Hey folks, time for Part 2 of my Premier League Season Review, and this time, we’re looking at 9th place Fulham, down to 14th placed Stoke City, as we review the Mid-table. So without further ado, let’s get right to it, with Part 2 of my End of Season Report Card. Class is now in session!

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Fulham / Predicted Finish 9th, Actual Finish 9th / Key Man: Clint Dempsey / Needs: D-Fence

Another mixed bag of mediocrity overall for Fulham, a team always having solid seasons in mid-table, but never being truly able to crack that next level, and consistently get into Europe. The star man, without doubt, American Winger Clint Dempsey, with 17 goals in the season, and 23 in all competitions. From a Wing. Mighty impressive for Fulham, and Manager Martin Jol should do everything in his power to try and retain him for the 12-13 season. Bryan Ruiz had a very solid season from the other wing as well.

Why are Fulham only 9th? Their form swings on a dime. They’ve always been very solid at home, but tend to struggle away from Craven Cottage. 35 of their 52 points came from home games (6th best home record), while they went 4-5-10 away this season. Also, this is the first team in the table with a negative goal difference, of -3. Some money needs to be put into defence next season. Overall, no complaints, but nothing to be writing home about either.

Harrison’s Final Grade: C (Extremely Average)

West Bromwich Albion / Predicted Finish: 15th, Actual Finish: 10th / Key Man: Roy Hodgson / Needs: New Manager

What a lovely parting gift for West Brom from our new England Manager Roy Hodgson – A top 10 finish for WBA. No matter which way you cut it, that’s a superb result, even if it’s slightly exaggerated by seeing how close the bottom half of the table is. Peter Odemwingie was their most dangerous scorer with 13, and this team were road warriors. Only 6-3-10 at home, but 7-5-7 away (26 of their 47, 6th in the league). Fulham would kill for that away record.

But now, what happens with Hodgson gone? They need a new manager, and some spending power to flex their muscles, if they want to have any chance of repeating a Top 12 table performance. Overall, great season for WBA, but I worry for their immediate future.

Harrison’s Final Grade: B+ (Punched well above their weight, unlucky not have 50+ points)

Swansea City / Predicted Finish: 17th, Actual Finish 11th / Key Man: Danny Graham / Needs: Erm…

Swansea were a team I thought that would only just beat the drop. How WRONG was I. I loved Swansea’s style of play, their passing was superb, and they had some really good, talented players in key areas. Danny Graham had 15 goals for the season and Gylfi Sigurdsson, who only played 18 of 38 games, had 7 goals and 4 assists, he reminded me a lot of Steven Gerrard with his playmaking ability from midfield.

Brendan Rodgers did a superb job with this team, and they weren’t far away from seriously denting the Top 10, and they’re one of only 5 teams that can say they beat City, not to mention Liverpool on the last day. The thing is – I can’t think of a major criticism for this team. Maybe some more money for next season, because we all know that second season survival teams tend to struggle when the other teams below them catch up. We’ll have to see, but for now, big props to Swansea.

Harrison’s Final Grade: A- (No major faults at all, a great season for Rodgers)

Norwich City / Predicted Finish: 16th, Actual Finish: 12th / Key Man: Grant Holt / Needs: FREAKING DEFENCE

Glass cannon sides hardly ever really prosper in the league. Norwich were one of only two that got away with it this season. Newcastle United was the other. They conceded 51 goals, yet ended up finishing 5th. Fun fact: Norwich were 7th in the league on goals scored with 52. The problem? They were joint 16th on defence, conceding 66. Only teams in the drop zone had done worse. (Bolton – 77, Blackburn – 78, Wolves – 82)

Grant Holt was their talisman upfront, with 15 for the season, and Steve Morrison with another 9, and Paul Lambert can certainly be more than pleased with 12th. However, if there’s one side in the league that I worry will suffer from Second Season Syndrome – It’s Norwich, and even more so if Paul Lambert is picked up by Aston Villa, West Brom or Liverpool. This team is on a knife-edge.

Harrison’s Final Grade: B (The Canaries are singing – For now…)

Sunderland / Predicted Finish: 12th, Actual Finish: 13th / Key Man: There wasn’t one. / Needs: A 15-Goal Striker

Remember when Martin O’Neill joined early in the season, after Sunderland brought in TEN players in the off-season? This team caught fire, scoring 21 of a possible 30 in that new stretch. Then, they started losing games away from home, and they fell in mediocrity by the end of the season. Why you ask? Well, it wasn’t their defence, they conceded just 46, joint 7th in the league, but they were 14th on goals scored, with 45.

Simply, it was because they had no, go-to, designated goal scorer. Not ONE Sunderland player had double digit goals for the season. Nicklas Bendtner came closest with 9, then Sebastian Larsson was next with 7. No consistency, and go-to goal threat was what stopped this team from punching the Top 10. Will Sunderland be given money again to go after a higher level striker? That could be the key next season.

Harrison’s Final Grade: C- (Expected more given their pre-season)

Stoke City / Predicted Finish: 11th, Actual Finish: 14th / Key Man: Peter Crouch / Needs: OFFENCE. EVERYWHERE.

Stoke quite frankly, were lucky to finish as high as they did. This was another club that was expecting big things are money was poured into it pre-season, but they struggled throughout the year. Yes, they had flashes of brilliance (Crouch’s game saving thunderbolt against Man City), but overall, they were a disappointment.

The biggest reason? They averaged LESS THAN A GOAL PER GAME. 20th in the league, STONE DEAD LAST, on offence. They only scored 36 for the year, and conceded 53. That’s close to relegation numbers. Stoke need turning around next season, and fast, otherwise, they may not be so lucky. Arguably, the biggest busts of the season. Spend money on attacking players and playmakers. Immediately.

Harrison’s Final Grade: D (Where the hell were they?)

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Okay folks, there’s 9 to 14 wrapped up. Early next week, I’ll check back for the my thoughts on the Bottom 6 from 15th, to 20th. Hope you enjoyed the read, and I’ll catch you next time, Sayonara!

*sighs*

New England Manager, Roy Hodgson has officially selected his list of 23 players who he’ll be taking to the European Championships in just under a month’s time. Here, I’m going to break down his list of players, stand-by’s, and glaring commission’s that could, and should have made it in. So, let’s break down England’s Euro 2012 squad, right here on The Harrison Analysis!

Goalkeepers:

Joe Hart, Manchester City / Grade: A+

No brainer here, Premier League Champion, and Golden Glove winner for the 2nd straight year. #1 Goalie of choice and in my eyes, a future England Captain.

Robert Green, West Ham / Grade: C-

You know we’re doomed when a Championship keeper is our Number 2. All of a sudden, his play-off final against Blackpool has even more riding on it. Don’t expect to him to play any games, but an okay backup, should anything happen to Hart.

John Ruddy, Norwich City / Grade: D+

See above. Emergencies can happen.

Defenders:

Leighton Baines, Left Back, Everton / 33 games, 4 goals, 2 assists / Grade: B

I have no problem with taking Leighton Baines being our #2 Left Back behind Ashley Cole. Very solid for Everton, has offensive awareness too.

Ashley Cole, Left Back, Chelsea / 32 games, 6 assists / Grade: A-

Yep, got to take Ashley Cole, another no brainer here, by some distance our best left back, and arguably, best defensive player, period. Only an A- though, as he was pretty poor disciplinary wise this season. (7 yellows, 1 red)

Glen Johnson, Right Back, Liverpool / 23 games, 1 goal / Grade: C-

England are kinda screwed at Right Back here. Chris Smalling didn’t make it in, same with Micah Richards (why?!), and Kyle Walker just missed out with a toe injury. So now, we have Glen Johnson who’ll be our starting Right Back. Has an eye for goal sure, but lack of games has me worried.

Phil Jones, Centre Back, Manchester United / 29 games, 1 goals, 2 assists / Grade: B

I like Phil Jones, a lot, definitely a future starter, but is he ready now? Not 100% sure, but definitely worth taking on depth alone, is getting better at an alarming right. Utilitarian enough to play in Midfield too.

Joleon Lescott, Centre Back, Manchester City / 31 games, 2 goals, 1 assist / Grade: B+

Came off the bench a fair bit in the Man City ranks with Kompany and Toure, but still one of the best centre backs England have.

