The Football Thread 2022/23: End of season reviews pg79

[Benzin]

Club: Crystal Palace

Final position: 11th

Highlight: Nothing particularly stand out. Though the absolute hammering of Leeds 5-1 was probably the best performance of the season.

Lowlight: January until March. No wins. Fewer goals. That we stayed 12th for weeks on end showed either a half decent first half to the season or how gooseberry fool everyone else was.

Best player of the season: Not sure here, due to the mixed performances across the season. Probably lean towards Eze though as his time under Roy was nothing short of brilliant. Vieira couldn't get the best out of him and it showed.

Worst player of the season: The strikers. Matata and Edouard both had plenty of chances but neither have been consistent enough to make a difference.

Best signing: Cheick Doucoure. Ended up being the replacement for 3 midfielders from season previous and a good solid first year. No yellows under Roy showed the difference a manager can make.

Worst signing: Probably harsh to say Ahamada really, but none of the signings have been outright terrible. He just hasn't made much impact since Jan but wrong time for him to come in really. Maybe next season will get a chance.

Manager rating: Vieira - 4/10; Hodgson - 8/10. All went wrong for Patrick come the turn of the year, though the were hints of performances going wrong losing to a Lampard led Everton 3-0. Hodgson picked up a team in real malaise and turned in some fantastic performances to ensure safety.

Overall season rating: 6/10. Optimistic at first, miserable for the middle, uncertainty currently due to no managerial decision made as of yet and the potential of losing Zaha and the likes of Eze, Olise or Guéhi could be problematic.

[BTB]

Club: Swansea
Final position: 10th
Highlight: Beating Cardiff City 3-2 with a 99th (!) minute winner to secure only the 2nd league double ever in the South Wales derby (with the other being ours the previous season )
Lowlight: The run of games post World Cup where we kept losing and destroyed any playoff hopes
Best player of the season: Joel Piroe had a solid campaign (20 goals) but Ryan Manning was sensational. And is now leaving on a free, brilliant.
Worst player of the season: Difficult to pick but Obafemi threw his toys out the pram and had to be shipped off to Burnley on loan. Great player (in the Championship at least) but terrible attitude.
Best signing: Joe Allen, love that he's home, even if injuries did impact his season he's still a class act
Worst signing:Matthew Sorinola on loan. Completely out of his depth but Martin kept playing him because he tries hard
Manager rating: 5/10 - Difficult one. His game management was terrible (we threw away a lot of points needlessly) and he's very one dimensional in his approach at times. But it was coming together at the end of the season. But he's going now so it doesn't matter anyway.
Overall season rating: 6/10. Average season but I gave it an extra point for another Cardiff double. Unfortunately with Martin's exit and some of our top players it's back to the drawing board. No expectations for next season.

Agree with all of this, only changes I'd make are

Lowlight: Being 2-0 up against Millwall at home in the 90th minute, then drawing 2-2 at FT due to TWO own goals
Worst player of the season: I'd possibly go Jamie Patterson just for the drop off from the previous season, although unsure if that is down to his attitude or the manager

Also our best signing being Joe Allen probably says more about our other signings more than it does about Joe given how often he seemed to be injured

[Tomous]

Also our best signing being Joe Allen probably says more about our other signings more than it does about Joe given how often he seemed to be injured

Indeed

I suppose Darling and Wood at CB have both been decent enough.

[Drumstick]

Best signing: Notable mention for Danilo who looks like he’s going to be a decent player next season.

Would not be surprised if you received bids for him over the summer, tbh.

[Mini E]

Club: Portsmouth
Final position: 8th
Highlight: Beating Cardiff City 3-0 in the League Cup and having some belief for a brief moment.
Lowlight: The winless run midway through the season under Cowley and the constant defence of him because he's a 'nice guy'.
Best player of the season: Colby Bishop, 21 goals in a pretty poor team.
Worst player of the season: Owen Dale. Went completely off the boil.
Best signing: Colby Bishop, at least that shows some level of ambition.
Worst signing: Owen Dale on loan. Took far too long to realise he was pony.
Manager rating: 7/10 - Not bad from John Mousinho since he took over as underwhelming as his appointment was, hes only had 4 losses in 23 without his own players. Certainly deserves this season on that record, just a shame he wasn't appointed much, much earlier because of Mr. 'Nice Guy'.
Overall season rating: 3/10. Next season HAS to be better on all sides. On the pitch and off.

C'mon mate. Owen Dale a worse signing than Josh Koroma/ Be real.

