2020/21 End of Season Review

I could have sworn there we did a half-season one and I was going to link to it here so people could compare but if we did my search-fu has entirely failed me.

OVERVIEW:

My team is:
Expectations (at start of season):
View on performance:
Any other comments:

MANAGER:

My team's manager is:
Rating out of 5:
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No):
Areas they have performed well in:
Any other comments:

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5:
Best result of the season:
Best performance of the season:
Worst result of the season:
Worst performance of the season:
Any other comments:

PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season:
Pleasant surprise of the season:
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season:
Underperformer of the season:
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude:
Outright worst player of the season:
Any other comments:

TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season:
Worst signing this season:
Overall rating out of 5:
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign:
Over the summer I think we'll sign:
I'd like to see us sell:
I think we'll sell:
Any other comments:

2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season:
What I think we'll achieve:
Worst nightmare:

I respectfully decline to take part. :happycry:

My team is: Arsenal
Expectations (at start of season): struggling to reach 6th or so
View on performance: pretty awful overall. not even sure what to think. one game it looks like Arteta is well on his way with his "project" - the next game you wonder if there even is such a thing as a project.
Any other comments: Pepe feels like the epitome of an Arsenal player. He reminds me of Ozil a bit - looks a little gangly and lazy at times, goes missing every so often but then goes on a massive run of form making everyone say "this is finally the time when he's going to flourish" and then back to square one and repeat.

MANAGER:

My team's manager is: Arteta
Rating out of 5: 2
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No): Probably not, as I generally advocate a bit of consistency so long as they seem to have the dressing room, and he still does (?). I can't think of anyone who would make a huge difference coming in exactly, except maybe Pochettino and that won't happen.
Areas they have performed well in: I suppose you have to give him that he's managed Saka fairly well, I think Holding is also a bettter player at the end of this season than before. And somehow he has managed to turn Xhaka into a fairly functioning midfielder, after all this time.
Any other comments: He changes things around so much, the formation, the starters. He makes me think of when you are at the start of a new FM save and everything just goes to shit, so you are changing your tactics every week, doing team meetings, etc but nothing works. Like a bit desperate to find the magic sauce or something.

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5: 1
Best result of the season: beating chelsea maybe
Best performance of the season: same
Worst result of the season: most likely the losses against mr Good Ebeninggg, although thats likely a blessing in disguise
Worst performance of the season: -
Any other comments: Auba going missing all season was a massive blow.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season: Gotta be Saka or Tierney
Pleasant surprise of the season: Tierney for sure. Holding, Emile Smith Rowe, and somehow Xhaka (all is relative, and my expectations on Xhaka are so low that ok performances are enough here). In a similar manner, Elneny has been basically as good as you could expect from him when called upon (which is also fairly low expectations).
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season: um... noone.
Underperformer of the season: anyone who has been at right back, Partey hasn't really lived up to it, Auba for sure, and Willian.
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude: Luiz
Outright worst player of the season: Willian, I think.
Any other comments: Most players have this strange way of seeming like they did fairly OK over the season (except obvious misses like Auba), but still the team did massively badly. It's weird.

TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season: It's still Partey.
Worst signing this season: Ceballos maybe. Although I still really struggle to understand what they need Odegaard for, even if he is fairly talented.
Overall rating out of 5: 2
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign: a mobile and powerful midfielder, and a good right back. they should probably just focus on getting some quality in rather than spreading their funds thin on random loans and 15m hasbeens.
Over the summer I think we'll sign: 15 hasbeens.
I'd like to see us sell: Torreira, Mhikitaryan, Willian, Xhaka, Ceballos, Odegaard (not pay loads to keep him anyway), probably Lacazette (which is a little heartbreaking cause I love that dude), maybe Kolasinac or Ainsley Maitland Niles as well. I suppose Guendouzi should also go.
I think we'll sell: Not half of what we should.
Any other comments: Arsenal seem incapable of understanding the concept of quality over quantity. They again act a bit like in FM - if there's a bargain to be had, they are getting it. Doesn't really matter if the player is very good or even something they need, so long as they are fairly cheap and available.

