Manchester United – Shaun O’Donnell
7/10 The early part of the season was all about injuries and LVG’s persistence with three at the back when the likes of Jones and Smalling were technically incapable of playing in such a system. We were winning games but lacked conviction. In March it seemed to click in to place with six league wins on the bounce, but in usual United style we then lost the next three, with Carrick injured and Rooney dropping back into midfield. The signs are good for next season, though. I’ve bought into LVG and I can see what he is trying to achieve. I did expect him to be more of a presence in the technical area, though, barking orders when we’re chasing a late goal. Instead we have Giggs with his hands in his tracksuit pockets and his head cocked to one side.
The stars Ashley Young has been a revelation, forming an excellent relationship with Daley Blind on the left. De Gea has been outstanding again and his gloves will prove hard to fill. The flops It just didn’t happen for Falcao – and Di María has been woeful, too.
Summer targets With Depay already signed, the window looks promising. I’d expect a ball-playing centre-half such as Hummels, a box-to-box midfielder and enforcer such as Vidal, and a pacy striker. I’d go for Thomas Müller.
Best and worst away fans Swansea always give it their all, but there was hardly a squeak from City.
Highlights montage music The Smiths – These Things Take Time
Newcastle – Richard & David Holmes
2/10 Applying the business model of a downmarket sports retailer (degrade the brand, maximise profits) to a football club has, unsurprisingly, had disastrous consequences. By limiting ambition to staying in the Premier League and treating cups with contempt, Mike Ashley has created a soulless entity and shattered the hopes of generations of fans. Alan Pardew performed as well as he could as an apologist for Ashley, while John Carver has proved completely out of his depth. He might “bleed black and white” but he’s proved to be inept at both man management and tactics … and couldn’t even inspire his players to put up a fight in a derby. The owner, management, coaching staff and most of the players deserve to go down – the fans don’t.
The stars Ayoze Pérez has been a bright spark in a dark season, Daryl Janmaat has had us wondering why we were so upset about Mathieu Debuchy leaving and Jack Colback has been consistent. And Jonás Gutiérrez deserves credit, for obvious reasons. The flops Everyone else, more or less.
Summer targets This clearly depends on what division we’re in. But players with guts, determination and experience wouldn’t go amiss. We hear Joey Barton might be available on a free …
Best and worst away fans Burnley were best; Manchester United worst. They were arrogant without having much to be arrogant about.
Highlights montage music Tom Petty – Free Fallin’
QPR – Adam Boxer – QPR.VitalFootball.co.uk
2/10 It was a disaster. But given the way we went about the transfer window with all the grace of a bull in a china shop, it was hardly a surprise that we started so poorly and failed to recover. Recruiting specifically for a system that was binned after some pitiful away days was never going to be the platform for success. We’ve fared pretty much as expected.
The stars Charlie Austin was without question the stand-out performer: 17 goals in a team that would struggle with the rigours of the Championship, let alone the Premier League, is pretty special. The flops So many. But specifically, Steven Caulker and Jordon Mutch. We saw very weak performances from the pair of them – Mutch was ushered out in January, but quite who will take a punt on Caulker in the summer remains to be seen.
Summer targets What do we need in this transfer window? A new team. Several players are out of contract, and the few who performed well will probably be sold. We need to rebuild with young players who show a willingness to work hard, perform and ultimately want to play for QPR.
Best and worst away fans Crystal Palace were by far the best – a noisy bunch who didn’t stop for 90 minutes. Manchester City were good value too. Both halves of Merseyside were very quiet, though, as were Chelsea.
Highlights montage music The theme from Laurel & Hardy. Failing that, Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere.
Southampton – Paul Seymour
9/10 After that £90m exodus, who saw this coming? The way we rebuilt from that summer chaos was pretty special: Ronald Koeman deserves all the praise coming his way for somehow producing a consistent and stylish new side. For a while it looked like the season was going to fizzle out – results since April have been poor – but then came that 6-1 home mauling of Villa. A great way to head into the summer.
