The brand new Premier League season is nearly upon us, after Wigan Athletic, Reading and Queens Park Rangers were relegated at the end of last season the new one starts with three new Premier League jersey all hoping to pave a successful future in the most popular football league in the world. These three teams are Cardiff City, Hull City and Crystal Palace, statistics of the likelihood of these teams not being relegated at the end of the season do not make promising reading. Since the renaming of the 'Championship' in 2004 only three of the winning teams that gained promotion to the top flight were not immediately relegated for the next season, can Cardiff City make that four? The second place team, this year Hull City, have been relegated 4 out of the last seven times, and unfortunately for Crystal Palace only two of the playoff teams have managed to last longer than one season against the might of the top teams including Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Looking at each team individually is perhaps a fairer way to surmise their chances, Cardiff City finished top of the Championship table with 87 points, winning 25 of their 46 games.  This will be their first ever appearance in a Premier League Jersey, as recently as 2000/01 season they were playing in the fourth tier of English football and have spectacularly made it into the top flight.  One big factor in Cardiff City's favour is their big business Malaysian owners, to make a success against the big teams there is a real need for player talent and this does not come cheaply, they have committed to spending around £25m during the summer transfer window to enhance their team.  So far they have added three new faces to the team Andreas Cornelius formerly of FC Copenhagen, John Brayford from Derby County and Simon Moore from Brentford FC reportedly spending around £10m of the budget, Vincent Tan one of the Malaysian owners has said that they aim to 'spend smartly'.  It appears that Cardiff City are looking at the bigger picture, trying to make wise investments however, they have a relatively inexperienced manager and have yet to sign a much needed goal scorer.

Hull City gained the second automatic promotion spot finishing behind Cardiff with 79 points, they have had an extremely busy summer so far with a fair number of departures and 8 incoming players, they have so far spent around £7.5m on players including Danny Graham from Sunderland and Steve Harper from Newcastle United, and there may be more to come as it was reported earlier in the summer that the club was hoping to spend around £15m on new players.  Of the three promoted teams Hull City have the most experienced manager in Steve Bruce, as a top flight manager he has managed the likes of Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland.  Of all the teams according to some commentators it appears Hull had the strongest squad last season leading some reporters to favour them as a likely team to stay in the top flight longer than one season.

Crystal Palace finished fifth in the Championship fifteen points behind table leaders Cardiff City, putting them at an immediately apparent disadvantage. Palace sold Wilfred Zaha to Manchester United for £15m giving them some cash for new players, but they have thus far struggled to make any significant signings.  The team's manager is a charismatic, likeable man however, in a previous role with Blackpool he saw the team promoted then immediately relegated, he has also been relegated as manager of QPR and Leicester City, will this time around be any different? Crystal Palace have a good team and the best goal scoring record of any of the three teams which may be their saving grace.

On balance each of the sides have strengths and weaknesses that will both help and hinder their progression while wearing their Premier League jerseys and their chances of avoiding relegation at the end of the season. If you like a flutter Cardiff City are favourites to stay up with odds around 8/15, whereas the odds on Crystal Palace staying up are around 13/8, Hull City appear to be current favourites for relegation with current odds of around 7/10.  It will be interesting to see how the new teams fare throughout the season, there may be some surprises in store making it an exciting one.

What is your opinion of each of the promoted teams?

Which team do you think has the best chance of survival next season?

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