2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season: Not sure. I think they will struggle to make it into Europa again, basically.
What I think we'll achieve: Because they aren't in the Europa league, maybe a League cup victory or 6th is possible.
Worst nightmare: Another season like this, I suppose.

OVERVIEW:

My team is: Manchester United
Expectations (at start of season): Top 4, more as a "this is what we ought to be getting" than any real confidence we'd achieve it.
View on performance: On paper 2nd looks good but it's hard to imagine we'd have done it if it hadn't been the sort of season that saw West Ham challenging for top 4 until pretty late. If Liverpool's defence hadn't kept falling to bits early on they'd have been top two.
Any other comments: The games are often bad to watch and when we lose important ones it's usually the exact same story so while the season is being filed away under Progress Made I've got my doubts. More on that below.

MANAGER:

My team's manager is: Ole Gunnar Binman.
Rating out of 5: 3/5
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No): Probably, yeah, especially given there seem to be a few managers knocking about you might consider trying to bring in.
Areas they have performed well in: I guess if you can only beat what's in front of you then Solskjaer has at least managed to secure that second place while everybody else was fucking up. Solskjaer has been good at the same things he always is. Setting up for the counter, capitalising when teams leave honking great gaps to charge into, adjusting so we improve in the second half of games.
Any other comments: We're garbage in the first half of games, the Champions League exit was unforgiveable after those first two results, he seems to take against certain players for no apparent reason and he's very, very stuck in his ways in terms of starting eleven and how to set up the team. The squad needs work but a better manager would be doing more with it rather than just plonking a load of defensive players down and hoping one of the attackers does something.

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5: 3/5
Best result of the season: Either the 5-0 vs. Leipzig or maybe the 2-0 away at City given we were still, theoretically, 'in the title race' at that point.
Best performance of the season: 5-0 against Leipzig or, despite the two goals conceded, 6-2 against Roma.
Worst result of the season: Losing in Istanbul given a) the amateurish nature of that Demba Ba goal and b) that it's basically what fucked the group.
Worst performance of the season: Losing 6-1 to fucking Spurs.
Any other comments: Even when we win it's often turgid shit. I wouldn't mind being flaky if we were at least fun to watch.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season: Fernandes. Bit more competition for it this time round and he's a massive divey tart but it's still him.
Pleasant surprise of the season: Easily Edinson Cavani. Felt very much like a "who's the most famous available person I can sign now everything else has gone wrong???" move from Woodward but he's been wonderful. Night and day between him and any of our other 'forwards' who have been piss and wind to differing extents and just don't know how to play as an outright striker.
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season: If it was based on the last couple of months I'd be considering Cavani especially for his Wafer Cup goals but again, it's Fernandes for the season as a whole who's most often made a difference.
Underperformer of the season: Martial before he got injured. Absolute shit. He'd looked promising after 'Project Restart' as a centre forward but he's spent all of his games this year looking like he couldn't give less of a shit.
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude: Lindelof. I could probably just as easily have picked Maguire depending on my mood but of a pairing I simply don't rate I rate ol' Victor slightly less.
Outright worst player of the season: I'll go with Martial again. Dickhead.
Any other comments: No room above for Shawnaldinho but he's been great this year.

TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season: Cavani.
Worst signing this season: It's not his fault but van de Beek. No idea whether Ole didn't want him in the first place or if he just took against him once he arrived and started training or what but whatever the reason, spending the year bringing him on in the 88th minute then expecting him to perform on the very occasional starts just isn't going to work. Especially in a year when so many of our attacking players have been run into the ground and/or shit it's ludicrous that we've still not really got any idea what we have with him.
Overall rating out of 5: 2/5. Cavani's ace, van de Beek hard to say, Telles has been average but has also barely played. I'll come back and update this once Taz's heart-throb Pellistri has banged in a Champions League final hat trick.
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign: Even with Cavani staying another actual striker would be handy, a proper beast of a defensive midfielder, a centre-half. Somebody to add width on the right. Even if we see Greenwood there rather than central in the long term we still need options.
Over the summer I think we'll sign: God knows, but I'm sure Woodward will make hard of it and then overspend on somebody at the last minute.
I'd like to see us sell: De Gea, Lindelof, Jones, Martial, Pereira, Matic, Lingard.
I think we'll sell: Not enough of the above and some other shit I don't care about/have barely heard of.
Any other comments: I'd also like us to keep Dalot (he's only away on loan, right?) and try him out more in rotation with Wan Bissaka who is entirely pointless if we need width.