John Terry, Centre Back, Chelsea / 31 games, 6 goals, 1 assist / Grade: B+

Again, no brainer pick here. John Terry’s a former captain, definitely in the Top 2 of English centrebacks, rock solid, and an underrated set piece threat. 6 goals from defence, is impressive. Shame the other member of the Top 2, didn’t make it in…

Gary Cahill, Centre Back, Chelsea / 29 games, 3 goals / Grade: D+

Don’t see how he made it in as anything higher than a stand-by. Spent most of his games as a Chelsea substitute this season. One for the future, but not quite yet, in my eyes.

Defensive Omissions:

Rio Ferdinand: I don’t see how you don’t take Rio, even for experience. Better option that Gary Cahill…Right?

Micah Richards: He just won a Premier League title, and he’s the best defensive Right Back we have as a country….How he didn’t make it in is laughable.

Midfielders:

Gareth Barry, Centre Midfielder, Manchester City / 34 games, 1 goal, 3 assists / Grade: D-

Oh come off it. What’s Gareth Barry done to warrant a place this season? He’s been a bench guy most of the year. Don’t see the logic in this one at all, better options didn’t make it in.

Stewart Downing, Left Winger, Liverpool / 36 games, 1 assist / Grade: HODGSON ON ACID

No, no, no, no, NOOOOO! Number never lie, 1 assist in 36 games is an absolute joke for a player Liverpool spent £20m on. Yes, he’s our best left-footed winger, but that’s a bit like saying your best singer in a band is Kim Kardashian…Horrible pick, definitely on name-value only.

Steven Gerrard (Captain), Attacking Midfielder, Liverpool / 18 games, 5 goals, 2 assists / Grade: B+

If Steven Gerrard is there, you have to take him, as he tends to be England’s most dynamic player. Good choice as Captain too. However, his lack of play-time due to injuries this season does have me concerned.

Frank Lampard, Attacking Midfielder, Chelsea / 30 games, 11 goals, 5 assists / Grade: A-

Never thought I’d say this, but Frank Lampard’s a better option than Stevie G right now. Had a really good season with Chelsea this year, despite his critics (Me included)…Could see bench time now though, with Gerrard captain obviously starting, will Hodgson play them together?

James Milner, Centre Midfielder, Manchester City / 26 games, 3 goals, 5 assists / Grade: D

Brought in due to his caps, and the fact he can play down a side of Midfield if necessary..And not much else. Probably a depth pick, again, don’t see what Milner’s done to warrant a place in the team.

Theo Walcott, Right Winger, Arsenal / 35 games, 8 goals, 11 assists / Grade: A-

No doubt, Theo deserves a starting role this year. People may not realize it, but he’s had a great season this year and 11 assists in the Premier League this season definitely warrant a Starting XI spot. Could be the underrated gem of the team.

Scott Parker, Centre Midfielder, Tottenham / 29 games, 1 assist / Grade: C-

I’m struggling to see where Parker ends up here if Lampard and Gerrard play together, unless Hodgson switches up the formation. The former Captain may struggle to get a starting place given the amount of middle midfielders here. With Barry and Milner there too…I dunno with this one.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Left Winger, Arsenal / 16 games, 2 goals, 1 assist / Grade: C-

You can see Hodge got his inspiration from when Sven took Theo all those years ago. The youngest man in the squad at just 18. Don’t believe the hype, we’re THIS shallow at wings. Adam Johnson only made the standby list due to struggling to make it in the Man City Starting XI. Really…I just don’t see the point. He’s unproven, but a Raw talent. I like the fact he’s willing to give younger players a chance though.

Midfield Omissions:

Michael Carrick – He’s been immense for Manchester United this season. No idea why he wasn’t even a stand-by, ran the field for United with his passing.

Paul Scholes – Worth a shot, surely?

Aaron Lennon – Which England squad has Johnson, Walcott, Oxlade, Downing…But no Lennon?

Strikers:

Wayne Rooney, Manchester United / 34 games, 27 goals, 5 assists / Grade: A+

He may have been slightly quiet this year, but 27 in 34 is super impressive for goal-scoring. Absolute must pick, and could be a key man for England when the tournament gets underway.

Danny Welbeck, Manchester United / 30 games, 9 goals, 5 assists / Grade: B-

Again, solid pick, good season with United this year, and again, I like Hodgson going youth here and there. Could be another surprise, but has a good chance of playing lengthier minutes.

Andy Carroll, Liverpool / 35 games, 4 goals, 5 assists / Grade: HODGSON ON LSD-LACED KIELBASA

NO. Andy Carroll is a bust people. Sorry, but he is. Four goals in 35 Premier League games last season, is an absolute joke. Just, no.

Jermain Defoe, Tottenham / 25 games, 11 goals, 2 assists / Grade: C

Proven England starter. The problem is, you never quite know what Jermain Defoe shows up when you play him, for club, or country. Could be our best weapon, could be absolutely terrible.

Striker Omissions:

Grant Holt – 15 goals and 3 assists for Norwich this season. So what if he has no caps, people like him deserve an opportunity at the bigtime. Big part of the reason Norwich had the season it had (More on that in a future column)

Gary Hooper – Celtic’s finest. 24 league goals for them this season. I know, it’s the SPL, but again, sometimes, you need to give players like Hooper a chance.

Peter Crouch – Again, proving England starter, surprised he wasn’t even a standby here. Not his best with with Stoke this year, but his England goal-scoring record should have got him even – Even if most of those goals were against lower opposition, included my beloved Jamaica. *cries*

Standby’s:

Jack Butland (Keeper, Birmingham): He’s never played inside the Top 3 leagues of English Football. Next…

Phil Jagielka (Centre Back, Everton): Makes the exclusion of Rio Ferdinand even more questionable.

Jordan Henderson (Left Winger, Liverpool): HODGSON ON LSD. THAT IS ALL.

Adam Johnson (Left Winger, Man City): Feel for the lad, definite squad guy, beaten out by the Ox due to lack of Man City games this season.

Daniel Sturridge (Striker, Chelsea): I like Sturridge, maybe more than I like Carroll. Unlucky not to make the 23.

Harrison’s Final Grade for England’s Euro 2012 Squad: C-

The thing with any National Squad, is that half the team picks itself. It’s those 2nd level, and depth picks that can make or break you, and when I look at this 23, I can’t help but think…I don’t know what Hodgson wanted to do here. He’s rolled the dice on some youth guys, but then didn’t take Sturridge, and Ferdinand being left out is a shame, he’s always played well at International Level. And there’s some really key names that didn’t make the cut, or at least deserved an opportunity. I’m not digging this squad, even more so when Downing, Henderson and Carroll got in, and Rio, Lennon, Holt and Crouch didn’t. I’m not sure about the direction of Hodgson’s future England squads with this.

Let me know what you think of the England 2012 Euro Squad below, and I hope you enjoyed the post. Thanks for reading, and Sayonara!

Hey folks, welcome to a brand new series, as I take a look at the F1 Action over the course of the 2012 calendar, starting with yesterday’s Spanish Grand Prix from Catalunya, as Lewis Hamilton took revenge on everyone (And had enough fuel to finish), Fernando Alonso with another great drive at home, and Pastor Maldonado lighting a spark, under Williams…And in some cases, literally.

Pastor Maldonado, lighting the fire for Williams, on AND off the track!

Just when you thought this season couldn’t get any more interesting, we have our 5th different race winner, from a 5th different team, in the season’s first five races. Pastor Maldonado just clicked round here, he was the best of the rest in qualifying (Despite Lewis’s harsh penalty – More on that in a moment), and had the pace when it mattered in the race. What won it for him as the superb undercut to bring him in early, which Ferrari didn’t anticipate as Alonso hit the cliff in the middle stages, and while his pit did let him down a little in the last stint, Pastor withstood the Alonso pressure and won his first ever race, in superb fashion. Redemption for all the horrible luck he’s already had this season.

Shame to hear about all the injured coming off the their fire post-race, but obviously, I’m glad no-one was seriously injured. From what I’ve been told, a malfunctioning KERS unit lit up some lighter fuel and the whole thing spread through the garage like wildfire. But I love hearing the camaraderie from the other teams in the sport, saying that they’ll loan Williams all the equipment they need to race in Monaco. Classy gesture from the other teams.

