Now that the dust has settled on last season’s results, it’s time to take a look at the results we managed. 40 points were reached with a game to spare, but where exactly did those points come from?
Title Challengers
| Team | Home Result | Away Result | Points |
|---|
| Man Utd | 2-1 | 0-2 | 9 pts
1.125 pts/game |
| Chelsea | 1-0 | 0-2 |
| Man City | 2-1 | 3-4 |
| Arsenal | 0-2 | 0-2 |
| Ave Result | 1-1 | 1-3 |
| Total | 9 pts | 0 pts |
| Average | 2.25 pts/game | 0 pts/game |
Against the title challengers, surely there are very few expectations? But we managed to turn Molineux into a fortress, gaining nine points from the four home games. Away from home, it was as to be expected, failing to score in three of matches. However, any team averaging over a point against these teams will be happy.
Pushing For Europe
| Team | Home Result | Away Result | Points |
|---|
| Tottenham | 3-3 | 1-3 | 5 pts
0.83 pts/game |
| Liverpool | 0-3 | 1-0 |
| Everton | 0-3 | 1-1 |
| Ave Result | 1-3 | 1-1 |
| Total | 1 pts | 4 pts |
| Average | 0.33 pts/game | 1.33 pts/game |
Conversely, our home record against the teams just below was abysmal. Each of these home games were live on Sky, but whereas the two Saturday lunchtime games against Merseyside teams were disappointing, the emotional match against Tottenham was the best 90 minutes I saw all season. The concession of three goals in each home match is a worry. The four points gained away from home is a good return, with Liverpool being the highest ranked team we won away points against.
Mid-Table Mediocrity
| Team | Home Result | Away Result | Points |
|---|
| Fulham | 1-1 | 1-2 | 18 pts
1.29 pts/game |
| Aston Villa | 1-2 | 1-0 |
| Sunderland | 3-2 | 3-1 |
| WBA | 3-1 | 1-1 |
| Newcastle | 1-1 | 1-4 |
| Stoke City | 2-1 | 0-3 |
| Bolton | 2-3 | 0-1 |
| Ave Result | 1-1 | 1-3 |
| Total | 11 pts | 7 pts |
| Average | 1.57 pts/game | 1 pt/game |
Those teams in the mid-table were our biggest friends in terms of winning points, seeing our highest point/game ratio. Our home form was particularly good, losing only two of the seven matches, while Sunderland, West Brom and Stoke were all dispatched. Away from home, wins at Aston Villa and Sunderland were vital towards the end of the season, but these were offset by poor performances and results at Newcastle, Stoke and Bolton.
Relegation Dog Fight
| Team | Home Result | Away Result | Points |
|---|
| Blackburn | 2-3 | 0-3 | 8 pts
0.8 pts/game |
| Wigan | 1-2 | 0-2 |
| Birmingham | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| Blackpool | 4-0 | 1-2 |
| West Ham | 1-1 | 0-2 |
| Ave Result | 2-1 | 0-2 |
| Total | 7 pts | 1 pt |
| Average | 1.4 pts/game | 0.2 pts/game |
Rather like last season, this is the main area for concern. In our ten matches against the teams around us, we mustered eight points, with just one coming away from home. Perhaps most worrying is the nature of defeats at Blackburn, Wigan and West Ham; each of them was a deserved defeat that could have cost us. This is definitely an area to be improved on next season; we can't be being beaten two and three-nil by the teams at the bottom of the league. Our home form was slightly better, but again, defeats to Wigan and Blackburn should be cast as disappointments, while only Blackpool was beaten comfortably.
It is clear that our away form was very poor, winning just 12 away points all season. This, coupled with our unique inability to beat the teams around us made survival a lot tougher than it should have been. We needed elements of luck to beat Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City at home, something that we cannot rely on next season. Maybe we sucker punched them, but the chances of us doing that again are low.
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