2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season: Top 4
What I think we'll achieve:Hopefully top 4 but depending what other teams do I wouldn't be surprised to see it be lower than that. Would be a laugh to end up in the Conference thing. That said....
Worst nightmare: .... I'd probably hate it after the initial lols. I think I'd rather just finish below that than 7th but I don't think it'll be that bad.

OVERVIEW:

My team is: Chelsea
Expectations (at start of season): Continued improvement and maybe a top three finish
View on performance: We were a bit up and down, but the end result was rather lovely thank you.
Any other comments: It has been such a strange season and I was thoroughly disengaged from large parts of it. I cannot wait to have a proper season again with normal dates and full grounds and, you know, legalised spontaneity.

MANAGER:

My team's manager is: Thomas Tuchel
Rating out of 5: 4
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No): No, although I think it will probably end in tears at some point (I hope I'm wrong and he rules for decades)
Areas they have performed well in: He appears to be a very good training ground coach in the sense that you can see areas where certain players have improved since he came in. He is also a good tactician. He doesn't get everything right, but who does.
Any other comments: I don't know whether it's his hair, his dress sense or his shouty German-ness that makes him a bit unnerving to behold on the touchline. Probably a mixture of all three.

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5: Would have been 3.5, but I suppose I had better up it to 4 given we are CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE.
Best result of the season: Probably winning the Champions League final, all in all.
Best performance of the season: The final was good, but the semi-final was probably better, all in all. Real Madrid, Europe's self-declared biggest club, were never at any point even within a sniff of threatening us.
Worst result of the season: The second league defeat to Arsenal was an absolute shambles and could have cost us dear.
Worst performance of the season: The first league defeat to Arsenal was infuriatingly terrible from top to bottom.
Any other comments: Special award goes to the two goalless draws with Manchester United for most pointless football played all year. It wasn't entirely down to us, more a 50/50 artistic collaboration with Salford's premier soccer outfit, like that awful song that Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder did in the early 80s.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season: Mason Mount
Pleasant surprise of the season: Thiago Silva, who I thought would be a slow old cripple, but turned out to be really good and also a bit of a cult hero.
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season: Obviously Ngolo Kanté, who is a ridiculous footballer.
Underperformer of the season: Timo Werner did some good things, particularly off the ball, but his accomplishments in front of goal, for someone who scored better than 0.6 goals per game in the Bundesliga, were truly abysmal. Yet another success for our crack team of surgeons.
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude: I don't think there's anyone inept in our squad. Kepa is perfectly fine when his confidence is up. Tammy Abraham looks awkward but gets goals.
Outright worst player of the season: Hudson-Odoi's end product is disappointing, but to call him the 'worst' would be pushing it. I don't think we really had a worst player this year.
Any other comments: Props to Ben Chilwell, who I thought was quietly excellent, and also Edouard Mendy, who made me shit my pants in the first half of the season but grew in stature as it went on.

TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season: In terms of performances this season, Chilwell. Bigger picture, Havertz.
Worst signing this season: none, they have all done well.
Overall rating out of 5: 4.5
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign: Probably want a young centre half and a young centre forward, but we don't need to splash too much more moolah.
Over the summer I think we'll sign: Probably the above, or they might go for Donnarumma if he is available and they are feeling ruthless.
I'd like to see us sell: I wouldn't LIKE to see us sell anyone, but I wouldn't cry into my pink gin if Hudson-Odoi left for big money.
I think we'll sell: Probably Kepa and Emerson.
Any other comments: The much-vaunted recruitment drive last summer has actually gone pretty well. Jury out on Ziyech and a couple of others but we look well set to challenge for a title at some point.

