Daily Mirror

Even my five-star bosses don’t tick all the boxes

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IT’S the end of the domestic season and time for Premier League students to report to Headmaster Sav’s office to collect their reports.

I’ve included my pre-season prediction­s – I got three of the top four right, along with two out of the three teams who went down.

I’ve given each club a mark out of five stars and a tick or cross to show if I had calls on Six-0-Six from fans demanding the manager’s sacking. Disappoint­ingly, there are more ticks than a star pupil’s homework...

1 CHELSEA (prediction 4th): Absolutely fantastic. Antonio Conte was brave enough to change from a flat back four to 3-4-3, rejuvenate­d Eden Hazard and Diego Costa and today might win the Double. As for Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso as wingbacks.. who knew?

2 TOTTENHAM (prediction 5th): A washout in Europe, but the only side to give Chelsea a run for their money. In terms of wage structure and transfer spending, they were the biggest overachiev­ers.

3 MANCHESTER CITY (prediction

2nd): Flying start evaporated into patchy results based on uncertaint­y at the back and a nervous wreck of a keeper. Scintillat­ing at times, but Pep Guardiola was not signed to come third, go out of Europe and finish trophyless. Biggest disappoint­ment of the lot.

4 LIVERPOOL (prediction 3rd): Top of the table before Christmas, lost the plot in January and scraped into the top four. Back in Champions League orbit, but need a kind draw in the qualifying round.

5 ARSENAL (prediction 6th): I warned their run of top-four finishes may hit the buffers and was slaughtere­d for saying it. In the end, they turned on each other over Arsene Wenger’s future. It looks like he’s staying, and a third FA Cup in four years might rejuvenate him.

6 MANCHESTER UNITED (prediction

1st): Despite a 25-match unbeaten run, their Premier League campaign was a virtual write-off. But in winning two trophies, and securing Champions League football, Jose Mourinho turned a potentiall­y disastrous campaign into a successful one. Special One is still special when it matters.

7 EVERTON (prediction 9th): The big gap between them and eighth place tells you Everton are more likely to threaten the top four than sink back into the pack. Romelu Lukaku came close to the Golden Boot and Ross Barkley was excellent but will they stay?

8 SOUTHAMPTO­N (prediction 12th):

Some fans think the football under Claude Puel was boring. I think a cup final and top-eight finish is decent, especially after selling Victor Wanyama and losing Virgil van Dijk for half the season.

9 BOURNEMOUT­H (prediction

15th): Highest finish in the club’s history. Realistica­lly, they can’t go much higher. Eddie Howe did another great job, especially when they wobbled in the new year and made them exciting to watch again and that comeback against Liverpool will live long in the memory.

10 WEST BROM (prediction 16th):

Only regret Tony Pulis can have is the way Albion’s season tailed off after they reached 40 points. But a top-10 finish is not to be sniffed at.

11 WEST HAM (prediction 8th):

Mid-table safety, but made hard work of it. Apart from a win against Spurs, rarely looked comfortabl­e in their new home. Slaven Bilic will need better recruitmen­t than last year if they are to push on towards Europe.

12 LEICESTER (prediction 7th): Chalk and cheese, from a worrying slide and the brutal sacking of Claudio Ranieri, the man who delivered an impossible dream, to recovery under Craig Shakespear­e and an amazing run to the Champions League quarter-finals, which will never happen again.

13 STOKE (prediction 10th): Mark Hughes had some fans on his case, but Stoke were the lowest net spenders and, once they recovered from a slow start, they were never in danger. Room for improvemen­t but no cause for panic.

14 CRYSTAL PALACE (prediction 11th): Wins against Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal saved their skins. But they should get more out of a front four of Zaha, Benteke, Townsend and Puncheon.

15 SWANSEA (prediction 18th): Looked

doomed after Bob Bradley’s ill-starred reign, but Paul Clement pulled them round superbly.

16 BURNLEY (prediction 17th): Sean Dyche kept them up with only seven points away from home all season. Must rectify that, but survival is what counts for now.

17 WATFORD (prediction 13th): Never in danger after reaching 40 points with six games to go, but looking for a ninth manager in five years after Walter Mazzarri’s sacking.

18 HULL (prediction 20th): Great effort by Marco Silva to keep them in contention for survival until the penultimat­e game. Lacked quality and Silva has gone, so what happens next?

19 MIDDLESBRO­UGH

(prediction 19th): Solid enough defensivel­y, but paid the price for lack of goals.

20 SUNDERLAND Woeful pretty much from start to finish. Without Jermain Defoe, would have been down in March.

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