Curse is smashed
the Premiership play-off final.
At the other end of the table, Celtic, as expected, took the glory. The Parkhead side, then managed by Ronny Deila, secured a fifth successive league title by 15 points from runners-up Aberdeen, who also lost the League Cup against Celtic in November, with the final having been brought forward from March following a change in format.
Deila left his post at the end of theseason,asheannouncedhe would do in April. This meant the final weeks of the season were taken up with speculation about the identity of the next manager at Parkhead. With Championship winners Rangers joining Celtic in the top tier again and a desperate desire to return to the Champions League group stage, the stakes were higher, hence the recruitment of Brendan Rodgers, last seen at Liverpool.
Qualification for the group stage was duly secured under Rodgers despite an embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Lincoln Red Imps in his first competitive game. Celtic have made sure the extra investment has been worth it, with Moussa Dembele, an inspired signing from Fulham, proving an early season hit.
The French striker hit a hattrick in the 5-1 win over Rangers, and Celtic remain unbeaten domestically to date – with a visit to Ibrox to come in both sides’ last fixture of 2016. Meanwhile, Hearts unwittingly started a country-wide debate after appointing 30 year-old Ian Cathro, who has never played football professionally, when Robbie Neilson left his position of head coach to join MK Dons this month.
Elsewhere, Dunfermline returnedtothesecondtier.the East End Park club became British football’s first league title winners in 2016 with five games to spare when securing the League One crown with a win over Brechin City, while Edinburgh City became the first side to be promoted through the new pyramid system with a 2-1 aggregate victory over East Stirlingshire. The result ended East Stirlingshire’s 61-year tenure in senior Scottish football.
East Fife at least found some compensation after seeing Hibs emulate their Scottish 0 Celtic, above, won the second League Cup final of the year, eight months after Ross County, left, had lifted the trophy for the 2015-16 season. Hibs captain David Gray, main picture left, scored the late winner in the Scottish Cup final against Rangers, ending the Leith club’s 114-year wait for the trophy. Cup achievements by winning League Two. On the international front, and despite it starting with friendly victories over Czech Republic and Denmark, this year has been one to forget for Scotland, whose World Cup ambitions hang by a thread after four games.
Dropped points at home to Lithuania as well as a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to England at Wembley means Gordon Strachan is under severe pressure before the first competitive match of 2017 even kicks off – at home against Slovenia in March. After days of speculation following the loss against England a statement from the SFA confirmed the manager would remain in place, with Strachan vowing to “turn things around”. Do not try to understand 2016. It has been an odd year – wonderful at times, galling at others.
Football has followed suit and it is hard to comprehend some of the events that have punctuated the landscape over the previous 12 months.
Leicester City, a 5,000-1 shot for the title and almost certain relegation fodder, won the English Premier League. Iceland, a country thesizeofleicester,knocked England out of Euro 2016 in the last 16.
England manager Roy Hodgson immediately left andsuccessorsamallardyce lasted a mere 67 days, with a newspaperstingbringinghis reign to an ignominious end. Gareth Southgate ends 2016 as England’s third manager, with the previously uninterested Under-21s boss toasting a long-term deal.
England’s peculiarities and shortcomings have been brought into sharper focus by a Wales side that captivated onlookers over the summer.
Making light of their first major tournament appearance since 1958, the mixture of team spirit and talent saw Chris Coleman’s men shine as they surpassed expectations to reach the Euro 2016 semi-finals.
Hal Robson-kanu’s exquisite turn and strike in the comprehensive quarterfinal defeat of Belgium will live long in the memory, so too the way Northern Ireland shone on their return to the big stage before exiting at the last-16 stage.
There was no disgrace either in the way the Republic of Ireland exited to hosts France, whose dreams of celebrating on home turf were ended by Cristiano Ronaldoinspired Portugal.
The Real Madrid star’s firsthalf substitution through injury in the Stade de France finale meant the so-called one-man team had to rely on their strength in depth, with Swansea flop Eder netting the extra-time winner.
Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph over Atletico Madrid restored some normality to proceedings, as did Sevilla continuing their stranglehold of the Europa League by overcoming Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
The effervescent German is one of a clutch of star managerial names lighting up the English game, with Antonio Conte, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho among those taking up new posts in the summer.
All were charged with restoring their clubs to former glories, with Chelsea floundering in their title defence, League Cup success not enough to save the dour Manuel Pellegrini at City or FA Cup enough for the combustible Louis van Gaal at United.
Leicester’s title triumph only underlined how the Premier League’s brightest stars were stuttering and their triumph will go down as one of the great shocks in sporting history.
Their rise has led to Leicester-style dreams across the footballing world, no more so than in Brazil where littleknown Chapecoense were on course for continental glory.
Sadly, their rise became global news as the plane taking them to the Copa Sudamericana final crashed, decimating the squad and the lives of those around them.
The world united to mourn the 71 dead and celebrate the team’s achievements at the end of a footballing year that has been hard to comprehend, and in this case hard to stomach. 0 Euro 2016 glory for Portugal coach Fernando Santos and captain Cristiano Ronaldo who was injured in the final v France.