What an Unpredictable Premier League season

What a season that was in the Premier League! By far the most exciting season for many years. So much at stake and so much going down to the wire and the last game of the season. The Championship, European places and Relegation all coming down to the final games and as we all saw, the final seconds. A truly amazing season that like many fans, I feel so happy to have witnessed it all.

First off though I thought it was time I review the final league positions to my pre season predictions. I wish I could lie and edit my league predictions, but I won't and I was so far off it was untrue!!! Have a see for yourselves:

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE (MY PREDICTIONS)

1. Manchester City.....(Manchester United)
2. Manchester United...(Chelsea)
3. Arsenal.............(Manchester City)
4. Tottenham...........(Arsenal)
5. Newcastle...........(Liverpool)
6. Chelsea.............(Tottenham)
7. Everton.............(Sunderland)
8. Liverpool...........(Everton)
9. Fulham..............(Fulham)
10. West Brom...........(Bolton)
11. Swansea.............(Stoke)
12. Norwich.............(West Brom)
13. Sunderland..........(Aston Villa)
14. Stoke...............(Blackburn)
15. Wigan...............(Wolves)
16. Aston Villa.........(Newcastle)
17. QPR.................(QPR)
18. Bolton..............(Swansea)
19. Blackburn...........(Wigan)
20. Wolves..............(Norwich)

I only got 2 matching positions, that of Fulham in 9th and QPR in 17th. Pre season I truly believed that my preictions were going to come very close, but the performances of the promoted teams, especially Swansea and Norwich really helped transform this years premier league. This is shown in the relegation of 3 established Premier League teams going down and no promoted teams suffering the drop.

One of the other notable errors was Newcastle United. I really thought they would struggle this year, as did so many fans and pundits, but they surprised everyone and had a fantastic season to finish 5th. This to me completely justifies Alan Pardew winning the Manager of the Year award. Not a manager I particularly like too much, but he has certainly turned my opinions with some shrewd business this season with the acquisition of Cabaye, Tiote, Ba and Cisse.

The top of the table I did not believe Manchester City were ready to win the league due to their participation in the Champions League. It takes so much out of teams to compete on all fronts. What happened was City dropped out at the group stages of the Champions League and concentrated on the league and their fantastic squad held up well. I was impressed with how quickly Mancini has built the City team up to win the Premier League. It shows that he really is a high quality manager.

Chelsea were the big surprise in the league, ultimately down to an ageing squad and the managerial issues in my opinion. It just didnt work for AVB unfortunately, probably due to the established stars in the team and the age of those stars too. Too much player power. Plus, he is still a very inexperienced manager and the pressures of the Premier League are extreme. Though Chelsea had great cup runs, winning the FA Cup and have the Champions League final to look forward too, which is an incredible achievement.

The race for the Champions League places went down to the wire too. So many teams had control of that position it seemed, but couldn't cross the finish line. Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham were all competing this season. Arsenal seemed dead and buried at the start, but Robin Van Persie kept them in touching distance all season and the gunners will all be thankful for his achievements this year (I certainly am). Tottenham unfortunately are lacking some no how at the top of the Premier League. They have a good manager, a great team, but their are very few players who have been near the top of the league. Only Gallas and Adebayor spring to mind. More experienced quality players are needed for Spurs to push that bit further next season.


Overall what an incredible season! A review of this incredible season could go on and on. The failings of Liverpool, the relegation of Bolton and Blackburn specifically. Just shocks throughout the season. But for me, its been truly fantastic. The promoted teams have added so much quality to the league, that I cannot wait until next season!!!!

The King is Back - An Inspirational Story

If there ever were a script in football that you could say was from a Hollywood movie then this surely has to be up there as one of the greatest of all time. Thierry Henry, Arsenal's leading scorer of all time and arguably the greatest ever player for the club, re-signing with the Gunners at the age of 34 years old, then scoring the winner in the FA Cup in front of 60,000 at the Emirates Stadium. Its a dreamland, its a fairy tale, it is just well and truly a great moment and one that will be remembered for a long long time. It is what dreams are made of and one reason why we love the sport so much.



