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Do you like to bet? Well, later this week 7500 to Holte will be posting our annual season preview extravaganza, and let me tell you, you won't go wrong if you use it as a betting guide. As in, take everything we tell you and do the reverse. It's nearly foolproof.
What we thought about Aston Villa prior to the 2012-2013 season
With all of us riding a high from Paul Lambert's appointment, almost everyone was convinced that the Villa would easily secure a midtable finish. We also felt that the new boss would lead the team deep into at least one Cup run and that the eventual losses would be to top Premier League sides.
Or, you know, we could finish 15th after a relegation battle, get knocked out in the fourth round of the FA Cup and lose in the semi-finals of the League Cup. To a League Two side.
Our writers also felt we should be paying lots of attention to Karim El Ahmadi, who, in the end, at least gave us lots of anagrams of his name as he sat on the bench. Andrew did call Brad Guzan as the player who'd be most impressive last season, so he wins this round.
Oh, and everyone wanted to see Alan Hutton shipped off. We will forever wait in vain on that one, it seems.
What we thought about the Premier League prior to the 2012-2013 season
Nearly everyone thought Wigan would go down, but really, who needed a Magic 8 Ball to make that call? Most of us were also convinced West Ham would fall immediately back down to the Championship. Surprisingly, no one called out Reading.
When asked about managers, Gareth wanted to say Roberto di Matteo would be the first to be fired, but decided that would be going too far, even for Chelsea. Turns out RdM was sacked just a couple days before Mark Hughes, who was Aaron's choice as first to go.
Strangely enough, no one thought Manchester United would win the title -- it was all about Chelsea or Manchester City. Similarly, we all ignored Gareth Bale in favor of Eden Hazard as Young Player of the Year and Wayne Rooney for Player of the Year. Whoopsies.
But we take comfort in the fact that there's probably not a soul out there who named both Swansea City and Wigan Athletic as last year's cup winners. Although it must be said that none of us named either of those sides for either trophy.
What we thought about the rest of Europe prior to the 2012-2013 season
Hey! Many of us predicted Lionel Messi would win the UEFA Golden Boot! And the Ballon d'Or! That's gotta count for something, right?
Except none of us picked Bayern Munich as Champions League winners. The thought didn't even cross our little minds -- most of us thought Real Madrid. Except Robert, who went with Chelsea. No, he doesn't get points for the fact that they did, eventually, lift a European trophy.
Finally, Matt told us he'd be spending his non-Villa days watching Pescara and Bastia. That boy just really hates it when sports teams make him happy, I suppose.