The stars José Fonte rightly won all the player of the season awards – yet another brilliantly consistent season of strong leadership at the back. Expect a £50m Liverpool bid any day now … And, of course, Schneiderlin was great again. The flops Not so much a flop as a disappointment: Graziano Pellè failed to maintain the standards he set early on.
Summer targets We could do with some strength in depth, but after the experience of last summer I’d be happy with nobody in and nobody out. That said, QPR’s Charlie Austin would be a good fit – and convincing Nathaniel Clyne to re-sign would be a statement of intent.
Best and worst away fans Palace made noise, plenty of others didn’t.
Highlights montage music In tribute to last summer’s transfers, Chumbawamba – Tubthumping (I Get Knocked Down).
Stoke – Rob Holloway
8/10 Matching last season’s position and bettering the number of points was excellent given the horrendous run of injuries. Sadly our cup campaigns never really got going, and the 4-1 defeat to Blackburn in the FA Cup fifth round was a low point. But, overall, Mark Hughes has continued to do an excellent job – I’m already relishing his third season here.
The stars One word: Bojan. We knew he was good when he signed, but after a sluggish start he turned into one the best players in the division for three months. He has the aura of a world-class player about him. Sadly his season was cut short in January by a knee injury, but he’s promised to be back and even better in August. The flops Philipp Wollscheid. In January it was a case of one German in and one German out (Huth.) Sadly the Wollscheid experiment hasn’t worked, and I’m hoping we don’t turn the loan deal into a permanent one.
Summer targets Victor Moses, if we can be confident he’ll start 30+ games next season. It looks like Asmir Begovic will be off, so we need some competition for our new No1 Jack Butland. We also need a right-back and striker.
Best and worst away fans Crystal Palace were the best visitors; Newcastle the worst.
Highlights montage music The Casualty theme tune.
Sunderland – Pete Sixsmith – salutsunderland.com
4/10 It was yet another season where we just about scrambled away from the bottom three late on – this time with one game to spare. It’s almost what we’ve come to expect, but it gets no better. Gus Poyet tried to make players do things that they were not capable of and, quite rightly, was dismissed. On the other hand, Dick Advocaat made them do what they could do and made sure that they did it very well. He’s a very impressive man.
The stars Few and far between. Costel Pantilimon performed exceptionally well in goal and won us a number of vital points. Seb Larsson and Lee Cattermole were very effective in midfield, but there really wasn’t a single player who set the adrenaline flowing. The flops Chiefly Ricky Álvarez. Jack Rodwell was a huge disappointment, and has to show more next season.
Summer targets We desperately need some pace in the team, particularly up front. Among the key summer aims are a deal for Liverpool’s Sebastián Coates, who has done well, and another central defender. Jim Baxter and Brian Clough wouldn’t go amiss. Sorry, showing my age.
Best and worst away fans Any fan who is prepared to travel to the north-east merits praise – it’s a long way home for most of them. Newcastle’s travelling support was quiet for obvious reasons, while Hull’s were noisy and a tad cocky. I like Everton supporters: they follow a club similar to ours.
Highlights montage music Nick Lowe – Rocky Road.
Swansea – Kevin Elphick – swansea.vitalfootball.co.uk
9/10 It’s been fantastic – all expectations exceeded. We never thought we’d be up in eighth and looking at possible Europa League qualification – especially in Garry Monk’s first full season in charge. He has guided us to our highest ever finish, our highest points total and to a double over Manchester United and Arsenal. It couldn’t have been much better.
The stars Lucasz Fabianski has already proved to be one of the best keepers we’ve had at the club, and the bargain of the season having joined on a free from Arsenal. Ki Sung-yueng has also been one of our most consistent performers and has been like a new signing for us after a useful loan spell at Sunderland last year. Monk made some excellent signings last summer: the return of Sigurdsson and winger Montero have been excellent, and we’re finally seeing Gomis’s qualities in front of goal. The flops The majority of players have played their part and the fringe players have done a job when needed. Young Jazz Richards has struggled, though.
