26th May

So we're up to 18th place, so who's next?

NEWCASTLE

I'm a big fan of giving managers chances to prove themselves. But it was painfully obvious very early on that Steve McClaren was horribly out of his depth, and unless Newcastle sacked him, they were going to get relegated. However, it took them until 11th March, when they only had ten league games left, to actually sack McClaren, and despite picking up a respectable thirteen points from those games, the net result was still relegation. 

The warning signs were there, right from the off, that it was going to be an extremely tough season for Newcastle, as it took them until mid-October to win a Premier League game, and that was only against a dreadful Norwich side. They went on to lose the next game 3-0 to Sunderland.

Consistency was always Newcastle's problem. Only four wins before Christmas, including astonishing back to back wins against Liverpool and Spurs, left them on just 17 points at the turn of the year, slap bang in the relegation zone. And a lack of consistency proved their undoing, as they only picked up seven more points before McClaren was finally sacked, too late to turn things around. Nevertheless, if Newcastle want to pinpoint the reason that they got relegated, failing twice to beat Aston Villa, the only team in the division to do so, is a great big reason. Four extra points against Villa would have seen them safe, and even if they'd just managed to score against them in May when instead they drew 0-0, they could have put more pressure on Sunderland. 

For Newcastle, this result is an absolute embarrassment. If Villa were a shambles, Newcastle were almost as bad, spending £75m on new players, only to get relegated. No really. £13m on Mitrovic, £14.5m on Wjinaldum, £12m each on Townsend, Shelvey and Thauvin, None of these signings are worth the money that was spent on them except possibly Wjinaldum, varying from promising but overpriced (Townsend) to a downright hilarious waste of money (Thauvin). Newcastle threw money at flair players without fixing the spine of their team, and really, if they were going to spend £75m, they really should have spent more on their leaky defence.

Shipping five to Palace and Chelsea, six to City, three on multiple occasions, including to Bournemouth, Southampton, Sunderland and Leicester, Newcastle conceded a wretched 65 goals, scoring just 44. Unlike Sunderland, despite throwing money at average players, they didn't have a 15/20 goal striker in their team, with Wjinaldum's eleven their top scorer, but crucially, he scored four of those in one game and was extremely inconsistent, with Mitovic always looking as likely to get send off as to score. 

Overall, Newcastle this season were nothing short of a car crash. They looked set to at least challenge for a mid-table finish but a leaky defence, a lack of quality coming forward and a general incompetence at just about every level cost them dearly. What must hurt the most for Newcastle fans is that they clearly have a lot of decent players, and occasionally showed flashes of exactly how good they can be, putting six past Norwich and their last day decimation of Spurs coming to mind. Wjinaldum, Townsend and Mitrovic all had so much potential, but rarely showed up. Nevertheless, their squad is still full of dead wood. Jack Colback is painfully average, Paul Dummett was one of the worst left backs in the league, the likes of Anita, Sissoko and Tiote are all barely Premier League players and Papiss Cisse up front had probably the worst season of his career, scoring just three goals. 

Moving forward? I have absolutely no idea how on earth they managed to secure Rafa on a fresh three year deal, but they played much better under him towards the end of the season and Rafa is one of my favourite managers. If they can shore up their defence and midfield then they can compete at the top level again, but even with the squad they have, I thoroughly expect them to walk the Championship next year. 

Cricket Preview

England go into their second test against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street in Durham tomorrow 1-0 up in the three match series, after thrashing their opposition at Headingley, with Jimmy Anderson taking 10-45 as England enforced the follow on and won by comfortably over an innings, despite scoring less than 300. 

The question marks over this England team then, going into this second test, remain thoroughly over the batting. Opener Alex Hales relieved some of the pressure on his shoulders with a solid 86, but with Nick Compton scoring a duck and debutant Vince making just nine, there are still serious question marks over England's upper-middle order, which is really being held together by experienced players Cook and Root. 

The main question in terms of selection going into this game is who will replace the injured Ben Stokes? With the questions being over England's batting, rather than their bowling, you would expect England to go with the more all-round option of Chris Woakes, but I personally hope that young Ball gets a chance to bowl. After all, a team with Moeen Ali at seven and Broad at eight wouldn't be light on batting. Either way, Jonny Bairstow, hailed by his coach after scoring 140 in the first test, will get a chance to bat higher up the order sooner than expected, as he should push up to six, with neither Woakes, nor Ball able to bat that high at international level. 

As for Sri Lanka, their batting is going to come under a serious test. Their openers look thoroughly incapable of dealing with England's bowling, their middle order is paper-thin and their tail is simply non-existent. Only Mendis and Mathews looked capable of producing any sort of batting display, with Mendis the only Sri Lankan to make a half century in his second innings, after getting out to an unplayable ball in the first innings. 

But, you would thoroughly expect England to win this second test as well. The bowlers have shown that they can defend just about any total, and Broad and Anderson will be in the Sri Lankans heads and eager to get stuck into them again. You would expect at least one of the current England batting line up to kick on and make a century in English conditions, as Cook, Root, Hales and Bairstow are all in good form, and if they keep their heads, there are runs to be made. England have to go for the throat now, and show that they can make a big total, since we already know that they can (and could well again) skittle Sri Lanka. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Sturridge injured again. Obviously.
• Murray doing it the hard way. Two five-setters. 
• Bedene 2-1 up. Winner plays Djokovic. 
• And Jules Bianchi's family are suing over his death. Tragedy.

