Competition time: Win the shirt, some news and squad numbers

So, the news that Ron Vlaar signed for Aston Villa was confirmed yesterday and as if by coincidence on the exact same day it was confirmed that James Collins joined West Ham. They say timing is everything.

And as you can see by the transfer window watch box to the right, there has been a fair amount of movement this summer already and if you were a betting man, I suspect you'd put a little cash on one or two still leaving and one or two coming in. I am and I would if I could.

Competition time

But, we will leave the speculation where it should be left, instead, we'll have a competition and I don't think anyone will get it spot on, so it will be the closest to that wins.

And the winner will win the new home or away shirt, but you'll likely not get it until the week after the season kicks off and you'll understand why when you see the competitions question.

To win the home or away shirt simply answer in the comments below with your guess for the total attendance of all the opening fixtures of this season (matches taking place on August 18th, 19th and 20th). Whoever gets closest (or spot on) will be contacted on August 21st. You can have a maximum of three guesses, but only one guess per comment please. If, for whatever reason a match doesn't happen, we will use the average home attendance for the home team last season.

Squad numbers

Lastly today, we have squad numbers and while I suspect this isn't final, it is news, so here they are.

  • 1 Shay Given
  • 2 Alan Hutton
  • 3 Stephen Warnock
  • 4 Ron Vlaar
  • 5 Richard Dunne
  • 6 Ciaran Clark
  • 7 Stephen Ireland
  • 8 Karim El Ahmadi
  • 9 Darren Bent
  • 10 Charles N'Zogbia
  • 11 Gabby Agbonlahor
  • 12 Marc Albrighton
  • 14 Brett Holman
  • 16 Fabian Delph
  • 17 Jean II Makoun
  • 19 Stan Petrov
  • 22 Brad Guzan
  • 23 Nathan Delfouneso
  • 25 Barry Bannan
  • 26 Andreas Weimann
  • 29 Enda Stevens
  • 30 Eric Lichaj
  • 31 Chris Herd
  • 32 Nathan Baker
  • 33 Andy Marshall
  • 34 Matthew Lowton
  • 35 Daniel Johnson
  • 38 Gary Gardner
  • 39 Benjamin Siegrist
  • 40 Samir Carruthers