Survival Sunday

[KIB_man]

@sid waddell

This is karma on McLeish for what happened the last time May 22nd fell on a Sunday.

Delighted for Mick McCarthy and Wolves.

Barely crawled over the line. McCarthy is a buffoon and should be replaced.

[The_Runt]

@KIB man

Barely crawled over the line. McCarthy is a buffoon and should be replaced.

Fuck you

[The_Dunph]

McCarthy should get the Chelsea job.

[Fagan_ODowd]

Delighted for Mick.

[Bandage]

Scott Carson today. :lol:

He must be one of the worst ever EPL keepers.

[caoimhaoin]

@The Dunph

Great speeches by Sir Alex and Van der Saar to the crowd afterwards. Two class acts.

It’s a bit of a joke and an indictment on Alex McLeish that Birmingham went down. They had assembled a nice squad there and on paper should not have been involved in a relegation scrap. They deserved to go down though given their appalling recent form and are an unlikeable enough bunch anyway. It’s sad to see Blackpool go as they brought a bit of colour to the league and battled valiantly to the finish. It would have been better had bland Blackburn Rovers gone down. Good to see Wolves and even Wigan stay up…

I believe boozing had alot to do with B’Ham’s run of poor form.

[Rintintin]

@caoimhaoin

I believe boozing had alot to do with B’Ham’s run of poor form.

Foster and Doyle are gonna come in for a lot of stick over this.

[myboyblue]

@Rintintin

Foster and Doyle are gonna come in for a lot of stick over this.

Fairly harsh to blame the sub keeper for relegation!

[Rintintin]

@myboyblue

Fairly harsh to blame the sub keeper for relegation!

fans will take it out on them because of his wifes Tweets.

[myboyblue]

@Rintintin

fans will take it out on them because of his wifes Tweets.

Well never underestimate the idocy of fans I guess, but that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.

[Rintintin]

@myboyblue

Well never underestimate the idocy of fans I guess, but that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.

You just know they will, they will blame his disruptive influence. You have to remember we are dealing with inbred fucks of fans here.

[myboyblue]

@Rintintin

You just know they will, they will blame his disruptive influence. You have to remember we are dealing with inbred fucks of fans here.

Aye, thats the fans of football in Birmingham for you alright.

[myboyblue]

Miguel Delaney’s review of the season

Miguel Delaney looks at the stats and styles to pick out the team of the season, the team until Christmas and so much more…

Team of the season… had the season ended at Christmas

1. Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham)

2. Ahmed Elmohamady (Sunderland)

3. Gretar Steinsson (Bolton Wanderers)

4. Richard Johnson (Birmingham City)

5. Liam Ridgewell (Birmingham City)

6. Charlie Adam (Blackpool)

7. Chung-Yong Lee (Bolton Wanderers)

8. Johan Elmander (Bolton Wanderers)

9. Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal)

10. Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur)

11. Samir Nasri (Arsenal)

Team of the season… from the last three months

1. Petr Cech (Chelsea)

2. Micah Richards (Manchester City)

3. Phil Bardsley (Sunderland)

4. David Luiz (Chelsea)

5. Joleon Lescott (Manchester City)

6. Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool)

7. Leon Osman (Everton)

8. Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan)

9. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

10. Demba Ba (West Ham United)

11. Luis Suarez (Liverpool)

XI who deserved better

1. Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers)

2. Stephen Carr (Birmingham City)

3. Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa)

4. Johan Djourou (Arsenal)

5. Phil Jones (Blackburn Rovers)

6. Scott Parker (West Ham United)

7. Matthew Etherington (Stoke City)

8. Craig Gardner (Birmingham City)

9. DJ Campbell (Blackpool)

10. Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

11. Robin Van Persie (Arsenal)

Team of the season

1. Van der Sar (Manchester United)

2. Branko Ivanovic (Chelsea)

3. Leighton Baines (Everton)

4. Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)

5. Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

6. Ji-Sung Park (Manchester United)

7. Nani (Manchester United)

8. Yaya Toure (Manchester City)

9. Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)

10. Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United)

11. Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

Next best XI

1. Ali Al-Habsi (Wigan)

2. Andy Wilkinson (Stoke City)

3. Chris Baird (Fulham)

4. Gary Cahill (Bolton)

5. Richard Huth (Stoke City)

6. Cheik Tiote (Newcastle United

7. Seamus Coleman (Everton)

8. Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

9. Javier Hernandez (Manchester United)

10. Peter Odemwingie (West Brom)

11. Luka Modric (Tottenham Hotspur)

Most disappointing XI

1. Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal)

2. Bacary Sagna (Arsenal)

3. Aleksandr Kolarov (Manchester City)

4. Sebastian Squillaci (Arsenal)

5. Richard Dunne (Aston Villa)

6. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

7. Joe Cole (Liverpool)

8. Michael Essien (Chelsea)

9. Fernando Torres (Chelsea)

10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

11. Andriy Arshavin (Arsenal)

The moments that decided the final table

1. Wayne Rooney signs a new contract, 22 October 2010
   It may not have prevented the rise of Manchester City, but it did perhaps emphasise that there will never be a definitive power shift. The pull of Old Trafford will always remain as strong. And, because of their talisman, United’s title challenge remained that strong. From the start of February on, Rooney scored a series of key goals to directly provide United with 10 points. They proved the difference. Back to his best.

