With Season 4 finished it won’t take long for Season 5 to come racing along. For a few it means a new team, a new target and getting used to new players. As always, the excitement builds as the fixture list is published and everyone has dreams of winning their division. Once again I will be doing a preview for Division 1 but I thought we would check out last year’s and see how well the prediction fared. Taking it team by team, here is a short assessment of how each team got on.






AC MILAN

PREDICTED FINISH:  16th

ACTUAL FINISH:  6th


A superb season for Mr Beddows and his AC Milan side. Most thought they would struggle and I agreed but thought they would survive. Great performance from the second best Italian side in the set up.


I predicted a 16th place but Stephen made me look stupid with his well thought out tactics over the season.


GRADE:  A



ARSENAL

PREDICTED FINISH:  5th

ACTUAL FINISH:  15th


A shocker of a season for a normally reliable Arsenal side. A struggle down at the bottom seen Arsenal flirt with relegation until the last few games. Things can only get better for Michael Bowes’ outfit.


I predicted an improved season for Arsenal and a 5th place finish but they were awful for most of the campaign and again I was way out. Maybe my formula got mixed up between AC Milan and Arsenal.


GRADE:  D



ATLETICO MADRID

PREDICTED FINISH:  17th

ACTUAL FINISH:  17th


Atletico Madrid found this season too tough and could never get any momentum going and in the end they wee relegated to Division 2. Atletico played like they knew they would struggle and it will take some good man management to get them back up at the first attempt


I got this one bang on. My comment included the statement ‘No matter how hard I tried to find reasons for them to have a decent season, I couldn’t find any and come the end of the campaign I feel that Atletico will be on the way down to Division 2’  Season 3 suggested that this would be a long season for Atletico and so it turned out.


GRADE:  D



BARCELONA

PREDICTED FINISH:  1st

ACTUAL FINISH:  2nd


Barcelona went for 3 titles in a row but they fell just short although a late burst of wins made the title race seem much closer than it was. A disappointing season for Barca with only the curtain raiser Charity Shield to show for their efforts.


I thought 3 in a row was looking good but it wasn’t to be. A 2nd place finish means I was one place out but it would probably been easy for almost everyone to predict that.


GRADE:  B



BAYERN MUNICH

PREDICTED FINISH:  2nd

ACTUAL FINISH:  1st


At the 4th attempt Bayern Munich and Gursimran Brar became Champions. A superb season seen a 4 trophy haul and that is very impressive at any level. It will be tough trying to defend 4 trophies but if anyone can do it then Gursimran can. The fact he is already trying to improve his squad is a sign of good management


For the second season in a row I got the top 2 the wrong way round. I predicted Bayern to win the title in Season 3 but they finished second. This season it was the other way round. Another one where I was one place out.


GRADE:  A



BORUSSIA DORTMUND

PREDICTED FINISH:  7th

ACTUAL FINISH:  9th


A good second half of the season seen Dortmund finish 9th after being in danger of slipping into the relegation battle. There are a group of clubs that fight for the mid table places and Dortmund are one of them. Some will be disappointed in the Dortmund season but it finished with a place in the Euro Shield and that should be regarded as successful.


I was two places out with the Dortmund prediction but it could have been worse if Dortmund hadn’t had a decent recovery in results and performances.


GRADE:  C



BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH

PREDICTED FINISH:  19th

ACTUAL FINISH:  14th


A good first season for Monchengladbach as they attained safety and kept their place in the top flight for another season. Flirted briefly with the relegation fight but always managed to pull out the points when they needed them. Great management by Aleks.


I thought Borussia did not have a strong enough squad to avoid going straight back down to Division 2 but kudos to Aleks Polonczyk for proving me wrong and getting enough points to comfortably stay in Division 1. 5 places out which was below par.


GRADE:  B+



CHELSEA

PREDICTED FINISH:  15th

ACTUAL FINISH:  7th


A finish that seen Chelsea win just one of their last six league games seen them slip from a possible best ever 5th place to finish 7th. It was still a good season for the Blues and a Youth Cup title will give them a boost for the future. Things looking up for Chelsea.


