I have promised to send the second part of this mini-series of my prediction review. It has been a busy week and in the last 48 hours, I have been busy celebrating Chelsea's fantastic victory over Bayern Munich. The Champions League final in Munich on Saturday night reflected on what has been a sensational season. The previous part of my prediction review showed that League Two and the Championship will be closer than ever next season and with York City's return to the football league after their victory over Luton Town on Sunday at Wembley proves that 2012/13 will be a great season. The final part of this mini-series will show how I performed in the Premier League and League One. However, with the third tier not concluded yet as its play-off final is the following Saturday, it is still a convenient time to show you how I did.
League One
I am definitely the male Mystic Meg of League One - well sort of. My top four matches reality's top four. Charlton Athletic ended the season with 101 points in real life and was ahead of Sheffield Wednesday in convincing style. Sheffield United and Huddersfield followed and now face a play-off final against each other. In reality, it is hard to see who is to overcome this challenge but I can see Huddersfield to win by such a narrow margin.
My other play-off teams didn't finish as good as one hoped. Although Colchester ended up 10th but nowhere near the top six, Chesterfield ended up relegating and will start next season back in League Two. Joining them in the fourth tier will be Wycombe and Rochdale, in which I originally predicted them comfortably in the top twelve while Exeter City also finished in the bottom four, something I thought, would happen.
Other correct predictions throughout the division were Tranmere at 12th and was one position away from being right with Walsall. They survived from relegation and next season they'd hope for better things. On the other hand, despite positive predictions, some of the teams performed better than I thought while others, like Chesterfield had an opposite effect. Teams like Scunthorpe who returned to League One last season after relegating - struggled, despite the fact I suggested they'd be in the top ten. Preston also were in the Championship last season but sold their top players in the summer and suffered the consequences finishing 15th while I thought their summer of misfortunes wouldn't have affected them. Next season for them is all about rebuilding and starting from square one if they are to challenge a top six place. Final team worth mentioning is the persistence and determination by Stevenage who would have gained a triple promotion if they defeated Sheffield United in their play-off encounter. Nonetheless, they did better than my prediction of them going straight down.
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Premiership
This Premier League season has been awarded as the greatest since its re-branding in 1992 and it is hard to disagree. To start, Manchester United did not win the title and those who were relegated have previously been a credit to the top flight. The league is getting closer and closer but all eyes were on the city of Manchester. We waited until the last day to find out who won between City and United and it was going to be the Red Devils's 20th title in their history until Sergio Aguero 92nd minute strike which ensured that would not be the case.
My predictions does show that Man. United will have succeeded comfortably but this could only mean their bitter rivals have exceeded most expectations and we could only see them to do bigger and better things in the future. I predicted them third, only behind Chelsea who endured a bad season in the Premier League. Andre Villas-Boas left his position early after The Blues were falling behind in the race to the top four which given their owner Roman Abramovich little alternative but to fire him. Roberto Di Matteo replaced him in an interim role and maintained his Chelsea legend status by winning not just the FA Cup, but the Champions League also. The Russian billionaire has invested hundred-of-millions of pounds so he can get his paws on that trophy. It has taken him almost a decade but he must now surely be happy? I bet he is but will Di Matteo have the Chelsea job on a permanent basis? If he doesn't, I feel he has had the best final match anyone could possibly had and I'm sure Barcelona or Liverpool would be knocking on his door.
Furthermore, I surprised myself by predicting Bolton to relegate. I have given them a hard time by saying they would struggle in the last few years and it has shown this year. The new additions to the Premier League this season, Swansea City, Norwich City and QPR exceeded many expectations - although the latter survived on the final day in the expense of Bolton. I had little doubt that they would survive.
West Brom has had an incredible season. Like Bolton, I do have a tendency to send them down but Roy Hodgson has done an exceptional job there. Now he's left the club and is guiding England to Euro 2012 glory (or humiliation), they have more confidence in future seasons by becoming increasingly ambitious in spending star players and appointing great managers. Di Matteo coached them for a time before, if he didn't get a Chelsea contract, I'm sure the West Midland side would like to snap him up. The Italian will be a popular man this summer. Let us not also discredit Fulham's performance. Martin Jol is aiming to do as well with Fulham as he did with Tottenham and finishing 9th this season would only be a start for good things ahead for the west London side.
With regards to how good my predictions were position-wise, Everton was the only team which matched. Although I feel they would prefer reality to my predictions as they finished ahead of Liverpool. My Wigan prediction would have been semi-accurate if it had not been for the struggles of Aston Villa. I believed that Alex McLeish would capitalise on the fundings he was given however he failed to provide back-up for Darren Bent who was injured in February and didn't get their supporter's morale's high after Stiliyan Petrov's leukaemia diagnosis.