Signed by Arsene Wenger for a 2 month loan deal to act as cover for Robin Van Persie and to provide the Dutch superstar with a bit of relief. In reality the thinking was to try and give the rest of the Arsenal strike force a proverbial kick up the backside. Having someone like Henry around a club can only be positive, whether talking to young players, helping out other strikers or just having his presence will go a long way for the team. Who would of thought he would return to former glories and set the Emirates alight with some old magic that many believed he would never get back.

What a glorious finish it was and just pure and simply, Henryesq. The classically perfect first touch and then the traditional opened up body and slotting the ball into the far corner with his right boot. It's a thing of beauty in the game and one perfected by such an inspirational player in the game. How Arsenal have missed him, and how the whole premier League have missed such an inspiring individual both on and off the field.


Many will believe it is all a bit over dramatic, as at the end of the day it was a home game in the FA Cup 3rd round against a struggling Championship side like Leeds United, one which Arsenal should of cruised through. But we should embrace just a truly magical moment in the game, that makes us all stand up and believe in the beautiful game.

Suarez and Liverpool shoot themselves in the foot

The race row finally came to an abrupt end as so many people in football were extremely pleased about. The outcome I'm sure would have disappointed so many in the game that these issues still arise between players and in the football environment in general. However, some will see the outcome and an 8 game ban as good justice for the use of racist language. Others will see the ban as harsh and I am certain that plenty more will see the ban as too lenient. Whatever your view, it is essential that if issues arise that the people involved are dealt with severely.

That age old saying "innocent until proven guilty" certainly should be the case in all matters. The problem is that Liverpool took an incredible risk when they brought out the t shirts for the players to wear in support of Suarez, a risk that if found guilty could backfire immensely....which as we know is precisely what happened.



It is understandable for an employer to stand by an employee when facing outside disciplinary problems, but the level of this support should be very minimal. The reason being is that it accentuates the risk of the employer's name being brought into the incident with the employee if a guilty verdict is found. And this is exactly what happened in the Suarez case. Now Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, the squad and the club as a whole have fallen into the racism row in a negative way. They did not need to publicly speak out, they did not need to wear the needless t-shirts either. This in my opinion was making a mockery out of the whole affair. We are talking about Racism, something that should not be in today's society in anyway, shape or form. It is something that has caused huge issues worldwide and is not wanted in our game. Liverpool should have just said it is out of our hands now and that they would deal with the matter when the verdict is read out.


Liverpool will be regretting the mistakes I'm sure made when the guilty verdict was read out. What amazed me the most about it all was Suarez coming out and explaining what he said and how it has no connotations back in his homeland of Uruguay. He plead not guilty, though by speaking out and admitting using the word "negro" he has just shot himself in the foot and brought his club down with it. These are his employers who should have been educating him on all issues in his new society if he needed it (which he clearly does). All in all, both Suarez and Liverpool have come out of this extremely badly and both have a lot of work to do in order to rebuild the relationships with the footballing world.

Newcastle's slender squad in more than one way

After having a terrific start to the season, Newcastle United are steadily starting to fall off the rails. After a tough run of games which brought them 1 point in 9 against Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, they went to Carrow Road Saturday with an injury hit squad, especially at the heart of the defence. When playing against a very physical side like Norwich, you need commanding center backs at the heart of your team who are going to win the ball and be strong against the likes of Grant Holt and Steve Morrison. With Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor both on the sidelines (the later of which unfortunate to be ruled out for the entire season), the Magpies had to have a make shift center back partnership of Danny Simpson and James Perch.

Paul Lambert got his tactics spot on seeing the slim lined defence partnership and ensured Norwich kept on getting crosses in the box, which was a very successful tactic to play. It certainly paid off with all 4 goals coming from crosses into the box in a 4 vs. 2 win for the Canaries. Newcastle were lacking a strong physical presence in their team, which opened them up to the airial attack of Norwich.

