The very late season predictions review

Who will win the league?

Man City won the league after an extremely close title run, with the top four all having a chance well into March. Arsenal and Chelsea did die away and it was left to the final week where it was down to Liverpool and Man City. In the end the pressure got to Liverpool with defeat to Chelsea in a tactically naive performance and then a shocking draw at Crystal Palace after being three goals up. Man City were left just needing to beat West Ham at home on the final day.

John: Man Utd 
Stephen: Man City
Ian: Manchester United
Sam: Chelsea

Champions league positions?

What happened: The top four having all performed well this season were never really in danger from the outside. Everton did cause a slight shock when they beat Arsenal but with some hard fixtures left to play I don’t Arsenal ever felt in danger of losing out on Champions league. Top four Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

John: Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, and……… Tottenham.
Stephen: Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Spurs
Ian: Man United, Chelsea, Man City, Spurs
Sam: Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham

Relegations teams?

Sunderland looked doomed all season but with the end of season heroics managed to escape relegation to be only the second team during the premier league era to be bottom at Christmas and escape relegation. Mid-season madness from Cardiff and Fulham didn’t help their pursuit of survival and Norwich not getting the best of their new recruits. Relegated teams Norwich, Fulham, Cardiff.  

John: Crystal Palace, Hull, Newcastle
Stephen: Palace, Stoke, Cardiff
Ian: Hull, Crystal Palace and Stoke.
Sam: Stoke, Hull City, Crystal Palace

Overachievers of the season?

What happened: Well there is an extremely good argument for two candidates:

Crystal Palace: Tony Pulis took over in November and worked wanders with a team that looked destined to be relegated. They ended up being within four points of a top ten finish, with wins over Chelsea and a 3-3 with Liverpool are just some of the crazy results.

Liverpool: Not many people had Liverpool down as champions league contenders never mind title contenders. They came within two points of the title and at one point in the season it was hard to see anything other than Liverpool’s first premier league title. 

John: Southampton will have a good season, which will send Ricky Lambert to Brazil. Special Mention to Aston Villa who I think will have a very good season.
Stephen: Southampton... again.
Ian: Aston Villa
Sam: West Ham

Under performers of the season?

You could argue that Newcastle would have been relegated in rock bottom if the season started in January. You could also look at Norwich and say they had bought some good players and failed to get the best out of them, which cost them their premier league status. You could also say Tottenham had a poor season after spending £100 million. However the only team I think you can look at who underachieved the most were Manchester United. After winning the league last season at a canter, they dropped to seventh in the table and finished a staggering 22 points off top and 15 points off the top four. I don’t think anyone expected Manchester United to challenge for the title during this transitional period for the club, but no one expected them to do this badly. A combination of things led to this mess; Moyes being over awed by the job, the clubs transfer policy not acting quick enough to sign the right players and the current playing staff did not play anywhere near the standard we have come to expect. David Moyes disastrous tenure at Manchester United has been well documented, but I don’t think the fans realise the huge task that Van Gaal has in trying to lift a team who have taken such a fall.

John: Newcastle
Stephen: Newcastle
Ian: West Brom
Sam: Man Utd (Well Done Sam)

Signing of the season?

I don’t think any particular signing really stood out as signing of the season, but there has been some very good buys; Wilfred Bony, Loic Remy, Dejan Lovren, pretty much all of Everton’s signings (Barry, Mccarthy, Lukaku, Deulofeu).

John: Nathan Redmond
Stephen: Soldado
Ian: Ricky van Wolfswinkel Or Simon Mignolet
Sam: Caulker 

Worst signing of the season?

Quite easy this one Eric Lemala cost Tottenham £30 million and he ended his season with 327 minutes of league football to his name. He didn’t get dropped through injury, just poor form led to the exile of the once promising Argentinian. I hope this isn’t the end of his career because he looked excellent at Roma, but he needs to start re-building his career or face being remembered as a just another young player who had one good season. Other notable mentions Pablo Osvaldo, Iago Aspas and Ricky van Wolfswinkel. Andy Carroll is probably a worthy mention as well, but not a lot of people have talked about him as a terrible signing. He has had some solid performances but £15 million, 12 starts 2 goals and an injury hit season is hardly value for money.