2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season: I don't expect us to win the league, but I think we should expect to be a lot closer to 1st, probably within 10 points of it.
What I think we'll achieve: A steady third, or maybe second if City and/or Liverpool have a shitter.
Worst nightmare: Abramovich being taken out by Chechen rebels.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd

I don't know whether it's his hair, his dress sense or his shouty German-ness that makes him a bit unnerving to behold on the touchline.

---

Probably that he looks like his picture should be embedded into an article containing the line, "but that number is expected to rise once police have finished excavating his basement."

OVERVIEW:

My team is: Liverpool
Expectations (at start of season): Another dust up with City for both PL and CL.
View on performance: Hard to gauge a proper reading from it really. Playing almost the entire season without the worlds best Centre-back and subsequently seeing all of his back ups drop like flies is tough. One of the best CDMs in the world being forced to play out of position for a large chunk also offset the team. We bodged it along until Christmas but then the wheels fell off.
Any other comments: The last 10 games was a re-learning of how to win ugly. There were a few great performances in there, but mostly odd goal wins.

MANAGER:

My team's manager is: Herr Klopp
Rating out of 5: 4 to 4.5
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No): lol
Areas they have performed well in: He's perhaps the best coach to player relationship I've ever seen for us, to the point where even in the bad patch there was no discontent leaking out from anywhere. They're all in on him and it's hard not to be to.
Any other comments: He's also someone that can get every ounce out of a player. Nat Phillips by the end of the season was brimming with confidence and really not far off being a contender for when the rest come back. There's perhaps 2 criticisms of him I have. The first is his tactical rigidity. But for maybe City away when we went 4-2-4, it's been 4-3-3 and that's the end of it. Perhaps a plan B could be further explored? The other is his substitutions. Too many times has he trusted the starting XI until maybe the 80th minute. Or sent Shaqiri on with 5 minutes to go. Quite rarely this season did he make a change that positively affected a game we were losing/drawing.

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5: 3
Best result of the season: United(a) 4-2. The one that really gave the confidence that it the season wasn't fully dead.
Best performance of the season: Arsenal or Chelsea away. Didn't give either a sniff in what have usually been tricky places to go.
Worst result of the season: 7-2 Villa. The performance wasn't as bad as the result said, there were about 4 deflected goals, but the bubble burst a bit here.
Worst performance of the season: Pick anyone of those 6 home defeats on the bounce.
Any other comments: Despite the negatives, title winning form was shown in the final 10 games to get us back into Europe(8 wins, 2 draws). The team deserves some credit for not fully imploding.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season: Either Salah or Robertson. The former is obvious, but the latter played every single league game, despite us bringing a specific left-back in to stop that happening.
Pleasant surprise of the season: Nat Phillips. Looked very shaky his first game or two, but transformed into aerial dominance and cult hero.
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season: Alisson Becker. He doesn't score that goal and we're not 3rd. Simple as.
Underperformer of the season: Sadio Mané. He'll be disgusted at his season. A lot is made of Firmino scoring few, but that's not why he's there. Mané on the other hand is. He looked sharper again towards the end.
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude:
Outright worst player of the season: Perhaps Naby Keita? A little harsh maybe, but he arrived for a good fee and in a season of near 55 games crammed in, he could only manage the 9 starts.
Any other comments: The fact that Klopp was only able to name an unchanged team for the first time on the final day of the season, perhaps shows the scale of our issues this year. Tough to properly judge the team.

TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season: Tough to pick between Jota and Thiago, but the latter takes it for me. Took a bit to adjust, but that run in he became quite influential.
Worst signing this season: Tsimikas or Davies. The latter I'm not sure even exists, but the former was brought in to avoid running Robertson into the ground, which he completely failed to do.
Overall rating out of 5: 3.5. The business itself was good, but letting Lovren leave without replacement drew attention at the time. The response was that Fabinho could come into Defence in emergencies. I don't reckon he expected to be in that situation a month into the season but there we are.
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign: A forward, a dynamic midfielder and a centre back.
Over the summer I think we'll sign: The centre back is already done, but I'm not sure much else will come in to threaten the first team. Daka I've not seen play so the rumours of him are interesting.
I'd like to see us sell: Fringe players.
I think we'll sell: Origi, Ox and Shaqiri are Klopps usual go-to guys if we're not winning. The 3 have mustered a goal each for the whole season. Just not good enough and this needs refreshing. Van Dijk scored as many as each of them and he died in October.
Any other comments: We could really do with adding to the squad. Our first team is better(in my opinion) than any of the other members of the top 4, but squad wise we're a way behind City and Chelsea. Looking at their benches in the Champions League final was quite lol.

2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season: Take on City once again. Their 86 points is a good total, but we've beaten that quite comfortably in our previous 2 efforts.
What I think we'll achieve: At least 2nd.
Worst nightmare: Having to see another youth team player lining up in a league game.

OVERVIEW:

My team is: Manchester United.
Expectations (at start of season): I predicted third behind City and Liverpool; or, 'the best of the rest'.
View on performance: The season ended up being crap.
Any other comments: Next season will also be crap.

MANAGER:

My team's manager is: Ole Gunnar Binman.
Rating out of 5: A reaching two.
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No): Yes.
Areas they have performed well in: He seems to keep everybody happy, and looks to have phased David de Gea out without too much fuss. He is not good at literally everything else.
Any other comments: I said at the start of the season that he needed to get eighty points or win something else as a sign or progress, which he hasn't, and my position all along has been that he was only worth keeping so long as nobody demonstrably superior was available. Giving him another three years is the biggest sign yet that the club is happy with being thereabouts, which leaves you wondering why you bother.

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5: This is difficult. Probably three, but not the team as a whole.
Best result of the season: Beating Manchester City was a good one.
Best performance of the season: Maybe that, or GUBBING Roma.
Worst result of the season: The Champions' League embarrassments, or one of the nothing performances like Sheffield United.
Worst performance of the season: As above.
Any other comments: The whole 'comeback kings' stuff is not a positive. They start games badly because they are barely coached, and then come back because what passes for plans/tactics go out the window and the individuals takeover.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season: Bruno Fernandes.
Pleasant surprise of the season: I knew Edinson Cavani would be the bollocks, so honourable mention to Aaron Wan-Dyspraxia being Mr Consistent and getting better all the time.
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season: A month ago I would have once again awarded this to the reigning, defending Manager's Player of the Year, Scott McTominay, but then it turned out that Harry Maguire (who is unfairly maligned anyway) stopped the entire backline imploding, so maybe him.
Underperformer of the season: I speculated that Anthony Martial only looked shit hot last year because everybody was half-arsing it, and it turned out to be true. He is twenty-six this year, and the penny isn't dropping, so he wants selling.
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude: I don't think anybody is inept, but fuck me de Gea on those penalties was a disgrace.
Outright worst player of the season: Martial.
Any other comments: Marcus Rashford has been shit for six months, and half of that is because the manager is afraid to drop/rest him.

TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season: Cavani.
Worst signing this season: The other players they signed.
Overall rating out of 5: Cavani has been five out of five, the others maybe a two; but the window itself was zero because they muffed it yet again.
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign: Jadon Sancho (or literally any right-sided forward, six years into needing one), a centre-back, and, although I would just play Fernandes with McTominay and Paulp Ogba as a number ten, this seems to be an impossibility so they might need another midfielder. I'm not overly arsed about a striker with Cavani and Mason Greenwood, although obviously Harry Kane would be immense.
Over the summer I think we'll sign: I think they will get Sancho and a centre-back, and then pretend they went for a striker and a big name midfielder.
I'd like to see us sell: Most of the team.
I think we'll sell: Jesse Lingard, and maybe Nemanja Matic if Jose Mourinho wants him. The likes of Phil Jones will be there forever.
Any other comments: They should also sign Antonio Conte.