[PuppetBoy]

Club: Sunderland
Final position: 6th
Highlight: Far exceeding expectations and doing so with a promising young team that played some lovely football at times and scored some excellent goals. Appreciate that's not so much a highlight as it is a summary, but really it was an enjoyable season. If I'm going to pick one moment, Jack Clarke's goal at Reading was a terrific team goal.
Lowlight: Alex Neil leaving, and then his Stoke team putting 5 past us on his return to the SoL.
Best player of the season: Amad. Please come back. Honourable mention to Danny Batth. I think if Batth and Dan Ballard had been fit for the play-offs we might be a Premier League team now. (I'm not knocking Luton - delighted for them and Peter Crisp - but I think we may have ground out a result in the second leg if we'd had a central defence.)
Worst player of the season: Hard to answer. Maybe Alex Bass, our back-up goalkeeper - he barely played, I think he appeared in one cup game (I didn't watch it) but I gather he didn't look inspiring. But even then, he scored in an under 21 game against Newcastle. And it was a handball.
Best signing: Getting Jack Clarke back. I'm not sure we'll hold on to him for much longer.
Worst signing: Isaac Lihadji. Didn't really make any impact, but he's only young and still has time.
Manager rating: Neil - immediately strawberry floated off to Stoke - 2/10. Mowbray - 9/10 - came in with no real fanfare, settled the ship more or less straight away, had us playing nice football and somehow despite all the injuries got us in the play-offs. Spent his press conferences talking about biscuits. Just seems like a really nice man.
Overall season rating: 8/10.

[Mini E]

Worst player of the season: Hard to answer. Maybe Alex Bass, our back-up goalkeeper - he barely played, I think he appeared in one cup game (I didn't watch it) but I gather he didn't look inspiring. But even then, he scored in an under 21 game against Newcastle. And it was a handball. .

Bassy

[Curls]

Can't say anything but a City win tonight.

The treble is an achievement fit for the quality of squad they have and the standard of football they play albeit, it'll be one with a big asterisk unless they're cleared of cheating over the past decade.

12 years of asterisks, gotta be proud of that.

It's a shame for the players as individuals that the future may not look fondly back on this team, but fingers crossed that that is how it pans out and it isn't washed over.

I see it in the Formula 1 with Verstappen and Hamilton, the media talk about Verstappen like he's won 2 World titles fair and square, when in fact , for one of them was very much set up for him. He didn't cheat himself, but the FIA cheated for him. Hamilton will always have 8 in my eyes.

I hope in the future sport becomes a fairer place for all involved , but right now, it's a bit of a shambles.

[Ecno]

Club: Fisher FC

Final position: 11th (SCEFL)

Highlight: 0-0 Draw away at National League South Side Welling United in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round, getting to the final of the League Cup (featuring my first trip on an away bus since 2008) including a 7-1 demolition of Stansfeld along the way.

Lowlight: Getting knocked out of the FA Vase by a 10 man Jersey FC in the final few minutes, and the poor league form to start the season meaning we were starting to get slightly concerned of relegation.

Best player of the season: I don't have the best eye for footballing talent, so my vote is for Isaac Thompson due his goal scoring record this season. Luke Thomas won the supporter's player of the season following his move into the centre of defence (previously RB but moved across following injures and kept his place there, allowing the emergence of 2 talented young full backs)

Worst player of the season: The boys were fantastic this season (and it would be wrong to call out amateurs even if they weren't). But the manager needs to control his temperament after being sent off 3 times.

Best signing: Isaac Thompson back on loan from Chatham provided much needed goals.

Worst signing: N/A

Manager rating: 8/10- His contact book means we can compete without paying match fees, but he needs to control his temper.

Overall season rating: 8/10. Had some great cup runs in the SCEFL Cup and FA Cup, with a decent run in the Vase. If we'd won the SCEFL final would have been a 9/10 and obviously promotion (or FA Cup Proper Rounds) gets you the 10/10.

[jawa_]

John Hollins left us today at the age of 76.

Hollins was a midfielder in the 60s, 70s and 80s, playing for Chelsea, QPR and Arsenal. He holds the record for top-flight appearances by an outfield player with 714.

I saw the guy play when I first started going to football in the early 80s. RIP, John.

[DML]

Club: Portsmouth
Final position: 8th
Highlight: Beating Cardiff City 3-0 in the League Cup and having some belief for a brief moment.
Lowlight: The winless run midway through the season under Cowley and the constant defence of him because he's a 'nice guy'.
Best player of the season: Colby Bishop, 21 goals in a pretty poor team.
Worst player of the season: Owen Dale. Went completely off the boil.
Best signing: Colby Bishop, at least that shows some level of ambition.
Worst signing: Owen Dale on loan. Took far too long to realise he was pony.
Manager rating: 7/10 - Not bad from John Mousinho since he took over as underwhelming as his appointment was, hes only had 4 losses in 23 without his own players. Certainly deserves this season on that record, just a shame he wasn't appointed much, much earlier because of Mr. 'Nice Guy'.
Overall season rating: 3/10. Next season HAS to be better on all sides. On the pitch and off.

C'mon mate. Owen Dale a worse signing than Josh Koroma/ Be real.

Id forgotten he even existed.

[Dowbocop]

John Hollins left us today at the age of 76.