John: Osvaldo and Willian
Stephen: There isn’t really any standout buys that look or seem that dreadful.
Ian: Aspas for Liverpool, looks a bit like Borini Mk II
Sam: I can't really see Osvaldo setting the world alight and £12 million is a lot of money.

First Manager to go?

Paolo Di Canio was the first to bite the dust after just a point in their opening five matches. The management issue this season was mental ten out of the twenty clubs sacked there manager. Fulham sacked their manager twice and went silly appointing Rene Meulensteen, Alan Curbishly and Ray Wilkins to all manage Fulham at the same time. 

John: Alan Pardew
Stephen: Ian Holloway
Ian: Alan Pardew
Sam: Ian Holloway 

Top Goal Scorer?

Suarez was top goal scorer with 31 goals and he was probably the best player as well.   

John: Robin Van Persie, Daniel Sturridge will run him close.
Stephen: Robin Van Persie
Ian: Robin van Persie.
Sam: Van Persie

Championship Promoted teams?

In the end Leicester dominated and walked to promotion being by far the best team. Burnley finished second comfortbably relying on a good team spirit and arguably the best management performance of the season under Sean Dyce. QPR went through the playoffs but it was by the skin of their teeth. It also has to be mentioned that QPR spent more than most Premier League clubs.

John: QPR, Nottingham Forrest, Watford
Stephen: Nottingham Forrest, Watford, QPR
Ian: QPR (unfortunately), Watford, Wigan
Sam: Blackpool, QPR, Leicester

Championship Relegated Teams?

Yeovil, Barnsley, Doncaster

John: Yeovil, Barnsley, Millwall
Stephen: Barnsley, Yeovil, Millwall
Ian: Blackburn (they'll lose Rhodes to Newcastle), Yeovil, Barnsley
Sam: Yeovil, Barnsley, Doncaster

Champions League Winners?

Real Madrid

The other finalist was Athletico Madrid who until the 93rd minute led and it was just a case that they had ran out of steam towards the end.

John: Real Madrid
Stephen: KLOPP (Dortmund)
Ian: Real Madrid
Sam: Barcalona

FA cup winners?

Arsenal (finally a trophy for them)

John: Chelsea
Stephen: Liverpool
Ian: Tottenham
Sam: Chelsea

League Cup Winners?

Manchester City


Finalists Sunderland and it wasn't a walk over.  Sunderland were in fact dreadfully unlucky and lead for some of the game.

John: Aston Villa
Stephen: Arsenal
Ian: Nottingham Forest
Sam: Man City

Prediction Results Final League Standing 2013/2014

John - 14

Sam - 10
Stephen - 8
Ian - 7

Prediction of the Week: John:  West Brom 1 - 2 Stoke

League Standings

	Name	Perfect Scores	Pts
1	Stephen	40	274
2	John	39	274
3	Ian	27	238
4	Sam	20	228

This went right to the wire, John needed a big score to make up the 6 point gap going into this which he delivered but in the end it had to be decided on who had the most perfect scores. Which meant Stephen became champion.  He did decide to live dangerously and throw away a 27 point lead, but even Johns last ditch heroics on the final day, Stephen still came out the other side first, to clinch his second consecutive title.

Congratulations to Stephon 2013/2014 prediction champion.