24th May

So, moving up the Barclays Premier League table. We covered Villa, so let's see who's next...

NORWICH

There's something rather telling about the fact that whilst Sunderland, Newcastle, Villa, and even Swansea all sacked their managers, frustrated with their lack of progress and results and desperate to prevent their teams sinking into the Championship, Norwich kept the faith in Alex Neil, and it cost them. 

The only newly promoted club to get relegated this season, Norwich will be able to pinpoint the crucial week where their season ran out of steam. 

This was always going to be a relegation fight for Norwich. They were the weakest of the three teams coming up, securing their promotion through the play-offs, which historically is not a good sign, and they had a decidedly average squad, littered with mediocre players and only really one or two top players in the mix. They were below par in all areas of the pitch, joint-third lowest scorers and joint-second most conceded, it's a recipe for disaster. With Villa obviously the worst in both categories, Norwich had the unfortunate privilege of having the second worst combination, as although West Brom, Palace and Watford all also struggled to score goals, they were all bolstered by significantly better defences, and, paralleled, although Bournemouth conceded as many as Norwich, they also scored more goals. 

And the season started okay by dogfight standards, with wins against Bournemouth and Sunderland earning Norwich nine points from their first seven games. But defeat against Leicester, much as it did for Villa, proved to be a catalyst. and after losing all four games in October, including an infamous 6-2 defeat against Newcastle that served to highlight exactly how shoddy Norwich's defence had the capacity to be, the Canaries went on to win just one league game in three months, a narrow 1-0 win over Swansea, leaving them with fourteen points off sixteen games, right on the brink of the relegation zone. 

Things picked up around the Christmas period, with brilliant wins over Manchester United and Southampton giving Norwich nine points from four games, before things fell off a cliff. Their defence was thoroughly exposed, as Manchester City knocked them out of the FA Cup, and then Stoke, Bournemouth, Spurs and Liverpool put fourteen goals past them in four league games, their fifth in a row shortly following, an ignominious defeat to Villa. 

Leicester, Chelsea and Swansea would compound their misery, leaving Norwich without a win in ten games and over two months. Luckily for Norwich, Sunderland and Newcastle were conspiring to be equally utterly useless, and they were only a point or two inside the drop zone. When they finally turned the corner and secured back to back wins against West Brom and Newcastle, they were favourites to stay up, licking their lips at their next two fixtures: a Palace side who hadn't won in 2016, and Sunderland. Win those two games, and Norwich would have stayed up. 

They didn't. They handed Palace their first win of 2016, and then rolled over and showed their bellies as Sunderland romped over them, and went on to secure their own survival. A pivotal week, a real opportunity for Norwich to survive, and they failed. Narrow, but nevertheless expected defeats to United and Arsenal meant that Norwich were relegated whatever happened in their last two games, and they were left to rue missed opportunities. 

The painful thing about this season for Norwich is that they had it in their own hands. If they'd beaten Sunderland they would have stayed in the Premier League. Away from that, they let a hapless Crystal Palace do the double over them, conceded six against Newcastle, and lost to one of the worst sides in Premier League history. Norwich were never able to build any sort of consistency, and it was a case of one step forward, two steps backwards. 

That said, their squad was never good enough to stay up. Their goalkeepers were not great, Bassong is not a Premier League centre back, as he's proven for what I believe is the 6th year in a row, their midfield was easily the strongest part of their squad, as they had some decent players in there, not in the least the talented Nathan Redmond, but up front? Patrick Bamford is a failure, Cameron Jerome is not a striker to keep you in the Premier League and I like Mbokani but he's not enough on his own to stay up. He scored seven goals. Jermain Defoe scored fifteen. Enough said. 

Norwich seem like a nice club. They're reasonably well run, they have a nice manager, they have some okay players. They were certainly not a disaster like Villa, and they weren't horrifically underacheiving whilst spending millions like Sunderland or Newcastle. But, in the end, when it came to the crunch, Norwich didn't have the quality to stay in the Premier League. They looked like a Championship club when they came up, and they looked like a Championship club when they went down. I expect them to make a decent run at the Championship next season, but once again, the play-offs may be the best that they can hope for. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Andy Murray survived a huge scare in the French Open. 
• Leicestershire were bowled out for 43. Ouch. 
• Tuilagi injured. Again. Body blow. 
• Bedene and Watson join Murray in Round Two. 
• And Mourinho talks continue. Kill me now. 

23rd May

Something a little different I promised. Well I wanted to do a season in review style thing, alongside my usual assessment of sports news, where I look at each Premier League team's campaign in some detail to discuss how it went, one each day.

One caveat to this: I'm not talking about Liverpool. I have plenty to say on our season and moreover the summer ahead but I'm going to discuss that in detail anyway, so there's no point reiterating myself. And I want to start at the bottom and work my way up, which means today we start with:

ASTON VILLA

Where even to begin with Aston Villa? A club in absolute disarray from start to finish, sacking two managers, disciplining multiple high profile players, a nineteen game losing run (yes really), only three wins all season (against Palace, Bournemouth and Norwich who ended up with an average position of 17th) and the third lowest points total in Premier League history. Throw in the £50m spent in the summer and it really is a tale of utter shambles. 