Hollins was a midfielder in the 60s, 70s and 80s, playing for Chelsea, QPR and Arsenal. He holds the record for top-flight appearances by an outfield player with 714.

I saw the guy play when I first started going to football in the early 80s. RIP, John.

Lots of nice stories coming in about him on Twitter etc, seemed like a gent.

RIP.

[Tomous]

Hollins managed with us in the lower leagues couple of decades ago, was a great bloke by all accounts.

[KK]

Laura Woods announced this morning that she is leaving TalkSport Breakfast. Not been confirmed, but all the rumours suggesting she's off to TNT (replacing Jake Humphrey's).

[BOR]

Bellingham moved to Real Madrid.

£80m+.

[Mini E]

Club: Portsmouth
Final position: 8th
Highlight: Beating Cardiff City 3-0 in the League Cup and having some belief for a brief moment.
Lowlight: The winless run midway through the season under Cowley and the constant defence of him because he's a 'nice guy'.
Best player of the season: Colby Bishop, 21 goals in a pretty poor team.
Worst player of the season: Owen Dale. Went completely off the boil.
Best signing: Colby Bishop, at least that shows some level of ambition.
Worst signing: Owen Dale on loan. Took far too long to realise he was pony.
Manager rating: 7/10 - Not bad from John Mousinho since he took over as underwhelming as his appointment was, hes only had 4 losses in 23 without his own players. Certainly deserves this season on that record, just a shame he wasn't appointed much, much earlier because of Mr. 'Nice Guy'.
Overall season rating: 3/10. Next season HAS to be better on all sides. On the pitch and off.

C'mon mate. Owen Dale a worse signing than Josh Koroma/ Be real.

Id forgotten he even existed.

Lucky bastard.

[KingK]

Worst signing: Of those who played its Shelvey. But we bought several and loaned out who are unlikely to ever feature (Josh Bowler, Hwang, and others I forget). Put signing Omar Richards from Bayern Munich for £17m and saying he’d passed his medical only for a broken leg to be revealed shortly after meaning he hasn’t played all season is surely the worst one ever?

What?! How did that not get more media attention

Didn't he hurt his leg in pre-season rather than get through a medical with it?! If he did sneak it through what are the club doing in those medicals

He never made it to pre season games. A hairline fracture was picked up after the signing was completed. Hairline.

He didn’t return to training till after the WC and was never in contention for the 25 man squad so he’s up yet to wear the shirt in any games.

Forest fans laugh on Twitter that his leg has fallen off and he’s been growing another one back.

The club falsely said he was in training around the time we were signing Toffolo and OBrien from Huddersfield. They shared a pic of Omar from waist up in training gear as we battled to get Toff in without it looking like we were desperate for a LB despite signing one days before. We were desperate.

Turns out our head physio left and No One wanted the top job this season. Made sense why we had so many injuries when that came out late on in the season!

[KingK]

Worst player of the season: I'd possibly go Jamie Patterson just for the drop off from the previous season, although unsure if that is down to his attitude or the manager

I’d lay good money on it being his attitude.

I worked with a guy whose GF was a cousin of JP and the 3 of them used to meet up all the time. Apparently JP was a huge ego prick when he was at Forest and fancied himself to be better than he was. Bad attitude all round and he left a year or so later.

Talented for sure but an arse

[KingK]

Best signing: Notable mention for Danilo who looks like he’s going to be a decent player next season.

Would not be surprised if you received bids for him over the summer, tbh.

More likely next winter or summer window I’d say. He came good last few games of the season but don’t see anyone plumping for him, at the price we would demand, just yet. We got him on a 6.5yr deal at £17m so it’d cost a LOT to prise him away.

Plus he’s best mates with Scarpa who we brought in from Palmeiras first and we also have Felipe. Our Brazilian trio are very well loved at Forest and they love their time here, for now.

He’ll leave one day, but not yet

[DML]

Club: Portsmouth
Final position: 8th
Highlight: Beating Cardiff City 3-0 in the League Cup and having some belief for a brief moment.
Lowlight: The winless run midway through the season under Cowley and the constant defence of him because he's a 'nice guy'.
Best player of the season: Colby Bishop, 21 goals in a pretty poor team.
Worst player of the season: Owen Dale. Went completely off the boil.
Best signing: Colby Bishop, at least that shows some level of ambition.
Worst signing: Owen Dale on loan. Took far too long to realise he was pony.
Manager rating: 7/10 - Not bad from John Mousinho since he took over as underwhelming as his appointment was, hes only had 4 losses in 23 without his own players. Certainly deserves this season on that record, just a shame he wasn't appointed much, much earlier because of Mr. 'Nice Guy'.
Overall season rating: 3/10. Next season HAS to be better on all sides. On the pitch and off.

C'mon mate. Owen Dale a worse signing than Josh Koroma/ Be real.

Id forgotten he even existed.

Lucky bastard.

I think thats more indicative of what a non-season this was.