Forever Blue With Ian Cheeseman: The Curtain Closes On A Memorable Season

That’s it, the curtain has finally come down on another season of club football. It was an amazing season to be a Blue.

Manchester City won the Premier League in style and of course concluding their triumph with a dramatic comeback which reminded everyone so much of the Aguero moment a decade ago. Nothing will ever beat the last day of 2012 but the 2022 version was pretty special too.

All season the rivalry between City and Liverpool had been on the back pages of the newspapers and the talk of all the experts on Sky, BT and the rest. Who would come out on top and most sports journalists seemed to be dreaming of a quadruple for Liverpool, who they constantly described as being the best team in Europe. 

In reality Pep Guardiola’s team proved, over thirty eight games, that they were the best team in the country for the fourth time in five years. The football they played was mesmerising and, as I’ve said in this column many times, as near to dream football as I could ever imagine. Liverpool were excellent too, but if you’re measuring the greatness of a team by the trophies it wins then their success in two domestic cup finals penalty shootouts is nowhere near as impressive as winning the Premier League. 

I find it strange that Jurgen Klopp was awarded the title of Premier League manager of the season, but then that’s a subjective decision. You can’t argue with the final league table. I’d have given the award to Guardiola or perhaps one of the coaches of the lesser financed teams like Brentford or Southampton who survived alongside their richer opponents. Eddie Howe may also have been a contender after guiding Newcastle away from danger, albeit that he had a decent transfer kitty to help in January.

My City player of the year would be Kevin De Bruyne. He’s the one that can carry City over the line when things are not quite running as smoothly as normal. City’s failings in the Cup competitions remain the one flaw of the otherwise perfect Pep Guardiola. When faced with opponents of similar quality, they have fallen at the final hurdle because of bad luck but also that little more devil and belief that other teams have shown. I’m hoping that the summer arrival of Erling Haaland will add a bit more steel as well as another dimension next season and finally enable City to claim the trophy that has so far eluded them, the Champions League.

Away from City it has been heartbreaking to witness the decline of Oldham Athletic. I don’t like to admit it, but I find it hard to imagine the Latics bouncing back into the Football League anytime soon. It’s taken a lot of heartache, another relegation, more than a decade and a new owner, with great vision, to steer Stockport County back to the Football League. That has to be one of the best football stories of the season. The less said about Manchester United the better. They have a lot to do to get back to the glory years they enjoyed under Fergie.

I’ve loved my season in non-league. Everywhere I go in Tameside I get a warm welcome. From Denton Town to Ashton United and from Curzon to Stalybridge I’ve met and interviewed some great people whose passion for local sport has been amazing. Anyone can be a City fan right now, but those who battle to keep their clubs solvent and successful, away from the mega millions of the Premier League, deserve the biggest praise, but they’ll do it all unnoticed by the majority but they still do it for the love of the beautiful game. I take my hat off to you all.

Sports Talk, every Friday from 7pm on Tameside Radio 103.6FM continues throughout the summer. This week you’ll hear from former City players Ian Brightwell, Peter Barnes, our own Katie Catherall and much more. See you on the radio on Friday and remember, It’s great to be a Blue!