2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season: Top four and losing to the first decent side they come across in Europe.
What I think we'll achieve: That.
Worst nightmare: I don't think the rest of the league is good enough for them to drop out of the top four, but at least Arsenal won some FA Cups during their top four purgatory years. What are United doing?

I meant to find room in my players bit to mention McTominay because he's been ace and is in every better combination of pairings for our deeper two.

I get the feeling that a proper manager, one who could/would actually set a midfield up to play in a particular shape, would play Donny van de Beek there. He might not PRESS/tackle quite as much as Fred does, but he wouldn't lose the ball every second go with it either.

I'm not sure it's really his position any more than it's been Pogba's most of the times he's been played there but if you had McTominay doing most of the dirty work you'd think it would, at the very least, be a way of getting van de Beek more minutes. Or you could, y'know, not let Fernandes insist on playing every single minute of every game.

OVERVIEW:

My team is: FC United of Newcastle
Expectations (at start of season): Survive.
View on performance: Fine. Some hard swings, though. We're very reliant on a couple of big players and the squad depth hasn't been there for maybe 8 years?
Any other comments: If Ashley sells up, I'll pour boiling fat on DavGooner's feet.

MANAGER:

My team's manager is: Steve Bruce
Rating out of 5: 3
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No): Not unless you give the new guy a proper budget.
Areas they have performed well in: I don't think he's lost the dressing room so the players must like him. He can properly organise us but then he has some horrid matches where the plan is to park it and hope.
Any other comments: It's Steve Bruce. His glass ceiling is about 10th/11th, although he's never really had a job with a chunky war chest.

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5: 3
Best result of the season: 4-2 vs Leicester City. One of the rare games where we took off early and looked dominant.
Best performance of the season: 1-1 vs Liverpool. I actually had to think about this and almost went with the 4-3 defeat against City. Holding Liverpool both home and away takes some doing, though.
Worst result of the season: 0-3 vs Brighton. Arguably the result that kicked our season back into life. Terrible.
Worst performance of the season: 1-4 vs Man Utd. It was a late show that flattered the mancs but conceding 3 in 10 minutes shouldn't be allowed to happen. A point pissed away.
Any other comments: Nah, I'd just be repeating myself. We did well to come back after the two covid outbreaks and get our shit together but there was a huge gap where we looked fairly useless.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season: Alan Saint-Maximin. The longer he spent out with Covid, the more I was convinced he was dead. We need another player like him to make driving runs from midfield.
Pleasant surprise of the season: Joe Willock. Didn't expect those goals. I thought we were bringing in cover for Hayden :D
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season: Might actually be Joe Willock. He's come up with crucial goals and Callum Wilson's been in and out with injuries.
Underperformer of the season: Not sure I can pick one. I don't like Ritchie being used as a left back (and I gather, neither does he). Now that I think of it, Fraser's been really quiet this season.
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude: In the absence of truly finding someone consistently awful, Matt Ritchie for the own goal he scored.
Outright worst player of the season: Andy Carroll. He got a goal this season but just everything about him in 2021 doesn't fit.
Any other comments: We really need to add to this squad in the summer. Joelinton's been better but he's not scoring 10 a season.

TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season: Joe Willock
Worst signing this season: Who else did we buy this season? Was it really just Willock and Lewis?
Overall rating out of 5: 3. I dunno, we did barely any business in the summer but at least they added to the squad.
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign: Jethro Willems, retain Willock and just more to spice the squad up. Wijnaldum's out of contract. Let's just retread McClaren's window but with a fatter, angrier man in charge.
Over the summer I think we'll sign: Willems ('cos he's free and he wants to come) and possibly, perhaps, maybe Willock.
I'd like to see us sell: Easy. Christian Atsu's already been released. Muto and Lejeune are still on our books as well, although I don't mind the latter.
I think we'll sell: Atsu, Muto and Lejeune. If they're already loaned out, we tend to move them on. Also, Henri Saivet probably gets released.
Any other comments: Fuck the high street, spend some money on us, Mr. Ashley.