Newcastle without their early season formidable defensive partnership and also missing players in the middle of the park including Cheik Tiote and Danny Guthrie, were starting to suffer from a lack of strength in depth. This is something that Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have consistently been able to create in-order to finish in the top 4 season after season. The premier league season can be brutal on the players, especially with the addition of cup and European football. Good quality squad players are not easy to come by, as all players want to be playing week in week out and managers have a very difficult task trying to keep everyone happy within a club. But the development of quality younger players is always a good way of solving that problem and could be the answer for Newcastle in the long term. In the short term however, they will certainly need some investment into their squad in the January transfer window, to build up a stronger squad to try and stick around at the top part of the table.

If the investment is made I believe that it will be a guaranteed top 10 finish for Newcastle United.

Referees like Marmite, you either love them or hate them

The age old debate about referee's in the game of football continues after this weekends Premier League action and the number of controversial decisions given. You either love them or hate them and unfortunately for the referee's in action this weekend, the majority of people are thinking the later right now. They have a very difficult job to do in a sport that just gets faster and faster and in my opinion they are in desperate need for help, I just wish we would hear from them to make the plea.



The main referee at the center of the most controversial decision of the weekend is Mike Dean. He failed to send David Luiz off for bringing down Demba Ba in Chelsea's game against Newcastle on the weekend. A decision that completely changed and affected the outcome of the game. This was one of the most blatant decisions I have seen in recent times, a decision that the referee actually made, as he gave the foul, but failed to send off Luis. To Mike Dean's credit, he has come out after the game spoke to Alan Pardew and apologised for getting the decision wrong. This is something that I admire so much and only wish more referees do this after the games to explain their decision. In my opinion it will help solve the anger and anguish towards referees from fan's players and managers. As a football fan, I accept that they are human being's and like everyone they too can make mistakes. The question is, is this acceptable in the current game of football?

What has outraged Newcastle United and fan's of the game is a decision made at White Hart Lane on the same day, where referee Stuart Atwell sent off Gary Cahill for bringing down Scott Parker just 10 yards into the Bolton half and by the touch line. Perceived to be a goal scoring opportunity, one which another referee on the same day failed to make that decision on a foul by the last man on the edge of the penalty area. Inconsistency. The main annoyance of referees in the game of football. A game that causes managers to lose their jobs, for players to be dropped out of teams and for clubs to lose millions of pounds. Which answers my question previously that it is not acceptable. So the next question asks, how can we get more of these decisions right?



Is video technology the answer? Well it could well have changed the World Cup Game as you can see above, and it would certainly help clear up obvious wrong decisions in the game. My problem with it is solely the debatable decisions in the game. There are so many opinions from one to another on crucial decisions and I do not believe with video technology that it can always decide once and for all the correct decision. With far too much simulation in the game, players are making it very difficult for referee's to make the right decision. But again the problem is, how can you tell from one challenge to another whether a player has dived or not as it is not always that simple. In my opinion there are too many question marks over its usage to be incorporated into the game. Goal line technology, yes. But that is all that I believe should be in the game.

Other opinions raised on the issue have been to add another referee on the field of play. This is something that I am intrigued about if done correctly could help to improve the positioning of referees throughout the game.

The referee's must be fed up of being scrutinised and surely would benefit some assistance with decisions during the game. I would love to hear their opinions and what they believe, if anything, could help them make more correct decisions. But if we found the right method, and all decisions were correct, what would we be debating after games? What would manager's moan and complain about after the game? And what would newspapers write about? It could take a lot of the tension, the excitement and the sheer joy of talking about the game out of football. Only time will tell if it eventually gets implemented in the game In the mean time, the referees are still going to be loved by so many and loathed by many more.

Did AVB inherit an ageing deterioting team or is he to blame for Chelsea's poor form?

Andre Villas Boas has been talked about a lot in the press in recent weeks and more so after Chelsea's 2 vs. 1 defeat at home to Liverpool. They are already questioning his position as manager of a team he has been in charge of for just 12 Premier League games! Can a manager have such a negative affect on a top team like this? A young manager who performed very well in his previous year at Porto with a glowing reputation in the game. I don't believe he is to blame.



