Yes the Premier League 2010/2011 season has come to a dramatic end, with both ends of the table sharing happiness and disappointment in maybe not so equal measures.....
The top of the pile saw Manchester United crowned League Champions yet again, taking their league title's tally to a staggering 19, seeing them overtake their fiercest rivals Liverpool who are still languishing on 18, and have been since 1990.
This years honour saw Sir Alex Ferguson's personal haul reach an unbelievable 12 of the 19 on his own!!!
His side may not have been the vintage quality of previous teams constructed by the Scot but they certainly were effective, and deservedly took the title, as the league never lies, they were the best team.
Chelsea ended up second after a storming end to the campaign which looked unlikely at the end of January.
But a flurry of results pulled them close to United only to see their title challenge come to an end at the home of the Champions. Their manager Carlo Ancelotti took the brunt of the 'poor' season by being shown the door immediately after the final game against Everton, leaving Chelsea looking for their eighth, yes eighth manager in just seven years, an astounding statistic for a club that only did the double 365 days previous in the Italians first season at the helm.
United's neighbours City concreted their place in the Champions League proper next season by over-hauling Arsene Wenger's faltering Arsenal side to finish 3rd and the Londoners 4th. The City manager Roberto Mancini fulfilled his target of Top flight European football for the avid followers of The Blues. Also in his first season he managed to mastermind an F.A Cup victory giving the fans their first piece of silverware in 35 years.
Arsenal stuttered into the final Champions League spot with a drab end to their season, leaving Gooners feeling baffled at where it went wrong......again. Also more questions are now hovering around at whether Mr Wenger is still the man for the job due to yet another season with nothing to show for their efforts at playing truly brilliant football to watch.
Spurs and surprise package Liverpool battled to the final day for the Europa League spot with the London club coming out on top. Harry's Lillywhite's must be happy with their season this year, their first year in the Champions League giving them a good showing reaching the Quarter Finals but defeated by Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid over two legs, but Spurs introduced themselves on the European stage in great fashion beating some of the games giants. Their European adventure I feel hindered their domestic form slightly but they held on top pip the Merseysider's to fifth place.
The middle of the table saw the one-time relegation threatened Liverpool and Everton drag themselves out of the mire to finish strongly giving their fans a more optimistic outlook for next season.
The Red half under now confirmed new manager King Kenny, appointed caretaker boss following the sides poor start under Roy Hodgson, the Scot steered his beloved club out of the danger zone and amazingly into contention for the final European place, just falling short after a tiring run-in.
A good finish to the season by Everton saw them follow their neighbours out of the relegation zone and on the tails of the Red's showing their quality for a battle and brilliant guidance of David Moyes.
The drama turned very much to the bottom half of the table in the final few games as six teams battled to stay in the English top division.
The first team to suffer their fate was West Ham, a truly dismal season saw the Hammers drop into the Championship, and as a result Avram Grant lost his job.
This now leaves themselves looking for a new manager to guide them back into the Premier League. Star players such as Scott Parker and Robert Green will surely be sold to the highest bidder, making their return all the more difficult I'm sure. But overall, the Hammers deserved to go down, at times they showed great character, and others they were awful, truly truly awful, possibly the worst West Ham side I have seen for many years.
Their fate was sealed the penultimate weekend of the season, which left the remaining five teams above them to battle it out on the final weekend, a mouth-watering prospect, and it didn't disappoint.
It was simple, if your team started with the letter 'B' or 'W', your team was almost certain to be involved, the list was.....Blackburn, Blackpool, Birmingham, Wigan and Wolves. Goal difference was tight and the possibilities were endless with respect to results and permutations of those results.
As goals went in at the various grounds involving these teams, the picture changed it seemed by the minute, goals scored, goals against, and the point difference all came into action.
So an overall view of the season passed.......Great for the Manchester clubs, both successful in the League and Cup's, United paving the way for yet another batch of players under Sir Alex and City for rising from the 'also-rans' into legitimate title contenders for next year, and reaching the Champions League.
A good season for Tottenham
Much the same target for the hungry Liverpool supporters who desperately want their club to end their title drought and under the management of Dalglish
The club's that escaped the drop will definitely look forward and look to strengthen their squads to keep them out of the dog-fight next time around, and the clubs that enter the Premier League on the 13th August, Champions Q.P.R, and fellow automatic placed Norwich both return to the top division after lengthy periods away, while the final place will go to either Swansea or Reading via the money-spinning Play-offs this Bank Holiday Monday.
All three teams will try to avoid returning immediately back to the Championship but with every season that passes the fine line between the two leagues getting thinner and thinner their tasks will be as hard as ever...
One last game i need to mention is the Champions League Final between Manchester United and Spanish giants Barcelona, staged at Wembley.
Both sides were crowned Champions of their domestic leagues, and in a fitting end to the season they face off in the European showpiece......Messi will take centre stage once again as he will go up against Wayne Rooney who has returned to form at just the right time for the English side.
Can United stifle the Barca attacking brilliance?? For me, no. They simply have to much of that, but I wouldn't be surprised if United push them to the end, as we all know, they never give up and ALWAYS score.
Personally I don't think they will outscore Barca, and many teams have tried many different styles in order to stem the attacking tide, and failed. I am going to plump for a 2-1 Barcelona win.....
In my opinion, this current Barcelona side is the best club side I have seen, possibly since the United side of Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Van Nistelrooy, Cantona, that type of era.
They are not far off the best team EVER, only the Brazil side of 1970 are better and that isn't by much nowadays as the likes of Messi continues to produce unbelievable performances almost every week.....
I hope this covers most of the points needed, you may not agree with me but I hope you can at least realise my points are valid more than not.
I wonder what the illustrious transfer window will bring.......I'll be keeping an eye on that and will be sharing my views on the happenings best I can.......
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