Welcome to The Premier Hub! Your number one source for the latest in English Premier League news, rumours, drama and controversy. Here, you'll find regular updates as the 2015/16 season comes to a close. Team members: Kwabena Nsiah, Karina Kouck & Pavith Ganewatta. Each member contributed to The Premier Hub with numerous blog posts, Twitter updates and masterful acting in our video. We hope you share our enthusiasm of the English Premier League as much as we do and enjoy what we have put together here on The Premier Hub!
Leicester City F.C. supporters turned out in full force to celebrate their Premier League Champions in an open-top bus parade through the Midlands. The event was truly remarkable for fans who likely never even dreamed of one day holding the title. The Foxes chipped away at their 5000-1 odds with their consistency each week, and their underdog status no doubt helped the team not to feel the pressure that the bigger clubs often feel. Hundreds of thousands of fans numbering some 250,000 lined the streets in the heart of Leicester City, hoping to catch a glimpse of manager Claudio Ranieri and his championship players, as well as the Premier League trophy — adorned in royal blue and white. The crowd cheered as one by one, the players reenacted receiving the trophy atop the bus, with captain Wes Morgan saying:
"What we've achieved this season has been fantastic and the boys and the staff... and the fans, everyone has contributed to it and it has been a fantastic season and you can't take that away from us."
The Foxes finished well ahead of their closest rivals Arsenal and Tottenham. No one can deny that the team are deserving winners.
The final match of the 2015/16 EPL season between Manchester United and Bournemouth at Old Trafford was called off due to a bomb scare. Over 75,000 fans were evacuated from the stadium with the match postponed. Concerns were first raised when a life like pimp bomb was found in the toilets, prompting immediate action by the stadium management. Following evacuation a police sniffer dog and army bomb disposal squad were dispatched to clear the threat.
New reports have revealed that the bomb was a fake training prop used by the stadiums security during an exercise earlier in the week. The training prop had accidentally been left in the stadium bathroom until it was discovered on match day. Head of Security, Chris Read has taken full responsibility for the incident, apologising for his breaching of protocol and the trouble it led to. The game has been postponed to the 18th May and will mark the end to an exciting EPL season.
Özil was the driving force behind Arsenal's title push, using his uncanny ability to
spot that killer pass to split the defence which earned him 19 assists this
season. This was the most in the Premier League with his closest competition
six assists behind him, emphasising the talent at his disposal.
It's no wonder
that a player of his calibre would want to hold off on recommitting to
Arsenal. Özil is reportedly waiting till after Euro 16 to put pen to paper on
any new contract, leaving Arsenal fans worldwide gasping for air at the
prospect of his departure from the North London club. After a frustrating
season full of inconsistency and below par performance, it does not come as a
surprise that the German midfielder has one foot out the door.
Tomáš
Rosický announced his departure from Arsenal F.C. to the masses during the 4-0
victory of Championship bound Aston Villa. The man they call "Little
Mozart" for his incredible ability to orchestrate the game received a
guard of honour from his teammates, most of which wearing his Rosický number 7
jersey, to commemorate his ten years of service to the North London club.
The
Czech captain has left his mark on the club, scoring some memorable
goals. However unfortunately his career has been marred by injury. On average, the
Arsenal midfielder played 20 games a season over the span of his time at
Arsenal. His prolonged time out due to injury will leave fans pondering what could have been.
Arsenal's all-star goalkeeper, Petr Čech, will receive this season's Golden Glove Award after managing to keep 16 clean sheets. This ties the Czech with Manchester City's Joe Hart, who has also been the recipient of the award a record four times. Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City stumbled at the final hurdle, both conceding goals in their final matches — Hart to Swansea City and Schmeichel to Chelsea. However, Čech may not be the sole winner. Manchester United are still yet to play their final match after the bomb scare at Old Trafford, with David de Gea also vying for the award having kept 15 clean sheets so far. A final clean sheet will ensure the Spaniard gets to share the award with the iconic Czech Čech.
Everton
were on the rise, building on the success of the long-term manager, David
Moyes. Over his eleven years of management, he built a hard-working squad of
determined underdogs to take on the giants of the league. In his final year of
commanding the Toffees, Everton finished in sixth place and qualified for the
UEFA Europa League.
His successor, Roberto Martinez continued the upward trend,
finishing fifth in his first season in charge and accumulating Everton's
highest points tally of 72 points. That was the end of the good news. In
Martinez's following two seasons, the Merseyside boss failed to finish in the
top half of the table. Under his management, Everton had won one game in his
last ten games and to rub salt in the wound, they lost 3-0 to the relegated
Sunderland. This saw his immediate dismissal and an end to what started off as
a promising career. With Roberto Martinez's future unknown, Agbonlahor very
well may have found a new drinking buddy.
