That's All Folks

So the dust has settled once again, although this time no smoke to clear from the cigar of a Chelsea manager- see June 1st 2009 for reference. And as last season it was all tied up with a lovely FA Cup win for Chelsea. This time though there is no English representation in the Champions League final so it'll be as far away as June 12th till we see some competitive football with Englishmen involved, can you last?

Reading over June 1st's post I notice that I alluded to Portsmouth possibly having some new money from new investors, oh the ironies of life. In fact I was of course wrong with many of the things I pointed out not even a year ago but then predicting the future has never been a skill of mine.

Back to today though and I must say congratulations to Chelsea, they fully deserve their double this season. Those in the past, not me, who have complained about Chelsea's lack of 'history' must now surely be silenced as their 'history' is now created in the present. Their league triumph was especially special, any team who scores over 100 league goals in a season truly deserves to win the league. It was also good to see a well contested final especially when, judging on the league season just gone, it could easily have been a battering.

Talking of a good old battering it would could not have been a more apt way to decribe the season Pompey and their fans must have been feeling this season, they have been utterly battered from pilar to post. And yet they came within the boot of Petr Cech of finishing the season as FA Cup winners. All this has meant their usually amazing fans have looked even more incredible this season and I for once shall miss them being in the Premierleague next season.

The first time I encountered Portsmouth fans in January 2003 at Old Trafford in an FA Cup third round match the season that they went on to win the Championship in. I was in awe at the size and noise of the crown for a mid-day Saturday afternoon kick off in the FA Cup. I thank them for that experience and honestly hope they some how make it back to the Premierleague in the near future only this time in a much better financial state.

And now it's time for me to wrap up the domestic season with a salute to my none PFA team of the year.

Goalkeeper; Where the PFA opted for Joe Hart, and rightly so, I'm going to go with a 'keeper' who has performed well- as he always does- but even more impressively due to his off field problems. It is Edwin van der Saar, coming back after injury and a serious illness to his wife to be as solid as ever.

Defence; My defence is made up of Leighton Baines, Michael Dawson, Vincent Kompany and Carlos Cuellar. It was a difficult choice and certainly many arguments could be made for the inclusion of player's such as Ledley King and James Collins. Baines has been integral to Everton's resurgence and is most likely to be Ashley Cole's understudy at the World Cup. Dawson has had an excellent season coming off the back of a pretty ordinary one last year, his next 12 months may be even bigger if he gets to pit his skills against the best in the world in South Africa and next seasons Champions League. Kompany moved from centre mid to centre back so effortlessly and nearly helped guide Manchester City into the top four, it was a big move for the Belgian as you can't help but think he'd be out at Eastlands next season if he was still in midfield. Carlos Cuellar was a rock at right back for Aston Villa's incredible defence this season in all three domestic competitions.

Midfield; Florent Malouda, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard and Steven Pienaar. Malouda has gone from a player with lots of promise who underperformed to a player in his element who helped win a double with some truly inspirational displays. If any player shows the value of rolling back the years it is Paul Scholes, another season where he was written off as being past it turned into another season where United could barely do without him- his goal at Eastlands kept United in the title when all seemed lost, just a shame it was all lost in the end anyway. 22 goals from central midfield is almost all that needs to be said about Frank Lampard and yet he brings so much more than that- pure inspiration and a calm enough head to tell Drogba who's going to be taking the penalties (maybe should have chosen Drogba in the cup final). Pienaar has been linked to Manchester United and Arsenal only a week after the season has finished and based on some of his perfromances it's easy to see why. If Arteta, Jagielka, Fellaini and co had been around all season to help out Pienaar, Liverpool may well have found themselves not even in the Europa League next season.

Attack; "When the ball hits row Zed there's one thing you can bet, it's not Zamora" but the Fulham striker, despite an incredible season- especially in the Europa League- still misses out. Instead I've plumped for the strike force of Fernando Torres and Carlos Tevez. Liverpool have often been referred to as a two man team and yet with Gerrard having such an average season that seemed to become a one man team, which isn't too bad when that man is Fernando Torres, who managed 18 league goals despite all the injuries. Imagine a world where Carlos Tevez still played for United- they'd have become Champions and City may not have even been in the Europa League. Not because City are a one man team but because Tevez can galvinise any side with his juggernaut like energy.

