Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou wasn’t happy some Tottenham fans were happy their team lost. AFP Photo
Paul Kennedy
And then there was one. One game left in the Premier League and it would be a brave punter who bets against Manchester City winning the title for the fourth time in a row.
At the beginning of the season, I wrote my first football column of the campaign congratulating City manager Pep Guardiola for finishing first.
I didn’t have a crystal ball or time machine, nor can I confess to possessing unbridled football knowledge that gives me the ability to pick the winner before a ball was kicked.
I just thought there were no other teams as good as City.
Yes, I know, there’s still a chance Arsenal could pip them at the post on Sunday. But can you really see City losing to West Ham, at home, with the title on the line? No, neither can I.
It has been close, and Arsenal, plus Liverpool to some extent, deserve credit for pushing City to the limit.
If City do lose on Sunday, which I really don’t think they will, and Arsenal beat Everton, then the north London club will deserve to be call champions.
It will also be a smack in the chops to Tottenham supporters who, much to the delight of many Spurs fans, lost to Manchester City at home this week.
This annoyed Ange Postecoglou, the Tottenam manager, who spoke out after the match voicing his disappointed that some supporters actually wanted their team to lose.
Sorry Ange, but that’s football.
I get that it’s pretty small minded, but Spurs this season, particularly the latter stages, seemed to have lost the plot.
They had a slim chance of reaching the Champions League, but that aside, the only real success this season for Tottenham is helping make sure their bitterest of rivals lost out.
I remember being in a similar, strange situation myself on the final day of the 1994/95 season when Blackburn Rovers came to Anfield needing to beat Liverpool to win the league.
Former Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish was manager of Rovers, and defeat, plus a win for Manchester United on the same day, would have meant it was United who would have been crowned champions.
It was a bizarre mix of emotions. Liverpool fans didn’t want to see the championship head to Old Trafford so losing on the day wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.
As it happens, Liverpool won that match 30 years ago, and Manchester United never, so all’s well that ends well. For Liverpool fans, at least.
So barring a miracle of biblical proportions, I’d like to again, congratulate City on winning the league on Sunday.
They’ve been the best and they deserve it. VNS
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