Sam Allardyce ex Limerick, Preston North End, Blackpool, Notts County, Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United , Sunderland, England, Crystal Palace, Everton and West Brom The Albion manager has added Leeds United to his long list of former employers. Manchester may have ended football after United won League Cup but eclipsed by City's 'noisy neighbors' who won the Premier League, the FA Cup and their first European Cup, but who are the real heroes and villains of football?
Telegraph Sport recounted the last nine months of action on and off the field before naming awards that shouldn't be taken too seriously at the end of the season.
Player of the Season: Erling Haaland
Anyone with even the slightest understanding of football , knew Erling Haaland's move to Manchester City was ominous, and it proved it. The Norwegian, who was likened to an “alien” by one rival coach at the start of the campaign, has elevated a team that plays the best football in Europe to finally being the best team in Europe. He scored 36 goals in 35 Premier League matches and 52 in all competitions.
Young Player of the Season: William Saliba
A small number of points like Evan Ferguson of Brighton & Hove Albion, Sven Botman at Newcastle United and Morgan Gibbs-White at Nottingham Forest, 22-year-old William Saliba has played a huge role in Arsenal's surprise title challenge and is emerging as one of the best defenders in Europe. Arsenal will desperately hope they get the player they originally signed back in 2019 and loaned to Nice and Marseille to sign a new four-year deal he agreed to on Saturday.
Best signing: Nick Pope at Newcastle
Credit must be given to Manchester City's Manuel Akanji, who cost Borussia Dortmund just £15m and won a lot in his first season in English football. But to get a goalkeeper as good as Pope for an initial fee of just £3.5m, rising to £5m with bonuses, was an absolute steal. Newcastle had the best defensive record in the top flight and Pope was an integral part of that.
Worst signing of the season: Richarlison
Chelsea had several nominations in this category, but more on those later. Tottenham Hotspur fans were rightfully excited about the arrival of the £60m Brazilian international last summer. Richarlison spent most of the campaign on the bench and also suffered the humiliation of celebrating his only Premier League goal of the season in a stormy manner, goading Liverpool fans, only for Jurgen Klopp's side to score the winner just after he got a warning for taking off his shirt. .
Worst Timing: Sean Dyche
Former Burnley manager Sean Dyche started every press conference at Everton with an apology for being late, then did it again the following week. Bad etiquette, bad timing, bad form.
Sean Dyche is more than 15 minutes late for his pre-match press conference in Newcastle.
— Everton Extra (@Everton_Extra) April 26, 2023 Return of the season: Sheffield Wednesday
On Wednesday, there were many fans angry after their team lost the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Peterborough 4-0, with many calling for head Darren Moore. However, his team didn't abandon him, winning the second leg 5-1 and beating Barnsley in the final to secure promotion to the Championship.
What happens to the award: Newcastle 5-0 v Spurs after 21 minutes
Jacob Murphy's face after he scored Newcastle's third goal from 30 yards in the ninth minute spoke for itself. The Spurs traveled to the northeast to rekindle their Champions League challenge but were brutally annihilated by Eddie Howe's team within 20 minutes. Christian Stellini's decision to move to back four was a disaster and he lost his job 24 hours later.
selfish manager, get me out of here : Antonio Conte
The Italian appears to be the winner, but he also appears to be the underdog. When Antonio Conte launched his verbal attack on Tottenham's “selfish” players after a 3-3 draw at Southampton in March, he may have also asked to be sacked. To extend the attack by asking how the club was run, this inevitably led to him being fired.
I'm a narcissist get me out from here: Cristiano Ronaldo
The last person to realize that he was no longer the player he used to be was Cristiano Ronaldo himself. He behaved badly, pouting and swearing and still trying to play the victim in a sycophant Piers Morgan fan interview. It was all pretty sad. Forcing him to leave Manchester United and move to Saudi Arabia was humiliating, no matter how much money he made.
Best Holiday: David Moyes Dance
David Moyes promised to dance if West Ham United won the European Conference League final, and that's exactly what he did. The 60-year-old is not a natural shape maker, but has high marks for effort.
Biggest disappointment of the season: All in Chelsea
Where to start when it comes to a club that has spent over half a billion pounds on new players and somehow managed to have the worst season in the Premier League in a generation?
The money stops at over-excited, error-prone new owner Todd Boli, but special attention should be paid to co-owner Behdad Eghbali for this gem of wisdom back in October. “We thought Chelsea were a good base. To be frank, it was an asset, a business that was not well managed on the football, sports or promotional side.”
Chelsea finished their first season in 12th place behind Fulham, Brentford and Crystal Palace. .
Behdad Eghbali (left) and Todd Boli Photo: Getty Images/Clive Rose Worst layoff of the season: Nathan Jones/Javi Gracia
Nathan Jones was a brilliant Luton Town manager, one of the best, according to the man himself. But he failed at Stoke City and no one could understand why Southampton chose him to replace Ralph Hasenhüttl in November. The board acknowledged their mistake and sacked him in February, leaving the team at the bottom of the table. As for Javi Gracia, tasked with saving Leeds from relegation, he was sacked just three months later at Elland Road.
Goals of the season (individual and team): Ilkay Gundogan – Everton; Chris Wood vs City
The individual award goes to the restless Ilkay Gundogan for his agility, technically superb control and throw back against Everton, but the best team goal of the season was Nottingham Forest's cut through Manchester City from behind to front and finished off by an unlikely source Chris Wood.
Limb moment everywhere: Reiss Nelson goal against Bournemouth
Arsenal were trailing 2-0 at home to struggling Bournemouth and their title challenge faded sooner this season than it ended up. The second leg was impressive and ended with homegrown youngster Reiss Nelson crushing the spectacular winner in the 97th minute. The celebration was wild both on and off the pitch.
Mismatched pre-season boast: Sam Allardyce
You could understand what Sam Allardyce was trying to do, brought in as a survival expert after a four-game elimination, to save Leeds United. He wanted to ease the pressure on the players, but by claiming he was as good a manager as Klopp and Pep Guardiola was, he became a laughing stock. He took one out of 12 and left Elland Road with a second relegation on his resume.
Award: Roy Hodgson
Roy Hodgson is the beloved grandfather of English football, veteran Werther. He got his first managerial position in Sweden in 1976 when Harold Wilson was prime minister. Forty-seven years later, he returned to Crystal Palace to effortlessly save the team from relegation, and everyone loved seeing the 75-year-old in the dugout again.
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