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The weekend promised excitement, drama and last-minute heartache with several sides still fighting for survival at the season’s very end. Sunderland, Hull, Newcastle and Middlesbrough were all on the edge of the cliff. Some already hanging off the side. Others teetering on the brink. In the end, four losses would keep all sides in their places. Newcastle and Middlesbrough join West Brom in relegation to the Championship. Sunderland and Hull survive by the slimmest of margins.
Hull City: Early Form Rewarded
Hull’s explosive first half of the season (2o points from their first nine matches) was rewarded yesterday despite a 1-0 loss to Manchester United. The results of Newcastle and Middlesbrough allowed Hull supporters to forgive Phil Brown and Co. for the disastrous spell that eventually displaced their early good form. Hull only <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/hull_city/8066370.stm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> one of their last 22 matches.
The Tigers defied expecation at the start of their campaign, recording wins against Fulham, Newcastle, Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham and West Brom all before the end of October. They dazzled further in November when they scored three goals at Old Trafford. They still lost to hosts Manchester United, but after being 4-1 down at the half, scoring two more goals against the Champs and bringing a point within view, showed the true grit of Hull City.
A lengthy slump aside, Hull deserved to stay up after their fierce start to the season. Now the question is: can they find that form again next year?
Death By Own Goal
One devastating moment from yesterday’s <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/103308/Villa-send-limp-Newcastle-down-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">match</a> at Villa Park sums up Newcastle United’s season. Villa’s Gareth Barry took a speculative shot from distance, firing the ball into traffic. United’s Damien Duff stood his ground, but was crushed when the ball ricochetted off his shin and careened into the net.
1-0 was the final score. And since other results meant Newcastle only needed a draw to survive, that one moment encapsulates the pain and frustration forced upon supporters as Newcastle’s latest campaign comes to an ugly close.
The Magpies will go down after 16 years in the top flight. Though they’ve had their rough patches, Newcastle always seemed to climb out of trouble and endure. But too many managerial changes and not investing enough in defense led to the fall.
Shearer should not be criticized. If he’d had more time to work out a system with the players (and if he’d had the brilliant goalkeeping of Shay Given at his disposal), it might have been a different outcome.
Duff, gutted from yesterdays events, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/8067061.stm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vows</a> to stay with Newcastle and fight for their promotion next season. Newcastle faithful wait to hear what Shearer’s plans are.
Gareth Southgate’s Nightmare
Middlesbrough have had their troubles since their last promotion to the top flight in 1998. We smirk when we think of 2006, when a fan stormed the pitch and threw his season ticket at Steve McClaren in frustration. But despite various problems, Boro spent the last ten years making themselves a Premier League mainstay. They usually finished mid-table, but even when they dipped lower, they secured enough points to keep from sweating over the drop.
But this season the problems became insurmountable. Former Boro hitman, John Hendrie <a href="http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11680_5347611,00.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blames</a> poor transfer window moves and lack of firepower. Boro were the lowest scoring side in the league. Whatever the root cause, Boro simply could not climb out of the ditch they dug themselves.
But Gareth Southgate is expected to stay on as manager and despite the fear of losing some big players, Middlesbrough should have a good enough chance at returning to the top flight.
Sunderland Survive
The Blackcats put their old yo-yoing ways behind them as they prepare to enjoy a third consecutive season in the Premier League. Despite their survival, manager Ricky Sbragia stepped down after Sunderland’s loss to Chelsea. Read more <a href="http://epltalk.com/sbragia-quits-breaking-news/7758" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Sbragia took over the post when Roy Keane left in December.
Sunderland <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUKTRE54O37Z20090525?rpc=401&amp;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> today they will not be signing 27-year-old striker Djibril Cisse who spend the season on loan from Marseille. It will be intersting to see who Sunderland bring in to manage and play for the next season.
With Boro and Newcastle relegated, Sunderland will be the only side from the north east in the Premier League.
Conclusion
The season was very tight for a long time with many upsets and surprises. It took a while for the European hopefuls to pull away from the relegation zone denizens. Unlike last year, when Derby County clinched relegation early, this season’s bottom teams had their chances going into the final weekends. It is sad to see two mainstays go down, but that’s part of the life-cycle of the Premier League. Wolves, Birmingham and Burnley will come up to try and stake their claim on top flight football. Newcastle, Boro and others will fight in the Championship for a fresh chance to rise.
The rest of us will spend the summer scouring transfer rumors and analyzing friendlies and internationals while we wait for the league action to start anew.

