'City will feel the weight of history - can their players deal with it?'
If the final day of this Premier League season is half as dramatic as the last, then you can't afford to miss Sunday's Soccer Special.
There was a surreal two or three-minute period on that afternoon
that I don't think I'll ever forget as the fates of the clubs at the
bottom of the table were decided.
Right to the bitter end, it was impossible to say with
any certainty who would survive.
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| United front: Can Hughes sink his former club and, in turn, do a favour for Sir Alex? |
In the studio we had the perfect overview of everything that was
going on and I remember shouting at the monitors to the Birmingham
players - who presumably thought they were safe - saying 'you've got to
go forward, you've got to go forward!'
But they didn't seem to
understand the danger they were in and when the final whistles sounded
they and Blackpool were relegated with 39 points apiece, while Wolves
(40pts) and Wigan (42pts) escaped by the skin of their teeth.
Motivated
So it's the sort of day when you can take nothing for granted - it's a thought that Manchester City
would do well to remember as they go in search of their first title since 1968.
I'm absolutely certain the players will feel the pressure that comes
with that weight of history. They've coped with the expectation pretty
well so far, but this Sunday it is all or nothing - everything depends
on that 90 minutes.
They know they can't risk dropping any points
but, in QPR, they are up against opponents who are fighting for their
Premier League lives.
They will be hugely motivated to get some sort of result for their own sake, but also for Mark Hughes
- the former City manager who was so controversially replaced by Roberto Mancini.
As Richard Littlejohn might say, 'you couldn't make it up!'
City are an incredibly short price to win the title but I would say that Manchester United
fans shouldn't lose all hope just yet; after all, it's not that long
ago that Sunderland went to the Etihad in terrible form and came away
with a 3-3 draw.
Personally, I don't see Manchester United slipping up; they don't tend to do 'tired' at this stage of the season.
I
expect them to win at Sunderland, for sure. I
think City will win, but I don't think it will be as easy as many people are predicting.
Hurrah
Meanwhile, the race for third remains as convoluted as ever.
It
looked as though Tottenham (66 points) were in pole position after
Arsenal (67 points) drew with Norwich, but Harry Redknapp's men couldn't
beat Aston Villa away. Newcastle are only a further point behind in
fifth, despite their loss to City.
The key factor here might be that Roy Hodgson
will take charge of his final game for West Brom this weekend. The players and fans hold Roy in very high esteem.
Paul Merson
said before last week's game at Bolton that the Baggies' players would
be on their holidays, but that clearly was not the case and it won't be
the case this weekend either when they play Arsenal at home.
The
players will want to give Hodgson a big send-off - one big hurrah - and
who better to do that against than a side of Arsenal's quality? So I
think that is a massively hard game for the Gunners.
Spurs face a tough test as well, at home to Fulham.
In most of the matches they seem to have the lions' share of possession
but more recently - Bolton aside - they seem to be struggling to turn
that into goals.
Fulham have enjoyed a terrific season - they've
even started to win away from home. They'll be up for this London derby
and with Martin Jol up against his former club, where he was a big
favourite with many of the fans, there is again potential for an upset.
However,
I think Spurs will squeeze past Fulham and that Arsenal may be held at
West Brom. As for Newcastle, they've had a wonderful season but away to
Everton may be a game too far. The Toffees are on a great run and have
the added incentive of the chance to finish above Liverpool
in the table.
Unfortunate
Returning
to Stoke - which, of course, is where Wigan secured their survival last
season - they have not been in the best of form recently; it has been a
very long season for them, what with their extensive European jaunts.
They couldn't have been more unfortunate with the European draw that
they had.
Bolton have got to do what Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea
have all failed to do in the league and that's go to Stoke and win.
But
maybe the form book will go out of the window on the last day? If
Bolton can shore up that fragile defence, their need is so great
(whereas Stoke don't have that need) that perhaps they can go there and
win.
The one thing I will say about Owen Coyle is that he hasn't
had money to spend that so many clubs around him have and he is trying
to put down a foundation for the future by picking younger players.
If Bolton do survive this season, then the future could be bright.
One thing's for sure. This has been the most sensational season and I think we're in for an incredible finale as well.