I thought it would be a tough season for Chelsea but they at last showed their potential and at one stage looked like they might break into the top 4. My 15th place prediction was a huge 8 places out and I am very disappointed with that.


GRADE:  B



FC PORTO

PREDICTED FINISH:  11th

ACTUAL FINISH:  10th


FC Porto briefly flirted with the relegation battle early on but they managed to pull clear and were content to stay around the mid table area. A bag of mixed results made them hard to predict and of course hard to beat. Another season in the top flight is coming their way.


A mid table finish was expected and I was only one place away from having it spot on. It’s doubtful that they will ever improve on their 5th place finish in Season 2 but also seem to good to go down.


GRADE:  C



FC SCHALKE

PREDICTED FINISH:  18th

ACTUAL FINISH:  19th


After a difficult season 3 in which Schalke finished 15th, it was always going to be tough for Schalke in Season 4 and that was how it turned out. A run of 8 defeats on the bounce in January and February was too hard to recover from and Schalke find themselves back in Division 2 after 2 seasons in the top flight.


Only one place out again but the relegation prediction was spot on. The question is, will Schalke be able to bounce back again next season. Time will tell but history suggests it is not easy to bounce back straight away/


GRADE:  D



JUVENTUS

PREDICTED FINISH:  4th

ACTUAL FINISH:  4th


Another 4th place finish for Juventus was widely expected. They don’t seem good enough to make the top 3 but are too good to finish any lower than 4th. Some good results during the season and will be happy enough that they are still the number one team in Italy despite some other claims.


I got this one right but it was hardly rocket science. Something will have to give at some point with a change in the top 4 and Juventus seem the most likely to give way.


GRADE:  B



LIVERPOOL

PREDICTED FINISH:  8th

ACTUAL FINISH:  11th


Was always going to be difficult to repeat Season 3’s 5th place and Liverpool seemed more interested in the cups while treading water in the league. Cup record seems to confirm that theory as Liverpool won the TOP100 Cup, were runners up in the Champions Cup, Semi Finalists in the WorldClub Cup and Quarter Finalists in the Youth Cup.


I predicted an 8th place finish for Liverpool but poor away form where just 3 of the 19 games were won meant that a finish outside the top 10 was the result.


GRADE:  C



MANCHESTER CITY

PREDICTED FINISH:  9th

ACTUAL FINISH:  16th


Manchester City were expected to build on a great second half  in Season 3 but it didn’t work out like that as they were involved in a relegation scrap before managing to just avoid it. Poor away form put paid to any chance of pulling away from the scrap at the bottom and they will be relieved that they didn’t go down.


I expected a much better season from Manchester City but they weren’t as good as they seemed to be. I thought it would have been a top 10 finish but ended up 7 places out. Must do better than that.


GRADE:  D



PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN

PREDICTED FINISH:  14th

ACTUAL FINISH:  12th


PSG had a mixed season but were never in any danger during the season but many will think they underachieved with the stars they have in their squad. Too many home defeats showed that visiting teams are not worried to go Paris.


I predicted a 14th place finish and they weren’t far away from that. 2 places out is a decent effort but I would still like to predict them to finish higher. No idea what I think about them next season yet. Will see if they are involved in the transfer market first.


GRADE:  C



REAL MADRID

PREDICTED FINISH:  3rd

ACTUAL FINISH:  3rd


Real Madrid had a poorer season than they had hoped for as they failed to lift any trophy that they competed for. 3rd place in the league seems to be what is expected but the club and the fans are not going to be happy until they can finish in the top 2 at least. For a while they threatened to split Bayern and Barcelona but it wasn’t to be.


I predicted their 3rd place but that isn’t anything to boast about as most of us expected that to be the case. It still counts as a correct prediction and I will take anything I can get for the Season 4 forecast.