Lewis Hamilton’s majestic charge – Despite fuel issues…

Probably the biggest talking point of the weekend was Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying lap. He SMASHED the field to pieces (Nearly 6/10ths of a second on Maldonado), but then had to park the car on his in-lap as he was going to run out of fuel. Basically, one of the mechanics made an error with Hamilton’s fuel hose, where they were taking fuel out of the car, instead of in. And by the team they realized this, they HAD to send Lewis out due to lack of time. This error broke a FIA rule, and as a result, Lewis had to start from the back of the grid.

Now I found this to be a very harsh penalty. Why not just take his fastest lap away, and knock him down to 6th? Or, just take him away from Q3 and have him start 11th? Seems like a fairer punishment. The fuel error only made about 0.1 of a second difference – Lewis was probably still going to slaughter the field anyway. Still, Lewis made the most of his error, and charged through the back of the field, pulling off some brilliant passes in the process, to eventually finish 8th, and a whisker away from Nico Rosberg in 7th – Beating teammate Jenson Button in the process.

Another McLaren weekend where they have to feel like they shot themselves in the foot. Or in the fuel tank in this one.

Senna and Schumacher clash – The 2012 Version!

Nasty incident into Turn 1 in the middle stages as Schumacher continues his run of non-finishes, but hitting the back of Bruno Senna in the Williams. When I first watched it, I thought it was Senna’s fault, but the more I watched it, the more it seemed like Michael misjudged the braking point – Maybe those Mercedes are too fast in a straight line?

Naturally, they both blamed each other, but it turns out Michael Schumacher’s been given a 5 place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix for causing a collision. I think that’s the right call from the stewards. Nice to know they woke up after the Rosberg failure in Bahrain.

The Running Order Rundown

2) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – He surely can’t complain over 2nd with his car at his home GP, but he must feel a little frustrated in his tyres, he had a real chance at the race win. Props to Ferrari for their bulletproof pit stops too.

3) Kimi Raikonnen (Lotus) – Another great drive from the Iceman, who must be wanting to stick an Ice Cream up his race strategists sensitive area; did he REALLY think Alonso and Maldonado ahead were going to stop again with 20 Laps left? Gutsy effort regardless, could have had Alonso if he had 2 more laps.

4) Romain Grosjean (Lotus) – Rather quiet race for Grosjean (despite a small hit on Senna), but just another testament that Lotus might be the most complete team package on the grid right now.

5) Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) – Damn I love this guy. Such a hard worker, and his bravery is astonishing, pulling off some some superb passes during the race, and a well earned 5th place. Sauber looking like another surprise package for 2012.

6) Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – Damage limitation for the reigning World Champion. For some reason, he and Webber had to have their front wings changed during the race, despite there being no signs of actual damage. Odd. Also got a drive through for passing Massa under yellow flags. Late resurgence at the end got him 6th, not bad considering all that happened.

7) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – Not sure as to why Rosberg had such a mediocre race to be honest. Seemed to be another victim of Mercedes tyre management. Oh wait, it doesn’t exist…Lucky not to have been caught by the man below at the end…

8] Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) – Superb drive from Lewis, coming through from 24th and last. Arguably driver of the day, beating his team-mate in the process.

9) Jenson Button (McLaren) – Was complaining of chronic understeer in the car all weekend, never looked like he had any kind of real pace, clearly an off day for Jenson.

10) Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) – Been generally a year where Force India haven’t looked as impressive as last year, but a hard earned point for the boys here, pushing Mark Webber out of the points in the process.

World Championship Standings (Round 5 of 20)

1) Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Red Bull) – 61*
2) Fernando Alonso (Spain, Ferrari) – 61
3) Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, McLaren) – 53
4) Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Lotus-Renault) – 49
5) Mark Webber (Australia, Red Bull) – 48

(*Vettel leads World Championship on countback)

And with that, we wrap up the Spanish GP. Check back in two weeks time as I take a look at the Monaco Grand Prix. Glitz, glamour, and a lot of wall kissing. Lovely. See you then folks! (PS: Check the video, I do these race reviews on YouTube as well! Feel free to Subscribe! http://www.youtube.com/Harrison101HD)

Wow…Incredible. A Premier League season that literally, went down to the final kick. Sergio Aguero’s strike in the 95th minute won Manchester City, their first title in 44 years. To celebrate, they’re renaming themselves Abu Dhabi FC. I’m a bitter United fan, sue me. But as we still wrap our heads around what has been an truly incredible season, let’s run down all 20 teams, and sum-up their season, while I play teacher, and judge them all on their effort and attainment. So, put your pens down, and hand your tests in, as Mr Harrison marks these 20 Premier League papers!

Manchester City – Predicted Finish: 1st / Actual Finish: 1st / Key Man: Vincent Kompany / Needs: A Salary Cap?

Manchester City…I know what you’re thinking. “They won the league, A+, Gold Stars all round!” No. Not even close. I’m sorry, Manchester City was like that talented kid in class who you know has so much potential, yet constantly makes things difficult for themselves due to procrastinating, and failing to study for their exams. They had the best overall squad of 23 in the league BY FAR. They should have won the league by 7-10 points in my opinion. No squad in the Prem has the depth and weapons that they did. Sergio Aguero lead the way with 23 league goals, and at the back, Vincent Kompany proved why he is a World Class Centre Back, and truly up with the elites at his position. Yaya Toure actually looked like a player you pay £250K a week as well. David Silva has become a Top 5 Attacking Midfielder in world football, with 17 assists.

However, you have question what took them so long to wrap this league up? Not playing Tevez for 6 months of the year, Mario Balotelli…Being Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko’s good performances I could count on 3 fingers or less, and that mid-late season breakdown. Man City won the league by less than a point in the end. Another day, they come 2nd, Mancini gets fired, and who knows what happens. For what they had, they SHOULD have been dominant. (Still, have to give Mancini SOME credit for being able to control most of the enormous egos on that team. No easy feat.)

Harrison’s Final Grade: C- (Expected better, but got the job done.)

Manchester United – Predicted Finish: 2nd / Actual Finish: 2nd / Key Man: Paul Scholes / Needs: CAM, ST, RB

A tale of two seasons for the red side of Manchester, and a bumpy ride at that. They hammered Arsenal 8-2, then got hammered 6-1 by Man City. At times, they’ve been unstoppable and a force to be reckoned with. Wayne Rooney had arguably the quietest 27 goal season you’ll ever see. What’s really weird, is that this team got SO much better when Paul Scholes came out of retirement. Paddy of Man City called it a sign of weakness, but he turned United into the best passing team in the league, and ripped teams apart by himself with his intricacy.

However, what was odd, was that Manchester United lost the ONE thing that made them so great – They lost their clutch gene. They LeBron’ed. They blew an 8-point lead with six games left. Inexcusable, and the complete opposite of what United do. The losses to Wigan and Man City, and the 4-4 draw to Everton will be etched into Fergie’s soul for years to come. However, this is a team with great talent in key areas, and should only take minor tweaks to be back in the title hunt for next season. Plus, they did all this, with Vidic out for most of the season. Bear that in mind. Considering the injuries, the lack of depth, and the juggernaut of Man City above them, MUFC can take pride – They did DAMN well to be 60 seconds away from being Champions.

Harrison’s Final Grade: B (Nearly there, work to do)

Arsenal – Predicted Finish: 5th, Actual Finish: 3rd / Key Man: Robin Van Persie / Needs: LB, Jack Wilshere back

Remember when we were all laughing at Arsenal for losing 8-2, and then for being near the drop zone? Yeah, they pulled off the mother of all comebacks to end in 3rd, sealing Champions League football for next season. And it was spear-headed by Robin Van Persie, winning the Golden Boot for a 30-goal season (And 12 Assists), showing why he may be the best striker in the Premier League. Don’t call them a one-man team though – Mikel Arteta was a class signing by Arsene Wenger, he was a rock for Arsenal after January, and due to him, Arsenal had that 7-game winning streak late on.

The team definitely has, and will continue to have defensive issues for the time being, but Chris Verminator was decent back there, as was the ever improving Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny in goal. This is a team that is definitely mocing in the right direction – Despite their hefty selling nature. Now would be a great time to spend on that defence. Especially if Robin Van Persie fancies that there’s one big contract left in him somewhere else…

Harrison’s Final Grade: B (Great effort, moving forwards…For now.)

Tottenham Hotspur – Predicted Finish: 4th / Actual Finish: 4th / Key Man: Luka Modric / Needs: ST, CB, GK

For Tottenham, the end result was solid, but it’ll always be a case of what it COULD have been. This team was 3 points from the top at one point, before going on a horrible stretch of winning just 1 game in 11, before eventually getting 4th place – Which could be Champions League football, depending on whether Bayern or Chelsea win the big one on Saturday.

