"IT'S that time again. The start of a new season and I know that while all the Premiership fans are excited, none will be more excited than the fans of Hull and Stoke who were promoted from the Championship along with West Brom. But while West Brom have experienced the Premier League, Stoke has not been in the top flight for over 20 years and this is the first time for Hull. The first priority of those two clubs will be just staying alive and out of the relegation zone. It is not going to be easy but their first order of business is to get some players in. And hopefully win as many of their home games as possible and perhaps pick up a few games on the road. It is going to be tough for them ¿ there is no question about it.

I was very happy to see Stoke win promotion at the end of last season as they are a great football club with a lot of history. I remember them well from my days at West Ham. They had some very good players back then and I always like the people of Stoke. The club has a lot of support and it would be a pity if they went right back down again.

For teams promoted to the Premiership it can be a tough time. Over half of the 15 teams to get into the Premier League over the past five years have been relegated immediately so that tells you something.

Stoke's major offseason signing was striker Dave Kitson for a club record of over $10 million but he was not that great for Reading last season. Stoke are at Bolton on Saturday so at least they are not being thrown into the deep end against any of the big four. Get a win at Bolton and they will be on their way . . . at least the club's supporters will be hoping so.

Hull will also have a rough time of it this season. When I was playing with the Hammers back in the 1970s Hull was not known as a football town but it shows you how things have changed. It is quite remakrable that they made promotion and I know the Hull fans must be pinching themselves.

Hull has always been known as a rugby town but if Wigan, another rugby town, can be successful in football so can Hull.

But they have to get in some players. They just confirmed the signing of Wigan striker Marlon King on a season-long loan but they are going to need more than him.

Of course they have last season's hero Dean Windass but he is definitely getting on in age.

And of course on-loan striker Fraizer Campbell was recalled to Manchester United this season and that will be a blow to them.

But the arrivals of George Boateng from Middlesbrough and Bernard Mendy from Paris Saint-Germain will inject some experience.

Hull will be at home to Fulham on Saturday and I expect their stadium to be packed and very, very noisy.

Last season's other promoted team, West Brom, have more experience in the top flight than the other two and they also played very well last season in the FA Cup semi-final against eventual winners Portsmouth. West Brom took the Championship title and over the long haul I expect them to do better than either Hull or Stoke. However they are off to a tough start when they travel to Arsenal ¿ not an easy game for any team.

The Gunners got their Champions League season off to a good start this week when they beat Steve McClaren's FC Twente 2-0 in Arnhem on Wednesday. Arsene Wenger will again be in charge of a mostly young team who play some of the most attractive football in the world.

In fact on Wednesday the Frenchman gave new signing 17-year-old Aaron Ramsey his debut. But it was two older heads who got the goals ¿ captain William Gallas and Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

Chelsea take on FA winners Portsmouth on Sunday and Chelsea look to have yet another strong team with a few additions like Deco. But they are going to have to find someone to fill Makalele's position. He was so intregal to Chelsea's success but I think that Essien can play there for them.

Last season Chelsea came so close to winning both the Premiership and the Champions League only to see Manchester United take those two trophies. Now they have a World Cup winning manager in Luiz Felipe Scolari ¿ not that Avram Grant did a bad job. In fact he was treated rather badly.

Scolari has been in charge of Portugal for a number of years and now he returns to day-to-day management. But he will not be phased ¿ especially with the players at his disposal!

He certainly has enough top quality midfielders ¿ Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Jon Obi Mikel and new arrival Deco.

One of the better matches this weekend should be Manchester United hosting Newcastle. I know one thing ¿ there will be goals in it and whether United thump Newcastle or Newcatle manage to get some goals, it should be a fun game to watch.

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LAMPARD

After all the talk about Frank Lampard leaving Chelsea and going to Inter Milan it seems like Frank has settled for the Blues ¿ and a lot of money. They say he will be the highest paid player in the Premiership but he has worked hard for it. I think he is one of the best scoring midfielders around. He signed a new five-year contract and since he is about 30 years old that will be his last contract. I imagine Chelsea fans are very happy.

Lampard has been a key player for Chelsea since he moved from West Ham (where else!) back in 2001 and has scored over 100 goals for the club. That is pretty good for a midfielder.

OLYMPICS

I have wanted to watch the football at the Olympics but it is frustrating ¿ I can't seem to find it anywhere. In fact it is tough to find out when any of the football is going to be on and it is driving me crazy! There are some good games going on in China and this weekend we start with the quarterfinals. Hopefully they will be televised and I can figure out when they are on.

Italy take on Belgium in one quarterfinal and Belgium must be very happy to make it this far as they have not done much on the international stage for quite a while.

In the other quarter we have Argentina taking on Holland ¿ a big match by any standard. The third quarter will see Brazil up against Cameroon and again this should be a cracker while the other quarter will be an all-Africa affair with Nigeria facing Ivory Coast.

The semi-finals are set for Tuesday ¿ one in the Bird's Nest while the bronze medal game will be on Friday with the gold medal game on Saturday at the Bird's Nest.