Prediction Results Week 37

John - 10
Sam - 9
Stephen - 6
Ian - 4

Prediction of the Week: John: Sunderland 2 - 0 West Brom

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	266
2	John	260
3	Ian	231
4	Sam	218

Prediction Results Week 36

John - 10
Stephen - 9
Sam - 8
Ian - 7



Prediction of the Week: John: Manchester Utd 4 - 0 Norwich & Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Manchester City


Everyone else: Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	260
2	John	250
3	Ian	227
4	Sam	209

Prediction Results Week 35

Ian - 6
John - 5
Sam - 5
Stephen - 3

Prediction of the Week: John - Everton 2 - 0 Manchester United
                                        Ian - Newcastle 1 - 2 Swansea City

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	251
2	John	240
3	Ian	220
4	Sam	201

Prediction Results Week 34

Stephen - 10
John - 8
Ian - 7
Sam - 6

Prediction of the Week: Stephen - Liverpool 3 - 2 Manchester City

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	248
2	John	235
3	Ian	214
4	Sam	196

Prediction Results Week 33

John - 8
Sam - 5
Stephen - 4
Ian - 4

Prediction of the Week: John - Chelsea 3 - 0 Stoke

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	238
2	John	227
3	Ian	207
4	Sam	190

Prediction Results Week 32

Stephen - 8
John - 7
Sam - 6
Ian - 4

Prediction of the Week: Stephen - Stoke 1 - 0 Hull
 

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	234
2	John	219
3	Ian	203
4	Sam	185

Predictions Results Week 31

Sam - 15
John - 13
Ian - 10
Stephen - 10

Prediction of the Week: Sam - Manchester City 5 - 0 Fulham

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	226
2	John	212
3	Ian	199
4	Sam	179

Newcastle Striking Options

Newcastle United beat Crystal with a last minute header from Pappiss Cisse, which was his first goal in open play in eleven months.  He had several spurned oppurtunities but only found the net in 93rd minute.  The worrying sign for a striker is not getting any chances, it usually means the striker is hiding from play.  Cisse on the other hand is getting chances, he is putting himself about, he isn't scoring but offside and miss after offside and miss shows that he is dertermined to score he isn't hiding.

For this reason I would start Cisse ahead of Remy, on the basis that Remy is on loan and has made it quite clear that he would like to move somewhere else at the end of the season, to possibly play in the champions league.  Pappiss Cisse however is owned by Newcastle and based on current form will not be leaving Newcastle quickly. Newcastle need to be thinking of next season and have nothing else to play for this season, lowest we can realistically finish is ninth.  

The Newcastle of this season are playing far better as a team than the Newcastle of last season, so this could yeald more goals for Cisse.  It could be looked upon as though he is playing for his future, whether that will be at Newcastle or another club. For me, this is why we should start Cisse more in our last eight games of the season if we can get him scoring again, as we could fetch a good price for him in the summer; or if he wants to stay, we will have aleviated our striking problems for next season.  

~John Robert Lavery 

The £100 Million Audition

David Moyes, should he be sacked or not? It is a bone of contention for many, but our own Stephen Wrigglesworth offers his two cents on this very question.

I've read more than a sane man should on the Moyes in/out debate, personally I find the current predicament highly amusing but if I think about it from an objective standpoint I really can't see how keeping Moyes any longer can pan out for the best.

I could think of five logical steps to go through before deciding on Moyes, at the top you have results/points total? failing on that front you can fall back to performances? if the performances aren't there then I would look to see any resemblance of a plan/vision he is working towards to improve said performances? dipping even further if there is not currently any visible plan then he does at least have the players working for him? Finally if none of the above can be said then does he strike you as having the attitude or confidence to begin achieving even the lowest necessary standard?

Personally I'd love to see him stay and see just how far the demise can go, objectively however I'm not sure how any club in the world could find the confidence to back Moyes with anything in the region of £100m, especially any club who has to witness week in week out the difference Moyes has made with £65m.

Admittedly it would be a disservice to Moyes to make the following comparison however I can't help but think of a certain Mark Hughes when he was given keys to the bank at both Manchester City and QPR, mindlessly spunking money all over Europe without the faintest hint of a tactical vision.