As for the team, Emmanuel Adebayor did a solid job with 18 goals, and while Luka Modric’s stat line doesn’t LOOK all that great (4 goals, 5 assists), he created 94 chances this season, the highest of anyone in European football. Tottenham are blessed with a World Class Midfield set (VDV, Luka, Bale, Lennon), but it’s feeding the right striker, and having a long term solid centre back, that could take them to that next level. Oh, and while Brad Friedel had a good year, he’s getting his pension next year, new goalie please. Solid effort on the whole from the Yids, but they’ll be ruing missed opportunities at the big time.

Harrison’s Final Grade: C+ (Punching the glass ceiling)

Newcastle United – Predicted Finish: 11th, Actual Finish: 5th / Key Man: Alan Pardew / Needs: More Money

Unreal. This was a team in the Championship not too long ago, and was SLAMMED for sacking Chris Houghton, but Alan Pardew has come in and turned this side around. Newcastle United are now a team that should, could, would, and did, worry the crap out of many a team. The reason? Extremely smart business. Using the Andy Carroll sale money to bring in quality talent. Demba Ba for nothing – STEAL. Papou Cisse has been nothing short of spectacular since his arrival in January, picking up right where Ba left off, as he went cold after the African Cup Of Nations. The loan of Ben Arfa, and the rise of other great talent like Cabaye and Coloccini (Earning him a TOTY spot), stepped up too.

Pardew showed what good business can do for a football club, and if he can hang on to his top talent next season, the future can only be bright at Tyneside. Team of the Season to me, no doubt about it. Would have gone even higher if it wasn’t for the two losses late in the season to Everton and Wigan, which would have gotten them Champions League football. Now there’s a thought.

Harrison’s Final Grade: A- (Top of the class)

Chelsea – Predicted Finish: 3rd / Actual Finish: 6th / Key Man: Roberto Di Matteo / Needs: RW, Hair Dye for Torres

A year of rebuild and taking a good, hard, look in the mirror. As you can see, the constant recycling of Managers at Chelsea started to take it’s toll. The AVB experiment failed, not because of his plan, but because of his execution. He forgot that at Chelsea; it’s the senior players (Lampard, Drogba, Terry), that run the ship. I think AVB did his job TOO well, and the older players didn’t like that they were being phased out. However, it was Roberto Di Matteo that came in, steadied the ship, and despite a league failure, falling to 6th, and now having to rely on the final to get back into the CL – There’s good signs here.

What kept Chelsea afloat this year, was the new guard. John Terry and Ashley Cole had some great help on defence from David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic, and creatively, Juan Mata lead the way with 13 assists. Young prospect Daniel Sturridge also had 11 goals for the season. This is a team that, with 1 or 2 key additions, will be straight back in title contention next season, if things are actually allowed to settle. Inconsistency is what really hurt this team this season. But they’re not far away…

Harrison’s Final Grade: B- (Signs of improvement)

Everton: Predicted Finish: 12th / Actual Finish: 7th / Key Man: Nikica Jelavic / Needs: Consistency

Another team that made smart business when it counted, and that pushed them above people’s expectations, mine’s included. Nikica Jelavic came in in January, and scored 9 goals in 13 games, including two in that thriller at Old Trafford. Steven Piennar’s loan from Tottenham was a great addition too. David Moyes said they’ll be building the side around Jelavic. Good idea, the guy’s proven he can be a viable mid-high level striker in England, and gave that team a spark.

Moyes isn’t celebrating over 7th, but Everton’s the best team this season that DIDN’T make Europe, finishing ahead of Merseyside rivals Liverpool. That’s a big time accomplishment, and the side hasn’t really got any glaring weaknesses either. A good blend of young and old talent, and things pointing up. And this was AFTER losing their best player, Mikel Arteta in January, to Arsenal. Again, future is looking bright for Everton.

Harrison’s Final Grade: B+ (Moving on up, a great year for the blue side of Mersey)

Liverpool – Predicted Finish: 5th / Actual Finish: 8th / Key Man: Luis Suarez / Needs: STRIKER. PLEASE GOD.

It’s never a good sign when your 2nd best forward in your team, is Craig Bellamy. Despite the Carling Cup, this year is nothing but a total disappointment for King Kenny and Liverpool. They spend over £100m on new talent, and they all turn out to be busts. Carroll – Bust, Henderson – MASSIVE bust, Adam – Bust, Downing – NO assists or goals for the entire season. Luis Suarez is not a striker, he’s a supporting Centre forward and needs help from a definitive striker. Andy Carroll was meant to be that guy. He hasn’t. The club is unstable, and just had their worst league finish in nearly 70 years.

Liverpool are probably going to have to wipe the slate clean for next season. They just weren’t good enough at all, anywhere in the park. And it gets worse; their best defender Martin Skrtel, has rumoured to be handing in a transfer request. One step forward, two steps back? Just get Suarez some help up there!

Harrison’s Final Grade: D- (Detention, with extra lines.)

—–

And with that, Part 1 of my breakdown is complete. Check back on Tuesday when I get into Part 2, where I dig into the mid-table, from 9th, down to 15th. Hope you enjoyed this openign part, and I’ll catch you next time. Sayonara folks!

Hey everyone, Andre here with you. Another pretty big news announcement for you here on THA. I thought, in one last ditch attempt to try and stop this place from dying completely, I thought I’d try to re-adjust the focus on this blog to something I’d be more likely to enjoy writing for. So, I’m expanding my potential content to include other sports, like the NFL, like Football, and my huge passion for Motor Racing (F1 and MotoGP), will also be featured in future series.

Obviously, as a result of this, some things have to have been chopped, and changed around, but here’s the list of total changes to the website.

- Wrestling: No more Indy stuff for the time being. I have enough on my general plate watching the Big two regularly, feasibly, it’s not going to work for me to cover other promotions right now. Ring of Honor’s the only exception, but honestly, I’ve lost hope for them as a company. So the Indies I’ve had on the site have been pulled to make up some room for other new content. Apologies folks, it’s a real life thing more than me not wanting to watch. These things do take time.

- MMA: Future reviews will be different, but there’s a good chance I’ll now be able to review EVERY show, as in, the UFC on FOX shows, and other minor cards from the UFC and Strikeforce, as well as the PPV’s. Opinion blogs won’t change, but the style will no longer be Play-By-Play. Seriously, that shit was a nightmare to write up.

Also, the main structuring of the site has changed. All Pro Wresling/MMA stuff is under Combat Sports, and there’s an improved Menu System to guide you through everything. More content like Racing stuff, F1 and MotoGP, will be up throughout the seasons, while Football coverage will probably start when Euro 2012 and the Olympics get underway, before obviously, the next batch of footballing seasons get underway.

It’s a shame I missed the Free Agency/Draft boat with the NFL, but I’m growing in confidence in covering Fantasy Football, and hope that it’ll carry me throughout the off-season until September rolls around. Or something else major happens in-between (As if that hasn’t happened enough this season with Bounty-gate, Free Agency, the Draft, Junior Seau and so on…)

But yeah, I hope you enjoy the new content, and don’t worry, I’ll still be covering Combat Sports here, just adding other stuff to the table as well. Hopefully. Thanks everyone, for your continued support.

Sir Andre Lord Harrison IV, Esquire.
Editor, The Harrison Analysis

Hey everyone. Remember Wrestlemania 28? You know, that massive event that got nearly 79,000 people in, took in nearly $12m on the gate and had 1.3 million Pay-Per-View buys. Yeah, the biggest show the WWE’s ever had. Yep, already forgotten about it. It goes to you show fast the company can move in certain situations, and that the WWE has already loaded up Extreme Rules for this weekend, by bringing back another former WWE Megastar who hadn’t wrestled in about eight years. No, the other one. That and much more as I catch up with everything post-mania and see what I think of it all. (Seriously, about time I started blogging about Wrestling again)

Brock Lesnar is Back. Here comes the…Mediocre?

I’ll be the first guy to admit – I was never a major Brock fan. I liked it when John Cena would own him on the mic, and make fun of the fact he was one of those stereotypical big mean villians with a lack of brain power. But what I loved about Brock, was his flat about ability to destroy anything that moves within 10 feet of him. And to me, that’s how Brock was/should be most utilized. And I loved his return, just rolled up, didn’t say a word, F5′d John Cena back to Boston.