GRADE:  B



SS LAZIO

PREDICTED FINISH:  13th

ACTUAL FINISH:  20th


Nothing went right for Lazio this season and after 4 campaigns in the top flight they find themselves  in Division 2 for the first time. At one stage it seemed they were making a recovery and were good bets to escape but it all went wrong for them at the important time and it’s a bottom place finish for the Italian side.


This one was a surprise to me as I thought they had the quality to be a Division 1 side for a few seasons to come but once you hit a bad run it can be fatal in a competitive league like this. 7 places out is a disappointment but it certainly was a surprise to me.


GRADE:  E



SSC NAPOLI

PREDICTED FINISH:  6th

ACTUAL FINISH:  5th


Another fine season for Napoli who attained their highest finish yet in the TOP100. Always seem to be the club that no one notices how well they are doing and rarely grab the limelight. The 5th place finish should see them being seen as a threat now.


My 6th place prediction was almost spot on although I am of the opinion that they overachieve. I doubt they can break into the top 4 as I feel with Napoli finishing 5th that it shows there is a big gap between the top 4 and the rest. Only one place out though was a good prediction


GRADE:  B



TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

PREDICTED FINISH:  12th

ACTUAL FINISH:  8th


Tottenham made an impressive debut in Division 1 and were always in the hunt for a place in Europe. They were amongst the pack that were fighting out 5th to 12th in the table and will be quietly pleased with their performance.


I thought Tottenham were the best equipped of the promoted sides to do well and while they did do well, AC Milan proved to be the best of the promoted sides. Prediction was out by 4 places and it’s well done to Tottenham for their good season.


GRADE:  B+




VALENCIA CF

PREDICTED FINISH:  10th

ACTUAL FINISH:  13th


Valencia should have finished in 5th place as they were through most of the season, the best of the rest but a horror run in that seen them earn just 2 points from 21 meant that they finished in 13th place, although a run to the Final of the World Club Cup would have taken their mind of the league. Still a team to be reckoned with.


A mid table finish was how I seen this and I ended up three places out. A reasonable prediction that would have looked even better if they had just won one of the last seven games.


GRADE:  C




ZENIT ST PETERSBURG

PREDICTED FINISH:  20th

ACTUAL FINISH:  18th


Zenit were the hottest favourites in TOP100 history to be relegated and although they coped better than expected, they still went down to Division 2 at the first time of asking. If they hadn’t taken as long as they had to adapt to the top league then they may have managed to stay up. A good effort and they will be among the favourites to come back up again.


I predicted a bottom place finish for the weakest squad in the division but they were more competitive than I expected. They still went down though and they give me 3 out of the 4 relegated sides that I predicted.


GRADE:  C-


That was how Season 4 finished and the predictions finished like this:

CORRECT:   3

1-2 PLACES OUT:   8

3-5 PLACES OUT:   4

6 OR MORE:   5



A reasonable performance I suppose with 55% of the teams being within 2 places of their final position and 3 out of the 4 teams relegated correctly predicted. Hopefully I can do better next season and it’s time to start work on the Season 5 preview.

Ciao

When Manager Niall Taylor arrived in Lyon, the French outfit were well and truly rooted to the bottom of Div 2 and were relegation favourites after a shock start to the season, but 21 leauge games later Lyon finished the season an a surprising 12th position.



" When i arrived confidence was at rock bottom, so i took them on a break to Scotland, and did some team bonding, we added Christian Benteke as i felt we needed an attacking outlet and brought back to the club Clement Grenier and made Pontus Wernbloom captain, i think the influence of these 3 and staring performances from veterans Mathieu Valbuena, Gorka Iraizoz & Spanish forward Rodrigo Moreno helped the rest of the squad raise their game and suddenly team found us very hard to break down"

In the 21 games Taylor was in charge Lyon won 10 drew 6 and lost 5 which led to a points total of 46 points and a 12th place finish

On next season Taylor had this to say " We are now activity looking to overhaul the squad, heroes for this season will be allowed to leave if the sale benefits the club moving forward, we have already trimmed the youth set up which again needs alot of work, which will hopefully in the years to come develop players for the first team, our aim for next season will to make the top 10 and build on this season.