I've shared my views on "the big-6" (North and South) and "the closing pack", so my penultimate article will review the promoted teams and how they can feel about their season. This means that I'll be covering Leeds United, Fulham and West Brom.
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Leeds United (9th)
What I liked about Leeds this season was that they didn't compromise on the way they play. Man-for-man all over the pitch, working hard, pressing on the basis that they could win those match-ups. Whether they were playing Man City or Sheffield United, their approach didn't change. So to finish 9th, meant that it worked more often than it didn't.
The big question for me is whether it will work as well for them next season. It's not uncommon for a particular playing style to work wonders in their 1st season in the Premier League, only to be found out in their 2nd season. The mighty Reading finished 7th in our 1st Premier League season only to get relegated the year after. A more recent example being Sheffield United, who also finished 9th and then had a woeful 2nd season this year.
Are Leeds any different to Reading and Sheffield United? We'll have to wait and see.
Verdict: Staying up would have meant success so to finish 9th is an excellent achievement
Fulham (18th)
When Fulham beat Liverpool in matchweek 28, it didn't come as a huge surprise. Fulham had been playing superb football at that point, defending well but lacking the cutting edge up front. Fulham's season can be split into 3. They started badly, couldn't defend and struggled to convert the chances coming their way. They then had a good patch in the middle - their defence tightened up, they dominated possession but still struggled to convert chances. Once they secured Josh Maja on loan, I expected their fortunes to change. It didn't. Fulham started making too many mistakes in defence again and any hope of staying up quickly evaporated.
I'm disappointed Fulham couldn't do enough but unlike the Championship, if you make mistakes in defence, you get punished and this proved to be the case for Fulham. With their squad consisting of a lot of loan players, I don't expect a quick return to the top flight but they appear to have a decent manager in Scott Parker who could certainly prove me wrong.
Verdict: Disappointed
West Brom (19th)
Once Sam Allardyce replaced Slaven Bilic, you knew that Total Football wasn't going to be something the West Brom fans would be seeing this season. It looked a strange decision to replace Bilic after a hard fought draw against Man City but the West Brom board decided that Allardyce was the man to keep them up. They were wrong. What Allardyce did introduce though was a consistency the likes of which the Premier League has probably never seen before. He kept his team in 19th place for every game that he was in charge.
One thing I'm fairly certain of is that West Brom fans won't miss Big Sam and whoever replaces him will be a more popular choice. Front runners appear to be ex-Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder and Lincoln's Michael Appleton, both of whom could do a decent job. Personally, I'd like to see Zinedine Zidane take charge.
Verdict: Disappointed
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