However, the way this feud has happened so far, it’s like they’ve put the whole thing in reverse. You go from a shocking F5, to a pull-apart brawl the whole locker room has to break up, to eventual mean-mugging. Why have we gone backwards? The go-home RAW for Extreme Rules did nothing to enhance the feud. If anything, it took momentum away because Brock Lesnar always has, and always will be, a poor talker. That was never his strength. His strength is his athleticism. His promo work was so bad last night, the crowd supported Cena last night by default. And that’s saying something.

I might be making an Extreme Rules preview blog so I might talk about this match more, but the question mark in their Extreme Rules match is Brock Lesnar and his ability to perform after 8 years out of the ring. Yes, he’s still in great shape due to his MMA career, but it’s two very different things. Look at The Rock and how he looked gassed after 10 minutes at Mania. Just a thought…Cena might have to carry Brock, like he did with The Rock at Wrestlemania. #YeaISaidIt

Bottom line: I’m not that excited for this eventual Main Event feud. It’s been done pretty badly to date, and it’s hurt my excitement for this Main. Still hoping it delivers, but the WWE have to be careful, because this blockbuster signing and purchase might blow up in their faces before it even begins.

YES! YES! YES! YES!

Daniel Bryan, the REAL best in the world. Believe me when I say, I never thought I’d see the day Bryan Danielson be the Pro Wrestler with the most momentum, and be the best in the WWE right now. Especially after all the NXT mess of 2010. Anywho…Anyone still complaining about their 17 second classic at Wrestlemania? Nope, me neither. Because as David Herro of PWR predicted, the only thing his squash has done, has turned him into a bigger star. The YES! chant from angry fans, have spread wide all over Miami, at the Marlins Baseball game, at the Heat NBA games, at the Indy shows…Even in Spanish whenever Alberto Del Rio comes out! #Si

He’s making superb, compelling television, cutting heel promos left and right, and taking out his frustration on ex-girlfriend AJ, who snapped this past week on Smackdown and destroyed poor Nattie Neidhart’s face (Guess that was all the pent-up oestrogen that going through puberty does for you). Maybe a heel turn for her to run through the Divas? (I dunno whether I want to see that, I think she’s over-rated in general, but that’s just me. The geek gimmick lost its luster after a while). Just have Bryan cut heel promos every week, please, forever. Can’t wait for his 2/3 falls match at Extreme Rules with Sheamus, who is just improving at such a rate. He’s a million times better than the Sheamus who shocked the world and won the WWE title back in 2009.

CM Punk, the Pretend Drunk (Hey, that rhymes!)

CM Punk, the guy with so much wasted potential. Summer 2011 seems like such a long time ago. He was RED-HOT back then, but the company never truly cashed in on that, despite some big T-Shirt sales, but besides a lengthy WWE Title reign, more than 6 months in duration (Which is freaking rare for the WWE), I thought it was time to move on from Chris “Loyalty Bonus” Jericho, and onto another big-time heel feud. However, I’m surprised at how entertaining the Punk/Jericho feud is being right now. CM Punk lowering the guard on his Straight Edge lifestyle, and for Chris Jericho to pick him apart and tease him about it…Which lead to Punk pretending to be drunk on RAW this past week. Okay?

Still, a Street Fight between these two should be fun, and a nice change of contrast from their very technical back and forth match we had at Wrestlemania. And a technical match means Jericho can do more winding up with that incredible promo ability he has mid-match, like he did at Mania, and now, Punk can punish him for it without risk of his title being taken away. SHOULD be the Main Event at Extreme Rules, but won’t be, because we have to make way for Cena to put Lesnar over. (Would YOU spend $5m to have Lesnar lay down for Cena 4 weeks after you sign him?)

Lightning Round!

- Beth Phoenix injured, Nikki Bella Divas Champion: The only way this makes any sense if is the Bellas secretly re-signed with the company…Or Kharma comes back and destroys The Bellas like she claimed she would back in 2011. You can probably guess which option I prefer. Get well soon Beth.

- #SaveReksAndHawkins: It failed…And a question to those who were spamming me his hashtag last night. Did you REALLY care about their jobs when they were on NXT? (Don’t get me wrong, it’s the most consistently good WWE show around right now, but I hope all 5 of you watching are enjoying it)

- WWE Network delayed till Fall? / WWE on YouTube: I REALLY don’t think this is going to happen at all. I think this was doomed from the start. Network television costs a LOT to pull off, and Vince McMahon saying things like using the company as collateral as if it goes tits up, worries me. A lot. I say this because their YouTube content right now, to me, is clearly the kind of thing they want to have ON that Network, and I don’t think it’s going to hold enough weight to keep people watching on a Network based channel, even if PPV’s end up on there. We’ll see, but I think the signs look bad.

- Lord Tensai: Awesome. Got a hot start by getting a clean pin on John Cena. Yes, because he definitely wins all the time. But I like what I’m seeing from him so far, more so than Ryback on the Smackdown brand. Bernard deserves a 2nd chance, and I look forward to seeing what he can do.

- Andy Levaine cut from the WWE: You know who the real winners of Tough Enough were? Melina vs Alicia Fox. It’s now permanently engraved into WWE history. But seriously, what was the entire point of that season now? What a waste of time, effort and money. Just bring up half a dozen from FCW. Speaking of which:

- Antonio Cesaro leading the FCW charge: Sandow, and now Cesaro making apperances on TV, Rollins and Ambrose regularly on house shows and dark matches on TV Tapings…Believe me, the future is bright for the company, in the next year, I think at least another 4-6 guys from FCW, in the Main Roster in some capacity. Bank on it.

Anything else worth talking about? Let me know, I might make a sequel. Until then, thanks for reading, catch you next time!

That’s right folks! For the first time EVER in the 3 year history of The Harrison Analysis, I went LIVE! In arguably, the biggest Wrestlemania ever, we had CM Punk vs Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship, Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus for the World heavyweight Title, The Undertaker vs Triple H in a Hell In A Cell Match, with Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee, and John Cena vs The Rock, in a once in a life time, dream match. Did Wrestlemania 28 deliver? Find out here, on The Harrison Analysis!

On commentary, Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler.

Daniel Bryan (w/AJ) vs Sheamus (World Heavyweight Championship Match)

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! Remember how I said, that this could steal the show? APRIL FOOL! Sheamus wins in 16 seconds via Brogue Kick from hell. Proof if it were needed, that it’s not always good to get the girl. A complete, steaming, waste, of what could have been an amazing opener. Fuck…

DUD

Randy Orton vs Kane

You can tell the fans DID NOT like the previous result, loud DANIEL BRYAN chants to start this one off.  (Can you blame them?!) Also, #ScrewYouCole for having Orton’s Hangman DDT be named a “Bulldog”. TWICE! For the first 5-6 minutes, this was a bog -standard TV Kane match, but once it got into the meat and potatoes, it picked up quite nicely, with some nice counters to finishers, and Kane definitely broke out some old stuff. And a sweet ending too, with Kane winning with a very rare, top-rope Chokeslam on Orton to win. Overall, surprisingly decent, better than what I was expecting.

★★★ ¼

Cody Rhodes vs The Big Show (Intercontinental Championship Match)

Hilarious video montage before Show’s entrance, showing his numerous embarrassing Wrestlemania failures.  I liked this one as well. Short and sweet. It was booked smartly, with Rhodes trying to running away, only for Show to throw him around a bit. Rhodes was smart, trying to keep Show grounded, but in the end, got caught and KO’ed. I’m glad this was kept short as well…Anything in double digit minutes, could have gassed Show…And NO-ONE wants to see that. Decent for the time given. Hopefully, this will result in a rise to the top for Cody Rhodes. Big Show’s last Mania?