The Premier League Relegation Battle: Life And Death At The Bottom

The Premier League Relegation Battle: Life And Death At The Bottom - World Soccer Talk

<div style="width: 460px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Who will feel the effect most if they relegated to the Championship?</div>
With West Bromwich Albion’s fate sealed last week we can&nbsp;now prepare ourselves for a dramatic conclusion to the Premier League season on Sunday.&nbsp;The neutral (including yours truly)&nbsp;will relish it and will want to see as many twists and turns as possible. Anyone supporters&nbsp;involved will have struggled to sleep for a week.
We all have our own predictions as to who will go down and what the&nbsp;sequence of results to will be. What I wondered is what effect will relegation have on the clubs involved.
West Bromwich Albion – 31 points (already relegated)
Even the most&nbsp;biased of Baggies supporters could not have been surprised about the clubs fate this season. However there seems relatively little for the Hawthorns club to worry about. Brom perenially spend within their limits upon promotion and Tony Mowbray has followed similiar traits. Signings that broke the&nbsp;£1 Million mark included:&nbsp;Scott Carson (£3.5 million), Marek Cech (£1.4 million) ,Luke moore (£3 million), Zuiverloon (3.2 million) , Valero (4.7 million), Aboulaye&nbsp;Meitie (£2 million) and Roman bednar at &nbsp;£2.3 million.
Not taking into account players that left that Hawthorns, the Throstles have forked out around £20 million. No doubt&nbsp;a&nbsp; few of the above will leave to recoup some of this. It is also&nbsp;likely that some contracts will include a drop&nbsp;in wages upon relegation ,West Brom should be relatively comfortble providing they spend their parachute monies wisely next season and offload a few big-earners.
Middlesbrough – 32 points 
Although ‘Boro are technically £85 million in debt,&nbsp;the&nbsp;vast majority is&nbsp;owed to chairman Steve Gibson – which is the equivalent of owing your Dad 200 quid. Conisdering Gibson’s patience with Gareth Southgate it seems highly unlikey he will let the club suffer. However should ‘Boro&nbsp;suffer the drop (and it seems likely they will) they will have to get wheeling and dealing quickly. One of the first names out of the door will be Alfonso&nbsp;Alves, who&nbsp;was signed for a fee rumoured to be&nbsp;£12.7 million and one shudders to think what kind of wages the Brazillian is on at the Riverside. After breaking his foot against in the relegation six-pointer against Newcastle and a poor goals return for the club, ‘Boro may have to brace themselves for a big financial loss. The other big name out of the door, and the one Middlesbrough will miss most from an on-field perspective is Stewart Downing. A host of clubs will have relished the prospect of Boro’s demise in order to&nbsp;sign Downing&nbsp;and it is thought that Spurs will lead the chase after keeping tabs on the winger for considerable time. Boro will be hoping for auction fever&nbsp;from rival clubs&nbsp;in order to raise as much cash as possible. It will come as no surprise that Tuncay and&nbsp;David Wheater will also raise the&nbsp;eyebrow for a host of&nbsp;clubs, with Robert Huth also likely to be the subject of some interest.
Should Middlesborough fail to survive,&nbsp;the winds of change are likely to blow through this cold part of the country including&nbsp;the possibility of a&nbsp;new&nbsp;manager.&nbsp; With numerous players likely to leave&nbsp;and taking into account the squads lack of experience,&nbsp;‘Boro&nbsp;may well have to be happy with a season of stability next season rather than a promotion charge.
Newcastle – 34 Points
