The Season That Was...

So, another season has come to an end.

Manchester United have remained top dogs, but on the European scale, Barcelona have laid down a marker for others to try and beat. They have produced scintillating performances on a regular basis throughout the year as goals came at an even faster rate than yellow cards for Marouanne Fellani.

Real Madrid were shown up to be nothing but a bunch of pretenders in both the Champions League and then La Liga, while in Germany, Hoffenheim provided the game with a feel-good factor as they pushed forward in the race to win the Bundesliga before having their hopes cruelly hit by an injury to their star forward.

Closer to home, Newcastle United have come back down to Earth with an almighty bang, and their fans will be planning for trips to Scunthorpe and Blackpool next season, while followers of their greatest rivals, Sunderland, will continue to plan for trips to Old Trafford and Anfield.

Liverpool staked their claim for greater honours, as did Aston Villa and Everton, but as they say, the table never lies, and all three sides finished up where they deserved to finish, but not exactly where they wanted to finish.

After installing new managers, West Ham and Manchester City had contrasting seasons. While West Ham struck gold with the appointment of magic main Gianfranco Zola, City struggled to match the expectations of the fans who were sent into dreamland with the whirlwind entrance of their rich owners and their new 'star' player, Robinho.

On a personal note, it was a tremendous season for my local side Birmingham City who 'got the job done' as we were promoted back to the Promised Land along with Wolves and Burnley who won the lottery of the play-offs. The season was long and difficult, but all three sides should approach the 09/10 Premier League season with no fears at all after seeing their competition in action in the 09/10 Prem season.

Nicolas Anelka hit top form for Chelsea as he finished as top goalscorer, but it was Didier Drogba who hit all the headlines for his antics during the Champions League semi-final.

It was the season when Fabio Capello started to extract some of the undoubted talent from within the England side, and a season when Newcastle went through more Messiah's than I went through hot dinners.

It seems that Premier League players took the storylines from 'Roy of the Rovers' a little too seriously, as Kiki Macheda stole the headlines not once, but twice with crucial goals against Villa (yayy!) and Sunderland.

It was a strange season where Chelsea's home form disappointed in comparison to previous seasons, in direct comparison to Stoke City who had an absolutely fantastic season at home, mainly thanks to their vociferous crowd who never gave up hope.

Ryan Giggs seemed to defy the laws of ageing as continued to ply his trade at the very highest level for United, as Sir Alex search for a new central midfielder came to an abrupt end with the sensational form of Darren Fletcher, who finally emerged from the shadows to become a key player in the United side.

It was a Premier League season when playing the Arsenal-way brought few rewards for both Wenger's side and Mowbray's great pretenders as Arsenal held on to 4th place (just) and West Brom suffered relegation (for the 1 millionth time).

Hull were given a right royal dressing down by their manager on the City of Manchester Stadium pitch, but Harry Redknapp chose a more traditional mode of managing as he saved a Spurs side from the humiliating fate of relegation (which eventually befell Newcastle instead).

This has been another monumental season in the history of the beautiful game. It has been a season full of joy, pain, laughter, tears and anything else you can think of. It is the only game that can make big men cry, and unite men and women, young and old, to stand together as one.
It is the only game of its kind.
It is our game.
What a season.


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