Well what has been decided this year? We can start with that pyriah of football competitions the UEFA Cup....seemingly contested by only Iberian sides in the final stages it was taken out by Athletico Madrid beating Athletico Bilbao 3-0 in Bucharest, Romania.
The Carling Cup was taken out by Liverpool on penalties against a Cardiff side who just seem to be 'nearly men' also missing out on making the Championship play-off final to West Ham. The red scousers also made the FA Cup final going down to Chelsea. In years past the supporters of many clubs would have considered that to be a reasonable season. Unfortunately for King Kenny his sides performance in the league was a relative disaster. Not only did they finish behind the blue scousers but their final position was eighth.....37 points behind both Manchesters! Hence the job ads and surveys asking supporters who they would like to see as the new coach. For what it is worth I'd like to see Martinez get the gig. He coaches without fear and empowers his sides to play open attacking football. The EPL needs a Liverpool club that plays good football. The only proviso I have is that Martinez must come to Spurs if Harry gets the boot in the next few days:)
What about the EPL? On a very basic level it is refreshing to see Citeh take out the title. They are a fine side, have come out of their shell and deserve have won the title. An alternative to the old Sky 4 you might say. Unfortunately, the new hierarchy / elite is made up even more of 'money clubs' dependent on billionairres money. Even if you don't believe that Citeh bought the title it is difficult not to conclude that the possible winners of the EPL are a very narrow bunch......United Citeh Chelsea. The new UEFA financial regulations requiring spending to in some way approximate to revenue, will not be seriously pursued.....not for a while anyway. The joy and drama of the last day events hide the reality that we have competitions within competitions in the top division.
Last nights ECL final between Bayern and Chelsea in many ways seems to me a triumph for anti-football. Chelsea have stumbled their way through the last few rounds accounting for probably the best club side we have seen in Barcelona. I would celebrate with the rest if they had played good footaball in their matches but imo they did not....even last night. True they were down on personell yesterday but then the cynical King Terry had only got what his dark behaviour had deserved.
You can see where I'm going here. My own prejudiced view of the world cannot allow me to give Chelsea credit for what they have achieved. Roman Abramovich must have almost been despairing that his $2.8 billion spent on the club would never deliver the ECL.
Can't really finish this seasons final final blog without bemoaning the fate of my own side Tottenham. Oh what a season this might have been. Where can we start? I was one of the few Spurs fans who seem to have believed that moving to and demolishing the new Olympic stadium on Hackney Marshes was a good thing. We ran second in that one. Flying along mid-season ten points clear in third what could go wrong? Our manager the triffic Harry Redknapp got a result when cleared of .....whatever it was. That week was pretty pivotal because Fabio Capello resigned the same week and speculation on his replacement began.......Harry why do you have that glazed look in your eyes...... are you concentrating....Harry! Levy wouldn't let him go for less than 10 million compensation ...hence we ended up with the cheaper Woy at the England helm. Ironically Levy will need to pay Harry to go 2 or 3 million:)
The decline was swift ...the unclosable gap just seemed to close. Wenger was resurrected and Arsenal came over the top of us. Even an FA Cup semi-final was of no help .....losing 5-1 to Chelsea in a shocker. Still we gave ourselves some chance of ECL qualification by winning three of our last four games but the away draw against a very ordinary Villa side killed us for third place and automatic qualification. Always quite tolerant of Harry I finally flipped my lid when he refused to bring on Defoe to try to win the game. Of course that was not the only key moment but it was the main one for me.
So there we were last night. Cheering a German side playing in red. How sad. Our fourth place ECL qualification depending on Bayern downing Chelsea. Leading with three to go....leading on penalties....how could they not win:( Perhaps the saddest thing of all is that money (I backed Chelsea to win as a saver) has distorted the game I spend so much time on. Silverware has taken a back place to the elite ECL competition and the money it generates. Hence King Kenny has been shown the door despite performing well in the cups. Chelsea rightfully take their place in next years competition even though they only finished sixth in the league......it kinda seems logical to me. However, for Spurs to miss out seems harsh as after finishing fourth they expected to go in. Missing out will probably cost Spurs 30 million but much more really because Modric (who will move to United) and Bale (Barcelona) don't fancy appearing on Channel 5 on a Thursday evening. Needing a new stadium and just collecting 60 million selling the aforementioned duo might convince our owner Levy to jack it in. Hope springs eternal. Perhaps we can ground share at the Olympic stadium with that nice family club West Ham who have just returned to the EPL. Anyone know any benevolent Billionairres?
As I tell propective new Spurs fans:
" Welcome but be prepared for a lifetime of nearlyness punctuated by the occasional actuality". COYS!
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