer a move to Anfield.

Liverpool released a statement on their official website: “Liverpool FC tonight announced they had agreed a fee with Aston Villa for the transfer of Stewart Downing.

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You can take the Skouser out of Merseyside, but . . . well you get the idea.

Newcastle are set to embark on a pre-season tour in the US, playing against Sporting Kansas, Orlando City and Columbus Crew, but will do so without the help of Joey Barton.

Barton will now link up with the Toon reserve squad in the Netherlands for his pre-season warm-up.

As a football fan, there’s a part of me that feels a level of sympathy for unlucky Joey. There was, should I rather say, till I had a look at some of his less honorable antics.

July 2004: A mass punch-’em-up erupted in a friendly at Doncaster Rovers which saw Kevin Keegan criticizing Barton for causing it.

December 2004: During the clubs Christmas party, Barton used the eye of young teammate Jamie Tandy as an ashtray, stubbing his lit cigar into it. Barton was forced to pay a fine by Manchester City of four weeks wages (roughly £60 000) and was later sued by Tandy for £65 000 in wages. (Quite a pricey cuban it would seem)!

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After 6 months of much boardroom wrestling, Liverpool have finally settled on an agreement with Blackpool over the transfer of their talisman Charlie Adam, for an undisclosed fee (mixed reports believing it to be somewhere between £7 million and £9 million) Adam has now passed the Anfield medical and only needs to agree personal terms with the Reds before making the long awaited switch to Merseyside.

Liverpool made a last gasp attempt to acquire the services of the 25 year old midfielder during the Premier League‘s January transfer window, but an inflated price tag and little time remaining for Ian Holloway to find an adequate replacement led the Reds to a failed pursuit. Being a boyhood Liverpool fan and having his heart set on a move to Anfield being widely reported, it has been expected that Adam would eventually do so.

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Every English Premier League season that passes sees three unfortunate clubs take a walk down ‘Relegation Avenue’, but simultaneously, three new clubs enter the big time with dreams and aspirations of being more than just seasonal visitors. Three new sets of faces that will have to work excessively hard to contend with established clubs in what is expected to be a very unpredictable season. So, in the event that you don’t or hadn’t been following the Championship last season, I think an introduction is in order.

SWANSEA CITY

Welsh club, Swansea City is not entirely new to top-flight football. They were promoted to the First Division (now the Premier League) in 1981 and placed 5th their first season in, but were relegated in 1983 and due to much misfortune on the pitch and financially they eventually found themselves back in the Fourth Division. Almost 3 decades later, with much hopping between the lower English leagues, the Jacks were finally promoted back into the top flight after placing 3rd by winning the Football League Championship play-off in an entertaining 4-2 battle against Reading at the end of last season. This now makes them the first Welsh club in history to play in the Premier League. They will be the least experienced club in the Premier League this season and have been tipped by bookies to start and finish the season at the bottom of the table.

Pub Facts:

Swansea City (also known as the ‘Jacks’) was established in 1912 and for much of their existence was settled at Vetch Field. In 2005 they moved to the Liberty Stadium, which have been their home ground ever since.

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Mark Hughes left his manager job at English Premier League football club Fulham on Thursday after a little bit more than a year in charge. He denied that he had another post waiting.

The London Premier League club said in a statement on their website they had accepted Welshman Hughes’s decision to leave after 43 games in charge.

“Fulham Football Club can confirm that Mark Hughes has provided notice, under the terms of his contract, to leave the club at the end of June,” Fulham said on their website.

“After discussions with Mark the club has agreed to accept this notice.”

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As the curtains sweep aside the dust of yet another eventful English Premier League season, along with it go the familiar faces of the now relegated.

Blackpool

Some things are just not meant to be. The Tangerines have undoubtedly been one of the most entertaining sides of the 2010-2011 season, scoring 55 goals, equal to 5th placed Tottenham. Unfortunately a strong attack needs a stronger defence, which Ian Holloway, much like Arsene Wenger, has been forced to accept with much regret.

Blackpool weren’t given the most comfortable of hands having to face the league title winners Manchester United for their last attempt at top-flight survival. Blackpool expectantly came out of the gates steaming with two great chances to rescue their Premier League campaign and it’s no surprise that both were delivered by Charlie Adam. Keith Southern fired wide within the first 30 seconds and only minutes later saw Gary Taylor-Fletcher miss a toenail touch which surely would have gained them a great start.

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