We Make it into Top 10 of the season

<div class="ss-art-subcol"> <p class="ss-text-caption">Barnsley celebrate Howard's winner</p><div class="art-col-links"><h3>Related links</h3><h4>News </h4><ul>[*]Top Ten: Play-off finals [*]Top Ten: Great Escapes [*]Top Ten: Chelsea v Man Utd [*]Top Ten: Own Goals [*]Top Ten: Seasons of disaster [*]Top Ten: Beckham for England [*]Top Ten: Title Run-ins [*]Top Ten: Goalkeeping Howlers [*]Top Ten: Strange Strikes [*]Top Ten: Manchester Derbies [*]Top Ten: FA Cup shocks [*]Top Ten: Chelsea v Arsenal [*]Top Ten: Liverpool v Man Utd [*]Top Ten: League Cup finals [*]Top Ten: Brits in Europe [*]Topical Top Ten [/list]<h4>Teams</h4><ul>[*]Barnsley [/list]</div></div><p class="ss-text-bold">With an exciting 2007/08 season finally over, skysports.com looks back at some of the highs and lows of a thrilling campaign. Send us your highs and lows of the season. Did we miss any moments out? Send us your views! </p>

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</p><h4>Blues axe Mourinho, September</h4>

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The writing had been on the wall a long time for Jose Mourinho but did anyone really expect Roman Abramovich to eventually lose patience with the hugely successful Portuguese manager? </p>

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Certainly not me! But it happened in September following a disappointing 1-1 draw against Rosenborg in the UEFA Champions League at Stamford Bridge. </p>

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Mourinho won virtually every trophy going during his three-year spell in London, however, one row too many pushed Abramovich over the edge, despite the coach's vast popularity among fans. </p>

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The former Porto coach's poor relationship with Abramovich was common knowledge, but the owner had become increasingly incensed with Mourinho at the start of the 2007/08 campaign over Andrei Shevchenko's lack of football and the side's inauspicious start to the new season. </p>

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Despite a host of big-name managers tipped to replace Mourinho it was Avram Grant who landed the job. Despite coming within a whisker of landing the Premier League and UEFA Champions League title he was sacked himself just eight months later. </p>

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</p><h4>England 2 Croatia 3, McClaren sacked, November</h4>

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Despite needing just a draw at home to Croatia to book their place at Euro 2008, England dismally slumped to defeat at Wembley to leave a nation on the edge of their sofas heads in their hands. </p>

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The Three Lions were robbed of the experience and quality of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney and it showed. </p>

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Steve McClaren astonishingly went for inexperienced Scott Carson in goal and the move backfired early on when he spilled Nico Kranjcar's hopeful shot from distance into the back of the net. </p>

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One soon became two for Slaven Billic's side with Ivica Olic doubling the visitors' advantage with just 14 minutes on the clock. </p>

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However, England, if nothing else, are resilient and they secured an unlikely lifeline through efforts from Frank Lampard (penalty) and substitute Peter Crouch. </p>

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But before fans could think about formalising their travel arrangements for Austria and Switzerland, Carson was beaten again, this time by Mladen Petric, leaving McClaren nowhere to hide. </p>

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The former Middlesbrough boss signalled his intent by affirming his desire not to quit, but with heavy pressure on the FA from fans he was swiftly sacked for England's failure to qualify for a major finals for the first time since 1994. </p>

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</p><h4>Keegan appointed Magpies boss, again! January</h4>

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Christmas came late on Tyneside last season, but when Santa finally did show up he was bearing the one gift the Magpies faithful craved the most - Kevin Keegan. </p>

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The return of the 'Geordie' prodigal son to St James' Park was met with the kind of mass hysteria not seen in the North East since Alan Shearer waltzed back to his roots in the summer of 1996. </p>

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His arrival was hailed as the moment the Magpies would finally shake off their shackles, rediscover their wings and soar back to the heady heights where their messiah left them a decade before. </p>

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Things did not go quite to plan, and the early stages of the 'Keegan revolution' brought no wins in nine and saw the club slump further towards the depths of despair, rather than pull away from it. </p>

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However, once the former England boss finally got his act together, only consecutive defeats in their last two Premier League fixtures dampened the increasing sense of optimism. </p>

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Much will be expected of the returning hero next year but, with Keegan himself admitting that the club are 'a million miles' away from challenging the top four monopoly, the Toon Army may have to wait a little longer for King Kev's coronation. </p>

</p><h4>Liverpool 1 Barnsley 2 - FA Cup, February</h4>

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Few gave Championship strugglers Barnsley any hope of progressing into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after being paired with Liverpool at Anfield. </p>

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However, no one told Simon Davey's side, who even fell behind to Dirk Kuyt's goal, the script. </p>

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On-loan keeper Luke Steele performed heroics in the visitors' net before Stephen Foster headed home Martin Devaney's cross, stunning the home crowd. </p>

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With the game delicately poised late on Barnsley thought they were denied a clear cut penalty in front of the Kop when Brian Howard was hauled down by Sami Hyypia. </p>

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Rather than dwell on what might have been Howard picked himself and within a minute had fired a low shot past back-up keeper Charles Itandje for a famous victory. </p>

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The shocks did not end there for the South Yorkshire side with Davey's troops stunning Premier League giants Chelsea in the quarters before they eventually lost to Cardiff in the semis at Wembley. </p>

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</p><h4>Birmingham 2 Arsenal 2 - Premier League, February</h4>

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February ultimately proved the beginning of the end of Arsenal's title challenge. </p>

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Arsene Wenger's critics had surprised many all season, but after letting a late lead at Birmingham slip from their grasp the wheels firmly fell off the wagon at St Andrews. </p>

