So the season ended with Man City beating Inter Milan 1-0 to win the Champions League for the first time, as well as the Premier League and the FA Cup. The treble – only won once before, by Man Utd in the 1998-99 season. I’ll leave it to the Mancs to argue which one was better, because, you know, I don’t care!

I have a lot of admiration for Man City, because of the quality of their football – though Inter disrupted that in the final and had the chances to win – and because Pep Guardiola is a brilliant manager, and along with Arsène Wenger before him, has revolutionised English football. But I’m worried. The Man City machine is now consuming all before it, including four Premier League titles out of the last five. We are in danger of becoming like Germany, where Bayern Munich win it every year. Although Borussia Dortmund came incredibly close to winning it this season, Bayern still prevailed. The danger is that every other club becomes a bit fatalistic, setting their sights on a top four place in order to qualify for the Champions League, but no more.

That said, Arsenal gave it a good go this season, before a sloppy run of draws eroded their one-time eight point lead and their confidence ebbed away. They were also well-beaten by City in both their head-to-heads. So the best team won again – as it always does.

The predictions didn’t work out so well this season. But it was a good thing. The established Big Six order got a bit of a shaking up. And none of the teams promoted from the Championship went straight down again – that is very rare.

So here are my predictions, with the outcomes in brackets. I only got two spot on: Man City as champions, which hardly took much foresight; and Nottingham Forest in 16^th. That’s random; but at least I was right in predicting they wouldn’t be relegated, which a lot of pundits thought was likely.

Winners: Man City (winners); 2. Liverpool (5^th); 3. Arsenal (2^nd); 4. Tottenham (8^th); 5. Chelsea (12^th);  6. Man Utd (3^rd); 7. West Ham (14^th); 8. Newcastle (4^th); 9. Leicester (18^th); 10. Aston Villa (7^th); 11. Everton (17^th). 12. Crystal Palace (11^th); 13. Brighton (6^th); 14. Brentford (9^th); 15. Southampton (20^th); 16. Nottingham Forest (16^th); 17. Wolves (13^th); 18.Leeds (19^th). 19. Fulham (10^th); 20. Bournemouth (15^th).

Let’s run through each team, in order of predictions, with numbering prediction/outcome.

1/1. Man City: Bit wobbly before the World Cup break; a relentless machine feeding the goal monster Haaland throughout. Grealish back to his best. John Stones reinvented as Franz Beckenbauer. They kept going, Arsenal cracked.

2/5. Liverpool: Erratic season. Beat Bournemouth 9-0 and Man Utd 7-0 in the craziest result of the season. But had some surprising home defeats. Hit by injuries up front, missed Mane, didn’t replenish their midfield when it was clearly needed. Trent had an existential crisis in defence, but was amazing in midfield at times. Some serious re-thinking needed. Has Klopp still got the burning desire? We shall see.

3/2. Arsenal: objectively a fantastic season, coming second after a few years outside the top four. Subjectively, gutted at not winning the League after being eight points ahead of City in March. It all went wrong in April: draws against Liverpool and West Ham – 2-0 up in both of those – and Southampton (the worst team in the league) and a 4-1 defeat to City. But before that they were magnificent – transformed from last season. The two buys from Man City – Jesus and Zinchenko – hugely boosted confidence early in the season. Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard reached another level. Saliba, back from Marseille, made the defence a different proposition. Ben White was brilliant at right back, Ramsdale in goal made everything alright. City’s relentlessness got to them in the end, but if they get Declan Rice from West Ham, another striker and centre back, they might just go all the way next season.

4/8. Tottenham: Unlike many West Ham fans I’m not a Spurs hater, but they were farcical this season. Manager Conte was frustrated at the lack of investment – he usually is – and eventually flounced out. (In fairness, he also had some personal health issues and lost some very close friends – football managers are ordinary people too). His deputy, Stellini took over for a while, then coach Ryan Mason. Meanwhile, the team floundered. Harry Kane brilliantly still scoring 30 goals; but no-one else excelling. Surely he must leave?