Summer targets Monk has said he’s looking to bring in five or six – I don’t think we need that many. The core is there: we just need some added strength in attack, a left back to compete with Neil Taylor and a new back-up keeper.
Best and worst away fans The best were Crystal Palace again – they didn’t shut up all match. Everton were quiet.
Highlights montage music The Levellers – What a Beautiful Day.
Tottenham – Dave Mason
4/10 We managed eight points against this year’s top four compared with only one last year. But our final points total is lower this season which shows we underperformed against the lesser sides. We reached a cup final and saw the rise of Harry Kane, we appeared fitter, but the overall pattern of play was usually too slow and narrow. Selection didn’t always make cohesive sense. For example, having scored five against Chelsea, seven changes were made for the next game at Burnley and we barely mustered a shot.
The stars Lloris can hold his head up and Kane had a phenomenal three months. Fairly honourable mentions to Chadli and Eriksen for their goals, while Bentaleb shows signs of maturing into a midfield leader. The flops Our defence has been appalling: we haven’t been murdered as such but have committed suicide several times. Walker is struggling badly, especially considering the promise he showed two years ago. Chiriches is a disaster waiting to happen whenever he’s near the ball. Elsewhere, Townsend continues to frustrate and lacks consistency.
Summer targets Defenders who can cope at this level, and a midfield player who complements Bentaleb.
Best and worst away fans Newcastle, in the league cup, sold their full allocation the midweek before Christmas, lost 4-0 but didn’t stop singing. The worst were Chelsea. Mourinho’s right…
Highlights montage music Dusty Springfield – In the Middle of Nowhere. We’re as close to the relegation zone as we are to top place.
West Brom – Richard Jefferson – @richbaggie
7/10 A very strange season. For the most part we’ve struggled, and up until three weeks ago it looked like it could be a disastrous one. Yet here we are, one game to go and guaranteed 13th with 12th a possibility. Managers? Irvine was out of his depth and had to go, Pulis was Pulis. He pulled us away from the brink, dangled us back there after an awful run including two defeats by the old enemy Villa and then came back brilliantly.
The stars Saido Berahino scored 20 goals and was consistent in a season where consistency was a problem elsewhere. Darren Fletcher was a brilliant signing, and Chris Brunt has silenced a lot of his critics. The flops Brown Ideye. Simply not good enough for the money spent.
Summer targets Not so much who but what. Pace, power and width are key if we are going to play more positively next season. Money will be tight as usual so expect players such as QPR’s Phillips, Palace’s Puncheon and Stoke’s Walters to be on the shopping list.
Best and worst away fans Oxford’s support in the League Cup was excellent. Villa’s obsession about our so-called obsession with them ruined their support.
Highlights montage music Given that Pulis is the exact opposite of the type of coach that fits the chairman’s blueprint, Rip it up by Orange Juice.
West Ham – Pete May – HammersInTheHeart.blogspot.co.uk
6/10 A bizarre season: great before Christmas and then relegation form after. On the positive side we were safe in March. Injuries haven’t helped – including Enner Valencia being crocked by crockery – and numerous points thrown away in added time suggest a concentration problem. Big Sam delivered what he was asked to early on with good signings, more attacking football and great wins over Man City and Liverpool. But the board dithering over his position has left gaffer and team looking demotivated. A large section of the crowd will never like him, but, unless we get an A-list replacement, letting Allardyce go is a high-risk strategy.
The stars Aaron Cresswell, Diafra Sakho, Adrián, Kouyaté and Jenkinson – a big improvement at right-back. The flops The ageing Kevin Nolan doesn’t have a goal threat any more. Valencia looks skilful but hasn’t scored the goals his price tag demands. And Andy Carroll was the season’s fitness flop.
Summer targets We need to sign Jenkinson permanently from Arsenal, plus a fit striker and a leader to replace Nolan.
Best and worst away fans Crystal Palace were noisy. Worst were Chelsea for celebrating like they’d won the league, as if…
Highlights montage music Stealers Wheel – Stuck in the Middle with You.