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The game will be remembered for all the wrong reasons with Martin Taylor's sickening challenge on Croatia international Eduardo not only ruling the striker out for the remainder of the season, but also Euro 2008. </p>

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James McFadden opened the scoring only for a fine brace by Theo Walcott to give the Gunners a deserved lead. However, with Arsenal seconds from victory Gael Clichy brought down Stuart Parnaby in the penalty area to give Blues a priceless lifeline. </p>

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McFadden made no mistake from the penalty spot leaving Arsenal to ponder what might have been. The occasion was too much for William Gallas who staged a remarkable one-man protest at the final whistle. </p>

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</p><h4>Liverpool 4 Arsenal 2 - UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg, April</h4>

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The opening couple of encounters of these two sides' mouth-watering European-domestic trilogy in April had been a bit of a let down, but the third instalment happily lived up to the hype as Liverpool won an enthralling UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg 4-2. </p>

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This Anfield encounter tugged at the heartstrings of both sets of fans from start to finish and ticked every box in terms of drama, anxiety and excitement. </p>

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With the score poised at 1-1 from the first leg, Arsenal wowed their opponents with a stunning performance in the opening 45 minutes as Abou Diaby put the Gunners ahead, only for Sami Hyypia to head Liverpool level on the stroke of half-time. </p>

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After the interval Fernando Torres weighed in with a trademark predatory strike, but Emmanuel Adebayor appeared to be sending the Gunners through as he converted in the 84th minute following a wonder run from Theo Walcott. </p>

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However, seconds later the drama continued on Merseyside as Steven Gerrard converted from the penalty spot after Ryan Babel had been felled by Kolo Toure. </p>

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And Babel then ended a thrilling contest as he out-paced Cesc Fabregas to send Liverpool in to the semi-finals and leave Arsenal facing another empty-handed season. </p>

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</p><h4>Fulham survive the drop, April and May</h4>

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After six seasons of top-flight football Fulham were in real danger of dropping back into the Championship at the end of the 2007/08 season. </p>

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Lawrie Sanchez spent big last summer, but it was Roy Hodgson who was left at the helm to complete The Cottagers' unlikely battle against the drop. </p>

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With just three games left Fulham were all but down after trailing 2-0 at Manchester City. However, a brace from Diomansy Kamara sandwiched an effort from Danny Murphy as the West Londoners claimed a remarkable last minute success. </p>

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They ensured they would be in with a fighting chance on the last day of the season after brushing aside Birmingham City at Craven Cottage, but needed a win at FA Cup finalists Portsmouth in order to complete a fairytale finish. </p>

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With 17 minutes left at Fratton Park, Fulham were down with Reading romping home at Derby, but Danny Murphy nodded home Jimmy Bullard's free-kick to complete one of the most remarkable turnarounds in survival history. </p>

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</p><h4>Portsmouth claim the cup, May</h4>

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Although the final was a largely forgettable affair, no one could deny Portsmouth's long-suffering fans their day in the sun at Wembley. </p>

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Kanu was the hero for Harry Redknapp's side with his close-range effort after Peter Enckelman spilled the ball deciding the outcome. </p>

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It was the first time Pompey had won the coveted trophy since 1939 while Redknapp secured his first major trophy in a management and coaching career spanning 25 years. </p>

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Fans showed just what the success meant by showing up in their tens of thousands in Portsmouth city centre to see their FA Cup winning team. </p>

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</p><h4>Hull City promoted! May</h4>

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The vast majority of Hull City's older fans never thought the day would come when their side would be playing top-flight football, but that wait ended against Bristol City at Wembley. </p>

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Thanks to Dean Windass' superlative strike the Tigers were celebrating being in the top tier of English football for the first time in their 104-year history. </p>

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Hull dispatched out-of-sorts Watford in the semi-finals, although seeing off The Robins would be a much tougher challenge after they edged past Neil Warnock's battling Crystal Palace. </p>

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However, one goal proved enough with Windass' spectacular first-half shot from 18 yards enough to allow fans to relish the prospect of the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool coming to The KC Stadium next season. </p>

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</p><h4>Manchester United claim the Double, May</h4>

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The Red Devils may have endured a slow start to the campaign, but they finished as Premier League and European champions. </p>

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A late 2-1 defeat at Chelsea saw the title race go down to the final game of the season, while a 1-0 aggregate success over Barcelona saw them set up a UEFA Champions League final against The Blues. </p>

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Sir Alex Ferguson's side are masters of finishing the job in the league, the 1994/95 season aside, and they made no mistake this time around by claiming a 2-0 success at Wigan thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs. </p>

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Not content with securing their 10th Premier League title they then went on to see off Avram Grant's side in Moscow, although they did it the hard way by edging out Chelsea in a tense penalty shoot-out. </p>

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John Terry had the chance to win the trophy for The Blues, but following his miss Giggs converted his spot-kick before Nicolas Anelka had his effort saved by Edwin van der Sar sparking scenes of joy from The Red Devils.</p>

 

We Deserve The Credit

Much better than the Chelsea game (Y) (Y) (Y)

 

Man U winning the Champions League/Premiership double has probably blown it, but there's surely a case for us being voted 'Team of the Year' at the Sports Personality of the Year awards, for almost single-handedly breathing life back into the FA Cup by eliminating 2 of the big 4.

 

EXCELLENT POST!!!! I reckon someone should make a "Barnsley FC For Sports Personality Team Of The Year Award 2008" Facebook group and then nearer the time we can hopefully send the group to the BBC with thousands of people backing the cause. I reckon Chelsea and Liverpool (who both have massive fan bases) would both back us and anyone but Man Utd fans would probably prefer us to win it than them. It's surely worth a try......