Monthly archives: August, 2016

We Predict… The 2016-17 Season

Leicester City v Everton - Premier League

Such is the nature of Leicester City’s 5,000/1 title triumph last season that it would seem ridiculous to suggest we’re at the starting blocks of the most unpredictable season ever. And yet, with the addition of even more superstars to the most competitive major league in Europe, there are sure to be a whole host of twists and turns over the course of the next ten months.

So, with managerial heavyweights Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola going toe-to-toe in Manchester, just down the road from a Liverpool team beginning to fit Jurgen Klopp’s mould, while Antonio Conte adapts to life in London beside Premier League veteran Arsene Wenger and exciting young boss Mauricio Pochettino, there’s sure to be fireworks.

Trying to make sense of it all ahead of Saturday’s big kick-off, the staff and partners of Icons.com have given their answers to the biggest questions. But we’d like to hear from you on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages: don’t be shy, give us your predictions for the season ahead and check out our fantastic range of signed items from Premier League icons past and present – available right now on Icons.com.

Edward Freedman, Chairman

Premier League winner: Manchester City
Top four: Manchester CityLiverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea
Relegated: Bournemouth, Burnley, Hull City
Underachievers: Arsenal – The Gunners have spent nothing this summer; manager Arsene Wenger should have gone two seasons ago.
Signing of the season: Sadio Mane (Liverpool) – Mane is an honest and hard worker, he’s just the player Jurgen Klopp’s side need right now.

FA Cup winner: Tottenham Hotspur
League Cup winner: Manchester United

UEFA Champions League winner: FC Barcelona
UEFA Europa League winner: Juventus

Random prediction: This will be Arsene Wenger’s last season at ArsenalPep Guardiola will be key to Manchester City‘s success.

Dan Jamieson, CEO and Managing Director

Premier League winner: Manchester City
Top four: Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea
Relegated: Hull City, Watford, Sunderland
Overachievers: Crystal Palace – Alan Pardew produces good attacking teams and if they were to get him, Christian Benteke could be the difference.
Underachievers: Arsenal – This is is the year when Arsene Wenger’s transfer philosophy is exposed as fundamentally flawed.
Signing of the season: Loris Karius (Liverpool) – The goalkeeper may be injured now but he will be a star by the end of the season. Henrikh Mkhitaryan – I liked him before he moved to Dortmund and he should suit Manchester United’s UEFA Europa League endeavours.

FA Cup winner: Chelsea
League Cup winner: Tottenham Hotspur

UEFA Champions League winner: FC Barcelona will get back on top.
UEFA Europa League winner: Sevilla would seem an obvious choice.

Random prediction: Arsene Wenger will not sign a new contract. Manchester United will suffer from squad shuffling and rotation issues as they try to find the right combinations. Pep Guardiola will complain about English football’s congested fixture list within months.

Manchester City v Arsenal - Premier League

Sergio Aguero remains one of the Premier League’s most fearsome strikers, can he lead Man City to the title?

Ben Soley, Sales and Marketing Manager

Premier League winner: Manchester City
Top four: Manchester CityManchester UnitedChelseaArsenal
Relegated: Hull City, Burnley, Swansea City
Overachievers: Arsenal – The Gunners have spent nothing again and will no doubt have 10+ injuries and yet somehow they’ll still manage to finish among the biggest spenders on the globe.
Underachievers: Manchester United – All that money… what a waste of all that money…
Signing of the season: Sadio Mane (Liverpool) – The attacking midfielder was expensive but will be key to Liverpool’s pacy frontline. Nathan Redmond will be useful at Southampton.

FA Cup winner: Liverpool
League Cup winner: Chelsea

UEFA Champions League winner: Bayern Munich
UEFA Europa League winner: Manchester Uni- no, not really! Juventus or Benfica.

Random prediction: I’ll be laughed at for my prediction about Sadio Mane. Despite all the summer spending by Manchester City, Kevin de Bruyne will remain key to their success. 

Margaret Plunkett, Head of Customer Service

Premier League winner: Manchester United
Top four: Manchester UnitedArsenal, Manchester CityChelsea
Relegated: Hull City, Southampton, Burnley
Overachievers: Arsenal – My beloved Gunners will remain in the top four despite not spending umpteen millions on new players.
Underachievers: Tottenham Hotspur – Spurs have an excellent manager but his players will let him down again this season.
Signing of the season: Granit Xhaka (Arsenal)

FA Cup winner: Chelsea
League Cup winner: Liverpool

UEFA Champions League winner: Bayern Munich
UEFA Europa League winner: Atletico Madrid

Random prediction: Sam Allardyce will bring success to England at last.

Wayne Rooney Testimonial: Manchester United v Everton

Can Jose Mourinho bring Manchester United back into title contention with an expensively assembled new-look side?

Alistair Hunter, Editorial Assistant

Premier League winner: Manchester City
Top four: Manchester CityManchester UnitedChelseaTottenham Hotspur
Relegated: Hull City, Swansea City, Watford
Overachievers: Middlesbrough – If only Aitor Karanka can glue the pieces together, there’s genuine talent on Teesside in Marten de Roon, Viktor Fischer and Alvaro Negredo.
Underachievers: Leicester City – The fearless Foxes won’t be as lucky with injuries again this season. Regardless, the Premier League has an inexhaustible love of seeing successful teams fail. The bottom half beckons for Claudio Ranieri’s miracle men.
Signing of the season: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) – He’s getting on a bit, yes, but the Premier League will suit this brash, physical phenomenon. That secret yoga routine has kept him nimble.