2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season: Mid-table?
What I think we'll achieve: Mid-table-ish?
Worst nightmare: Another year scrapping with the new clubs and Saint Maximin leaving for PSG.

Started doing this and just got angry all over again. Can't do it. If I don't manage to fill out the whole thing. The summary is, Arsenal Football Club have actively made my life worse in a way their failures never did before and I felt obligated to watch them play not wanting to.

OVERVIEW:

My team is: Aston Villa
Expectations (at start of season): Consolidation
View on performance: Pleased
Any other comments: The Grealish injury basically fucked our season, but still good to be back and hoping to push on next year

MANAGER:

My team's manager is: Dean Smith
Rating out of 5: 3.5
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No): No
Areas they have performed well in: Continuous improvement
Any other comments: Still learning on the job, can be frustrating in his tactical rigidity and refusal to make changes on occasion, but in 2.5 seasons he's got us promoted, kept us up and pushed us on, so doing well and provided we keep moving forward keeps the job

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5: 3.5
Best result of the season: 7-2 against Liverpool was record breaking and beautifully absurd, but there were others where we were just brilliant too, especially in the first half of the season. 3-0 away to Arsenal, and did Villa - Palace finish as the game with the most XPG for one team this season, despite us playing with ten men for over a half?
Best performance of the season: I'm trying to look elsewhere, but it's the 7-2
Worst result of the season: 1-0 away to Sheff Utd just after Grealish went down injured. Knew we were finishing midtable from that point
Worst performance of the season: Leeds at home, simply because it came in amongst us smashing absolutely everyone and was completely unfathomable
Any other comments: Bloodied a lot of noses, Liverpool at home, Leicester away, Chelsea home, Spurs away, Arsenal home and away and absolutely cheated against the Manchester clubs as per every season, but ultimately dropped too many points against THE SHIT and the Grealish injury cost us an exceptional season rather than a good one

PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season: Grealish
Pleasant surprise of the season: Targett
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season: Could go to a few really, but I'll give it to Watkins, because he's a fucking grafter and shirks zero
Underperformer of the season: After a strong start, it's comprehensively Ross 'moron' Barkley. No idea what happened to him, but there's a video of him jogging around trying to win the ball against I think Liverpool, and he shouldn't have played another minute after that
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude: Only the above had a bad season
Outright worst player of the season: Barkley
Any other comments: Really encouraging from a lot of players. Martinez a sensation. The backline are all excellent and the entire defence can stay as it is for a few years. Traore is just great to watch, El Ghazi pushed on, McGinn returned to his old self and Douglas Luiz started well, but went cold toward the end of the year. Has probably had City on the phone about that buy back.

TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season: Take your pick. Martinez, Cash, Watkins and Traore. Best summer we've had in years. Martinez or Watkins due to importance of position, so I'll go........erm........Emi.
Worst signing this season: Mouth breather
Overall rating out of 5: 4.5
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign: A winger, a defensive midfielder, a number 10 and a back up centre forward if big Wes is finished
Over the summer I think we'll sign: Probably most of the above. Recruitment has been very good since Sawaris and Edens took over from the various assortment of clowns who'd been running us into the ground
I'd like to see us sell: No one, but I think Luiz might go. 25m is cheap for a player of that quality. Or maybe we'll have to bung City some money to keep him. No one will pay what we want for Grealish (100m+ without question)
I think we'll sell: Elmohammady, Taylor and Heaton have all gone. Engels should go. Barkley has been shipped back and maybe Luiz
Any other comments: Completely confident that those who are running the club are doing so competently. Will just sit back and see what happens

2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season: Top half, Europe with a good summer and some overdue luck with injuries
What I think we'll achieve: Top half
Worst nightmare: Think relegation is completely out of the question now (cue relegation), so lower bottom half would equal serious regression and probably see key people want to leave. Need to keep moving forward and sustain/improve this squad

OVERVIEW:

My team is: Coventry City
Expectations (at start of season): Finish 21st or above in the Championship, don't care how
View on performance: Finished 16th with the luxury of safety confirmed with weeks to spare, no idea how
Any other comments: The amount of points completely chucked away over the season could have seen us mid-table/top half so I'm cautiously optimistic, a feeling I don't trust.