5/12. Chelsea: If Spurs under-achieved, how do you describe Chelsea? Under new chair Todd Boehly they spent some phenomenal sums – more than the German, Spanish, Italian and French leagues put together. They gazumped Arsenal for the Ukrainian Mudryk. Manager Thomas Tuchel was sacked early on. They brought in Brighton’s Graham Potter. Great reputation – future England manager. Couldn’t cope with the Chelsea madness and was out by April. Unbelievably, Frank Lampard, who’d been sacked by Everton, was brought back. He lost a string of games, including in the Champions League. They ended 12^th with only 44 points – four above West Ham, ten above relegated Leicester. They have now appointed Mauricio Pochettino as manager. They have an incredibly talented squad. So next season the only way is up.

6/3. Man United: had a shambolic 2021-22 season, and despite the appointment of Erik ten Hag as manager, I wasn’t convinced this season would be a whole lot better. Ronaldo was still there, thinking only about Ronaldo, overshadowing Bruno Fernandes, who’d been star player and talisman before Ronaldo arrived. They had a poor start, losing at home to Brighton and being thrashed 4-0 by Brentford. But then they won four on the trot, including games against Liverpool and Arsenal. And then Man City hammered them 6-3!  Things settled down after that, though they did lose 7-0 to Liverpool at Anfield in March – probably the most remarkable game of the season. The crucial development in the season was Ronaldo leaving by mutual consent in November. Thereafter the team could breathe; Ten Hag’s authority wasn’t being constantly challenged. Marcus Rashford hit a great scoring run after the World Cup, where he was one of England’s stars. So an up and down season, but they finished third, helped by the erratic form of Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs. Can they now kick on? Things may depend on who the next owners are.

7/14. West Ham: the happy Hammers weren’t too happy most of the season. After a poor start things got better in October, but then they got worse again. For much of the season the team were hovering just above the relegation zone. £150m was spent in the summer to take the team onto the next level after two top seven finishes. It had the opposite effect. Italian striker Scamacca achieved little other than to put Antonio in a sulk about not being first choice. And he seemed very injury-prone. Moroccan Aguerd, a centre back, was injured in pre-season and didn’t play until just before the World Cup. He starred for Morocco at the World Cup, but was injured in the quarter final. Once fit he formed a strong centre back partnership with Zouma, which contributed to the revival towards the end of the season. Brazilian midfielder Paquetà took a while to make an impact; but after the World Cup he came good, and was a real star at times. The demands for David Moyes’ sacking were frequent – I must admit I came around to that view after an abject 4-0 defeat to Brighton in March. The 5-1 home defeat to Newcastle in April was even worse. But then things turned: 1-0 at Fulham, 2-2 against Arsenal (after going 2-0 down) and 4-0 away to Bournemouth, who’d been going well. A 1-0 victory over Man Utd in early May all but confirmed PL survival. And the Board stuck with Moyes – credit to them for that. All the while, the team kept on winning in the Europa Conference League. And they made the final against Fiorentina in Prague. And won 2-1! The first trophy in 43 years. All the bad times were largely forgotten as thousands of people lined the East End streets for the victory parade. I was there, and it felt good. Tempered by knowing that Declan Rice, our main man, will be leaving (hopefully for Arsenal). He has been heroic the last few seasons. Good luck to him.

8/4. Newcastle: I fancied the Toon to do pretty well – another step in the steady rise up the table over the next few seasons, backed by the Saudi money. But they surprised most punters with a really outstanding season – with not that many new players. Eddie Howe has proved (again) what a good manager he is. Newcastle played with real attacking verve and passion, but in contrast to Howe’s Bournemouth, also had a very well-organised defence. That Saudi money does seem of dubious provenance and that may temper their popularity in time. But for now, Newcastle are a refreshing addition to the top table and merited that fourth place, which will take them into the Champions League next season.