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. There may have been talks of a conspiracy theory in regard to the strength of Manchester United’s team selection at Hull. But based on perfomances alone, Newcastle are where they deserve to be. If Newcastle are relegated we will witness a real exodus from St James Park, which in turn demonstrates the extent of the problems the Magpies will face. The list of players likely to leave include: Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Obamfemi Martins, Damien Duff, Alan Smith, Nicky Butt, Jose Enrique, Geremi,&nbsp;Gutierrez and possibly Steven Taylor. If things continue in the trational ways of the Tyneside soap-opera then you wouldn’t rule out yet further changes at either boardroom or management level. Chairman&nbsp;Mike Ashley has been ostracised from the club before and if he cannot either&nbsp;persuade Shearer to take the job permanently and/or the Toon don’t get off to a flyer in the championship he knows showing his face in the Sir John Hall stand would be a tad unwise.
Newcastle will have to do their best to wheel and deal as early as possible in order to get the new&nbsp;players to gel as a unit early in the forthcoming season. The first thing they need to do is oust Joe Kinnear from his role, he isn’t physically fit to do job, and if the club are indeed relegated the job starts the minute the final whistle is sounded on Sunday. Although sacking managers isn’t a sign of stability, do any of us genuinely think that Kinnear would stay in the job until the end of next season – fit or not? With expectations and pressure form the fans likley to be huge and the club not in the best of health financially, relegation would hit United very, very hard.
Hull City –&nbsp;35 Points
And to think the start Hull City had. The Tigers are clawing on&nbsp;for dear life in the Premier League and require one last roar this Sunday to ensure survival. Hull are likely to face a considerably weakened Manchester United team on Sunday which may give them half a chance of stealing a point. Whether any of that will come to fruition is another matter. Should Hull find themselves with an instant return to the Championship you would feel that financially the club will not suffer to the degree some of their rivals will. City were desperately unlucky to lose Jimmy Bullard so quickly after his £5 million move from Fulham and could find him leaving the club sooner rather than later at a cut-price fee.&nbsp; Bernard Mendy and Andy Dawson&nbsp;will also&nbsp;have attracted some attention, Giovvani’s early season exploits may tempt a rival club into a gamble. Hull however – are sound financially, have a good boardroom and a good manager in Phil Brown. Providing they can keep the nucleus of the squad together City should be&nbsp;stable and will look to try and bounce back at the first attempt.
Sunderland – 36&nbsp; Points
The fans and players alike pleaded for the board to give Ricky Sbragia the managers job on a permanent basis, the phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’ now springs to mind. Should Sunderland fail to beat Chelsea in Guus Hiddink’s last league game in charge, the Mackems may need another black cat in the dressing room for luck. The club would appear financially sound given the money they have spent in the last few seasons however I would still expect a few to leave. Sunderland shouldn’t really be in this trouble given what they have spent over the last couple of seasons. If the club are confined to the Championship, it is likely they will look to offload the wages of Steed Malbranque and Craig Gordon. I cannot see Kenwyne Jones staying at the Stadium of Light, particularly with Tottenham knocking on Niall Quinn’s door. Kieran Richardson and Anton Ferdinand will attract offers and no doubt the pair pick up a fair size wage packet each too. This being said, Ellis short is now linked to a buy out of the club followed by a change of manager and a £200 million transfer kitty – if Sunderland stay up and we are to beleive the tabloids.

