WIGAN
Position: 17th

Points: 38

The phrase “escaped by the skin of their teeth” barely even begins to describe the plight of Wigan Athletic, who barely survived the drop on the last day of the season thanks to a goal difference of just one.

Despite exceeding all expectations with their 10th-place finish last season in their first season in the Premiership, the Latics lost several key personnel: hardworking midfield cog Jimmy Bullard, striker Jason Roberts and hardman Graham Kavanagh, all left for greener pastures at the beginning of the season.

Coupled with the fact that newly promoted clubs always find their second season in the top flight much tougher than the first and it was always going to be a tough ride for the Latics to keep afloat, let alone match the heady heights of last season.

It all came down to the last day, and with Wigan having been thumped 3-0 at home by fellow strugglers West Ham on the penultimate day of the season, almost every man and his dog were putting the Latics down for the final relegation spot. But Paul Jewell’s men stood up, defied the odds, and came away from Bramall Lane with a 2-1 win that secured Wigan’s status among England’s finest for a third successive season.

The miraculous survival came at a price though, as barely 24 hrs later, Jewell who performed a similar miracle with Bradford City back in the 1999/2000 season, shocked the Wigan faithful by declaring his decision to throw in the towel for a sabbatical from football to be replaced by his assistant, Chris Hutchings.

God bless Wigan in the way he didn’t bless Bradford the last time. Coincidentally, Bradford will be beginning season 2007-08 in League 2, effectively the fourth division in England.

FULHAM
Position: 16th

Points: 39

A 5-1 humiliation at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season seemed to serve as the prelude to the rest of Fulham’s season—which has been one of mediocrity, to say the least.

With no major signings at the start of the season except for shaggy-haired Wigan midfielder Jimmy Bullard, it was evident that Chris Coleman’s men would consider a mid-table finish a fair enough achievement this season. The Craven Cottage faithful were already preparing for a dull, long-drawn season ahead.

As it was, the West London club so nearly let down their fans, somehow managing to let themselves get pulled back into the relegation mire after having seemingly secured safe mid-table status at the turn of the year. Feb was when the rot really started. 3 points (all draws) from a possible 24 culminated in the sacking of Chris Coleman, and in came Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez with 5 games left to secure Premiership status.

Sanchez didn’t fare very much better, however, picking up a solitary point from 3 games, and it was only due to the teams below them picking points from each other (West Ham losing 0-3 to Sheffield United at home, then beating Wigan 3-0 away and Sheff Utd drawing 1-1 with Charlton) that the Londoners managed to keep out of the relegation zone.

They did manage to secure Premiership status in their last home game, thanks to a solitary US international Clint Dempsey strike against a severely weakened Liverpool, then promptly went and lost their final game 1-3 to Middlesbrough, which kind of summed up their entire season—below-average.

WEST HAM
Position: 15th

Points: 41

It’s certainly not wrong to say that without the services of Tevez, the Hammers would not be where they are at the moment—savouring a third successive season in the Premiership for their loyal fans.

If Bobby Zamora was the top scorer and form player early in the season, Tevez must surely be the one who ensured that West Ham soared over, rather than stumbled before, the finishing line. The stocky Argentinean almost single-handedly clawed West Ham to safety with 7 goals from mid-Mar onwards, and his goal-scoring exploits coincided with the Hammers’ almost miraculous run of form. In fact, once the clueless Pardew (see his effect on Charlton?) had been gotten rid of and new boss Alan Curbishley bowed to crowd pressure by starting Tevez, the Argentinean flourished.

Crucial scalps against Manchester United, Bolton, Blackburn and Boro contributed to the Hammers’ amazing record which looked more like that of a team challenging for the title: 9 games played: 7 games won.

To sum up the incredible feat from a team that looked down and out after a 0-4 thrashing by fellow relegation rivals Charlton and a heartbreaking last min 3-4 loss to London nemesis Tottenham, Curbishley’s men had only 20 points on the board at the end of that heartwrencher against Spurs.

You do the math and tell me if West Ham deserve their survival. Then somebody please tell the Gang of 4 (Wigan, Charlton, Sheffield United and Fulham) still crying ‘FOUL’ and ‘ILLEGAL’ to shut up already.