Another Premier League campaign has come and gone. The 38 game journey concluded Sunday with champions being crowned (officially) and relegation fates being sealed. It was also time for me to go back through the Bleeding Your Colors archives to see how our four prognosticators (myself, Andrew Sanford, Andrew daSilva, and Josh Souza) did in our pre-season predictions for the most prestigious league in the game. The title of this article is "How'd We Do?" To answer that simple question: "Meh."
TOP FOUR AND CHAMPION
1. Chelsea- 1 hit (AD)
2. Manchester City- 1 hit (AD)
3. Arsenal- 1 hit (AS)
4. Manchester United- 0 hits
Only one of us, Andrew daSilva (@andrewdslv), correctly chose the Blues to regain the Premier League trophy. The rest of us chose Manchester City to retain, therefore misshaping the rest of our top fours. Mr daSilva was also the only man to keep Liverpool out of his top four, yet didn't have the faith to predict his beloved Arsenal at their final third position. The only man to do that was the other Andrew picker, Andrew Sanford (@TheSanford1).
RELEGATION FODDER
18. Hull City- 2 hits (AD, TU)
19. Burnley- 4 hits (AD, AS, JS, TU)
20. Queens Park Rangers- 1 hit (JS)
Unlike the top four, I gave credit for a hit on the relegation teams by just having them in the bottom three. Poor Hull got their demotion papers on the final day, but that allowed myself and Andrew D. to sneak in a second correct pick. We all got Burnley right, but only Andrew S. had them in their final position of nineteenth. The Queens Park Raisins, as Louis Van Gaal memorably referred to them this year, were only predicted to go down by one man, Josh Souza (@JSouza1487). Other teams we thought were going down were West Brom, Crystal Palace, and Leicester City. Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew did miracles for their clubs after midseason appointments. Nigel Pearson performed his own magic with Leicester City in taking them from dead bottom of the table to fourteenth in the season's final eight matchweeks.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Eden Hazard, M (Chelsea)- 2 hits (AD, JS)
The two Massachusettsians (term pending) were the only two to correctly predict the Belgian's victory in the PFA Player of the Year award race. Hazard was, as Reggie Jackson put it in his Yankee days, the straw that stirred the drink for the champions this year. I was pretty happy with my pick of Cesc Fabregas early on, but inconsistency and injuries sapped any chance he had of winning. Sanford's pick of Sergio Aguero wasn't too shabby either, but Man City's topsy turvy 2015 killed his chances as well.
GOLDEN BOOT
Sergio Aguero, F (Manchester City) 26 goals- 1 hit (AD)
This category was an injury riddled train wreck. Other than Mr. daSilva hitting...again, the rest of us missed BADLY. Me and Sanford both backed Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge while Josh put his hopes on Manchester United's Robin Van Persie. Sturridge spent more time on the trainer's table than the pitch netting only four league goals. Van Persie caught fire in the early part of the campaign, but faded as Wayne Rooney returned to the striker position as Manchester United began their ascent up the table in 2015.
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Harry Kane, F (Tottenham Hotspur)- 1 hit (JS)
Another category, another lone hit. Josh was the only man to back the future of the English National Team, Harry Kane. He was also the only person not to pick someone from his own supported club (Josh roots for the champs, Chelsea). I went with Raheem Sterling and though he shined in the vast majority of 2014-15, the constant formation shifts in Brendan Rodgers' "system" killed his statistics and eventually his chances of Young Player glory. Sanford went with a Spur, just the wrong one in Erik Lamela. In a shock turn of events, DaSilva got a pick wrong by picking Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Jose Mourinho, Chelsea- 0 hits
Nobody saw the Special One taking home the Manager of the Year crown. Frankly, he shouldn't have. Ronald Koeman did wonders with a Southampton squad that was gutted in the summer. Garry Monk got Swansea to their highest Premier League finish ever. Mark Hughes did the same with Stoke City. Notice how none of those names are Louis Van Gaal or Roberto Martinez, the two men that we picked between the four of us to take home the honors. We really stunk out the joint on this one.
BOLD PREDICTIONS AND BEST/WORST SIGNINGS
I decided to smush these last few parts together because outside of several key points, nothing of relevance really came from these sections. None of our "bold predictions" came to fruition and only one of our best signings, Josh's pick Robert Snodgrass, turned out bad. In his defense, Snodgrass got hurt early before he could even prove his worth. On the other hand, Hull is probably going to have to move on from a man they paid £6 million for as they head to the Championship. That's bad business.
I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane. The start of the next season is just three months away so stay tuned for our ill-fated picks for next year's campaign. Until then, you can follow me on Twitter @TREVORutley and Bleeding Your Colors as a separate entity @B3WHYC3. Enjoy the summer and go see some of these Premier League sides play in the States in a city near you!
Image Credit: Chelsea championship presentation (dailymail.co.uk)