Thank goodness for that
Well, we managed to cling on and finish fifth. A lovely finish by Shola Ameobi, with his weaker foot after good work by Bowyer helped us gain the point we ultimately needed. Even Michael Owen's customary goal didn't damage our hopes, with Villa unable to beat 9-man Man Utd. So we've only dropped down two places since last year, which given Chelsea's meteoric rise and our rubbish away form could have been a lot worse. Funnily enough only 8 defeats in the season represents our best record for ages. If only we could have turned a few more of those away draws into wins, and we'd have been able to spend the last few weeks looking up in anticipation and not down with anxiety.

How we go forward from here remains to be seen. Really, if some of our so called "class" players had performed, and those who were performing hadn't been crippled by injuries this would probably be a much happier posting. So does that mean that all Bobby needs to do is remind people like Jenas, Dyer, & Bowyer that they need to deliver on the pitch week-in, week-out not just once a season. Similarly, those players who just need to work harder (Ameobi, Robert) want to spend the summer on some kind of self-motivation course. Also, if someone could teach Titus Bramble that concentrating for the whole 90 minutes is a good thing to practice, our defence would look far happier.

In spite of all that, I have nothing but praise for Given, Speed, Shearer & Bernard who have been consistently doing the business throughout the season. They deserved better, even if some of the others probably didn't.

What we need to do over the summer is get rid of some of the dead wood (and much as it pains me to admit it, that probably includes Viana), hang on to the real quality (Given, Woodgate, Bellamy) and just strengthen certain areas (a right-back who is better than Hughes is a must), and we can go into the next season with renewed optimism. Failure to strengthen the squad would see us slip further backwards, and the question as to who will replace Shearer and to a degree Speed (although Bowyer & Jenas wouldn't be the worst midfield combination in the world).

In a season in which not much has gone as well as we'd hoped, fifth place and a UEFA semi-final appearance isn't bad on paper to look back on. The question now, is how those in charge look forward...
- posted by Paul @ 10:12 am