The Welsh giant Dunc Prawn continued to improve as a footballer, particularly physically as he made the big jump from League One (Following Plymouth's promotion) to the Premier League, joining Manchester United for £625,000. As expected, the centre-back didn't start many games for the English giants but was given multiple run-outs with the team, making a total of eleven appearances, four of which were from the bench. He did start the FA cup final alongside Rio Ferdinand however and his solid defending was an essential factor in their 3-1 win over Portsmouth to earn the Welshman his first major trophy. In spite of the quality of the Premier League, particularly in comparison with the third tier of English football, Prawn was still able to win every aerial battle he was involved in - winning seventy-four of seventy-four headers attempted. His pass completion and tackle success percentages were also very impressive at 90% and 91% respectively.
Fellow Manchester United youngster Kris Jackson was also a bit-player for the Red Devils this season, making a total of seventeen appearances for the club. This included twelve League appearances, making him eligible for a Premier League winner's medal which he accepted with open arms come the end of the Footballing year with Manchester United winning the League by seventeen points. He was also part of the FA Cup squad that was victorious vs Pompey at Wembley, meaning that the eighteen year old Scot now has two Major trophies to his name. He has already been offered a new contract from the English champions who are keen to keep hold of him after his promising performances in the season just gone, scoring three goals and setting up four when he was given the nod to play.
Watson wasn't really given the opportunity to impress for Inter Milan, with the Italian Club only allowing the English-Spaniard three appearances throughout the entire season, all three from the bench. Although he never actually made a cup appearance for the team, Stuart Watson was gifted an Italian Cup Winner's medal - the first major trophy of his short career so far. Watson was an important piece of the Spain Under 21s jigsaw in the Summer of 2012 where they travelled across the border to France for the French Youth Invitational competition, a competition that Watson and co. won with ease, winning both the semi-final and final 3-0.
Jack Kidd, although a very promising Left-Back, was unable to remove Evra from the position, only making three cup appearances for the club (including the Community Shield win) before being sat on the bench until January. Come the beginning of 2013, Jack Kidd asked Ferguson to send him on loan as he desperately needed first team football to progress as a player, the Manager agreed and sent him on loan to FC Twente of Holland where the Albanian quickly broke into their first team set-up. By the end of the season, he had made eighteen appearances for his temporary club. Though the final league position of seventh was very disappointing for the team, the defender was very pleased with the opportunity that had been given to him and if he cannot get more game time at United next season, it remains likely he will be placed on loan once more.
Yet another Mancheser United player who was in a battle to earn a first-team place this season was Milberto Carlos, and, although he didn't really manage it, was allowed to play nine games in total for the club. The Brazilian was anonymous in a couple of these matches, but definitely succeeded in reiterating his potential to both the manager and the fans in other games, scoring five goals and assisting another for an average rating of 7.31 for the year. Carlos was part of the FA Cup winning squad that bested Pompey in the final and that wasn't the only silverware he got his hands on this season, with the Brazil Under 20s winning the South American U20 Championsip. Carlos also spent a brief period on loan to Championship outfit Swansea, but was barely given any opportunities as he scored one and set up a goal in four appearances for the Welsh side.
Tirath continued his mediocrity for Reading in the thirty appearances he made for the club this season, setting up only seven goals and scoring just one, his first goal for the club, against Brighton in the third from last game of the season. In the next match, he was sent off, obtaining the first red card of his career. Despite never performing particularly well for Reading, the team was still good enough as a whole to achieve promotion to the Premier League, coming second in the Championship - level on points with Stoke but 2 goal difference inferior.
For some reason, Andy Burns is deemed as 'Indispensable to the club' at his new team Catania despite his perpetual mediocrity throughout the season for the Serie B outfit. The midfielder managed a single goal and five assists in his eighteen starts this season, with an average rating of 6.90. While former side Cesena moved straight up to the Serie A through regular promotion after finishing second in the league, Catania had to do it the hard way, struggling to - but succeeding in - getting through the play-offs. He was rewarded with a senior Cap for Switzerland, playing his first ever International game against Bosnia & Herz, a match that the Swiss dominated but failed to win as it ended 1-1.
Unlike last season, Michael Ofori was very much in the Brighton Manager's first team plans this season, making thirty-nine appearances for the seasiders. He scored his first professional goal (with the only shot he has taken this year) as well as adding to his assist tally with a further eight. His passing completion was once again at a health 75% and the young Englishman managed to get a youth cap for country. Despite this, Brighton were only able to finish directly in the middle of the table at twelfth. The central-midfielder is said to be attracting some major interest from Manchester United - the club the young lad supports - and a move is expected shortly.
West Ham's #25 didn't make too many appearances this season, starting only seven matches for the Irons and getting subbed on in eight more. Due to this lack of playing time, Redrup was only able to bag four goals for the team and didn't massively contribute to their impressive twelfth place finish. The eighteen year old has now played for England's youth teams on ten occasions and is said to be regarded very highly by the West Ham management, just not highly enough to start most matches apparently.
