Super, Scary, Scintillating Sunday (and grown men crying)

Manchester United duly wrapped up the Premier League title with a Wayne Rooney penalty which won their required point at Blackburn.  In the tale of two cities at Wembley their Manchester rivals were victorious against a thoroughly outplayed Stoke with Yaya Toure scoring the only goal to give City their first silverware in 30 odd years.  Toure, on a reported £220k per week, looked absolutely thrilled to have scored and won the cup.  The foreign legion at Manchester all celebrated as though this was the pinnacle of their careers and Mario Ballatelli, who has been much criticised this season following his big money move from Inter Milan was absolutely jubilant having turned in one of his best performances for City.  Having confirmed their entry into the money-spinning Champions League next year City fans must be drooling with anticipation of good times coming to their side of the city, but they’ve some way to go to overcome their illustrious neighbours.  United show no signs of weakening and it will interesting to see how both match up to the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham as well as each other next year.  Money talks, and it is the additions to the squad which will tell us what to expect next year.  City will spend big.  They have the funds and the inclination to do so.  Whether they spend on the right players is yet to be seen but the lure of Champions League football should suffice for many players as yet undecided as to whether to join the blues ranks.

At the other end of the Premier League, the most fascinating final day ever awaits with no less than five teams still battling for the two remaining relegation slots.  West Hams poor season was finally put to bed at the DW Stadium on Sunday, squandering a two goal half time lead to Wigan and the final nail in the coffin was provided by a 94^th minute strike from Charles N’Zogbia.  It was nothing more than Wigan deserved in a real ding-dong battle which did the Premier League no harm at all.  Whether this fixture is repeated in the Championship next year will be decided on what looks like being a truly Super Sunday.

As things stand Wigan, on 39 points and -22 goal difference and Blackpool, on 39 points and – 21 goal difference make up the bottom three along with the already doomed Hammers.  Birmingham sits just above them on 39 points with a -20 goal difference.  Above the Blues are Wolves on 40 points and -19 goal difference and the final candidates are Blackburn on 40 points with a -14 goal difference.

To be in with a shout of staying up on the last day shows the credit which must be given to Blackpool who were most peoples favourites for relegation at the start of the season.  That they travel to Manchester United for their final game adds to the intrigue.  United, with the Premier League title already in their grasp will have both eyes on the Champions League final the following Saturday when the teams meet which must give Blackpool some hope of getting the result they need to keep them up.  But United have been unbeaten at Old Trafford this year dropping just 2 points at the Theatre of Dreams.  Their pride, determination and quality (in whatever team Sir Alex chooses to field) makes this a massive task for the Seasiders.

Such is the closeness of the battle above them a narrow defeat coupled with heavy losses for Wigan and Birmingham could still see the Tangerine men safe on Sunday evening and it certainly looks like being an enthralling climax to the season.

That all 5 teams could reach the often deemed sufficient 40 points this year and 2 still be relegated on this total speaks volumes for the type of season we’ve seen this year.  All the bottom six have secured fine results against superior opposition and yet have struggled at the wrong end of the table for the most part. Only 3 times in the last 15 years have teams been relegated with a points total in the 40’s and those who join West Ham will be distraught to have come so close this year.

Wolves host Blackburn on the final day and should secure their own safety whilst leaving Blackburn perilously looking over their shoulder.  Tough games for Wigan (away at Stoke, eager to end the season on a high after their flat FA Cup Final appearance) and Birmingham (away at Tottenham, eager to confirm fifth place and Europa League football next term) make their efforts incredibly hard but the Premier League is notoriously hard to predict – once you take the top four out of the equation – and both have shown their fighting qualities in recent weeks.  As much as their efforts have been appreciated this year, I predict that the table come six o’clock next Sunday will look exactly as it does now, other than Wolves leapfrogging Blackburn for 15^th spot.  Blackpool in particular have added a great deal to the league this year and will be missed if things don’t go their way on Sunday but whoever goes down will be devastated and will have to manage the financial ramifications and inevitable player disruption in order to achieve a quick return from an extremely tough Championship which will have an even stronger field following the promotions of Brighton and Southampton.  At least for Championship fans, should Blackpool go down, there will be some nice days out at the seaside for away trips next year!

The season has shown Blackpool, and all teams promoted from the Championship that the gulf in class can be extreme but they and most others are well capable of competing with at least half of the teams in the league.  It is the knack that the likes of West Brom, Bolton, Stoke and Fulham of turning draws into vital wins and losses into vital draws which keeps their heads above water without ever threatening to break into the top 6 sides in the country.  For an ambitious chairman the opportunity to throw money at the problem and buy players of varying quality at inflated prices must be tempting but it is a risk that can badly backfire.  The board at West Ham made up of the Gold/Sullivan/Brady partnership which reaped such rich dividends at Birmingham City before selling the club off for a huge profit have already admitted that several of their more high profile players will leave this summer and for a club with huge existing debts their spending cannot be as free as they would hope.  They also have to find a manager to get them promoted having dispensed with the services of Avram Grant within an hour of their defeat at Wigan.

So often in the football leagues the final days fixtures leave virtually no bearing on final league positions so it will be an enjoyable day, with plenty of twists and turns over the 90 minutes which will decide this seasons final slots.  Expect Sky TV to be full of supporters tears, jubilation and devastation and hopefully some quality play to settle these tight games.  For players like Charlie Adam, Charles N’Zogbia, Cameron Jerome, Brett Emerton and Kevin Doyle this could be the last 90 minutes they play in the Premier League for their current clubs and will be looking to exit on a high. 

Embrace it and enjoy it!