So here we are again then at the end of another season, although the home game this May afternoon sees us fighting at the wrong end of the table compared to the excitement of last year. Whatever results that come today in the matches that matter, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks, with it looking like being a very busy summer at Brunton Park as far as changes in the playing squad is concerned. Away from our current predicament I wonder how many of you have chucked those pre-season title accumulator betting slips in the bin recently. I wouldn't have thought that it will have been a bad campaign for a lot of people in that respect with probably Manchester United, and definitely Wolves, Leicester and Brentford claiming the honours. Perhaps the Griffin Park outfit the only real surprise as they beat Wycombe to the League Two title. Staying in that division, but down at the bottom of it, Luton never really stood a chance of staying up with their 30 point handicap, and Chester are now back in the non-league scene again barring a goal difference miracle today. Paul Simpson's big spending Shrewsbury also needing a victory in a winner takes all game away to Dagenham if they are going to leapfrog the surprise package Daggers and scrape into the final play-off spot at the death. Rotherham and Bournemouth have done well to escape the drop into the Blue Square Premier though given their 17 point penalties before the season started. The Millers in particular doing brilliantly thanks to boss Mark Robins, even more so when you consider that they never really have a proper home game. Infact if you take away their penalty then they would be battling for an automatic promotion place this afternoon. I'm going to chuck a sulk and ignore the bottom of League One, but at the top of the table everything has gone pretty much to plan. Scunthorpe are in pole position above Tranmere in the final play-off spot but the other five of the top six contain the two biggest clubs in Leeds and Leicester. While the remaining three, Peterborough, MK Dons and Millwall, have all spent big recently on the back of wealthy owners. Into the Championship and a couple of clubs have paid for their Premiership experience big time since they dropped off the financial gravy train and out of the further parachute payments. Both Charlton and Southampton completely potless, with the Saints also having fallen foul of the Football League recently with the ten point penalty, after the administration "incident", that saw them relegated to League One regardless. As far as the race to get on the same gravy train is concerned, Birmingham will be enduring a nervy afternoon as they look to be promoted alongside West Midlands neighbours Wolves. While for the final play-off spot tomorrow afternoon it is a bit of a log jam as Preston in seventh look to barge their way in. That giving North End even more joy if it was fellow Lancastrians Burnley who fell out of the reckoning on the last day of the season. Up in the Premier League Hull can't buy a win now after their flying start to the season and you how have to think that they are going to get relegated alongside West Brom and A.N. Other. That team looking highly likely that it is going to be from the North East with Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesbrough all in trouble at the foot of the table. Gareth Southgate one manager in the game who certainly can't say that he hasn't been given enough time in the job. Somewhat unsurprisingly we are going to have the top four being the top four again, and you can imagine it being forever thus. Perhaps the only club that is every going to make a challenge on breaking up the cartel is Manchester City with their Abu Dhabi millions. They have been a big disappointment this season though and it looks like life is going to be a lot harder than they and their fans thought when the money started pouring in, Robino certainly having done little so far at Eastlands to justify his massive £32.5 million price tag. Finally, in a footnote to the article that I did for the Northampton game on the 28th March regarding the formation of the FA Women's Super League in the summer of 2010. Well, I seem to have jinxed that good and proper as just two weeks later the FA took the decision to defer their new chapter in the female game for 12 months. That taken in line with discussions as part of an ongoing review of the FA's cost base and planned financial commitments across the organisation. |