★★

Kelly Kelly and Maria Menonous vs Beth Phoenix (Divas Champion) and Eve Torres

This match was exactly what you were thinking it was going to be. But I’m not going to take a dump on this one. It was perfectly solid for a Divas match. Maria didn’t stink up the joint, Kelly actually went out of her way to bring some decent moves and counters into it, and Beth and Eve did their heel roles well. This, to me, was perfectly acceptable. But I know 80% of you reading this have been busy relieving yourselves, so yeah…Next. (Half the show down in an hour? Hmm…)

★ ¾

The Undertaker vs Triple H (Hell In A Cell Match, Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee)

JIM FUCKING ROSS ON COMMENTARY! YES! (The highlight of the show so far!) Also of note, we got the BALDERTAKER! But in all seriousness…This was, incredible. The way it built up, the use of the cell, the physiciality, the spots were deadly, but what made this match so special, was the story-telling in the match. With Shawn Michaels being the man in the middle, begging Trips not to to continue, and contemplating having to ring the bell and stop it, but Taker never gave up. It was a back and forth war, with some sickening chair shots, use of submissions and taker’s Hell’s Gate, more officials being used, but the key thing was…Everything had a purpose, a point, and was poignant for the match as it took place. And everything just fell into place perfectly. Why are you still reading this? GO WATCH THIS MATCH. It’s the reason I fell in love with Professional Wrestling. This, was truly special, and I was honoured to see it live. Match of the Year? Possible, match of the decade.

★★★★★

Team Johnny (The Miz, Mark Henry, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler and David Otunga) vs Team Teddy (Kofi Kingston, The Great Khali, R-Truth, Zack Ryder, Booker T and Santino Marella)

LOVE that Johnny Ace, came out in a suit that made him look like Colonel Sanders from the KFC logo. This was clearly the cool down match following the amazing HIAC, but it was fun while it lasted, everyone got a little time to work some stuff, Santino, Ryder and Ziggler was where the best action was, and Eve Torres confirmed her heel turn by screwing Ryder, then kicking him in the junk. Wonderful. Again, about what I was expecting really.

★★ ½

CM Punk vs Chris Jericho (WWE Championship Match – Punk loses title if he is DQ’ed)

Nice little twist, stacking it in favour of the challenger. GREAT video package to hype Punk up too. This match was exactly what I was hoping for, from start to finish. GREAT technical wrestling, back and forth action, and the added effect of awesomeness, was the trash talk and story-telling back and forth between the two guys. Jericho was superb in taunting Punk from the start, winding him up into trying to get him DQ’ed. Match ahd a decent length, and the last back and forth 5 minutes were excellent, trading finisher exchanges and submissions between the Walls, and Punk bringing back the Anaconda Vice. Overall, sweet Co-Main Event.

★★★★

John Cena vs The Rock

 I think I’m  deducting an entire point from this PPV. Machine Gun Kelly and Flo Rida KILLED the crowd before the match even begin, and it was the last straw for me in terms of time-filling shit. As for the match itself, overall, I enjoyed it, a lot. It had the feel of a WWF Main Event from the late 90′s…Maybe that was the fact The Rock was it, but I dug the feeling, and the crowd finally recovered from Diddy-Itis when we finally got going. Just two big, power sluggers going at it, back and forth. And as expected, both men brought their best signature moves to the table as well, and some of the nearfalls near the end were great too. Cena and Rock were dead level, until Cena got cocky, tried Rocky’s People’s Elbow, but got caught and lost. Did the right man win? Probably not, I mean, you let a part-timer beat your #1 draw…But the match itself was…almost, worth the hype. But when you put a year’s worth of build into something, you gotta be careful. Watch, with caution.

★★★★

Harrison’s Final Analysis on Wrestlemania XXVIII

This card is a funny one. There were three, 4-star plus matches on the card, one of them, an all-time classic in my eyes, yet, for everything awesome about this card, there was something else that almost equally pissed me off. For the all-time HIAC Match, we had D-Bryan and Sheamus go 16 seconds. For Cena/Rock, we had Machine Gun Kelly, P-Diddy and Flo-Rida NUKE the crowd for the Main Event. The other-time padding skits were lame and almost, entirely pointless, besides the DQ stip being added to Punk/Jericho. Wrestlemania 28, was still, overall, a good show, but I can’t help but shake the feeling, that it could have been, a whole, lot more.

THANKS TO EVERYONE who stuck around and refreshed during the entire 4 Hours, I REALLY appreciate the support, and I hope you enjoy the finished product. Thanks guys, and sayonara.

Harrison’s WWE Wrestlemania XXVIII Rating: 7.5 out of 10 – Very Good

Firstly, can I say THANK YOU to all of you who’s taken the time to come back to the site since my activity has picked up again. You’re all amazing and I’m very proud that so many of you haven’t given up on me. Yet. But anyway, onto more positive things. Wrestlemania! Yes! Yes! Yes! Daniel Bryan impressions aside, this is one seriously, seriously, awesome card. So awesome, I feel like I have to talk about it! We had the go-home RAW last night in Atlanta, and the final build for Wrestlemania is coming in. So let’s have a chat about this LOADED Wrestlemania card!

Maria Menounos & Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres

There’s always going to be a filler match at Mania, and this is the dictionary definition of that. Instead of a legit awesome Divas Dream Match available here, like a Nattie vs Beth, or the use of a Trish Stratus (Properly this time, not like 27 – Snooki doesn’t count), or Lita, would have been amazing. Not sure if Kharma would be available (May the good lord bless her for her loss), but Maria Menounos? What kind of mainstream attention is that going to pull? Because clearly that’s the only reason they’ve brought her in to wrestle a one-off match. Like I said, Snooki-esque.

Harrison Hype-O-Meter: 3/10 Prediction: Maria and K2 (It’s Mania, good guys win)

Team Teddy (Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali and Booker T) vs Team Johnny (David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz and Drew McIntyre)

Another match, we all know why it’s on the card. Everyone needs to get a Wrestlemania Payday. Easy way of sticking 12 men on the card, and they all get paid. No complaints there. Also, there’s a lot of decent names here, especially on the heel side with Henry, Ziggler, Swagger and Miz on it, compared to Booker T, Kingston and Khali on the other. Yeah, poor Teddy. Still, these multi-man matches are always a great laugh, they’re fun, fast paced, and you get a whole load of finishers in the middle to pop the crowd, in about 8-12 minutes. I personally, have no problem with that!

Harrison Hype-O-Meter: 6/10 Prediction: Team Johnny

Randy Orton vs Kane

Very odd how this match was just seemingly thrown together, after John Cena’s short “Embrace the Hate” feud with him in the early part of 2011. Honestly, this is a filler match for Orton to get a big crowd reaction (He’s well more universally liked than Cena), more than anything else. Kane will always be his reliable decent-to-good self, and this’ll be a fun one as well most likely, as Randy Orton’s been WAY more fun to watch in recent months. Give it 10 minutes or so and it’ll be fine.

Harrison’s Hype-O-Meter: 5/10 Prediction: Randy Orton

Cody Rhodes vs Big Show (Intercontinental Championship Match)

The last of the low to mid-card matches. Cody Rhodes has been superb last year, and he clearly has a big-time following so the crowd will always dig him when he wrestles, not to mention, he’s getting better and better. Big Show is always good for a quick laugh or two, and if they keep this one short-ish (8-10 minutes), this can be a fun little match here. Just, don’t make it go TOO far into Double digits in terms of match length. Anything beyond that, Big Show gasses, and we get a snooze-fest. Not good.

Harrison’s Hype-O-Meter: 6/10 Winner: Cody Rhodes (I hope)

Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus (World Heavyweight Championship Match)

Not going to lie, the build for this one, ever since Sheamus won the Rumble, hasn’t been great, it’s more been about Daniel Bryan being condescending on AJ Lee (Who’s novelty has worn off, and is starting to grate on me), more than anything else. However, this match itself, could, and I mean COULD, steal the show, if it’s given 18-25 minutes. Daniel Bryan is the best worker in Professional Wrestling, when given the opportunity. Sheamus has gotten better, and better the past year and has shown consistent improvement, and has had matches at top-tier level. And now, this is his biggest time to shine. The potential on this one is unlimited, and that’s why I can’t wait for it. It’s a sleeper classic waiting to happen.

Harrison’s Hype-O-Meter: 9/10 Prediction: Sheamus (D-Bry gets what’s coming)

CM Punk vs Chris Jericho (WWE Championship Match)

Will be this match be awesome? Is Michael Jackson going on tour again? The ONLY question mark here, and it’s a small one, will be, has Jericho still got it from an in-ring standpoint, at age 41? Because outside of that, this has been one brilliant sequence of promos and hype, from two of the best talkers to ever grace the WWE. 99% of Wrestling fans know of CM Punk’s incredible general awesomeness, and Jericho has brought it to the champ with some scathing promos and home truths, and that will definitely add some sizzle to the steak. Again, with 20-30 minutes, we could be in for an absolute classic.