There simply are no words for how bad Aston Villa were this season. Limp, lifeless, disgraceful, they simply lacked the technical ability, the stomach or the tactical nous for the fight. It's mad to think that my prediction of Villa getting relegated looked like a bad call after they beat Bournemouth 1-0 on the opening day of the season, their only win under Tim Sherwood, who was sacked at the end of October, as Villa picked up a solitary point from the nine games that followed. at the end of August against Sunderland, losing each of the six league games that they played in the two months that followed. When new manager Remi Garde took over, it took him a similar length of time to secure a win as Villa boss, failing to win any of his first nine games in charge before a 1-0 against a free-falling Palace side on 12th January. By that point, Villa looked sunk without a trace, on just 11 points off 21 games and eight points from safety, although Swansea had a game in hand on them. 

But if things looked bad then, they only got worse, as Garde picked up just five more points as Villa boss, including a win against a Norwich side who were in a simply wretched run of form and looking like the second worst team in the division. Garde didn't even make it April, and Villa were relegated, as expected. The question as early as December was: would they be as bad as the infamous Derby? Even though they beat Derby's meager points total, Villa were scarcely better on the pitch. 

Things didn't look good before the season had even started for Villa. With Ron Vlaar, Christian Benteke, Andres Weimann and Fabian Delph having narrowly avoided relegation the previous season, and none of them adequately replaced, Villa were short on quality in every single area of the pitch, with lots of money spent on average, untested, foreign players, none of whom made any significant impact apart from possibly Jordan Ayew. bought for about £8m from Lorient. 

However, we've seen before in the Premier League, and even this season with the likes of Norwich, who were relegated but at least made a fist of it, simple quality isn't everything. That was Villa's second major problem. Nobody seemed to care. Nobody put in any effort. The likes of Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards looked simply uninterested, Gabby Agbonlahor and Jack Grealish's off the field antics were laughable and overall, Villa just looked like a club that had accepted its fate even before they appointed Remi Garde. 

Then comes the third major issue. The managers. Tim Sherwood is not a Premier League manager. He just isn't. I'm not saying a good manager would have kept this uninterested bunch of bang average players in the Premier League but someone like Pulis or Allardyce would have at least made a good fist of it. When Sherwood was painfully and inevitably kicked to the curb, Remi Garde seemed like an odd appointment. He's a long term builder of teams, not an impact manager. I laughed when I heard Villa sacked Garde if I'm being honest. He was given no money and time to improve what was truly a pitiful squad, he was out of his element and even when he was appointed they looked a relegated club. That said, he had to do better than he did. Certain relegation and a shocking squad of overpaid, overrated egos who clearly didn't care about the club doesn't justify as pitiful a points total as Villa turned in. 

And that right there is the root of the problem. Nobody at any level of the club seemed to care. Seemed to fight. Hell, at least Sherwood occasionally showed some passion, which is more than can be said for anyone else. Joleon Lescott saying relegation  was a weight off the team's shoulders just sums it up. Nobody at the club cared, they were all just waiting for the inevitable. The players knew that they were getting relegated, and were all too concerned with their wages, the manager knew he was in over his head and getting sacked, the owner knew he was selling the club at the end of the season; not a single member of this travesty had any ounce of emotional investment in the club once it became clear that they were all personally compromised. The only people who cared were the same people who could do nothing to stop it: the supporters. 

So where now for Villa? This club is tainted. The first thing to do is find a manager, but I can't see anyone in their right mind who would go there now; with David Moyes already saying no thanks, surely Nigel Pearson is the man to take them forwards from here? If that's even possible. A serious overhaul is needed. This is not a squad equipped for the Championship, it's not a team like Newcastle that you could see walking the division if they keep their best players and manager. This is a team that could just as easily get relegated to League One as promoted back to the EPL next season. 

And at this point, all I feel for Villa is pity. It's an absolutely crying shame what has happened to this club. On the pitch, off the pitch, at every single conceivable level except financial they have fallen apart. It's not a season to forget, so much as a season to remember. To hold up, and to use as an example: both for other established Premier League clubs and for Villa themselves. Never again. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Kane and Vardy. 4-4-2. So tempting. 
• Hahahahaha Sevilla. Messi is just too good. 
• LVG sacked. Mourinho in. Cry cry cry. 
• Heather Watson wins. Boom. 
• Stokes injured. Woakes in. Give Ball a chance. 

22nd May

So yeah, it's been a while. I didn't feel like reacting to Wednesday. So I'm not. Let's talk cricket...

England Thump Sri Lanka

This had everything you would expect from a typical English test match. A standard England batting collapse, a hard fought century from a Yorkshireman, an underwhelming opening first innings total, James Anderson and Stuart Broad making things happen with the ball in hand to rescue the situation. 

Maybe I'm being unfair to England, but overall it's difficult to judge this batting line up based on this game, for so many reasons. First of all, the conditions were very bowler friendly, as Anderson will attest. Secondly, it's the first test of the summer, and for Vince, his first ever test match, and England only got to bat for one innings. I'll start by trying to assess the batting though, since a first innings total of 298, even put into bat at Headingley, isn't a good total. I want to start with the slight negatives, because very soon they're going to give way to outlandish praise. And I have to say, all of the negatives I have from this match are very much tempered by situation. 

So the batting order fell apart. That's a kinda standard English thing to do. Cook and Root will both be very disappointed that they threw their wickets away, but they're both in hot form and we know that they're both capable of more. So there's absolutely zero long term worries about those two. Ditto Ben Stokes, who we know is very much a hot and cold player, mercurial, capable of madness. Also, because he bowled well and was unlucky to only take the one wicket, although he only bowled seven overs in the match because of a worrying blow to his knee. 

So moving away from the stalwarts, the three we don't have to worry about, to those whose place in the are more under question. Starting with Nick Compton at three, who has several young batsmen knocking on the door behind him (Gary Ballance who averages nearly 50 in tests is struggling for form at Yorkshire and Ian Bell is in hot form). Compton, however, got unlucky. Of all of the top six that got out incredibly cheaply, Compton was the only one who was actually got out, facing a cracking ball whereas the other five gave their wickets away. This leads us to Vince, who on debut only made nine, before playing a loose shot. Vince looks talented, and certainly should be given both the Sri Lanka and Pakistan series to show what he can do, so I'm not going to judge him on one short, albeit disappointing innings. 

And then there's Alex Hales. Hales was arguably the batsman going into this series under the most pressure, with Robson and Lyth hammering big scores for their counties, questions over whether he could make the transition from the short form of the game and a really poor series against South Africa. But, Hales hit back here, with a good score at a crucial period of the game. With England reduced to 83-5, Hales was forced to play a more defensive game, with a strike rate in the upper 30s, lower 40s, and taking over two hundred deliveries to reach his 86. Despite taking flak for that, Hales deserves plaudits. He's someone who is hard-wired to play a pinch hitting game, but what he played on Thursday was very much a test match innings, and the innings of a test match opener, as England recovered to pass the two hundred mark on Friday morning, still just five wickets down. It's just a shame that Hales' natural instincts took over and he tried a big shot that cost him his wicket, as he looked nailed on to make his maiden test century. 

But one man who did convert his positive start into a century was the man of the match, Jonny Bairstow, whose sensational 140 from 183 lifted England to 298 on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Bairstow came to the crease with his side in dire straights, but almost immediately counter-punched, putting on a century stand with Hales, scoring 91 of the 141 that they put on together. When Hales fell, Bairstow played slightly more cautiously until he got out of the nervous 90s, but with Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad gone cheaply, and England 233/8, he recognised that he needed to score fast and turned 100 into 140 in no time at all to elevate England to just shy of 300. On a pitch where only two other batsmen even made fifties, and where Bairstow himself outscored each of Sri Lanka's individual innings, it was a very, very fine innings from YJB, for only his second test century, and his first in his own country. It's fitting that it came on his home ground. 

But from there on out, it's all about one man, James Anderson. Anderson and Broad both bowled terrifically on days two and three, but as much as England's attack is very much a team effort, and as much as the other bowlers deserve their plaudits for supporting Jimmy, it was very much Anderson's test match, as he took two 5-fers, to finish with astonishing match figures of 10-45, as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 91 and 119 to lose by a shambolic innings and 88 runs. 

And make no mistake, Sri Lanka were a shambles, an embarrassment, bad beyond belief. Mendis' second innings 53 their only fifty over the two innings and other than some brief resistance from Thirimanne and Mathews in the first innings, and Mendis in the second, they rolled over and let England pummel them. Their openers made a combined total of 32 over their two innings, 25 of them scored by Silva. Even more damning was their lower order. The top six made a staggering 88% of their runs, with the bottom five making less than 7%, scoring a grand total of fourteen runs over the two innings. That's five batsmen, two innings each, averaging less than one and a half runs. Frankly it's a miracle that none of them made a pair. 

But as bad as Sri Lanka were, England's bowling was simply awesome. On Friday night, with the ball swinging all over the place, Anderson and Broad were unplayable as Sri Lanka's last six wickets fell for just fourteen runs, Anderson finishing with 5-16, an economy of less than one and a half as he took apart the lower order. 

And England started as they meant to go on, needing just 35 overs on a heavily rain-interrupted Saturday to finish off Sri Lanka, who would have been lucky to make it to lunch if the game hadn't been hit by lashes of bad weather. Anderson removed the openers again, and although Mendis at three put up a good fight, England's bowlers worked as a team to take apart the rest of Sri Lanka around him, with Ali, Broad and Finn dismissing Chandimaal, Mathews and Thirimanne respectively. With Anderson having already dismissed Mendis and Shanaka by the time Finn displaced Thirimanne, Herath and Chameera in the space of five deliveries, it was always going to be Anderson himself who finished off the match, knocking down Pradeep's stumps to claim his second 5-fer of the match. 

Going into this test match, I was confident. Throughout England's innings, I made the point: wait until England get a chance to bowl on this pitch. It was impossible to judge what a good first innings score was for England until Sri Lanka had batted, because in English conditions, I had full confidence that England's bowling line up, easily the strongest area of their team, would do the damage. Broad and Anderson proved me right, as two of, if not the best two, swing bowlers in world cricket demolished Sri Lanka and made 298 look like a very good score. That said, I hadn't quite anticipated a collapse of this magnitude. 

So for England, a brilliant start to the summer. For Sri Lanka, an abysmal one. But when the dust settles, and we ask the question: what did we learn from this, the answer will be: not much. We learned Alex Hales is capable of a world class test innings. We learned that Jonny Bairstow is capable of turning his imperious first class form into an international century. But beyond that? We already knew Anderson was one of the best bowlers of all time, and that Sri Lanka's batting lineup was frail and inexperienced. So let's wait and see what happens in the next two tests. 

United Triumph

And just after England finished routing Sri Lanka, Manchester United and Crystal Palace played out a largely tedious, although exciting in the end, FA Cup final, that gave Manchester United their first and only trophy of Louis Van Gaal's reign in a manner that rather sums up his tenure at the club: not very exciting, but eventually largely effective, somehow, as a thunderous volley from Jesse Lingard light up an affair that had largely up until that point been more about the referee than anything else. 

Certainly Clattenburg was in the spotlight as he gave one (stonewall) red card, and could easily have given at least one if not two more, with Damien Delaney pushing his luck with a reckless challenge and Wayne Rooney pushing his luck on multiple occasions, to the point where when he committed a high and late dodgy foul late on, and the referee let him off without a second yellow, the only excuse you could think of was: it's Wayne Rooney. 

Moreover, Clattenburg made three big calls in the first half against Palace, twice blowing up for a Palace free kick when even waiting a split-second would have resulted in Palace being in on goal, Conor Wickham in particular fuming when his shot past De Gea had already been called a Palace free kick, and the third a possible penalty after Rooney gave Daley Blind a nightmare of a backpass, Blind couldn't hold onto it and Rooney stormed in to challenge Zaha in the box. He was nowhere near the ball, but he also didn't catch Zaha, so I feel as though the referee made the right call on that one at least. 

Away from Clattenburg, there was precious little to talk about for the first eighty minutes or so. United dominated the ball without creating too much in the first half, a snatched shot from Juan Mata after dreadful Palace defending their only shot on target in the first half, as Hennessey clawed it out. In the second half United were much better, Martial's clever flicked header hitting the post and a lovely touch from Rashford setting Fellaini in, only for the Belgian to crash against the frame of the goal when really he had to score, or at the least hit the target. 

Those three decent chances aside, United created almost nothing. Martial was very quiet, having six shots but not hitting the target once, Rooney and Carrick knocking the ball around nicely but struggling to penetrate and the clever passing of Juan Mata and the sheer pace of Marcus Rashford the only two options that looked likely to make something happen. 

Palace on the other hand, looked dangerous when they came forward, up to a point, in that they didn't actually create too many real chances. They almost never actually did get forward and although they got in some decent positions, Wilfried Zaha showed exactly why he wasn't good enough to play for Manchester United, as on multiple occasions he had really decent opportunities to run in on goal, only to produce absolutely nothing. It wasn't until the introduction of Jason Puncheon that things livened up, as Martial carelessly played Puncheon onside and he arrived at the back post to slam in a wonderful volley with ten minutes to go. 

And then Palace fell apart, allowing Rooney to slalom through their defence with incredible ease and play a clever ball to Fellaini, whose one abundant skill is his height and strength, knocking it down for Mata to fire home, with the unfortunate Joel Ward unable to block it on the line, despite putting in a stellar defensive performance up until that point.

And from there, the game went to extra time, and when Chris Smalling got himself sent off, it looked as if the game was going to penalties, before an absolutely sumptuous volley from Jesse Lingard gave United a probably deserved win.

It's just a shame that this is LVG's last (and only) hurrah, as Jose Mourinho is coming in to replace him. Just when I thought this week couldn't get any worse. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Hibs beat Rangers 3-2 to win the Scottish Cup.
• Sarries v Exeter in the Premiership final. 
• The French Open is underway...without Federer
• And England play a friendly today...without half their squad. 

SURPRISE: there's more. 

Tune in tomorrow for something very different that I want to try out over the next month or so as we build up to the Euros. 

17th May

Roy Hodgson sparks controversy and I preview tomorrow's huge game...

The England 26

Roy Hodgson unleashed his 26 man squad on us yesterday and, sure enough, it sparked controversy, with Roy claiming that Theo Walcott hadn't secured enough game time to get a place in the squad, yet picked Delph, Wilshere, Rashford and Townsend, all of whom have played less Premier League minutes this season. It was an odd claim, and strikes me as a bit of an excuse not to take Theo, who hasn't been anywhere near his best for quite a while in an Arsenal shirt, and an excuse that, whether or not there's more to it, has rightfully opened Roy up to ridicule. 

So my overall thoughts. It's impossible to say how I feel completely about this squad until Roy cuts it down to 23 men, but I believe that he has made largely the right decisions, but with one or two blinding tactical errors. However, if Roy drops the three players that most people anticipate he will, and that I hope he will, then it should be okay. I'll go through the squad section by section and give my thoughts: 

Goalkeepers: Hart, Forster, Heaton

No major surprises here. With Butland injured, Hart was always going to be first choice and Forster second. There's a case to be made for Ben Foster as third choice keeper but really, Heaton was always going to get the spot and will probably play zero minutes anyway. 

Defenders: Walker, Clyne, Stones, Smalling, Cahill, Rose, Bertrand

Okay, Roy's first major error here. I understand the tendency to feel the need to go in with seven defenders rather than eight to accommodate an extra midfielder. I personally don't agree with it, but I understand it. However, what I cannot understand is dropping Phil Jagielka ahead of Kyle Walker. Now, England have two specialist full backs in each position, but only three specialist centre halves, which is frankly ludicrous, especially when you consider that Stones and Smalling can both also play right back. So we have have four of those seven capable of playing right back, and only three capable of playing in the center. And the fact that Eric Dier is in the squad doesn't help, because whilst yes he can fill in at CB if required, not only is he also capable of fitting in at right back, but he's the only natural defensive midfielder in the squad and arguably one of the most crucial cogs in our team, and it makes zero sense to go in with such a light central defence, especially when Jagielka has international experience and has largely not actually featured in Everton's trainwreck defensive displays this season, whilst Stones is definitely a weaker defender, albeit one with more talent. 

Short version: picking Walker alongside Clyne instead of Jagielka leaves us short a centre back, and Clyne is more than fit enough to start every game for us at the Euros anyway, with Stones capable of filling in there if need be and allowing us still three central defenders if he'd taken Jagielka. 

Midfield: Alli, Barkley, Delph, Dier, Drinkwater, Henderson, Lallana, Milner, Sterling, Townsend, Wilshere

Okay let's dissect that midfield. I said the other day that I would take Alli, Barkley, Dier, Drinkwater, Henderson, Lallana, Milner, Sterling, so of course I have no qualms with any of them. In fact I think that overall, that's a very well balanced and well set midfield. I do however, have some questions over some of the other players in there, ahead of those that could have been picked. 

Delph. Really? He's going for Fabian Delph, who has played less than a dozen league games for City, scored only two goals and barely played in central midfield when he has been given games? Yes Delph did a decent job at Villa last season, but since joining City he's offered absolutely nothing to suggest he should be anywhere near this squad. He's picked up a few England caps in the last couple of years but to me he's roughly equivalent to Jonjo Shelvey and it's an absolute kick in the teeth for Mark Noble, whose seven goals in the Premier League have been among the highlights of a sterling season for the West Ham man as his team soared up the Premier League. Worse, at 29, this is probably his last shot in a major tournament.

And likewise, Andros Townsend is a bit of a joke of a call up ahead of Marc Albrighton, who's had a really good season for title winners Leicester. Yes, he's had a good few weeks at Newcastle and scored a handful of good goals, but over the previous season and a half he was languishing in the Spurs reserves and playing appallingly when given the chance. Roy said that he won't give people call-ups based on a handful of good games. What he meant was he won't give certain players call-ups. If they've played well for him in the past in meaningless international friendlies then they get a free pass to the Euros. Honestly, it's decisions like this one that make me wonder if Roy ever watches Premier League football. 

Anyway...with any luck, neither of those two will make the final 23 anyway. Neither of them should. And to be fair, I wouldn't have put Noble or Albrighton in my final 23 anyway, so as long as they're both dropped from the squad before 31st May, there's no issue. 

As for Wilshere, I see the appeal to put him in and I'm not surprised that he is in there. I personally would have gone for eight defenders instead, but I can see Roy's decision making on this one and I have no massive problem with it. The problem I do have is the balance of the midfield, but that's somewhat unavoidable. We have no natural defensive midfielders except Eric Dier, which is slightly unavoidable because he's just about the only competent English CDM in the country. The problem is that Roy clearly thinks Danny Drinkwater is in the squad to fill the role when Dier doesn't, and that is a problem. Dier has to start every game and if something happens to him, Roy has to shuffle his pack to compensate. What he cannot do, is stick Drinkwater there and expect him to do the same job. 

Strikers: Kane, Rashford, Rooney, Sturridge, Vardy

Kane, Vardy and Sturridge. Awesome. All unavoidable picks. Easily the three best strikers in the country and all deserving of their place. The two top scorers in the country and the striker with the best goals to minutes ratio, all three with bags of talent. 

Okay, I'm going to do with Rooney what I did with Wilshere which is sidestep the issue. Do I think he should be in the squad? No. Would I have picked him ahead of Carroll? No. Does that mean that there aren't very good reasons for taking him? Of course not. His presence was simply unavoidable and, like Wilshere, I'd already accepted his coming and am okay with it, as long as he isn't starting ahead of someone who deserves it more. 

Rashford however? This is a little different to Townsend and Delph, so I'm going to treat it as such. As far as I'm concerned, he has to be the third player dropped from the squad. As far as strikers go, he's very similar in style to Sturridge and Vardy and is nowhere near the same standard, so taking him is pointless, it serves no purpose. If we're going to take a fifth striker, or a fourth and assume Rooney plays in midfield, it should be someone who can offer something different and I don't think that that's Rashford. However, I can definitely see the benefits of taking a young, talented striker and sticking him in the 26 man squad to give him experience training with the team and maybe even playing in a friendly. So as long as he doesn't supplant one of our more talented strikers, I have no qualms. 

Essentially, my final thoughts on the squad are these: if Roy drops Delph, Townsend and Rashford, then I'm very happy with the final 23, but we're definitely short a central defender and arguably a defensive midfielder, although none spring to mind, and I really hope that that doesn't bite us. 

Europa League Final

Okay so I won't have time to do a blog tomorrow as I have a whole day of Cup Final prepping prepared, so I'm going to do this now. This is an absolutely colossal game. Obviously every game in this competition up until now has been the biggest game of Klopp's reign, but this is so far in a way the biggest. We need to win, there's no two ways about it. In order to attract top players this summer, Liverpool need to couple the Klopp factor with Champions League football. We've sacrificed our league position to get here, so to not win now would be a hammer blow. If we want to attract the likes of Gotze, we need to offer something that United and Chelsea cannot, and this is how. 

Moreover, we need to win because we're a better team. At Anfield we were so clearly superior to Villareal, and with the same team more than likely to come out tonight, albeit with better bench options as Henderson, Origi and Ings are all expected to feature, we need to show that we're a better team than Sevilla too. 

In terms of support, the Liverpool fans will vastly outnumber the Sevilla fans, as only 7000 Sevilla seats were sold, whilst LFC will be looking at 11,000, possibly more depending on how many more fans secure neutral seats, or indeed how many of the local neutrals will be following LFC tomorrow night. Either way, I expect the atmosphere generated by the Liverpool fans to be incredible. It might not be able to match the Anfield atmospheres that have roared Liverpool on to three of the best results of our campaign, butchering United, sweeping aside Villareal and of course that incredible night against Dortmund, but nor will it feel anything like an away game either and that will play a big role. 

Tactically speaking, Klopp just needs to send his team out to do their thing. Can and Milner will dominate the midfield, Firmino and Coutinho have the creative prowess to make things happen and Sturridge is a goalscorer, one of the best in the world. The problems lie in the defence, but Lovren and Toure have started to build a formidable partnership, and as long as we have no Mignolet clangers, it should be a good night. 

Sevilla are not a threat to be taken lightly, having won this competition two years in a row, but between the quality LFC possess, the belief that seems to be flooding the team, the support in the stands, and, most of all, Jurgen Klopp, I believe that we will win - on penalties probably. Because we never do it the easy way.

The Hard and Fast Section

• Two days until Test Match Cricket. Can't wait. 
• James Ward will not make the French Open. 
• I forgot to say earlier: congrats to Sarries. 
• Another big century from Adam Lyth. Confident. 
• Oh and Man U are on tonight. Dead rubber.

16th May

Wow, the last day of the season really lived up to expectations.

Final Day Drama

It wasn't quite the Aguero moment of four years ago, but with the title and relegation already decided, this weekend was as dramatic as it was possible for it to be. There are so many things to talk about but there really is only one place to start, as Manchester United's game against Bournemouth was called off after a bomb scare.

In a lot of ways, the final day can some up people's seasons, and so was the case at Old Trafford, as a blunder of catastrophic proportions by a security company off the pitch cost United dearly, forcing them to evacuate parts of the 75,000 seater stadium whilst the bomb squad were called in. It's easy, in hindsight, to joke, knowing that nobody was ever in any danger, but it's frankly an unacceptable mistake to make and we can just be thankful that nobody was hurt. Nevertheless, it is very funny knowing the full truth and the irony will not be lost on any sniggering football fan, who were quick to point out that the suspicious package might be "a trophy" "Louis Van Gaal's new contract" or "a naked David Moyes".

Meanwhile, across the country, the other team from Manchester were getting on with business. Much like United, whose performance was literally non-existent, City's performance also summed up their season quite well, as they were out of the blocks early, with a goal from young Iheanacho, who showed sharp reactions to tap in after Aguero's shot was saved, only to grind to a halt, and in the end, although a draw was enough to secure them top four for next season (yes unless United score nineteen goals don't get pedantic), they'll be disappointed not to have done better. It's fitting that this game, the most important game of the day by a mile, was overshadowed by everything around it, given that that's how this season has been for a long time: sensationalism, with the football often lost in the middle.

Swansea, however, played well for large spells of the game and although there was a huge element of luck in Andre Ayew's free kick which took a massive deflection on its way through, there was no luck in the fact that they walked away with a deserved draw. The result means that Swansea finish 12th, a far from dreadful result for a team that have underperformed for large swathes of the season.

With the scrap for Champions League effectively sorted, the battle for Europa League is very much alive, as West Ham managed to throw away a lead away at Stoke, with second half goals from Imbula and Diouf consigning West Ham to seventh. The Hammers were totally on top in the first half, with one of their stars of this season, Michail Antonio putting them 1-0 up with a nice finish midway through the first half. But soon after the break, a lovely low finish from Imbula leveled the scoring and got Stoke back into a match that had been one-way traffic up until that point. With the game close, and West Ham needing a win to overthrow Southampton into fifth, they went for it, with Shay Given forced into a big double save and Glenn Whelan inches away from not being able to prevent Kouyate scoring, as almost all of the ball was over the line before he hooked it out.

But it was Stoke who had the last laugh, to leapfrog Chelsea into ninth place in the table, with a late header from Mame Biram Diouf to put West Ham's Europa League position under real threat. Seventh would only be enough to secure Europa League qualification for next season if Man United beat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final, which is more than likely at this stage, as Palace failed monumentally to do West Ham one favour already on the final day of the season, losing 4-1 to Southampton, admittedly with nothing riding on it for Palace.

But with the pressure on, Southampton are arguably the only side who delivered, albeit helped by a shocking Palace side who have to be amongst the favourites for relegation next season under Pardew if they don't improve in the summer, so bad has their tailspin been. Keeper Speroni's poor clearance got the Saints underway, as Mane chipped in to make it 1-0 shortly before half time, and in the second half, they ran riot, with a controversial penalty from Bertrand either side of goals from Pelle and Davis as Southampton scored with ease; Jason Puncheon's fine strike to get it back to 2-1 only a consolation in the end. Nevertheless, Palace will feel hard done by, as the penalty to make it 3-1 appeared to be outside the area, and at 2-1 with fifteen minutes left, anything could have happened. But as it is, Palace need to find some motivation and skill from somewhere, or United will bury them next weekend.