9/18. Leicester: Oh dear! Who saw relegation coming? A team that has won the PL title and the FA Cup in recent years, and twice just missed a top four place, took its eye off the ball and found itself in the bottom three without noticing until it was too late. Call that complacency if you like. Leicester’s transfer model has been to sell on one or two top players at a profit each season, and find good replacements. They stopped doing the latter. And Jamie Vardy finally hit the wall – his goals were sorely missed. And the defence was shocking. I like Brendon Rodgers as a manager, but he seemed to lose his mojo and was sacked at the start of April. It didn’t save them. I suspect they will have learnt their lesson and will be back after a season in the Championship.

10/7. Aston Villa: Villa had a poor start to the season – they even lost at home to West Ham! Manager Stephen Gerrard, Liverpool and Rangers hero, was sacked in October. Spaniard Unai Emery was brought in. Arsenal fans sniggered at that – it hadn’t worked out for him there. But he had a good season with Villarreal in 2021-22 and has really sorted Villa out, getting them properly organised. They rose stealthily up the table, and ended a very respectable seventh. That gives them a Conference League place – and West Ham have shown what a good thing that can be.

11/17. Everton: It could have been Everton rather than Leicester who went down with Leeds and Southampton. It went down to the last game of the season. They spent much of the season in the bottom three. Frank Lampard was sacked as manager in January. Their big problem was scoring goals. They sold Richarlison to Spurs in the summer and didn’t replace him. Star centre-forward Calvert-Lewin was injured most of the time. The defence, strong on paper, lost confidence. Feisty Sean Dyche came in and restored enough of the dogs of war ethos to keep them up. Must do better.

12/11. Crystal Palace: promising bunch of players – Eze and Olise to the fore. Well thought-of manager, Patrick Veira. Doing OK, then hit a bunch of tough fixtures in the New Year and lost a lot of ground. Viera was sacked in March and old trusty Roy Hodgson was brought back. Easier run of fixtures – revival. Finished mid-table, as expected.

13/6. Brighton: one of the successes of the season. Much-lauded manager Graham Potter was tempted away by Chelsea in September and replaced by little-known (in England) manager Roberto De Zerbi. He turned a decent Brighton side into an attacking, fearless team that could beat anyone. They shrugged off the loss of Trossard to Arsenal in January and continued to impress. They finished sixth and it could have been higher. Of course a lot of their best players will now be sought by bigger clubs – Argentinian midfielder McAllister has already gone to Liverpool, and Caicedo will most likely move on too. But they seem to have the knack of finding exciting young replacements – like the Paraguayan Enciso. Just like Leicester always did – until this season. Let’s see if they can sustain it.

14/9. Brentford: the Bees, like Brighton, had an excellent season, playing well-organised, attractive, aggressive football. In Thomas Frank they have a positive, intelligent manager, who knows how to get the best out of his players. They were the only team to do the double over Man City! They are a model for any club coming out of the Championship on how not only to survive, but to build solid foundations. Just the one dark cloud – striker Ivan Toney’s eight month ban for gambling offences. They did alright without him towards the end of the season, but a twenty goals-a-season striker won’t be easy to replace.

15/20. Southampton: the Saints have been treading water for a few seasons, flirting with relegation. But manager Ralph Hasenhüttl always seemed to be able to get just enough out of a squad weakened by sales over the years. I expected more of the same, but things caught up with them this season. They sacked Hasenhüttl in November, and replaced him with the mouthy Nathan Jones of Luton. His stay was disastrous and he was out by February. Ruben Selles from the backroom replaced him. There was some improvement – I saw them win impressively at Chelsea – but they just weren’t good enough, despite having one or two promising players.

16/16.Nottingham Forest: many fans of a certain generation have a soft spot for Forest, harking back to the Clough/Taylor years, with a League title and two European Cups. So it was good to have them back in the Premier League, after a long spell away. Only problem was: they got promoted with quite a few loanees, who needed to be replaced. And of course the team needed to strengthen. So the management went out on a shopping spree that became comical by the end. Not surprisingly it took them time to adjust and work out what the best team was; but they have a good manager Steve Cooper, who they stuck with when they languished in the bottom three. They began to gel and with strong home form made it to 16^th – as predicted!

