When Manchester United eventually win the title – and they will despite the midweek fiasco at Wigan Athletic – it will be a victory with a slightly hollow feel to it.

They will have won it against the backdrop of a surprisingly ordinary Premeir League

Although the fact that it will be their 20th crown is obviously impressive, the truth is they will have won it against the backdrop of a surprisingly ordinary Premier League.

Because, let’s face it, this season has been anything but classic.

Yes, the teams challenging at the top end of the table have had their moments – the occasional excellent result, the odd sparkling performance.

But those have been very much the exception, not the rule. Generally speaking it has been a season of mediocre performances by a group of very average teams.

Can anyone honestly say, hand on heart, that any of the main contenders this season have been truly great? Can you single out any one team as being head and shoulders above the rest? Because I can’t.

United will have won this league almost by default. Apart from a few flashes of brilliance towards the beginning of the season, like the 8-2 mauling of Arsenal, their performances have rarely reached any spectacular heights.

Admittedly, they have been very consistent over the past couple of months, eating away at Manchester City’s lead and clawing their way to the top of the pile. But their success has not come through playing awe-inspiring, breathless football. They have been effective and efficient without ever really being superb.

I read recently that this is an average Manchester United side that is being dragged across the finish line purely by Sir Alex Ferguson’s will and determination. And I can’t think of a better way of describing it.

The truth is that the English game, certainly at the top end of the pyramid, is in a bit of a rut. The football on display among the traditional big teams has not been up to the high standards we have come to expect from what is allegedly Europe’s best league.

If you want proof that this is the case, you need look no further than this year’s European competitions. The two Manchester teams may have been the only serious contenders for the domestic title, but neither made it out of the group stages of the Champions League.

In past seasons the idea of the two ‘best’ teams in England not even getting through to the knockout stages in Europe would have been unthinkable. But not only did they both fail to do that, they also crashed out of their rebound competition, the Europa League.

And I believe that gulf in class between the English teams and their European counterparts has been reflected in the poor overall quality of this season’s domestic competitions.

The question is whether this is just a minor blip or whether the standard of English football is on a more serious downwards spiral. Personally, and maybe more through hope that expectation, I am leaning towards the former. Things have got to get better by the time August comes round.

Sir Alex will know, for example, that his squad is adequate when it comes to winning a poor Premiership. But he will be equally aware that it needs an injection of fresh blood if it is to regain its foothold in Europe.

City, meanwhile, have no shortage of fresh blood but none of United’s spirit. Solving that one is somewhat trickier because you can’t simply go out and buy a helping of team spirit. But I’m sure they’ll try throwing the chequebook at the problem anyway.

Arsenal are showing clear signs of revival and could be starting to fulfil their promise, although we’ve said that a few times before. And, if they can get some stability and rebuild sensibly, Chelsea could be back on course sooner rather than later.

Luckily it will only take one or two of those teams to get their act together and suddenly the prospects for the English game, both at home and on the continent, will start to look a whole lot brighter.

It will still be light years behind the Spanish, of course, but that’s a whole different story…

Rooting for David

On the subject of English teams in Europe, let’s all spare a thought for Chelsea as they march into the Champions League equivalent of the Valley of Death.

The sole remaining flag-bearers for English football face the unenviable task of taking on Barcelona in general and Lionel Messi in particular.

Like many, I don’t believe the London club have much chance of progressing to the final. Pound for pound, Barca are the much better team. Heck, they are a better team than everybody.

But cup competitions have been known to throw up the occasional surprise, so there is always a glimmer of hope.

Like I said previously, there is a gulf in class between the English and the Spanish game at the moment, this season in particular. And that gulf will be evident again on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.

However, the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba all know this is quite possibly their last chance of getting their hands on that elusive Champions League trophy. So they may just be ready to put in the performance of their lives over the two legs, which is probably the least it will take if they are to make the final.

I may not be a Chelsea fan. I may not even like them that much. But I will be cheering them on come Wednesday night for the sake of the English game as a whole.

It somehow has a David-and-Goliath feeling to it. And I always love supporting the underdog. Probably comes from decades of following Sheffield United.

Thrown to the Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ impending relegation from the Premier League should have taught the football club’s chairman an important lesson: if you’re going to fire your manager at a crucial stage in the season, have a back-up plan in place.

Mick McCarthy was sacked by the club in February after a poor run of form which culminated in a 5-1 home defeat to local rivals West Bromwich Albion.

Considering the way they were slipping down the league, McCarthy’s departure was not a complete shock.

What was surprising, though, was that Wolves owner Steve Morgan didn’t have some sort of contingency plan in place before wielding the axe. It seemed to be a spur-of-the-moment, spontaneous decision that wasn’t properly thought through.

What followed was a rather embarrassing spell as the club was rejected by most of the candidates it interviewed, including Alan Curbishley, Walter Smith and Brian McDermott.

And that meant it ended up handing the managerial reigns to McCarthy’s assistant Terry Connor. No disrespect to Connor, but it smelt like an act of desperation at the time. A run of seven defeats and a draw in his eight games in charge seems to indicate that’s exactly what it was.

I just can’t see the logic in getting rid of McCarthy only to end up replacing him with someone who had obviously helped get the club into a mess in the first place.

At a time like that, when you are battling relegation, you should do one of two things. Stand by your manager and give him the opportunity to turn things around.

Alternatively, sack him and bring in someone with fresh ideas and, preferably, a track record of saving teams from relegation.

Wolves did neither and now look near certainties to pay the ultimate price.

Maybe Connor will turn out to be a good manager. Possibly a great one. There is every chance he will work miracles next season and get them promoted again at the first attempt. He may one day become the best boss since Sir Alex.

But the simple fact is you just don’t give a man with no managerial experience the hardest task in football – keeping a struggling team in the Premier League.

It was an appalling decision and one that was unfair on the players, the fans and the man himself.

When Wolves’ fate is confirmed, the inquest will begin into the club’s demise. And the fingers of blame should not be directed at Connor or even McCarthy.

They should all be pointed at Morgan.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade