Well, what did you make of the results, then? Rather dramatic weren't they? No, no, no, I'm not referring to the gains made by the other wing of Britain's ruling pro-globalist, neo-liberal, neo-conservative Big Business party, in local elections in which only 35% of people voted, but something far more interesting: the final day of the Championship season.
The Championship this year has been quite terrific. A division in which anyone could beat anyone, and in which no-one could predicted until very late in the day who was going to go up and go down. After another dramatic afternoon's action, Stoke City were promoted to the top flight of English football for the first time in 23 years, and Leicester City demoted to the third flight for the first time in their history. It's great to see Sheffield Wednesday survive: I was very impressed by the Owls when I saw them at QPR back in November, and it's good to see both teams, who back then were both in the relegation zone, maintain their status. The Championship has been full of goals this year: only one team, Leicester, scored less than one goal a game; compare that to the far more defensively minded and much-hyped Premier League, where five teams have scored less than one a game. The Championship is everything the Premier League should be but isn't: ultra-competitive, unpredictable and hugely entertaining.
Can anyone imagine one of the Premiership's bottom teams going to Old Trafford and thrashing Man Utd 4-1? Well, relegated Leicester went up to West Brom, the eventual Champions and won by that same scoreline. Enough said.
3 comments:
I think you're being a bit harsh on the Premiership.
You can't say the relegation battle hasn't been exciting, with four teams still in jeopardy with one week to go. And even though the Big Four are still in place at the top the title race has been one of the best for years.
I grant you the Premiership relegation battle has been exciting, but although it's good to see the title go to the wire, the top four order of Man U/Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool was entirely predictable. By contrast, who on earth could have predicted a Championship top four of West Brom, Stoke, Hull and Bristol City? West Brom is probably the only team among the top four that most people would have had.
Hi Neil. It was indeed great. I am glad Wednesday stayed up, and West Brom are deserved champions (that's why we lost to them in the FA Cup quarterfinal!). I am also pleased for Stoke; a good gritty team (almost the new Bolton).
I think Palace will clinch the playoffs. They are in good form at the moment.
Next year's Championship promises to be great, too. Wolves, Sheff Utd, QPR (the team to be against next year), Charlton all underperformed, and Forest and Swansea (and probably Leeds) will certainly up the ante. Just think of it: Derby vs Forest and Cardiff vs Swansea.
As for the Gas: I'll be happy with survival in League One again...
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