Survival Sunday

Wow, what a fantastic end to the season. It truly had everything, great goals, drama, sackings and for me personally, Blackpool being relegated. I haven't mentioned it so far, but I'm a Preston North End fan, that explains my jubilation at Blackpool's demise. I'd like to review all 4 teams involved and predict what will happen to them next season. Okay, here goes;

Wolves  I thought they were doomed in January, but they pulled off some fantastic results. The wins away at Liverpool and Villa and the home wins over Manchester United and Chelsea stand out the most. All in all it was an indifferent season for Wolves, some poor home defeats and some big wins as I already mentioned. At the beginning of the season I didn't think they'd be in the relegation places, never mind staying up by one goal. Next season I feel Mick McCarthy has to strengthen his forward line and his centre back spots. The partnership of Mancienne and Craddock doesn't inspire me to say the least. If they splash the cash a little and get in 2 or 3 quality players, they should be fine next season. As long as Mick McCarthy is manager, they'll be fine.


Blackburn  They had a decent start to the season, then Allardyce was sacked, and Steve Kean appointed. Since Kean arrived they've played 19 matches, they won 5 of them. Now, why would you sack a proven manager like Sam Allardyce and replace him with a glorified number two? I can't seen Rovers doing anything under Kean, and 99% of Rovers fans I've spoken to agree, they don't want him. It's hard to say what will happen to Rovers next season, one would assume they're going to spend big. The only downside of that is that it will be Steve Kean spending it. Overall, a poor season for Rovers.

Birmingham City After a fantastic season last year, and the fantastic Carling cup win, I can't quite believe that they've been relegated. Their main problem has been scoring goals, it was the same last season, but their defensive record was miles better. They're weak in the striker department,  Zigic never really impressed, Derbyshire never really got a good run of games, Kevin Phillips never got a look in and Cameron Jerome isn't  going to get you 20 goals a season. What will happen next season is anyone's guess Alex Mcleish is tipped to move on and without doubt some of their better players will leave. If Mcleish stays, I think they'll bounce straight back.

Blackpool Frighteningly, they looked solid in the first half of the season and were playing some great football. It was never going to last, though. The squad they had was never going to be able to keep that run of form up.  A strike partnership of Taylor-Fletcher, DJ Campbell and Luke Varney? Not Premier League class by any stretch of the imagination. I heard Holloway moaning about decisions and having no luck, this was complete rubbish. They used all their luck for the next 10 years in years and were clearly favoured by referee's in numerous matches, most notably the home game against West Brom. As for next season, I can't see them bouncing back, I can see them going into free-fall, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

Wigan Athletic Another team I thought were down in January. But Martinez never stopped believing and towards the end of the season they got some fantastic results. I never really cared for Wigan, their lack of fans and average team never really interested me. But after the last few months, they have my respect and my best wishes for the future. Next season is a difficult one to call, I think they'll be okay as long as Martinez stays and they keep Rodallega and N'Zogbia, or one of them at least.


Overall, a fantastic season. I'll review the rest of the action at a later date.

West Ham Relegated, Again

So, West Ham are relegated again. Personally, I was hoping West Ham would win this game, purely because of the fan bases of both clubs. Wigan average 16,522 fans a game, whereas West Ham average 31605, but fan bases mean nothing in football, just look at Blackpool.

Where do West Ham go from here? A mass exodus seems likely, players like Demba Ba, Scott Parker, Matthew Upson and Frederic Piquionne won't want to play in the Championship. That raises another question, why was Upson, Parker, Cole and Robbie Keane left on the bench? Key players for West Ham, that's Avram Grant for you, and proof that he should have been sacked in January. West Hams already poor financial postition will have taken a huge hit, and big name players which would like to stay, will be forced out to cut costs.

Elsewhere at the bottom of the Premier League, It looks as though we're in for an exciting climax to the season. Blackpool, Wigan, Birmingham, Wolves and Blackburn needing wins to secure their Premiership status. If I had to put money on it, I'd put it on Blackpool and Blackburn to be relegated. Blackburn face a tough trip to Wolves who've been playing fantastically in recent week, whereas Blackpool face Manchester United at Old Trafford.

So, with one match to go, one team already relegated I think we're in for a thrilling season finale.

Carlo Ancelotti

Media outlets seem pretty certain that Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti will be unemployed this time next month. Personally, I think sacking him would be a big mistake. In his first season at Chelsea he won a League and FA Cup double, and his record at AC Milan goes without saying. He's a top manager and will be tough to replace.

According to Skybet the managers in the running are :


Jose Mourinho 5/2
Guus Hiddink 7/2
Pep Guardiola  5/1
Gianfranco Zola 8/1
Frank Rijkaard 10/1
Rafa Benitez 12/1

Those names don't fill me with confidence, if I had to put money on it, I'd put it on Frank Rijkaard.  


Jose Mourinho   It is believed he's interested in the Manchester United job.
Rafa Benitez      After crippling Liverpool, would be a terrible choice.
Frank Rijkaard  After his stint at Barcelona, has to be in the running.
Gianfranco Zola I'd love to see this, you can't help but love the man.
Pep Guardiola    No chance, none at all.
Guus Hiddink     Good friends with Abramovic and impressed in his short stint as Chelsea boss.

After looking at the candidates, I don't think any of them are better than Ancelotti. Chelsea need stability after a lot of chopping and changing, see Manchester United and to a lesser extent Arsenal.

An Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my page. 100% Football will be a blog dedicated to, you guessed it, football. I'm mainly going to use this blog to spout my views on football.