sports📡 ESPNcricinfoMay 27, 2026👁 0 views

Who gets Nevin's unwanted award?

Who gets Nevin's unwanted award?

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Pat Nevin - Former footballer and presenterWed, May 27, 2026·1 min read

I hate ending the season on a downer, but we need to consider which club has had the most awful campaign, considering their resources and history.

It can't be Burnley or Wolves; they are with all due respect 'yo-yo' clubs. Spurs can obviously try to claim the booby prize not only for abject performances but a lack of spirit for large parts of the campaign.

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West Ham take the official prize as they have been relegated, but the post-Christmas reawakening under Nuno means that there will be great hope they can bounce straight back up.

Though the manager will get some abuse from a section of angry fans, their ire should be and generally has been aimed higher up in the West Ham food chain.

For pure underperformance at vast expense with some incredible talent available, Newcastle get a shout but Chelsea must also be well in the frame for the wooden spoon. Tenth in the league is beyond the pale with the one possible hope remaining.

Hopefully Xabi Alonso might be a Chelsea manager at last allowed to do his job without constant controlling by a group that have got rid of a host of top football people.

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They have done this with a total lack of the ability, or personal insight, to see where the real problem lay all along.

The rest of my column has a new home – on the BBC Sport website.

‌Click through as I decide who is the manager of the season, whether we should ditch in-game guards of honour and I say goodbye to Pep Guardiola