Football Season Guide

Championship playoff winners Swansea return to the top flight after 27-year absence, becoming the first Welsh side to compete in the Premier league era. They deployed an expansive passing game in the Championship last season, which earned them the nickname of Swansolona but in order to withstand the shock to the system that is promotion to the top flight, Brendan Rodgers will need to shore up his backline. So far, he has broken the bank to sign Watford forward Danny Graham, along with Leroy Lita, to beef up the attack. Craig Beattie and Luke Moore have both failed to make the grade at Premiership level in recent seasons and are unlikely to succeed this time round so Rodgers might look for at least one proven striker at this level. Wayne Routledge does look like a good addition on the right wing to complement the talented Scott Sinclair on the left. At the back, Rodgers has taken on Stephen Caulker on loan from Tottenham and brought in keepers Michel Vorm from Utrecht and Benfica's Jose Moreira to make up for the departure of Dorus De Vries. The rugged Allan Tate, Gary Monk, Angel Rangel and Ashley Williams should return in defence to face a bit of a baptism of fire on opening day against Manchester City at Eastlands. Whether they will be good enough at this level remains to be seen though. The Swans were rather dominant at home last season but conceded quite a lot of goals on their travels, which should prompt Rodgers to bring in a higher caliber of defender. In midfield, Stephen Dobbie, Nathan Dyer, Joe Allen and Neil Taylor were rather solid last season and should return to the squad.