Wow, what an absolute humdinger of a season. There were more swings and roundabouts than a swing and roundabout factory. All culminating in the most dramatic finish in EPL history. Man City looked like they’d bottled it big time before coming back from the abyss in incredible scenes. It was far from the only story of the season though so join me over the break for more and I’ll also post my team of the year.<!--more-->

The Fallen

Blackburn and Wolves, it could be argued, went down as a result of mismanagement from above. Blackburn sticking with the despised Steve Kean despite his shocking results last season after taking over from Allardyce. He’s clearly well in there with Venky’s though and as such was kept on when really he shouldn’t have been. Blackburn going down was a surprise to very few. I imagine Big Sam, recently promoted with West Ham will give Kean a wave, or the finger or a court summons  on the way past.

Wolves meanwhile sacked McCarthy well after the supporters had demanded it last year. As it happened they kept him on until after the January transfer window which meant the new man had no opportunity to bring in his own players. It was also apparent after the sacking that no-one wanted the job hence the Connor appointment. He failed to win a game.

Bolton disappointed, they had their chances but blew them, none more so than in the penultimate game when they lost two late goals at home to West Brom. They were unfortunate though, to lose their two best players for the season in Stuart Holden and Chung-Yong Lee as well as last season’s loanee Daniel Sturridge. Simply though they weren’t good enough and like the other two face an almighty battle to get back up.

The Escape Artists

It’s possibly unfair but it feels a bit like QPR and Villa stayed up by default. Villa picked up their points earlier in the season and just as well as they were on a horrendous run for the last half of the season. They picked up less points than McLeish’s Birmingham the previous season when they were relegated and Big Eck ultimately paid for it with his job.

QPR to me looked like they were on the way out under Warnock. In fact I said as much here and owner Fernandez thought as much also as he sacked Warnock the next day. There was improvement under Hughes but it was Bolton’s inabilities in the last two games that ensured they stayed up. Barton’s red card in the last game, where he got angrier than KRudd trying to learn Mandarin was classic Joey and could signal the end for him at QPR.

I always had faith that Wigan would stay up. I *ahem* knew they would beat Utd and also *cough* knew they’d beat Liverpool and Arsenal and *splutter* dish out a four goal pumping to in-form Newcastle. Ok, ok, maybe not to that extent, but Moses and Co are in the miracle making business and this year was no different, a phenomenal effort to win 7 of their last 9. Martinez is now on the radar of Liverpool.

Middle of the Road

Liverpool can get bracketed in here as they had a middle of the road finish. Of course 52pts an 8th place finish and18pts off a Champions League spot is an absolute disaster for the club. The legend that is Dalglish paid with his job. He spent bucketloads on players pre-season who simply weren’t good enough. Carroll, Henderson and Downing were all huge disappointments. Strangely they’ve all made England’s Euro squad (Henderson on standby).

Swansea and Norwich were two of the success stories of the season. Both hotly tipped to go straight back down. They defied the odds with a fair bit to spare. Swansea in particular playing a possession game that even had pass masters Arsenal chasing shadows. Sigurdsson coming in mid-season and scoring a fair few helped their cause. Rodgers has been approached about the Liverpool job.

Sunderland looked to be in real trouble until Bruce got sacked and Martin O’Neill turned their fortunes around. Sess, Larsson and I find this hard to say, but Bendtner all played a big part of it. They faded away towards the end but that’s normal for MON’s team as he stoically sticks by his hardcore of 12-14 players without much rotation. I’m looking forward to seeing who he brings to the club pre-season, whoever it is I’d expect them to be successful and again see his team fly out the blocks.

WBA, Fulham and Stoke were all a model of inconsistency and as such their seasons were spent mostly threatening to change places with each other in mid-table. Dempsey was the absolute stand-out from these three teams and there has been speculation for months about what top team he’ll join this summer.

Davie Moyes – what can you say about the man? He really is a miracle worker. For some reason I doubted Everton’s credentials this year, I just didn’t think that they could continue to punch above their weight with their crippling financial restrictions. Stupid of me really!

Moyes, with his patchwork side of bargains, underachievers, loanees and SPL plunderees, has shown again that money isn’t the be all and end-all. Donovan, Piennear (on loan) and Jelavic were all excellent signings and at one point in the season even brought a smile to Moyes face…or it may have been a grimace.

Newcastle were another team punching above their weight with Colocini, Ba, Ben Arfa, Cabaye and Krul all outstanding as was January signing Cisse. It is without doubt the greatest Newcastle team that’s ever played at Sports Direct Arena.

Arsenal managed to work their way into the season after a brutal start – Cesc and Nasri gone, four goals conceded at Blackburn, eight at Old Trafford, languishing in the bottom half. They eventually managed to turn their season around in no small part to Van Persie – the PL’s top scorer. The emergence of Oxlade-Chamberlain and return to form of Rosicky were amongst their other positives.

Spurs looked 3rd place certainties until media darling Redknapp was installed favourite for the England job. The job appears to be a poisoned chalice even if you dont get it.

They did make a comeback of sorts which was enough to guarantee 4th place but brutually wasn’t enough for UCL qualification due to Chelsea’s win against Bayern. What a win it was though, a masterpiece of back to the walls defending in the semi as well as the final. They mightn’t have been pretty but they won against the odds with less talent and deserve credit for that. It was also fitting that PL and Chelsea legend Drogba won it with the last penalty kick.

The Title

Wow. Who saw that coming? Yes, I tipped City to win it this year but not like this. That was one of the most incredible finishes ever seen.

Both teams deserve credit. City for stopping the Utd juggernaut in its tracks and Utd for making such a fight of it with probably their least talented team in recent memory.

I found it hard to narrow down my team of the year but here it is …

Vorm

Walker   Kompany  Coloccini  Cole

Silva Tiote Toure Bale

RVP Aguero

There were plenty more candidates, Dempsey..Rooney..Baines..Krul..too many to mention them all in fact.

Player of the year - Yaya Toure, Runner up- RVP

Manager of the year- Mancini ,Runner up- Pardew

Dick of the year - Tevez, Runner up-Barton

There were 6candidates for the manager!

Ill sign off for now, hope you enjoyed the read through the season.Would love to know everyones thoughts on their team/stars of the season? Bring on the Euros!!