Regardless, it has been a fantastic season across all four divisions. I am now looking forward to June 18th when next season's fixtures are released. Due to the popularity of my last season's predictions, I am going to do the same as last year and predict each division. Only this time, hopefully, I will be more accurate. Even if that wasn't the case, I'm sure you enjoy reading.
League One
My other play-off teams didn't finish as good as one hoped. Although Colchester ended up 10th but nowhere near the top six, Chesterfield ended up relegating and will start next season back in League Two. Joining them in the fourth tier will be Wycombe and Rochdale, in which I originally predicted them comfortably in the top twelve while Exeter City also finished in the bottom four, something I thought, would happen.
Other correct predictions throughout the division were Tranmere at 12th and was one position away from being right with Walsall. They survived from relegation and next season they'd hope for better things. On the other hand, despite positive predictions, some of the teams performed better than I thought while others, like Chesterfield had an opposite effect. Teams like Scunthorpe who returned to League One last season after relegating - struggled, despite the fact I suggested they'd be in the top ten. Preston also were in the Championship last season but sold their top players in the summer and suffered the consequences finishing 15th while I thought their summer of misfortunes wouldn't have affected them. Next season for them is all about rebuilding and starting from square one if they are to challenge a top six place. Final team worth mentioning is the persistence and determination by Stevenage who would have gained a triple promotion if they defeated Sheffield United in their play-off encounter. Nonetheless, they did better than my prediction of them going straight down.*********************************************************
Premiership
This Premier League season has been awarded as the greatest since its re-branding in 1992 and it is hard to disagree. To start, Manchester United did not win the title and those who were relegated have previously been a credit to the top flight. The league is getting closer and closer but all eyes were on the city of Manchester. We waited until the last day to find out who won between City and United and it was going to be the Red Devils's 20th title in their history until Sergio Aguero 92nd minute strike which ensured that would not be the case.
My predictions does show that Man. United will have succeeded comfortably but this could only mean their bitter rivals have exceeded most expectations and we could only see them to do bigger and better things in the future. I predicted them third, only behind Chelsea who endured a bad season in the Premier League. Andre Villas-Boas left his position early after The Blues were falling behind in the race to the top four which given their owner Roman Abramovich little alternative but to fire him. Roberto Di Matteo replaced him in an interim role and maintained his Chelsea legend status by winning not just the FA Cup, but the Champions League also. The Russian billionaire has invested hundred-of-millions of pounds so he can get his paws on that trophy. It has taken him almost a decade but he must now surely be happy? I bet he is but will Di Matteo have the Chelsea job on a permanent basis? If he doesn't, I feel he has had the best final match anyone could possibly had and I'm sure Barcelona or Liverpool would be knocking on his door.Furthermore, I surprised myself by predicting Bolton to relegate. I have given them a hard time by saying they would struggle in the last few years and it has shown this year. The new additions to the Premier League this season, Swansea City, Norwich City and QPR exceeded many expectations - although the latter survived on the final day in the expense of Bolton. I had little doubt that they would survive.
West Brom has had an incredible season. Like Bolton, I do have a tendency to send them down but Roy Hodgson has done an exceptional job there. Now he's left the club and is guiding England to Euro 2012 glory (or humiliation), they have more confidence in future seasons by becoming increasingly ambitious in spending star players and appointing great managers. Di Matteo coached them for a time before, if he didn't get a Chelsea contract, I'm sure the West Midland side would like to snap him up. The Italian will be a popular man this summer. Let us not also discredit Fulham's performance. Martin Jol is aiming to do as well with Fulham as he did with Tottenham and finishing 9th this season would only be a start for good things ahead for the west London side.
With regards to how good my predictions were position-wise, Everton was the only team which matched. Although I feel they would prefer reality to my predictions as they finished ahead of Liverpool. My Wigan prediction would have been semi-accurate if it had not been for the struggles of Aston Villa. I believed that Alex McLeish would capitalise on the fundings he was given however he failed to provide back-up for Darren Bent who was injured in February and didn't get their supporter's morale's high after Stiliyan Petrov's leukaemia diagnosis.
Regardless, it has been a fantastic season across all four divisions. I am now looking forward to June 18th when next season's fixtures are released. Due to the popularity of my last season's predictions, I am going to do the same as last year and predict each division. Only this time, hopefully, I will be more accurate. Even if that wasn't the case, I'm sure you enjoy reading.
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