MANAGER:

My team's manager is: Mark Robins
Rating out of 5: 12
If I were in charge I'd sack them now (Yes/No): Good god no. At one point during the season despite us never being in the relegation zone some people were calling for his head so I've had to stop going on club forums for my own sanity
Areas they have performed well in: He came back when we were on an unavoidable slide to L2, four years on he's got us safe in the Championship with a couple of Wembley trips to boot and I suspect he had a word to get Hummel doing our kits. Fine line in knitwear for the new signing photographs also
Any other comments: My main reservation is his hesitance to make substitutes at times or to leave it a little too late

TEAM PERFORMANCE:

Rating out of 5: 4
Best result of the season: 1-0 win at Rotherham was absolutely vital. Kicked off our little run to survival and stopped any momentum they may have built to catch us
Best performance of the season: Left it to the last day, but said goodbye to St Andrews by hammering Millwall 6-1 somehow, even their consolation goal was scored by our centre back
Worst result of the season: Both games against Forest were calamitous, but the first where we gifted them a 97th minute penalty seemed like classic Cov
Worst performance of the season: Completely outplayed by Bournemouth and QPR in April which hinted at a relegation struggle to come


PLAYER PERFORMANCE:

Overall player of the season: Leo Ostigard
Pleasant surprise of the season: Max Biamou. Signed from non-league a few years ago and not a Championship level player but still weighed in with a decent contribution. Allowed to leave on a free now, cult hero status confirmed. Will miss a simple chance and then score a bicycle kick from 20 yards
The Didier Drogba Award for big game player of the season: Dom Hyam was consistent the whole season, very reliable
Underperformer of the season: Gus Hamer started the season looking like he may be one of the best players in the league, faded in the second half
The Phil Jones Award for Unsurprising Ineptitude: Harsh to nominate him but Kyle McFadzean while having a good season is never far away from some kind of clanger. He was Millwall's goalscorer for the big win
Outright worst player of the season: Nobody really qualifies so I'll go with Gervane Kastaneer. Loaned him to Hearts and it's been fun seeing their exasperation whenever he's appeared for them


TRANSFER PERFORMANCE:

Best signing this season: Callum O'Hare. Good on loan the season before, signed on a free from Villa in the summer and was instrumental. Could chip in with more goals for an attacking player, but his defensive work is top notch
Worst signing this season: Marcel Hilßner. Tricky winger from Germany, missed the start of the season due to asthma or something and went off to Oldham. Surprised if he ever plays for us again
Overall rating out of 5: 3. Solid loans
Over the summer I'd like to see us sign: A new goalkeeper is a must. Either a leftback or get McCallum back on another loan, and it'd be great if Matty James came to us on a free. Ostigard too but I think he's on to better things. We had an option to make Ben Sheaf permanent but I'm not sure if that's being taken
Over the summer I think we'll sign: Sheaf, a keeper and at least one player who was in the Chelsea youth team as is tradition due to Adi Viveash having his links there
I'd like to see us sell: Kastaneer and Jobello, don't see where they fit
I think we'll sell: If a big enough bid comes in, Hamer's off


2021/22 EXPECTATIONS

My realistic expectations for next season: With people allowed back and us back at the Ricoh Coventry Building Society Arena I'd hope that's an incentive to push on now, I'd be more than happy with a 12-14th kind of finish. Basically avoid a scrap and I'm happy
What I think we'll achieve: 17th
Worst nightmare: Relegation. I've seen the third and fourth tiers and I'm not ready to go back there

Does he actually spell his name with a ß? You don't see many of them any more.

https://i.imgur.com/oY5KrOt.png

I'd suspect that it's Hilssner on the shirt but I've never seen evidence either way

https://www.ccfc.co.uk/contentassets...rcel.jpg/Large

Guarantee that went wide