The manager; Roy Hodgson might be a good shout but his LMA award rules him out as far as I'm concerned. Zola could be considered after having to deal with Moron Gold and Moron Sullivan, and he nearly sneaked it after bringing out coffee to the press outside his house last week. Tony Pullis could be an outside bet after being the only manager to improve a promoted teams points tally in their second season. But I'm going with the man who this season had the hardest job in football- Mr. Avram Grant!

So that's it for the domestic season! Dust settled and all! Time to pack your bags and jump on a plane, for South Africa is just around the corner- bloody big corner if you ask me!

No I in Team

It doesn't rain, it pours (or snows in the case of the MJSL- third time this season we've had a game cancelled because it's snowed Saturday night). It's bad enough that you have a moronic owner but then fortunes on the pitch couldn't be worse. Bad results, bad luck and having to sell your best players for relatively cheap prices.

When once it seemed the only way was up now the only way is down and pretty damned fast, you may even be lucky to still be around come the end of the season. Oh how I feel for Portsmouth. Of course you probably knew I was talking about the 2008 FA Cup winners, I guess I could have been talking about Crystal Palace...

... Apart from the fact I feel sorry for Avram Grant, the same can't be said of Palace's manager.

Neil Warnock is the head of the whinge brigade of football managers. Don't get me wrong every football manager is allowed a whinge now and again but when it happens so often it gets annoying. And I should know the manager of my beloved Manchester United is one of the kings of it. This season Sir Alex's moaning has been unbearable, mainly because it's always about the same thing- the amount of added time in matches. Arsene Wenger is another moaner who frustrates, mainly because every week something other than his teams poor performance is at fault for dropped points or cup losses- Wednesday's comedy of errors against Porto for instance. Rafa Benitez is now hilarious, not because he moans, but because he doesn't, a simple "the ref was excellent" seems to do for the Spaniard.

Now to Warnock, a man who's past as the man who nearly put Bury- a club close to my heart and home- into administration a few years back, is clearly not my favourite manager at the best of time but his moaning pushes me over the edge. The former Sheffield United manager consistently blames officials if anything goes wrong and is so far over the top it's ridiculous, last weeks FA Cup match against Aston Villa was a major case in point. I don't argue that the officials got it wrong, clearly a corner was wrongly given but giving a corner wrongly is hardly the worst decision in any game. Instead of perhaps making a passing comment and accepting a draw with one of the Premier League's top sides as a decent result Warnock instead complained, but it wasn't a normal complaint, no Warnock suggested the official should be suspended- for giving a goal kick as a corner, utter ridiculous!

If this was not bad enough Warnock decided on Thursday, after Mick Mcarthy and Wolves had been wrongly, in my opinion, been charged for changing 10 players for their trip to Old Trafford, that this matter needed his opinion. Warnock is not a manager of a Premier League club, he hasn't been since May 2007. Warnock is not a manager of Wolves, nor has he ever been. The matter had nothing to do with the Palace manager or his current club. Warnock instead decided that this matter reflected 2007 when both Liverpool and Manchester United played weakened sides against Fulham and West Ham and thus Sheffield United were relegated. What he misses out is the fact that the reason Sheffield United went down, contrary to the courts blaming purely Carlos Tevez, was that Sheffield United weren't good enough to stay down. Furthermore he even asked the question "Were Liverpool or United docked points?", well no but neither were Wolves.

Above all the moaning and nearly running Bury into the ground my main problem with the former Oldham manager is his clear selfishness. Everything Warnock says is to do with him. He does not feel for the club, or the fans he only cares what impact it has on him. Sheffield United went down and it meant he was no longer a Premier League manager. Palace drew with Villa and so it meant he was not in the next round of the FA cup- never mind the fact a replay was most important for Palace.

Selfishness is what kills a club. In this team game there is no room for a "me" attitude in any team, never mind one that is in financial danger. And this is where Pompey come back into play.

Portsmouth have been destroyed by several acts of selfishness. From chairman to former players. Perhaps one of the worst cases is Sol Campbell. Sol enjoyed a good period at Portsmouth, moving for free from Arsenal, he was amongst the clubs top earners and lifted the FA cup as captain. Now, back at Arsenal, Sol had decided that this is the time to claim the image rights he is owed. An argument for Sol is that he's just claiming what is rightfully his from the contract he had with the South Coast club. But has he not made enough money in his career that he can't avoid putting yet another nail in the Portsmouth coffin?

Look beyond the moaning, look beyond the character's involved and see just what is left. The sad truth that two football teams, with fans like you and I, are on the verge of extinction and that is truly sad!