Harrison’s Hype-O-Meter: 9/10 Prediction: CM Punk (Jericho Champ in 2012? Not needed…)

Triple H vs The Undertaker (Hell In A Cell Match, Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee)

My word, there’s so many influences and question marks in this one! Triple H hasn’t looked wonderful in his matches post-mania in 2011, Taker’s been away for another year, and is clearly wrestling with a whole range of injuries and pain ate Age 45, there’s a Hell In A Cell gimmick that’ll make this one physically brutal, and HBK as Guest Ref could open a whole can of worms…And you know what, I don’t care. This match taps into my inner 10 year old Wrestling fan, when I idolized Trips (Pre-Quad tear), Taker, and HBK. And I’m sure they’ll tap into those classics when they wrestle on Sunday, and I cannot wait. This match is special. Who wins? Taker. The streak is the only thing left in Pro Wrestling that’s sacred. They can’t ditch that for Trips can they? Can they?

Harrison’s Hype-O-Meter: 10/10 Prediction: The Undertaker (PLEASE…)

John Cena vs The Rock

Many said that the WWE was crazy to book a Mania Main Event, 12 months in advance. But it’s paid off. The hype these two have generated for this Wrestlemania Main event, has been electric. After a wealth of “Your mother”, and genitalia references, we finally got that intense, serious promo that this feud needed so badly, where they forgot the jokes, the jabs and the Twitter hashtags, and just stared each other down and had complete intensity and seriousness. And that got me more hyped for this match than anything they had done for the last 6 months prior. I hope we get 20-30 minutes of back and forth awesomeness, with both guys using their signatures, which made them so iconic, and afterwards, whoever wins, they both shake hands and the crowd goes completely apeshit. These are Wrestling’s two biggest names of the last 15 years. Let’s hope they treat this match, like it’s the biggest of all time, because it might just be THAT significant.

Harrison’s Hype-O-Meter: 10/10 Prediction: John Cena (The Torch will be Passed. Again.)

——–

Overall, this could be the biggest, most stacked, loaded Mania, ever. I’m dead serious when I say, this could be the best Mania ever. The whole second half of the card could all go 4.5 stars or better here, and I’m not even joking. If you’re a Professional Wrestling fan of any kind, and have watched any of their programming in the last 5 years, give this show a watch, I promise you, you will not regret it. What match are you most excited for? Comment below. I’ve been Andre Harrison, thanks for reading, Sayonara!

Alrighty, as it aired last night on Challenge TV, let’s take a look at Sunday’s TNA Victory Road 2012 Pay-Per-View, with a Main Event that’s sure to go longer than 90 seconds…I hope. Anyway, on the card, Sting in yet another TNA Main Event with World Heavyweight Champion Robert Roode, in a Non-Title, No Holds Barred Match. Also, James Storm vs Bully Ray in a #1 Contenders Match, Austin Aries vs Zema Ion in a X-Division Championship Match, and a big rematch from 2010, as Kurt Angle, took on Jeff Hardy for the first time since their epic two match series from No Surrender 2010. Let’s go, Victory Road ’12, on The Harrison Analysis!

“On commentary, Mike Tenay and Taz, who seem to be asking for Twitter questions tonight. I’ll touch on that at the end…”

James Storm vs Bully Ray (#1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship Match)

Interesting choice for this to open the show. But as usual, Bully Ray is gold on the mic, and the way he works the “crowd” (Several hundred, meaningful, paying fans) is brilliant. Not sure why he has a sudden obsession with thigh and calf muscles though. Freaking Brandon Jacobs. Anywho, the match was short and sweet, only 70 seconds long as Ray went for Storm’s beer bottle for the quick finish, but went right into Storm’s Last Call Superkick for the clean pin. I liked this segment, Storm and Ray are great talkers, and it was something different, which I can appreciate, especially with two quality talkers in Storm and Ray, re-introducing him to the audience as the man heading to Lockdown (Which is sort of the point of this entire Pay-Per-View)

N/A – Good Segment

Harrison’s PPV Thought: Why is Bischoff suddenly smashing Borash apart? Magnus tweeting his support for him makes me think it’s partly legit too. Borash I actually respect a lot, been with the company through thick and thin, definition of a company guy, and very entertaining. If anyone in the higher ups deserves to stay, it’s him. Rather than the grey haired clot who pushes his “son”.

Austin Aries vs Zema Ion (X-Division Championship Match)

I know what you’re thinking. Yay, it’s another Aries match, can you just give it 3 and a half stars and move on? Yes and no. As usual, Aries and Ion were their usual great form and put on an enjoyable 12 minute match, but it’s got to the point where I was expecting a little more in this one. Not sure whether Aries is so good, I’ve gotten pre-disposed into expecting 4-star matches, or whether it just wasn’t as great as he’s been in the past. Also, Tenay and Taz’s commentary was silly here, and was actually distracting me from the action sometimes. Not good. However, Aries gets an extra 1/4 star; anyone who live tweets DURING A MATCH, is awesome.

★★★ ¼

Harrison’s PPV Thoughts: The MCMG are coming back? About damn time, the Tag Division’s been clutching at straws for the best part of 3 years now. No Beer Money doesn’t help.

Samoa Joe and Magnus vs Crimson and Matt Morgan (World Tag Team Championship Match)

Something I don’t think I’ve mentioned – The constant improvement of Magnus. Wasn’t sure of him a couple of years back, and he was kept back, but in this role as Tag Champ again with Joe, he’s really shown improvement in ring, and he’s always been solid as a talker. Way to go Magnus, just what we Brits need considering Doug Williams isn’t being used as effectively as he could/should. The match itself was decent too. It wasn’t of utmost importance as this match was clearly the catalyst for Crimson/Morgan splitting up and going into another singles feud, but it was well done, and told a good story. Overall, middle of the road. And Crimson continues to have the least significant unbeaten streak ever. It’s a shame it makes this match and PPV look inferior, because we all know that all of the balls are in the Lockdown basket.

★★ ½

Harrison’s PPV Thought: TWITTAH! And Roode/Storm will be amazing. As long as TNA don’t f*** with it. I hope. And pray. Oh christ, it’s Robbie E….

Robbie E vs Brother Devon (Television Championship Match)

Ergh…This was a mess. Robbie E had an open challenge, Devon answers a call, Rob cancels due to his attire, then EARL HEBNER calls the match, books it, and gets it going. Cheap shot with a chair from Rob Terry, then BROOKE HOGAN makes the save (Which was definitely scripted, as Tenay/Taz instantly knew who the woman was) Devon wins after 3 minutes with a spinebuster. Yeah…Typical TNA really. Completely unnecessary way to get the belt off of Robbie, and on PPV too…WHY?!

DUD

Harrison’s PPV Thought: So TNA’s 10th Anniversary will be in Dallas huh? Let’s hope it’s better than their football team.

Gail Kim vs Madison Rayne (Knockout’s Championship Match)

Maddy Rayne, the best women’s wrestler NO-ONE talks about. I really enjoyed this women’s match. Gail Kim is always top-level and excellent, and Madison Rayne did a good job to keep up. They also worked a decent story of Maddy selling a knee injury, and inevitably costing her the match, something that’s harder to achieve considering it was a heel vs heel match up. And they got a decent amount of time. Thumbs up all round on this, even on the time-front, they got a good 7 minutes to work here too. Why can’t the WWE copy this simple mould with their (Arguably), better female roster? IT’S EASY. Simple stories + Emotionally involving characters + Decent Wrestling = Win. EASY.

★★ ½

AJ Styles and Mr Anderson vs Christopher Daniels and Kazarian

Maybe Mr Anderson dragged this down more than I was expecting, but given the talent in this match…I kinda expected better. Is that wrong of me? In all fairness, Anderson was coming off an injury and probably had rust, but this match on the whole never reached that next level across its 14 minute duration, which as I said, is a shame considering Styles, Daniels, and Kaz are the other 3 guys, all go to guys in the company to put on a really good to great match. Not bad, but easily could have been better.

★★ ½

Harrison’s PPV Thought: Kurt Angle reminded me of my Dad there…Crazy, and looking like he could snap at any moment. About as weird as his tweeter feed. Noticed he’s gotten smaller too.

