Monday, May 12, 2008

Football Predictions 2007 - Results.

In July 2007 I gave my annual predictions for the football season to come. And once again, it was a mixed bag of successful punditry for Chez. I predicted:

- Ipswich to finish top half of table, but to miss out on play-offs.
Correct, and it was a difficult season. Invincible at home, pile of shit away, at least we were consistent. But now we have a new owner, we'll be expecting a much better return next season. Playoffs will be a minimum, with automatic promotion the target.

- Sheff Utd, Cardiff & West Brom to be promoted.
1 out of 3. West Brom promoted as champs, but Sheff Utd and Cardiff missed out.

- Man U to retain the Premier League Championship, with Chelsea a close second, Liverpool 3rd and Spurs 4th.
Partly Correct. United did win with Chelsea a close second. However, Liverpool only made it to fourth and Tottenham didn't even make it into the top half of the table all season.

- Wigan, Birmingham and Derby to be relegated
2 out of 3 correct. Birmingham and Derby did go down, but Reading were the surprise package and went down instead.

- Inter to win Serie A, Juve 2nd, Meeelan 3rd
Looks like Inter are going to win the league, but Roma are the team hot on their tails. Juve are third and Meeeelan are currently languishing in fifth with one game to go.

- Barcelona to win la Liga, Madrid to finish 2nd or 3rd
Incorrect - Madrid have been great this year and Barca have struggled.

- an English team to win the Champions League, most likely Manchester United
Correct, but we'll see whether it's United on Wednesday.

- England to not qualify for Euro 2008, McClown to be sacked.
Correct. And I predicted that Capello would be made coach.

- Italy to win Euro 2008.
We shall wait and see.

So all in all, not a bad return.

Right:
- Ipswich finished top-half of the table, but just missed out on the play-offs.
- West Brom promoted to Premiership
- Man United won the Premier League
- Chelsea finished close second
- Birmingham & Derby relegated to Championship
- Inter won the Scudetto (although it was closer than it should have been)
- Meelan struggled with a lack of strikers
- England failed to qualify for Euro 2008
- Steve McClown got sacked
- Fabio Capello took over as England Manager.
- An English team to win the Champions League (I said probably United - we'll see on Wednesday)

Wrong:
- Sheff Utd and Cardiff did not get promoted to Premier League
- Liverpool came 4th, not 3rd; Spurs didn't make top 4
- Wigan did not get relegated
- Juve finished 3rd, not 2nd. Meelan did not finish 3rd.
- Madrid won the Spanish League, not Barca

To be Decided:
- Italy to win Euro 2008

In the main, I think that's more right than wrong so I'm happy with that. I will let you know my predictions for the new season in August. And maybe this time, I might actually put my money where my mouth is!

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