FA Cup winner: Manchester City
League Cup winner: Cambridge United – At the time of writing, the U’s have just dumped out Championship side Sheffield Wednesday to reach Round Two. Wembley calls…

UEFA Champions League winner: FC Barcelona – There’s no way you keep Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr and Luis Suarez quiet two years in a row.
UEFA Europa League winner: PSV Eindhoven – The Dutch side finish third in their UEFA Champions League group then battle to victory in Stockholm under Phillip Cocu, an achievement that’ll earn the boss a move to a top European side.

Random prediction: Dele Alli will continue his remarkable rise at Tottenham Hotspur. There will be at least one nine-goal thriller as the league’s porous defences are exposed by one of Europe’s finest collection of attacking midfielders.

Harm Jan Deuring, De Hand van Maradona

Premier League winner: Manchester United
Top four: Manchester United, Manchester CityTottenham Hotspur, Chelsea
Relegated: Hull City, Burnley, Bournemouth
Overachievers: Everton’s play will be the opposite of last season’s: not sparkling but very efficient. David Moyes will guide Sunderland to a solid season.
Underachievers: Liverpool‘s inconsistency will result in a paltry mid table finish. Arsenal will fail to qualify for a UEFA Champions League spot and Arsene Wenger will quit next summer.
Signing of the season: Ilkay Gundogan – The German will be a key player for Manchester City from day one.

FA Cup winner: Manchester City
League Cup winner: Chelsea

UEFA Champions League winner: FC Barcelona 
UEFA Europa League winner: Internazionale under Frank de Boer

Random prediction: Harry Kane will again finish the season as Premier League top goalscorer. Injuries will disrupt the debut season of Zlatan Ibrahimovic but at the end of season he will have played an important role at Old Trafford.

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - Premier League

Dele Alli was red hot for Tottenham last season, will his stock rise yet further this campaign?

Chris Jinks, A1 Sporting Memorabilia

Premier League winner: Manchester United
Top four: Manchester UnitedManchester CityLiverpoolChelsea
Relegated: Sunderland, Swansea City, Hull City
Overachievers: Liverpool – The Reds will have momentum with Jurgen Klopp as in charge and the team as a whole will become greater than the sum of all its parts.
Underachievers: Arsenal – The same stagnant strategy with no real leadership on or off the pitch will lead to a finish outside the top four in Wenger’s last season.
Signing of the season: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – The spotlight is bound to be on fellow summer signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba meaning the pressure is off the Armenian playmaker.

FA Cup winner: Chelsea
League Cup winner: Liverpool

UEFA Champions League winner: FC Barcelona
UEFA Europa League winner: Atletico Madrid

Random prediction: This will be Arsene Wenger’s last season in the Premier League but he will eventually return to manage here… as England boss.

Scott Hutchison, US Partner

Premier League winner: Chelsea
Top four: ChelseaManchester United, Manchester CityArsenal
Relegated: Burnley, Hull City, Swansea
Overachievers: Middlesbrough – Boro will be this season’s Bournemouth.
Underachievers: Manchester City – Pep Guardiola will find the Premier League much harder than previous stops. Paul Pogba – There’s no way the Frenchman lives up to the hype and his hefty price tag.
Signing of the season: Andre Ayew (West Ham United) 

FA Cup winner: Liverpool
League Cup winner: Manchester United – Jose Mourinho will desperately want to win silverware in his first season at Old Trafford.

UEFA Champions League winner: FC Barcelona
UEFA Europa League winner: Manchester United – See above.

Random prediction: The key for any Premier League team to win America’s hearts begins with the smarts to sign Dortmund’s US wunderkind Christian Pulisic and someone will oblige in the January transfer window.


So, that’s what we think will go down during this season’s Premier League campaign. But what do you think? Send us your predictions by getting in touch via our FacebookTwitter and Instagram pages!

For our full range of Premier League signed products check out icons.com now!



Icons Announce New Official FA England Memorabilia Licence

FA-Licence-Announcement

We are today proud to announce a brand new licence with The Football Association to provide Icons.com and The England Store with Official England Licensed Memorabilia.

Adding to official licences for FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA EURO 2016 and Lionel Messi signed products, we are delighted to bring together a brand new range of superb items signed by many of England’s finest ever players both past and present.

Many of the products in our brand new range mark the 50th anniversary of English football’s finest hour: the 1966 FIFA World Cup. We have signed items from the heroes of that legendary team; Sir Bobby Charlton, Jack Charlton, Sir Geoff Hurst, Gordon Banks, Alan Ball, Martin Peters, Roger Hunt, George Cohen, Nobby Stiles and Ray Wilson. There are team signed shirts both framed and unframed, signed photos, posters, boots, balls and much more among our wide selection.

World Cup Final

Sir Bobby Charlton holds aloft The Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley Stadium on July 30th, 1966

Each and every product will come with an Official England Licensed Memorabilia Certificate of Authenticity which, where possible, gives details of when and where each item was signed. It’s proof that the product is 100% genuine and 100% official.

So, whether you’re feeling nostalgic about legendary achievements of England’s greatest ever players or excited for a new era of Three Lions football under Sam Allardyce, you’re bound to find an item you’ll treasure.

With exciting new products being added to both sites over the coming weeks and months, keep your eyes peeled for more Official England Licensed Memorabilia from the world’s best. The full range is coming to Icons.com soon but if you can’t wait, check out our products on The England Store today!

For more reasons to buy from Icons.com, visit our Why Buy From Us page.

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