As we near the end of the 2011/12 Premier League season, it’s time to look back at some predictions that were made at the start of the campaign. They don’t come much worse that Liverpool legend Phil Thompson’s prediction of where Newcastle United would end up this season, but then his Soccer Saturday colleagues Jeff Stelling and Paul Merson didn’t fare much better in theirs either!
On Gillette Soccer Saturday every weekend on Sky Sports News, former Liverpool player and coach Phil Thompson often finds himself covering the Newcastle games. Why I’m not sure, but one thing I do know is that he’s not the biggest fan of the Magpies and this was reflected in his pre-season predictions.
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Thommo predicted that QPR, Swansea and Wigan would go down (so he might get one out of three if he’s lucky), but he also said that Newcastle would be in the mix! Now, I know that few people would have predicted that the Magpies would be fighting for Champions League qualification right up until the last day of the season, but relegation? Really?
You have to question Thompson as a pundit, as he predicted that his old club would finish third (check the league table if you don’t know where Liverpool actually are!) and that Charlie Adam would be the best buy. Biased a little bit are we Phil?
To be fair to Thompson though, fellow Soccer Saturday pundit Paul Merson and presenter Jeff Stelling both said that Alan Pardew was in danger of being the first manager to be sacked. Fast forward nine months and it will be a travesty if Pardew doesn’t win the Premier League Manager of the Season Award!
Not only do these predictions show just how little so-called ‘experts’ know, but they also show just how well Newcastle have performed this season. Alan Pardew has worked wonders on Tyneside and Champions League qualification would be a just reward for the team’s efforts this term.
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It’s amazing isn’t it? Hindsight. It’s all well and good criticizing Thompson (not that I particularly care for his opinion, even as an LFC fan) but many pundits and fans and the like we’re predicting a low finish and many people thought they’d be in the mix, given the players they’d lost and the relative unknowns and injury prone players that you replaced them with. Pardew has been fantastic but it’s hardly ridiculous to suggest, at the start of the season, that he may be the first to go. Newcastle fans didn’t even seem to want him, especially as he’s done little else elsewhere.
I don’t want to be too critical of Newcastle fans because I have massive respect, but given reactions to the comings and goings in the last year or 2, I think more of a look should be taken closer to home, rather than at a poor quality and biased pundit.
Genuinely, though, I would love to see you guys in the CL next season and I hope that you stick around the top for years to come, provided its just behind us
I think it demonstrates quite how clueless they are really, all i did was looked at the wikipedia entries for each new signing and new that we had signed good players and would do alright.
because the players we signed weren’t ones that are hyped by the British press or English by birth the pundits didn’t know anything about them and don’#t seem to have done any research.
i didn’t think we would do quite so well, but i knew we’d be fine because we had replaced those who had gone with better and increased squad size to boot – I am actually more surprised by quite how clueless pundits are than by my clubs lofty PL position. i cannot take these guys even remotely seriously when it comes whether a player is good or not, unless its someone of very high profile. Unfortunately Shearer is no better as a pundit in this respect either lol
Sorry to say pundits,but how was the humble pie?
Howay the lads
As a Liverpool fan I hope Newcastle gets fourth today. I always had a soft spot for Newcastle.I think it’s to many ex reds as pundits and most of them r very annoying. As u said just one look at the PL table and you’ll c where Liverpool is but that doesn’t stop them from saying that the season has been a success just cos we won a mickey mouse cup and cos their friend is mngr KD.None of them is coming out and tell the truth that their mate is crap mngr and is destroying LFC. Good luck to Newcastle today.
tommo’s only on for the comedy value..he – along with merson – are two of the most inept pundits going.
A word of warning to LFC fans, cast your mind back…..Newcastle (The entertainers!) in second EPL, Keegan resigns and our saviour is Kenny Dalglish…fast forward…..Ferdinand, Asprilla, Ginola gone replaced by Thomasson, Rush, Barnes. The Guy single handedly damaged us for years. Don’t let it happen to your great club!!!!!!!