2. Ray Wilkins’ sacking… sort of, 11 November 2010
   Perhaps not important in and of itself, but it did illustrate exactly the type of interference Carlo Ancelotti has had to endure from Roman Abramovich. The owner’s idiosyncratic approach to transfers, for example (from frugality to a spree), saw Chelsea suffer from a series of absences around November to compound all of the uncertainty. And, before then, they had won 25 out of 30 points. From 1 March to 1 May, they accumulated 22 out of 24. It was the issues in between – as well as United’s contrasting relentlessness – that ultimately cost them their title.

3. Blackpool 2-3 Manchester United, 25 January 2011
   A match that pretty much encapsulated Blackpool’s season. It started in startlingly thrilling fashion, with scarcely believable results. Ultimately, they didn’t have sufficient resources or resolve, however. For all of the admirable excitement, they ended up with nothing.

4. Carling Cup final, 27 February 2011
   So much for the meaninglessness of the League Cup. This was arguably one of the most important games of the season in terms of its consequences. Before it, Arsenal were in second place and, although four points behind Manchester United, they had a game in hand. Birmingham were two places above the relegation zone, but still had two games in hand on everyone else themselves. The match that day, however, arguably eroded Arsenal’s confidence to the point they fell to fourth and out of every other competition. Birmingham, meanwhile, were placated to the point they got relegated. Certainly, both teams seemed to lose sufficient resolve from that game on.

5. West Ham 2-4 Manchester United, 2 April 2011
   Perhaps the key game at both ends of the table? Before it, West Ham hadn’t been beaten in five and had eight points from 12. United, meanwhile, had lost two of their last three – to Liverpool and Chelsea. Halfway through the match itself, those general trends seemed to continue as West Ham led 2-0. By the end of it, United had managed a typical turnaround to move seven points clear of Arsenal. West Ham, by contrast, only picked up one more point in the rest of the season.

6. Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United, 16 April 2011
   It may not have happened in the league, but it arguably gave City the belief to end it strong enough. On that day, they were only two points ahead of Spurs in fourth and had generally tended to follow strong moments with stuttering ones. Indeed, the United game had been immediately preceded by an atrocious 3-0 defeat at Anfield. From there, City won five of their last six to comfortably secure Champions League football.

Goal of the season

1. Wayne Rooney v Manchester City

2. Didier Drogba v Bolton Wanderers

3. Chris Brunt v Everton

4. Raul Meireles v Wolves

5. Gareth Bale v Stoke

Match of the season

1. Tottenham 3-3 Arsenal

2. Blackpool 4-3 Bolton

3. Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal

Season’s ratings
Team Pre-season target Verdict Mark

Birmingham Consolidate mid-table Won Carling Cup but lost all impetus F

West Ham Mid-table Mismanaged everywhere F

Arsenal A title challenge Faded far too early and lost final D

Blackburn Consolidate mid-table New owners, new manager, new reality D+

Aston Villa Top six Lost Martin O’Neill but finished well C

Chelsea A title defence Start, stop, start, finish trophy-less C

Wolves Survival Achieved C+

Wigan Survival Achieved C+

Bolton Mid-table The revelations early on but finished 14th C+

Sunderland Top-half Just about managed it in end, finishing 10th C+

Tottenham Champions League Distracted by Champions League itself C+

Stoke Consolidate mid-table Pushed on to FA Cup final B-

Blackpool Credible battle for safety Started brilliantly but faded thereafter B

Liverpool Top six A lot of lows but ultimately looking up B+

Everton Top-half A typical Moyes season in every sense B+

Newcastle Survival Comfortably mid-table B+

Fulham Consolidate mid-table Finished eighth B+

West Brom Survival Achieved comfortably A-

Manchester City Champions League Finished third A

Manchester Utd Reclaim title Did just that A

Players whose goals directly won the most points
*only includes goals that were equalisers or put a team ahead for key, final time

Dimitar Berbatov 18 points

Carlos Tevez 16

Florent Malouda 14

Hugo Rodallega 13

Javier Hernandez 12

Charlie Adam 12

Rafael Van der Vaart 12

Darren Bent 11

Robin Van Persie 10

Fernando Torres 10

Clint Dempsey 10

Kenwyne Jones 10

Wayne Rooney 10

[Rintintin]

No sign of Dzeko in the most disappointing XI , joke.

[caoimhaoin]

Good article.

[farmerinthecity]

@caoimhaoin

I believe boozing had alot to do with B’Ham’s run of poor form.

Get a load of this.

A tweet from a wife of a keeper and Kev turns it into the inside track on Birmingham’s poor run of form.

Had it been MBB that posted such a thing, the great Kev would be calling him up on it.