Managerial Merry-Go-Round Should Give Boring EPL a Much-Needed Boost

The EPL is drastically in need of change before it becomes too predictable and boring. And with the new managerial buzz surrounding various clubs, next season could prove to be the best yet.

2012/13 could arguably have been the most boring season in over 30 years.

Many might say anything would be an anticlimax compared to last year when Sergio Aguero’s stunning injury-time strike won Manchester City the game and the title.

But in all honesty, that season was more of an anomaly than the usual.

If you were to tell an avid fan last August how the final table would end up looking, do you think he’d be excited?

My guess is no.

No shocks, no surprises and not a hint of a title race in sight. The same five clubs at the top of the table, the perennial strugglers slugging it out at the bottom—it’s not really highly exciting stuff.

You can argue the vast under-performance of Manchester City and Newcastle plus the emergence of Swansea and West Brom would raise a few eyebrows, but it’s not headline-making material.

The EPL is widely believed to be the most exciting league in the world. One can always expect a great atmosphere, fierce competitiveness and committed players.

But, as a competition, it’s chronically short of genuine surprises and real magic.

There are two reasons for this.

The title is normally done and dusted weeks before the season has concluded and the ridiculously small number of clubs that genuinely have a legitimate shot at glory.

How many exciting EPL finishes can you remember?

I’ve got two—last season’s Manchester City injury-time winner ("Aguerrrrrrrrroooo") and Newcastle United’s heated challenge to Manchester United ("I would looove it").

But I’m scratching my brains for another cracker in the last 20 years.

How many clubs have won the league in the last 51 years?

The answer is a miserly 11 and only four in the last 18.

Compare that with the NFL in America where the last 18 Super Bowls have crowned 11 different champions.

American football operates on a policy whereby the worst-performing teams of the previous season get the very best college players for the following year.

It’s an excellent system and although that particular method would be flawed in England, something like that needs to happen in the future.

Imagine 11,12  or 13 different teams having a legitimate shot at winning the title every year.

Manchester United have won the title for the millionth time—brilliant, amazing, fascinating.

Does anyone really care that much outside of Manchester?

But what if Stoke had a genuine shot next year? Or Norwich finished above United and Chelsea. Maybe Aston Villa could sneak into the Champions League places?

Now that’s exciting if not a little far-fetched in today’s modern society.

It’s just frustrating that the gap between the top-five teams seems to be getting bigger, not smaller, and that’s not good for the league.

The lack of Champions League progression this season also indicates that this is not a particularly good thing.

But with a new era at Manchester United, Chelsea awaiting “the Special One” and Manchester City supposedly looking for Mr. Pellegrini, there is the element of the unknown again—and that can only be good for the EPL.