AVB inherited a team on the decline in my opinion. A team that has been greatly affected by the non stop chopping and changing of managers in the past few years. A team that has been built successfully on a fantastic talented spine of the team in Cech, Terry, Lampard and Drogba, the later 3 are all on a rapid decline as they reach the end of their careers. Players like these need support from a new breed, something that doesn't seem to be happening too much at Chelsea. Instead they are opting to buy players in and midfielders such as Mikel, Ramires and Meireles are not of the quality of the previous crop. The Fernando Torres situation is continuing to bring the team down. A player bought for £50 million with Premier League experience is a shadow of his former self and continually struggles to find the net in the Blue colors. Defensively David Luiz has been bought in to support the experience of John Terry, but he too has struggled immensely, proving to many he is not really a natural centre back.

This is only the half of it, as Ashley Cole is in poor form at left back and the other full back Bosingwa has struggled a lot this year, leaving centre back, Ivanovic to fill the gap, something he is not exactly 100% comfortable with. I have mentioned positions all over the pitch that are a current problem for Chelsea, so how is this down to new manager AVB?

Yes he picks the side, yes he picks the formation and yes he instructs how he wants his team to play. But it is ultimately down to the players on the park who are not performing to their potential. Maybe Chelsea are in a similar position to that of Arsenal at the start of the season, in a stage of transition. I believe this is certainly true for Chelsea and it is at this stage the chairman, Roman Abramovich, needs to give a manager time for the rebuilding process. This does not happen over night, but if done correctly, like Manchester City, it can be very successful.

Only time will tell, but I believe AVB should be given a chance to rebuild the ageing Cheslea team. The players for me need to take the majority of the brunt of the recent poor performances and rectify this throughout their next games. The only thing standing in the way is whether Abromovich has got the patience to stick with AVB, something he hasn't shown much of in the past.

SAY NO TO RACISM AND SAY YES TO BLATTER OUT

It is shocking to realise that in 2011 and the way our world is, that racism is still a big problem around the world, let alone in the sporting environment on the football pitch. But it is. We have the investigation into the alleged racist offences by John Terry and Luis Suarez taking place by the FA and the police in this country, one which if found guilty should bring about huge punishments. For John Terry it could seriously mean no more England career with the FA very keen to clamp down on racism. However, innocent until proven guilty certainly exists and I would not make any comments until that's the case, unlike that of FIFA president Sepp Blatter.



The man is the head of FIFA, the world governing body for football and he's put his ageing foot in it again. Sepp Blatter has been in charge of FIFA since 1998. He has made gaff after gaff including stating that in the women's game the players should wear tighter fitted jerseys, and that during the World Cup in Qatar where homosexuality is illegal, he stated that homosexuals should refrain from any contact during this time. And now this one, the biggest gaff of them all:

"Racist language on the field is like foul play and foul language. It happens in the heat of the moment on the football pitch and should be settled after the game with a handshake."

Words cannot describe how disgraceful these comments are. It is yet another sign of a man who's beliefs are out of date to the current state of the world. This is not the man that should be leading the charge against racism, as he claims to be doing. This is not the man that should be in charge of leading the fight to get more young people into the sport no matter what social or racial background their from. This is not the man that has the capabilities to take this sport forward. Simple.



Blatter has been explaining that he has been miss quoted, which is impossible because these comments were made straight out of the horses mouth. He claims that he is strongly against racism, that he led the fight against racism across the world, even using the fact he awarded the 2010 world cup to South Africa as part of his protest. None of these points go to explaining why he believes using racist language on the football field is acceptable.

These comments made could have a devastating affect on the football world from the lowest level up, and we could see issues sore across the world. Too prevent this devastating affect on the game, Sepp Blatter needs to be a man and hand his resignation in. We need to have somebody in charge of football with the beliefs of someone in touch with the 21st century.

GET BLATTER OUT