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West Ham begin along the long road back to the Premier League as the Championship season gets underway, and the Hammers will no doubt have their hands full in their first game of the season on Sunday when Cardiff are the visitors to Upton Park.
New West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has already made sweeping changes to the East London club that suffered relegation from the top tier of English football last season, bringing in a few familiar faces to bolster his squad.
Allardyce has added two of his players from his Bolton days to his squad, Joey O’Brien and Kevin Nolan, while former Trotter’s Matt Taylor and Abdoulaye Faye have also signed on the dotted line to give the Hammers an experienced look this season.
Allardyce will also be buoyed by the fact England internationals Scott Parker and Rob Green are still at the club despite the pair being heavily linked with a move back to the Premiership this summer.
Parker in particular looked unlikely to be playing in Claret and Blue this season amidst interest from Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal, but should he remain with the club after the summer deadline window closes, “Big Sam” will have another huge reason to expect that his club will bounce straight back up with Parker pulling the strings from midfield.
Cardiff boss Malky MacKay has a huge task on his hands in turning the Bluebirds from the nearly men of Championship football, and while the arrival of Robert Earnshaw and Kenny Miller will no doubt boost their chances of going on step further than last year and gaining promotion, the loss of 12 members of last year’s play-off squad including big names such as Craig Bellamy and Jay Bothroyd will no doubt have hurt them.
MacKay’s side have endured a difficult pre-season in front of goal and only found the net three times in five games, with Earnshaw and Miller failing to find the net in a goalless draw with Parma last weekend.
