Quite some time ago, prior to the somewhat recently completed soccer season, the wizened Kobold seers speculated as to how the Premiership was going to turn out. And, given that the 2009-2010 campaign is just around the corner, it's probably time to see how they did. Here then are their picks, along
| Wizened Kobold Seers | Reality | ||
| 1 | Chelsea | 1 | ManchesterUnited |
| 2 | Manchester United | 2 | Liverpool |
| 3 | Liverpool | 3 | Chelsea |
| 4 | Arsenal | 4 | Arsenal |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | Everton |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 6 | Aston Villa |
| 7 | Everton | 7 | Fulham |
| 8 | Manchester City | 8 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 9 | Portsmouth | 9 | West Ham United |
| 10 | Newcastle United | 10 | Manchester City |
| 11 | West Ham United | 11 | Wigan Athletic |
| 12 | Bolton Wanderers | 12 | Stoke City |
| 13 | Blackburn Rovers | 13 | Bolton Wanderers |
| 14 | Middlesbrough | 14 | Portsmouth |
| 15 | Sunderland | 15 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 16 | Fulham | 16 | Sunderland |
| 17 | West Bromwich Albion | 17 | Hull City |
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 18 | Newcastle United |
| 19 | Hull City | 19 | Middlesbrough |
| 20 | Stoke City | 20 | West Bromwich Albion |
Some observations. First of all, the seers didn't actually do too badly, especially in the top half of the table (on the other hand, picking the top four teams in the Premiership is hardly a chore these days). They even managed to pick exactly the correct spot for Arsenal and Aston Villa! Well done seers! However, they also learned a valuable lesson: Tottenham Hotspur will always disappoint you.
There was less success with the bottom half; none of the teams picked to be relegated actually were. Fulham, Stoke, and Wigan all greatly exceeded everybody's expectations, and nobody really foresaw Newcastle's annus horribilis. Of the three teams selected by the seers to go down, Hull City actually came closest. They had a wild season; Hull were in the top five early on, and then completely collapsed, only securing safety at Newcastle's expense on the last day of the season.
And what about Millwall? Well, Millwall had a brilliant year, up until the last 20 minutes of it. The Lions finished fifth and qualified for the promotion playoffs, wherein they defeated mighty Leeds United in the first round. With 20 minutes to go in the playoff final against Scunthorpe, Millwall were leading 2-1, but they couldn't hold on and ended up losing 3-2. And so face another season of League 1 football, but this time there will be some big names (Norwich, Southampton, Charlton, and - heh,heh - Leeds) to keep us company.
Next time: How did we do with Serie A?
2 comments:
Newcastle?? Really?? Awww
Yeah, Newcastle's problems were quite shocking, and it's being suggested that they may not be back in the Premiership any time very soon. They've got serious money troubles, apparently...
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