Kurt Angle vs Jeff Hardy

Yes, YES. This was brilliant. What is it with these two and quality matches? They just have that certain clicking chemistry together that just works whenever they wrestle together. Just like in their matches from 2010, they had great moves, athleticism, intensity, and a hot crowd, and it all came together brilliantly. Yes, a hot crowd. The Impact Zone was clearly into this one, an a genius finish too. Angle just couldn’t put Hardy away, so he took the easy way out and cheated Hardy into winning, which prompted a “This is Bullshit” chant from the crowd, exactly what they SHOULD be getting, rather than a delusional “This is Awesome” at the end. Overall, brilliant match, the best TNA has had in 2012 so far.

★★★★ (Match of the Night)

Sting vs Robert Roode (Non-Title, No Holds Barred Main Event)

Upside: Sting has still got the qualities to be entertaining as a wrestler, even in his mid-50′s. Downside, it’s time for him to step aside and set the stage for a massive Lockdown Main Event between Roode and Storm. As for this match, it was actually better than I thought it was going to be. Sting played his role well as the antagonist, while Roode was the cheating, dirty, ruthless heel he’s played so well in recent months. As I’ve said before, Roode is the biggest star this company has right now, and he’s done a superb job with his title reign and heel turn. A solid Main Event…

…As for the post-match stuff, not sure that was necessary. The ending bump on Sting banging the back of his head into the chair was bad enough…Then carrying Dixie into the ring, shouting “bitch” at her multiple times, and threatening to chair stop an already beaten Sting…May have been TOO much. It was scripted like a “Call of Juarez” cowboy western, and it’s 2012…Was that really necessary? We already know Roode’s an evil dick heel. Let me know what you think below in the comments.

★★★

Harrison’s Final Analysis on TNA Victory Road 2012

Overall, this was TNA’s best show of the year. Hardly any duds, a very solid midcard, and the two Main Events were very good, considering Sting was in one of them. Robbie E/Devon was a waste, and that’s the only real negative of the show, unless you count the silly commentary, and the over-use of TWITTER. Enough of it already, it’s so distracting and unnecessary, it doesn’t need to be there. Besides that, very good show from TNA, first of the year from them I’d actually recommend. I’ve been Andre Harrison, thanks for reading, and Sayonara!

+ Hardy/Sting steals the show
+ Sting goes above and beyond, despite a nasty bump
+ Decent mid-card
+ Knockout’s kicking the WWE’s cans right now

- Robbie/Devon, why even bother?
– Insipid Taz comnmentary
– TWITTAH!

Harrison’s TNA Victory Road 2012 Rating: 7.5 out of 10 – Very Good

Hey folks, Andre Harrison back at it once again with a brand new video for you, and this time, we’re heading back into the world of football. EA are funny things. They believe the market can handle two FIFA games in a year. Hence, the release of FIFA Street, the 4th game in the series and their first in 4 years, since the universally panned FIFA Street 3 from 2008. It also marks the first time a FIFA Street game has been made from the same developers as the main FIFA Franchise, as EA Canada got the nod this time around. Is it a half-hearted attempt to re-energize the series, or is it a stand-alone branch into something more, going after FIFA 12, one of the biggest ever selling Sports games? Let’s find out.

One of the most obvious changes to the franchise this year, is the visuals. Gone are the horrible looking player models from FIFA Street 3, and in are FIFA 12 like player models, who look much better, like their real life counter-parts. The extends to the environments, which are awesome in this year’s game. They’re varied, from playing under a high street underpass in London, to playing in a 10,000 capacity Futsal stadium in Brazil, the home of street football, to playing on a skyscraper roof in China. With every new environment, the goals are different, and the size of the pitch is different as well, so the varying elements do keep things interesting when playing.

Another thing worth noting, is that for the first time in a FIFA Street game, country and CLUB teams are available for use, and there is a very wide selection to choose from, with over 150 club, country, street, and All-Star teams to choose from, from 6 major leagues (The MLS, The Premier League, Ligue 1, The Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A) Unfortunately, minor league teams didn’t make the cut, and the selection isn’t as deep as in FIFA 12, but it’s still a massive improvement on previous FIFA Street games in the past, where selection struggled to get past 20.

Club teams are available for the first time ever in FIFA Street!

The gameplay itself is split into a few variants. There’s the standard 4 to 6-a-side action, there’s Panna mode, which often involves smaller goals and pitches, where you earn points not only by scoring, but by beating players, with tricks, especially “panna’s”, where you put the ball between the players legs. Freestyle mode focuses on banking and earning skill points by banking trick points and then scoring. Last Man Standing is simple, score a goal, the goalscorer gets taken off the pitch. First to remove their whole team wins. My personal favourite mode in the game as it opens up later on and the small goals keep a good challenge. Futsal is the officially recognized sport of Street Football and has boundaries, fouls, free kicks and corners. Basically, it’s a 5-on-5 version and as close as you’ll get to an actual game of football in a closed environment. What’s also good is that you get to have custom games as well, to your own liking.

The gameplay overall is great, but there issues. On the plus side, the game flows nicely, and the trick system is very good and well done. The most significant mechanic in the game is “Total Ball Control”. TBC involves you have total control of the ball simply by holding the left trigger and moving the left analog stick. You can then let go and mover the right stick in the direction to try and beat the defender. There’s also going through the air with Air Beats, by raising the ball above people’s heads. These are done with careful rotations and combination’s of the bumper buttons and right stick. It does genuinely work well. Randomly wiggling the right stick will probably result in you losing possession, while learning the system effectively can result in stringing beautiful sequences of moves together to leave defenders trailing in your wake.

A different version of the Manchester Derby, in front of 10,000 in Japan!

This does however, leave drawbacks. First of all, the game is balanced high in the favour of offence. Games tend to be high scoring, and it’s hard to really stop skill moves and beats from happening. You can try to tackle, or close your legs from potential Panna’s…And that’s about it. This isn’t an major issue as always FIFA Street has always favored offence, as many football fans do (How many people watch the Italian league for instance – Napoli fans don’t count), but when playing on higher difficulties where the AI has a high percentage of success, it makes the game frustrating to play and removes some of its most fun elements.

Also, passing the ball is much more difficult. I wouldn’t recommend trying to play FIFA Street like it’s FIFA 12. You can’t slot those through balls in as well as you’d like in the 11-on-11 game, and aiming shots is a bad idea as they’re always going to sail wide. Which is really annoying. We’re using some of the greatest footballers on the planet…Why on is Cristiano Ronaldo 5 yards wide from a 3 yard target? That’s silly. Also, with the confined space, the annoyances of the FIFA 12 Impact Engine are highlighted here to a strong degree, with some quite frankly, weird moments when 2 players can come into contact with each other. You’d think they would have fixed any issues there, as it’s been nearly 6 months since FIFA 12′s release.

The level up screen for World Tour. Expect to see this one a lot.

The main mode of the game this year is World Tour mode, where you can take your self and a team from a regional team, to eventually conquering the world stage against the best street and club footballers in the world. From Titus Bramble, to Lionel Messi! The mode itself is frustrating to play at first, as your player can’t do tricks at all, and has to buy them with skill points, which you earn by levelling up from games, and tournaments. You can download players to your time from your friends, which is a nice touch. Another nice touch is that if you play these modes online, the region will find Xbox Live/PSN players from that region. Another nice touch. The problem is the mode is rather short, clocking in at about 8-10 hours, and can be rather repetitive, it’s just a long strong of games, and the only thing you’re really playing for is unlockable clothing. And the level up’ing can be cancelled out by taking on Street Captains later on, wasting all that time on crafting an ideal squad (A mistake I made first time around)

Finally, there is Online Head to Head Seasons and team Play, just like in FIFA 12, the only downside is that you can ONLY play online with your World Tour squad. I find this disappointing. Why have all those teams in the game if you can only use them in local exhibition games? Seems like a bit of a waste to me, give players the option to play with who they want online, rather than forcing them with a lack of options.

Harrison’s Final Analysis on FIFA Street

The 2012 FIFA Street is arguably the best incarnation of the franchise to date, and it does a lot of things right that the previous games didn’t have. It can be a fun stand-alone game to run alongisde FIFA 12 in small doses, but I don’t think is quite a game worth the £40 price tag. There are some gameplay issues, and minor frustrations here and there, but this game at its best is very fun, especially with friends, and does serve its purpose well. If you’re a FIFA fan, give this one a look. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think below! Sayonara!

Harrison’s FIFA Street Rating: 7.5 out of 10 – Good