Not everything in a football season goes as planned.
Some things don’t work the way the clubs or the fans envisioned. Often little harm is done, but sometimes the cost of errors, poor choices or strategic errors can be significant.
So we asked ourselves what has been your club’s biggest disappointment of the season and asked our Premier League fan editors for their verdict.
Arsenal
Charlene Smith, AFTV
We’ve had a fantastic season so far with lots of positives, including consistently being top of the Premier League. Our biggest disappointment is that we weren’t able to get a win over our title contenders Man City in our home or away fixtures.
AstonVilla
Richard Sutherland, The Villa Park Podcast
He promised so much in pre-season with bullish talk about promoting Europe. However, the reported fallout and poor results left Steven Gerrard in an untenable position. It was following a 3-0 loss to Fulham in October that the board dismissed the Liverpool legend, bringing in Unai Emery, leading to a remarkable change for Aston Villa.
Bournemouth
Tom Jordan, The back of the net
Our abysmal post-World Cup run was our biggest disappointment of the season, losing six on the spin, scoring in just one game. In total, it was nine games without a win, scoring just four. This begs the question of where we might have been, had we avoided such a hideous patch.
Brentford
Ian Westbrook, Beesotte
It’s hard to find anything disappointing in a bumper season. But since I have to choose one thing, I will say our early exits from both cup competitions. Losing to Gillingham on penalties in the Carabao Cup and then West Ham in the FA Cup third round felt like wasted opportunities, given our comfortable position in the league.
Brighton and Hove Albion
Stuart Matthews, proud seagulls
If I was to be pushed on that, it had to be losing the FA Cup semi-final.
Heartbreaking and heartbreaking not only for the fans but also for the team and especially Solly March. I don’t hold him responsible. We have dominated Manchester United on so many levels so losing on penalties is a kick in the teeth.
But we bounced back and our campaign continues. Europe here we come…fingers crossed!
chelsea
Ross Mooring, Chelsea Fancast
Where to start? Graham Potter’s reign has been disastrous, with more than £1billion of football talent flagged as ‘missing’ from milk cartons and the Blues are enjoying their worst season since 1996. Ultimately, the blame belongs to the owners. Fortunately, they are already aware of all this.
crystal palace
Jay Crame, eagles beak
The departure of Patrick Vieira may have come as a surprise to many and there were several reasons why the board made this decision. But the biggest disappointment was the lack of support the Frenchman received from the board for the summer and January transfer windows.
Everton
Briony Bragg, This fan girl
A disastrous January window left us with no new signings and sent the anger of the fan base to boiling point. It may be too late six games before the end of the season for a finally fit Dominic Calvert-Lewin to save us. We should have had more options.
Fulham
Dan Crawford, End Hammy
The only sour note to Fulham’s fabulous first season back at the top tier is the club’s outrageous rise in season tickets for the next term, averaging an 18% increase. The price of lifelong fans during a cost of living crisis is not what London’s oldest professional club should be known for.
Leeds United
Jess Fourness, His game too
Leeds United’s biggest disappointment this season has been…this season! We are currently fighting to stay in the Premier League, have been under four different managers in the last three months and football has generally not been a pleasure to watch. At all. It was very disappointing, to say the least.
Leicester city
Sam Holloway, LeicesterFanTV
I think the obvious culprit this season is Brendan Rodgers himself. His stubbornness is the reason we are fighting relegation. When Dean Smith arrived we took five points from a total of 12 until the Everton game and had we had such consistency six months ago I think we would have had a mid-table season .
liverpool
Harriet Prior, The Anfield envelope
A 7-0 win over Manchester United followed by a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth – just one example of Liverpool’s inability to turn corners and build from a position of strength this season. A lack of consistency until recently left Liverpool making a late charge for a Champions League place rather than challenging for the title.
Manchester City
Ger Degan, formerly of Maine Road Ramble
The box office situation has baffled the most loyal supporters. Not only did the club mess up the ticket criteria for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, but they also made a complete sales hash for the final game of the season at Brentford.
In the space of a week, the club managed to frustrate season ticket holders, matchday members, the entire 18-25 population and also those with the most loyalty points.
Quite a feat for a club that does a lot in so many ways.
Manchester United
Dale O’Donnell, News
Manchester United’s biggest disappointment this season was the 7-0 loss at Anfield. It was an anomalous result and while the fans are getting over it, the manner in which we capitulated against our fiercest rivals was inexcusable. I think the fact that we conceded six goals in the second half will haunt me forever.
Newcastle United
Pete Davey, LoadedMag NUFC
Newcastle fans haven’t had much reason to be disappointed this season. However, if I had to be hyper-critical, it would be the number of draws we have accumulated. Eleven draws so far, including against Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Leeds at home. These could have confirmed Champions League football if things had gone differently.
Nottingham Forest
Ben Dore, Doré on tour
The biggest disappointment has to be Jesse Lingard.
All Forest fans were elated after Jesse was signed due to his achievements with other clubs. Injuries and his form in the league have been poor and he hasn’t hit his usual highs.
A fantastic player but not good enough this season for Forest.
Southampton
Ray Hunt, In this number
The biggest disappointment this season comes from director of football Rasmus Ankersen. He failed with his stubborn transfer policy of buying young and inexperienced players without providing us with a solid goal threat. His leadership appointments have been costly. Trusting an inexperienced manager to fix the problem Nathan Jones has put us in is inexcusable.
Tottenham Hotspur
John Wenham, Lilywhite Rose
As I left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on August 6, after a 4-1 win over Southampton on matchday one, I boasted with confidence that Dejan Kulusevski would score 15 league goals this season. He scored two goals with three games remaining. A mixture of injuries, poor form and, arguably, mismanagement has led the right forward to be largely ineffective.
West Ham United
Mia Claydon, Green street hammers
This year has not been a screaming year for West Ham. The biggest disappointment is how we went from the brink of a Europa League final last May to battling relegation this season. Our subsequent recruiting seemed to set us up for a third consecutive campaign in favor of Europe, but we were so disappointing
Wanderers of Wolverhampton
Dazzling Dave, Always Wolves Fan TV
Goncalo Guedes was a signing that fell short of expectations. After just 12 starts, six appearances as a substitute, two goals and one assist, the 26-year-old Wolves’ career appears to be over. His failure to settle was so significant that the club allowed him – a £27m player – to join Benfica in January at no loan cost.
