Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Leicester – Where do you start, absolutely no-one had them down to win the league at the start of the season. Many (me included) tipped them for the drop once Claudio Ranieri was named as Manager but they’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations and caused the biggest shock in English Football. The perfect fairytale in Football and it just goes to show that money doesn’t necessarily buy your titles
Arsenal – With Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all having poor seasons by their own standards will Arsene Wenger feel that this was the one that slipped away. Some of the fans certainly do, 2nd place will just no doubt appease the vocal fans but they are still a world class striker away from delivering a first title since 2004
Tottenham – If they season ended after 34 games then although you would be disappointed with missing out on the title you still would be delighted with securing Champions League action next season. These last 4 games have certainly taken the gloss of the season but it shouldn’t dampen their achievements too much
Manchester City – It took them to the final day of the season to secure 4th spot but have they really deserved it. Since the announcement that Manuel Pellegrini was to leave they’ve stumbled over the line and flattered to deceive. A disappointing campaign and Pep Guardiola has a rebuilding job on his hands
Manchester United – It’s going to be a league finish of no better than 5th for United, with only an F.A. Cup win to mask the disappointment. Will a win in the Cup on Saturday be enough to keep Louis Van Gaal in a job next Summer, does he become a lame duck Manager for the last year of his contract some big questions will have to be asked in the Summer by the United hierarchy
Southampton – Another fantastic season for Southampton with Ronald Koeman at the helm as they secure a Europa League spot for the second season in a row. The key now is whether the Southampton board can match the ambition of Koeman and give him the required funds to bridge the gap to the Top 4 or whether they continue to be perceived as a selling club to the teams above
West Ham – Slaven Bilic’s side have been very impressive this season but by finishing 7th you get the feeling there is an air of disappointment around the East London club today. They fell at the final hurdle in their quest for European Football and they are now reliant on Louis Van Gaal’s side doing them a favour on Saturday. But even without that it’s still be a decent final season at Upton Park
Liverpool – It’s Europa League victory or bust for Jurgen Klopp in his first season in charge at Anfield. An 8th place finish can be justified if they go onto beat Sevilla on Wednesday. If they don’t then there’s no European night in front of The Kop next season and maybe Klopp’s first campaign won’t be judged as well. The next few days will shape the perception of Liverpool’s season
Stoke – A third straight 9th place for Mark Hughes side. Their form dropped off after Jack Butland’s injury on international duty back in March, leaving Hughes with a case of what might have been. On the whole it’s been a decent season and Stoke look a lot easier on the eye these days but without sacrificing results to that in itself must be deemed improvement on Stoke’s part
Chelsea – An absolute horror show of a season but their standards. A season mired by Mourinho, Physio-Gate and whether or not John Terry gets a new contract. Guus Hiddink to his credit and somewhat steadied the ship but to be fair the club was a shipwreck when he took over. It will be interesting to see Antonio Conte picks up from where Hiddink has left off. Expect change at Chelsea this Summer
Everton – For a long time people were asking whether or not Roberto Martinez would last the Summer. The Everton board answered that question for us last week. It’s fair to say that Everton have been slipping down the table under Martinez and a change had to be made. Now you wonder who takes over and whether they can keep hold of Romelu Lukaku, John Stones and Ross Barkley
Swansea – Undoubtedly the turn around of the season thanks to Francesco Guidolin coming in to replace Garry Monk in January. He’s taken the side from a relegation battle to a comfortable mid-table position. His reward being a new 2 year contract and one that is thoroughly deserved. The Swans have been a markedly different and more solid side in the second half of the season
Watford – When is 13th place in the league not enough?, just ask Quique Sanchez Flores whose tenure ended at Vicarage Road yesterday after the Pozzo family exercised a break in his contract. A harsh decision and the concern for Watford fans will be whether the Pozzo’s have got rid of one man too many. Will the grass be greener on the other side when a new man takes charge
West Brom – It seems as if West Brom have just floated throughout the season. It feels like they’ve been 14th every week, they’ve been solid but unspectacular but Tony Pulis sides always are. The question now is whether the West Brom Chairman once to go through all this again and offer Pulis a new contract or do they take a risk and change the man in charge. A big decision awaits
Crystal Palace – It’s been a season of two halves for Crystal Palace. A promising 2015 was let down by a terrible 2016. The F.A. Cup run has no doubt papered over the cracks but once again Alan Pardew has shown he is an incredibly streaky Manager. A win at Wembley will deliver European Fooball but on the basis of their league form they don’t really deserve it, but that’s Cup Football for you I guess
Bournemouth – If Watford sack their Manager by finishing 13th then Bournemouth show you how it should be done. A fantastic season for Eddie Howe whose side secured safety by March. It’s fair to say they’ve been on the beach since then but I don’t think he can really begrudge his players efforts too much. He just has to make sure they don’t start slowly next season or they could be in trouble.
Sunderland – Big Sam performs The Great Escape again. After taking charge in November he has had enough time to turn the tide and more importantly had a transfer window to bring players in who were up for the job in keeping Sunderland up and those players certainly were. The challenge now for Sunderland is too move away from this part of the table and stop this annual recurrence
Newcastle -If Big Sam had time then it’s the one thing that Rafa Benitez wishes he had. A 6 game unbeaten run at the end of the season showed signs of improvements but there just wasn’t enough games to revive his side fortunes. The questions now are does Rafa stay and where on earth did that 5-1 win over Tottenham come from Yesterday. More of those and they would have never been in danger
Norwich – They’ve been short in every department this season, too many goals conceded coupled with not enough goals at the other end have been some of but not all of the reasons for Norwich’s failure to stay up. You can add poor recruitment and defensive errors also in what has been a season where Norwich never really gave it a proper crack did they. A season memorable for the wrong reasons
Aston Villa – Forget memorable this is a season that Villa fans will definitely want to forget. A season that didn’t start too bad in fairness but even by September the writing was on the wall. They’ve limped to the finish line after seeing off two managers in what has been embarrassing for everyone connected to the club, Whoever takes over in the Summer is really going to have their work cut out
Papa Johns – If your team scores twice then it’s half price
