The Last Word - Sports Blog (Sean Simara)

PFA Player of the Year shortlist: Robin van Persie  - My Winner  Luis Suarez  Gareth Bale  Michael Carrick  Juan Mata  Eden Hazard Van Persie -  The Dutchman has probably been the signing of the summer for United as his goals have lead United to the title. He may have had a small dip in form for part of the season but his quality did show and is my pick for this award. Carried on his form from last season and could win this award for the second season on the spin. Suarez- Had by far his best season at Liverpool, a good goal scorer, not great as he does miss a lot, but at least he's in those positions. He for me showed his work rate is one of the best in England and he is too good to be playing Europa League in a World Cup year. Bale – Has had his best season in English football. He has mastered playing on the wing or down the middle. Bale is now the key man for club and country and the future looks bright for Bale. He won't win this...

It looks like QPR will be playing Championship football next season after a disappointing & gutting draw against Wigan on Sunday. After going down to 10 men when Bobby Zamora foolishly got himself sent off, Rangers took the lead with a goal by Lioc Remy who has been nothing more then sensational for QPR. However they let themselves down once again by giving away a free kick in the dieing seconds where Shaun Maloney curled it in to the top corner. As the silence fell at Loftus Road realisation was for the fans they knew there's no way they can crawl there way back and survive from this.   So who is to blame for the carnage of a season QPR have had:   1. Mark Hughes - This is the man who last season said 'We will never be in this position again with me in charge' Well he was right, in fact it was a even worse position.  Hughes wasted big money on players who simply didn't care & were just their for a final pay day. Bosingwa, Park, Granero, Zamora, Johnson...

This weekend the focus is at the foot of the table again as Reading have a huge game against Southampton.  It will be Nigel Adkins first game in charge at the Madejski Stadium taking on his former side. The way he was treated at St Mary's was very harsh  and he will want nothing more to get one over his old side. However Reading can not defend for their life's and Southampton are pretty  decent going forward. I think Reading could manage a draw but that won't be enough.  Norwich who are not out of the woods yet face Swansea.They  have won the last 3 meetings against the Swans and they probably will win on Saturday and secure their Premier League place for another season.  Stoke have a massive game at home to Aston Villa, Stoke have lost 5 of their last 7 in the league and if Villa can get the win they will only be one point behind them.  On Sunday Paulo Di Canio takes his Sunderland side to Chelsea, a place where he has good memories but it wi...

 Proper football returns this week, in the first game of this Easter Bank Holiday weekend sees Manchester United travel to Sunderland. I think even though Sir Alex will mix up his team with Chelsea to play in the FA Cup on Monday, I expect them to collect all three points. They want to make sure there’s no slip ups like last season in the title run in. The derby game comes next week and if they beat City it will kill any lingering doubts United may still have. Manchester City are at home to Newcastle on Saturday even though Newcastle have improved I still see City winning this match.  Sunderland for me are in big trouble, they have games against Chelsea, Newcastle & Everton to come and with Fletcher out for the season they will struggle even more to score goals. Sunderland are only 4 points off the drop zone so they could easily slip down and have a massive relegation fight on their hands.   The race for the top four hots up this weekend....

So Rio Ferdinand has withdrawn from the England team, shock. The whole situation has been a bit of a joke. I don’t think Rio had any intention to play for England at this point in time. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and Rio acted in this way against Roy Hodgson . After he was left out for ‘footballing reason’ by Roy, Rio who is in fine form is needed by the England manager. England have a lack of experienced centre backs in the squad. All the signs looked like Rio would join up with the team this week. He tweeted about it, Sir Alex said he would go etc etc. However his withdrawal smells of Manchester United, Sir Alex and Rio siding with club rather than country. If you look at the Paul Scholes  he jacked in England because he was being misused, he will probably pick up another Premier League winners medal this season. His career was extended by dropping England. Man United fans even sing a chant about United being better then England. Rio knows he can add a few years to his ...

 Starting at the bottom of the table it’s a huge game at Villa Park as Aston Villa host QPR. It’s really a must win game for both sides. They both come into the game off the back of wins last weekend. With QPR 4 points behind Villa they know a win will give them real hope of doing the great escape. However a win for Villa could see them kill off QPR. It will be a massive game for both clubs. I would say a draw is the most likely result. They both can’t afford to lose the match, but if I had to side with someone it would be QPR. With Zamora, Remy and Taarabt they have more ‘match winners’ then Aston Villa on their day.   After Reading sacked Brian McDermott this week they have the easy task of Man United away this weekend. You would expect United to take out recent disappointment against Real Madrid & Chelsea on the Royals. Wigan play on Sunday against Newcastle, both sides will be on a high, Wigan with their FA Cup Semi Final place and Newcastle with the Europa League Qu...

 This week in the Champions League Barcelona look to turn around a 2-0 first leg defeat to AC Milan. You would expect Barcelona to win the game a Camp Nou but keeping Milan out could be a problem. If the Italian side can sneak an away goal it will be a very tough task for the Spanish team. I predict the Italian side cause a shock and get past Barcelona. In the Schalke & Galatasaray game it's all square at 1-1 after the first leg. I would back the Turkish team in this one. With the fire power of Yilmaz, Drogba and Sneijder in their ranks I think they will get through to the next stage of the Champions League.  On Wednesday Bayern Munich will ease past Arsenal, they have a 3-1 lead and have won their last 5 games at home in all competitions conceding only 3 goals in that time. Arsenal have injuries and have to try and somehow finish in the top for in the league. Wenger must try to focus on the league and catch their London rivals Tottenham & Chelsea. In the other m...