And Liverpool will need to win on Wednesday night to secure any European football next season, as the Europa League is no longer an option for us, after a tepid 1-1 draw with West Brom, which is completely unsurprising given the team sent out, with Brannagan making a full debut in the middle of the park, more appearances for Stewart, Smith, Ojo and Ibe and the likes of Lucas, Skrtel, Benteke and Bogdan playing what is most likely their final games for the club. I'd put Joe Allen in that category, but I expect him to come off the bench in midweek. Regardless, nobody in that LFC starting eleven will be at the club next season apart from a handful of the youngsters and of them, I'd say only Ojo and Flano are anywhere near the first team, although an absolutely sublime goal from Jordon Ibe will have really helped his chances no end. Either way, it was obvious that the likes of Stewart and Smith are nowhere near the expected standard for Liverpool yet, and I've felt that way about both of them for several weeks (Smith in particular looks defensively all over the place). Ojo and Ibe have bags of talent but both are individuals, not team players. Benteke, Skrtel, Lucas and Bogdan all have to leave in the summer. Skrtel and Lucas have been outstanding servants for the club and I love them both but their time has come; Benteke was simply put the wrong player for the club and Bogdan is not even as good as the injured Danny Ward, making him probably our fourth choice keeper next season.

The main positive for LFC from this game, which was essentially a write-off otherwise, is the returns from injury for the lovable Danny Ings, who has missed Klopp's entire reign through an unfortunate injury, and captain Hendo, putting both of them in midweek contention. Ings will surely have to settle for a place on the bench, as he's not going to supplant Daniel Sturridge, but there's a chance that Hendo will making the starting eleven in midweek, if Klopp feels he's fit enough to throw him in, like he did with Emre Can.

Elsewhere, in the Premier League's largely meaningless games, Everton turned up to the party, with a comfortable 3-0 win over already relegated Norwich, a sublime early goal from James McCarthy, a Leighton Baines penalty and a tap in for Kevin Mirallas giving them a very good day at the office, against a Norwich side who showed why they were nowhere near staying in the Premier League in the end.

And speaking of already relegated sides, Aston Villa showed their true colours by, surprise, surprise, getting hammered by Arsenal. as Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick and Mikel Arteta was cruelly denied a goal on his final appearance for the club. Giroud opened the scoring early on, but Villa looked for long periods like they might be able to hold out for a reasonable defeat, before two goals in two minutes late on secured Giroud's treble, and in stoppage time Bunn turned Arteta's shot into his own net.

This is a momentum result for Arsenal, as it secured their only real achievement for this season, and the only thing they really wanted, finishing ahead of Tottenham! Sarcasm aside, second is Arsenal's best finish in over a decade, albeit with a points tally lower than over half of their finishes in that decade. It's not something to get too excited about, as the difference between Leicester and everyone behind them was massive and Arsenal were nowhere the title, but there's no denying that they will feel very good about beating their local rivals and so they should.

Because Spurs imploded in hilarious style, overshadowing just about everything else that happened on the final day, losing 5-1 to already relegated, ten man Newcastle. No. Really. Things were already looking pretty bad for Spurs after a dismal first half in which Wjinaldum and Mitrovic put Newcastle, astonishingly, 2-0 up at half time, despite having nothing to play for. But when Erik Lamela thundered past Darlow to pull one back, and shortly after, Mirovic stamped on Walker to get himself sent off, the script looked to have been written. But Newcastle ripped up and threw out the script, as Wjinaldum scored from the spot to secure the points, before two late goals in two minutes from Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat turned Spurs into a laughing stock, as Newcastle, despite having one less man, tore strips off the Premier League's best defence. There simply are no excuses for Spurs' collapse, picking up only two points in their last four games to not only lose Leicester's trail, but somehow conspire to slip behind Arsenal. It was a choke of epic proportions, despite only losing one or two key players in Alli and Dembele. It just goes to show what I've already said about this Spurs side, if you remove even one of their cogs, the rest all fall apart. And fall apart they did; this was a horror show.

Meanwhile, Newcastle's rivals Sunderland secured an entertaining 2-2 draw away at Watford, with goals from Rodwell, Lens, Prodl and Deeney meaning that Watford will finish 13th in the Premier League table (yes unless Bournemouth beat United 11-0 but that's almost as unlikely as United beating them 19-0 so we can but dream, don't be pedantic). A decent season for them in the end, but as I mentioned yesterday, the entire bottom half of the table is very close and very few of the teams in it would be happy with their finish. I would say Watford are one of them, alongside Bournemouth and Sunderland, as for the two newly promoted sides in particular, survival will have been their only goal this season.

And on that note, it seems fitting to end this season talking about the two teams who have provided the two biggest shocks of the season. And for a team whose only aim at the start of the season was Premier League football in 2016/17, to not only do that, but to add Champions League football on top of that, and, just for good measure, to only go and win the whole damn thing, Leicester City have surpassed beyond anything anyone could have expected. whilst Chelsea's infamous start to the season under Mourinho means that they're the worst title defenders of the Premier League era.

The game itself between these two means almost nothing, a Fabregas penalty and a Drinkwater thunderbolt ensuring it also ended in a draw, but Leicester City deserve to be highlighted on the final day. They may not have had the drama of a bomb scare, or butchering Spurs 5-1, but ultimately, on the last day of the Premier League, it was Leicester City who got to do the only thing that mattered. They got to be top of the table.

The Hard and Fast Section

• Who else laughed very hard at Nico and Lewis?
• Congrats to young Verstappen, who took advantage.
• Delph? Townsend? Rashford? Oh my days. 
• In all seriousness, that squad is pretty decent.