When the Match Day pundits ate a humble pie

At the start of the season we have all kind of specialists telling us who will win at the end of the season. One could compare this with the us where we predicted that Arsenal will fight relegation back in September, and then said it would mean nothing even if Arsenal finish 3rd.

So how did the BBC pundits predict and what is their final score on their predictions? Untold tells you the truth…

Name	1	2	3	4	Score
ALAN HANSEN, MATCH OF THE DAY	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
ALAN SHEARER, MATCH OF THE DAY	MU	CHE	MC	ALS	0/4
GARY LINEKER, MATCH OF THE DAY	MU	MC	CHE	ARS	0/4
LEE DIXON, MATCH OF THE DAY	MU	CHE	MC	LIV	0/4
JASON ROBERTS, BLACKBURN STRIKER AND NEW 606 PRESENTER	MU	MC	CHE	ARS	0/4
MARK LAWRENSON, FOOTBALL FOCUS	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
ROBBIE SAVAGE, FOOTBALL FOCUS	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
DAN WALKER, FOOTBALL FOCUS	MC	MU	CHE	ARS	2/4
IAN DENNIS, 5 LIVE SENIOR FOOTBALL REPORTER	MU	CHE	MC	LIV	0/4
PHIL McNULTY, CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
GUY MOWBRAY, MATCH OF THE DAY COMMENTATOR	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
STEVE WILSON, MATCH OF THE DAY COMMENTATOR	MU	MC	CHE	ARS	0/4
JONATHAN PEARCE, MATCH OF THE DAY COMMENTATOR	MU	CHE	MC	ARS	0/4
JOHN MOTSON, MATCH OF THE DAY COMMENTATOR	MU	CHE	LIV	MC	0/4
ALISTAIR MANN, MATCH OF THE DAY COMMENTATOR	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
PAT NEVIN, 5 LIVE PUNDIT	MU	CHE	MC	LIV	0/4
DAN ROAN, SPORTS NEWS CORRESPONDENT	MC	MU	LIV	CHE	2/4
GRAEME MURTY, 5 LIVE PUNDIT	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
SAM LYON, BBC SPORT WEBSITE	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
MARK BRIGHT, BBC LONDON	LIV	MU	MC	ARS	0/4
STEVE CLARIDGE, 5 LIVE PUNDIT	MU	CHE	MC	ARS	0/4
PAUL FLETCHER, BBC FOOTBALL BLOGGER	MU	MC	LIV	CHE	0/4
MATT HOLLAND, 5 LIVE PUNDIT	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
ALISTAIR BRUCE-BALL, RADIO 5 LIVE COMMENTATOR	MU	CHE	MC	LIV	0/4
STEVE WYETH, BBC RADIO MANCHESTER	MU	CHE	MC	LIV	0/4
JAMES PEARCE, SPORTS NEWS CORRESPONDENT	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
NIGEL ADDERLEY, 5 live FOOTBALL REPORTER	MU	LIV	CHE	ARS	0/4
PETE STEVENS, BBC LONDON	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4
ALISTAIR MAGOWAN, WEBSITE TACTICS EXPERT	MU	MC	LIV	CHE	0/4
IAN CHEESEMAN, BBC RADIO MANCHESTER	MC	MU	CHE	ARS	2/4
CHRIS BEVAN, BBC SPORT WEBSITE	MU	MC	LIV	CHE	0/4
OVERALL PREDICTED RANKING USING ALL BBC FORECASTS	MU	MC	CHE	LIV	0/4

So these were the predictions of the experts.

Shockingly bad. Only three predicted the outcome of the first two places correctly. Three out of 30. Dan Walker, Dan Roam and Ian Cheeseman managed to do this.

NOBODY predicted Arsenal to finish in 3rd place. It was all Liverpool and Chelsea that would finish in third according to the people who pretend to know. A few predicted we would finish in 4th place, so I could give them a mention here. It was Alan Shearer (who named three clubs so this is a bit easy from his part), Gary Linneker, Jason Roberts, Dan Walker (again), Steve Wilson, Jonathan Pearce, Mark Bright, Steve Claridge, Nigel Adderley and finally Ian Cheeseman (also again).

So only two people predicted the names of the top two correct, and also said that Arsenal would be in the top 4. In fact no pundit predicted us in 3rd place.

And this is what those guys are getting paid for. They are getting paid for knowing something about football. In fact if you look at their predictions the only thing that seems to influence them, is how much money did they spend. And thus we get Liverpool and their darling King Kenny in the top four a lot. Or maybe they still love them as it was their childhood favourite team?

Now, those pundits who fail miserably in their predictions are the ones who also tell us how the refs are doing on many occasions. If they cannot even get it right, when it comes to see how a team will do in a season, how can they even comment on the referees. I don’t know how many of those pundits actually have ever been a ref in a football game, but if their ability to say something correct about the rules is at the same level as their predicting skills….

The final conclusion about the pundits is: THEY KNOW NOTHING! Hell, they could be from Mars.

Maybe for next season we could do the same and we could make our own top four predictions. And then compare it with the pundit predictions. And then see who has done best.

Another thing that we could keep in mind as a result of this is that, despite some fans saying Arsenal underachieve it just might be that the real underachievers are Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Nobody believed in Arsenal for even making it in the top 4. They always say Arsenal is doomed and are in trouble.

And Arsenal even did better than anyone ever predicted: we came in third place. Nobody would have believed this in August. But we did it. With, according to the pundits, a rubbish manager, rubbish players, panic buys…. Like one of my friends from the Arsenal Benelux supporters texted me after the final game at WBA: We f*cking did it! Lots of humble pie can be eaten for the moment.