17/13. Wolves: what to say about Wolves? So dull. They seemed on the decline to me – hence the low placing. They had a poor start to the season and manager was gone by November. He was replaced by ex-Spain manager Julian Loptegui – quite a coup for the club. Gradually he turned them around and they rose to mid-table. Zzzzz…

18/19. Leeds: Leeds diced with relegation in 2021-22, and the American manager Jesse Marsch – replacement for the sainted Bielsa – had his critics. Their two best players were sold in the close season: Phillips to Man City and Raphinha to Barcelona. They still hadn’t quite shaken off the Bielsa legacy, which included a very porous defence. I didn’t fancy their chances this season. They weren’t helped by star striker Bamford being injured for much of the season; but again they were their own worst enemies. Often exciting going forward, the end product wasn’t there – and that defence still floundered. Marsch was sacked in February – too late for many Leeds fans. He was replaced by Javi Gracia – who he? – and he lasted two months, until, in the ultimate panic measure “Big Sam” Allardyce was appointed. At that point any sympathies I had for Leeds, on account of their exciting football, evaporated. They ended a well-deserved 19^th.

19/10. Fulham: I had Fulham going down, influenced by their showing in 2020/21 after promotion. They did look better this time, having won the Championship by some distance, with Serb striker Mitrovic on fire, scoring 43 goals. But could he do it in the Premier League – he’d flopped before? He could, particularly in the first half of the season. And Fulham were a lot better than I gave them credit for. Well-organised under Marco Silva, and with two excellent midfielders: Andreas Pereira – a bargain buy from Man Utd – and hard-tackling Joao Palhinha. They fell away a bit at the end, but can be happy with the first season back in the PL.

20/15. Bournemouth: Most pundits had Bournemouth nailed on for relegation when they bounced back into the Premier League after two seasons away. They didn’t seem to have invested much in the close season and simply didn’t look good enough to survive. Manager Scott Parker clearly didn’t think so either, making his views known in public after the team were thrashed 9-0 by Liverpool in late August. He was sacked three days later! Gary O’Neil, from the coaching staff, took over as caretaker. They steadily improved and were mid table by the World Cup. O’Neil was made “permanent” manager – an oxymoron, if there ever was one – and started with five defeats in six when the season resumed. Bournemouth again looked doomed, with O’Neil’s removal inevitable. But the club stuck with him, and the team responded with some fighting performances. They were clear of relegation well before the season ended. A laudable achievement.

So yes, a remarkable season that confounded a lot of expectations – except for who was going to win the title. And even that was in doubt for a long time. The World Cup was undoubtedly a disruptive factor, but a very exciting one! And so many sackings: four clubs even sacked two managers. Did it work as a saver from possible relegation? The jury’s out. Arguably yes for Villa, Everton, Palace and Wolves. No for Leicester, Leeds and Southampton. And it’s notable that three clubs – Bournemouth (who appointed O’Neil after only four games) West Ham and Forest – stuck with their managers and survived.

The only conclusion to be drawn is that so many clubs are at risk of relegation each season as the overall quality of the players rises, and the difference between the majority of teams narrows. Further, so many clubs have taken huge risks either to reach or remain in the Premier League that the financial stakes are incredibly high. Club boards are therefore liable to panic as soon as the team loses a few matches on the trot. Add the massive egos of many club owners to the mix, and the position of managers/head coaches is very precarious.

The new Premier League season starts on 12 August. In the meantime we can have fun speculating about transfer comings and goings. Will harry Kane go to Man Utd or even Real Madrid? Will Arsenal beat Man City to Declan Rice’s signature? Could Neymar possibly come to Chelsea? Will West Ham spend the money from Dec’s transfer wisely? I think I know the answer to that one.

Watch out for next season’s predictions just before the start. Dare I put Arsenal first…..?