Shifty's Season Review Part 4

Manchester United
What I Said: They have every reason to belive that they can claim a 4th European Cup and a 19th Premier League title. Expect Ben Foster to be gradually phased in as 1st choice goalkeeper
What Actually Happened: Missed out on both titles, with only the Carling Cup being successfully defended. Poor form early in the season pushed Foster out of contention for the England squad, and may lead to him being one of a number of players through the Old Trafford exit door this summer

Portsmouth
What I Said: With minimal investment in an already limited squad, expect Pompey to be near the bottom come January, and praying for another miraculous escape
What Actually Happened: The financial situation deteriorated to such an extent that Pompey became the first Premier League club to be placed into administration, with the subsequent 9-point deduction merely serving to confirm what already looked like certain relegation. They at least went down with a fight, with some decent end-of-season form giving them a glimmer of hope for the FA Cup Final

Stoke City
What I Said: It won't be pretty, and may require a couple more shrewd signings, but expect Stoke to survive again
What Actually Happened: Dear sweet Jeebus it wasn't pretty (just like Aaron Ramsey's leg), even with the addition of Tuncay, but Stoke comfortably survived, notching up 2 more points than they did last season. This is a crucial summer for Tony Pulis and his side- how much ambition do they have, now that they have established themselves in the league? Will they look to play some more stylish football next season?

Sunderland
What I Said: A talented midfield and forward line (with potential for further investment in the squad in January) suggests that mid-table is very much achievable
What Actually Happened: Finished 13th after a consistently inconsistent season. Darren Bent's goals (many of them 1st, as previously reported here) not only won this writer a fair wad of cash over the season, but also got him into Fabio Capello's initial 30 man squad for the World Cup. Just 2 away wins in the league all season, though, sugest that there is still work for Steve Bruce to do

Tottenham Hotspur
What I Said: Spurs shouldn't concede too many once again, while strength in depth in midfield and attack suggests that a top-half finish is where they're heading
What Actually Happened: A great season saw Harry Redknapp's side finish 4th. They're still a long way off the level of those sides ahead of them, and demonstrated some worrying inconsistencies particularly against the smaller teams in the league (Stoke, Hull, Wolves and Burnley all took points off them), but they showed plenty of admirable qualities in trumping Man City, Aston Villa and Liverpool in the race for 4th

West Ham
What I Said: A quiet summer on the transfer market demonstrating Zola's faith in some talented youngsters
What Actually Happened: Never got going, and ended up in a relegation battle they seemed ill-equipped for. The January signing of Ilan proved to be of paramount importance, as the Hammers would have been in even more bother (only goal difference would have kept them ahead of Burnley) than they already were- it could be credibly argued that they were only saved by having 3 teams below them who were, let's be honest, pretty terrible. Zola's dismissal came as no real surprise

Wigan and Wolves both stayed up without ever looking like doing much more, but both did it in completely different ways. While Wolves plundered just 32 goals all season, and were generally pretty poor to watch, Wigan at least gave us some entertainment, and some remarkable scorelines. Home victories over Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea were offset by some utter gubbings- three 4-0 losses (including one at Portsmouth!), a 5-0 loss at Old Trafford and of course 8-0 and 9-1 shellackings away at Chelsea and Spurs respectively