Who Will Relegation Hit The Hardest? - World Soccer Talk

Who Will Relegation Hit The Hardest?

<div style="width: 357px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Michael Owen injured, unfortunately a familiar scenario.</div>
With his international career apparently&nbsp;over and his club’s Premier League status under major threat it begs the question, ‘What will happen to Micheal Owen’?
On 30 June 1998, 18 year-old Michael Owen’s name resonated around the football&nbsp;world after scoring THAT goal for England against Argentina. Michael&nbsp;James Owen had made his debut just a year previously, scoring after coming on as substitute in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat away at Wimbledon. The following season the teenager bagged 18 league goals and finished as the league’s joint top goalscorer.
Owen spent seven years at Anfield scoring 118 goals in 216 games for the Reds.&nbsp;While Owen was neither big nor strong, he was&nbsp;blessed with pace, balance and two fantastic feet in front of goal. In the&nbsp;eight seasons he spent at Liverpool, Owen&nbsp;won&nbsp;the FA Cup, two League Cups, the UEFA cup and European super cup. Personal awards for the 5ft 8 goal machine include the prestiguous Ballon D’or, PFA Young Player of the year, the BBC sports personality of the year and he&nbsp;has shared the Premier League golden boot twice. Not bad, for a player who&nbsp;even as youngster&nbsp;consistently suffered with injuries – his hamstrings were a particular concern at Liverpool.
Following the sacking of Gerrard Houllier and the appointment of Rafael Benitez, on 13 August 2004 Owen&nbsp;was sold to Real Madrid for a cut-price fee of £8 million. Despite mustering the&nbsp;best goals to minutes played ratio in La Liga&nbsp;and netting 13 goals in 43 appearances in total his move to Spain proved to&nbsp;be less than succesful. Bear in mind that Owen only started 15 games for Los Galacticos, the less prolific&nbsp;pairing of&nbsp;Raul and Ronaldo were consistently preferred to the England forward. If competition for places wasn’t hard enough for him, Real promptly swooped for the&nbsp;Brazilian&nbsp;attacking&nbsp;duo of Robinho and Julio Baptista. Rumours of tensions between Owen and Real’s ‘darling’ Raul&nbsp;have&nbsp;also arisen since the Chester born striker left the club.
Throughout the summerof 2005&nbsp;Owen seem destined to re-sign for Liverpool but instead&nbsp;his fomer emplyers&nbsp;baulked at the £16 million asking price – twice what they had sold him for just a year earlier. Instead it was Newcastle United that offered Owen an escape route back to ‘Blighty’ and the chance of regular first team football in order to retain his England place.
Owen’s career&nbsp;at Newcastle&nbsp;started off and on a similiar note to how it has continued- with injury, suffering from a thigh problem in pre-season and missing the first few weeks of the season. Owen managed just 11 games in his first season, netting seven goals after breaking his foot in december and having further surgery in March. Much to Newcastle’s dismay Owen still made the 2006 World Cup sqaud and suffered an horrific knee injury in his first game against Sweden, twisting as he fell with noone around him. Chairman Freddie Shepperd went ballistic and no wonder – his star striker earning around 120k per week was out for the season.&nbsp;Owen has since scored 23 goals in 62 games for Newcastle – far less prolific than in previous seasons.
It has been widely accepted that Owen is likely to leave the Magpies on a bosman this summer whether or not United can stave off the imminent threat of relegation going into the final game of the season. The question is who will want him?
The injuries that have&nbsp;plagued the former Liverpool star have cetainly taken their toll. Owen not only has even more trouble staying fit than before but he appears three yards slower than the 18&nbsp;year old&nbsp;lad who held off Ayala for 30 yards&nbsp;before ghosting past Chamot and slamming the ball in the top left corner for England. Even with a 50% paycut his wages are still well out of reach for most clubs and he certainly is no&nbsp;youngster at 29.
Everton have long been linked with offering the forward a return to Merseyside but David Moyes is surely too shrewd to&nbsp;risk a&nbsp;large chunk of&nbsp;his relatively small wage on&nbsp;an injury prone player. Some still talk of a return to Anfield , if he does play proffessional football&nbsp;Anfield again&nbsp;it won’t be in a Liverpool shirt though.
In spite of media speculation, even on a bosman a move to any the big four seems rather&nbsp;unlikely. Then there are the clubs who tout themselves as big four contenders City, Villa, Spurs and the aforementioned Toffees. I can’t seen any of them fancying him. While Everton are unlikley to risk their preciously low resources&nbsp;, the other three have enough money to go for a younger and more reliable option.
Whoever decides to take on Owen it will be a gamble and doubts will always remain as to whether it is possible to get enough minutes out of the player, let alone a decent goal tally. Wherever he goes it is likely&nbsp;Owen will not only have to take a huge drop in wages but forget about adding to his collection of winner’s medals at the top level. It would seem folly to take sign&nbsp;him as anything more than a bit-part striker for any club willing to challenge&nbsp;in the upper half of the table.&nbsp; The clubs in the lower half may not only seem unnattractive to a man with&nbsp;89 England caps to his name, but&nbsp;could he even fit in with direct style of play at the likes of Stoke, Bolton or Blackburn if they were interested?
This&nbsp;being said it would appear there is enough evidence in previous Premier League activity that&nbsp;at least manager&nbsp;will fancy a flutter on the man who doesn’t mind placing the odd bet or two himself, the question is who?

What Next For Michael Owen? - World Soccer Talk

What Next For Michael Owen?

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