~Stephen Wrigglesworth

Prediction Results Week 30

Ian - 8
John - 7
Sam - 6
Stephen - 5

Prediction of the Week: John & Ian - Hull 0 - 2 Man City

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	216
2	John	199
3	Ian	189
4	Sam	164

Prediction Results Week 29

John - 5
Stephen - 4
Sam - 3
Ian - 2

Prediction of the Week: Stephen - Norwich 1 - 1 Stoke

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	211
2	John	192
3	Ian	181
4	Sam	158

Prediction Results Week 28

Stephen - 4
Sam - 4
John - 3
Ian - 3

Prediction of the Week: None

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	207
2	John	187
3	Ian	179
4	Sam	155

Whoscored XI

After looking at the England squad that was announced today, feeling slightly empty about it, then listening to people talk/moan about it. In my head this would sound like an old man shouting at people to get off his garden: "blood the kids!!", "I've stopped following England", "Look at the Spanish model!!" (to sum up all I heard). Drove me to go onto whoscored.com and painstakingly go through their best rated English players and compile an England team based solely on this rating system, I have tried to balance the team as best I can and I am aware that Walcott, Jagielka and Jones are injured and believe it or not would all make it into this team. Also I have picked 30 players cause that's what Hodgson did.

Anyway, there are a few strange additions but the bulk of the squad still remains the same. Possibly the best piece of news I could draw from this is that Tom Cleverly doesn't make it into the team, or would be anywhere near it for that matter.

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart - 6.67
John Ruddy - 6.67
Frazor Forster - 6.39
Ben Foster - 6.47

Defenders

Curtis Davis - 7.41
Garry Cahill - 7.39
James Tomkins - 7.27
Michael Dawson - 7.16
Mike Wiliamson - 7.09
Chris Smalling - 7.08
Joel Ward - 7.27
Glenn Johnson - 7.14
Leighton Baines - 7.2
Kieron Gibbs - 7.07

Midfielders

Stephen Gerrard - 7.71
Gareth Barry - 7.31
Raheem Sterling - 7.31
Adam Lallana - 7.29
Jordan Henderson - 7.25
Ryan Noble - 7.25
Tom Huddlestone - 7.16
Frank Lampard - 7.16
Andros Townsend - 7.13
Ross Barkley - 6.99

Forwards

Daniel Sturridge - 7.67
Wayne Rooney - 7.59
Peter Crouch - 7.26
Nathan Dyer - 7
Danny Welbeck - 6.94
Jay Rodriguez - 6.94

Also look forward to The Centre Circles very own England 23 when the squad is announced closer to the time, we know who should be there.

~John Robert Lavery

Prediction Results Week 27

John - 12
Ian - 7
Stephen - 7
Sam - 7

Prediction of the Week: John - Norwich 1 - 0 Tottenham
 

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	203
2	John	184
3	Ian	176
4	Sam	151

Prediction Results Week 26

Stephen - 5
Ian - 4
John - 3
Sam - 1

Prediction of the Week: Ian - West Ham 2 - 0 Norwich, also a Gerrard Penalty in the 90th minute from a prediction of the season: Ian - Fulham 2 - 2 Liverpool

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	196
2	John	172
3	Ian	169
4	Sam	144

Prediction​s Results Week 25

John - 3
Ian - 3
Stephen -2
Sam - 2

Prediction of the Week: Ian - Chelsea 3 - 0 Newcastle

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	191
2	John	169
3	Ian	165
4	Sam	143

Prediction Results Week 24

Ian - 14
John - 8
Stephen - 6
Sam - 3

Prediction of the Week: Ian - West Brom 1 - 1 Liverpool

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	189
2	John	166
3	Ian	162
4	Sam	141

Prediction Results Week 23

Ian - 10
Stephen - 10
Sam - 8
John - 8

Prediction of the Week: Ian - Noriwch 0 - 0 Newcastle

League Standings

		Pts
1	Stephen	183
2	John	158
3	Ian	148
4	Sam	138