This seasons relegation fight is no doubt the most exciting and unpredictable in years, with no team in the bottom half realistically safe until it’s mathematically certain.
For me, West Ham have shown just how topsy-turvy this season is. They were 2 points from safety after doggedly drawing 0-0 away at Chelsea on January 29th. A month and 4 games later- they were 4 wins better off and now lie
10th in the table. Good on Big Sam, because if he was sacked I don’t think they would have found anyone better or for that fact, stayed up. This goes to show that anyone could get relegated this season, but there are a couple of teams that look more certain than others for failure.
For me, West Ham have shown just how topsy-turvy this season is. They were 2 points from safety after doggedly drawing 0-0 away at Chelsea on January 29th. A month and 4 games later- they were 4 wins better off and now lie
10th in the table. Good on Big Sam, because if he was sacked I don’t think they would have found anyone better or for that fact, stayed up. This goes to show that anyone could get relegated this season, but there are a couple of teams that look more certain than others for failure.
Cardiff
 Tan told players "shoot more" after offering an illegal bonus. | I despise Vincent Tan. He is everything we do not want in football, yet there seems to be more Tan-like owners cropping up. I liked Malky Mackay and thought he at least deserved the season to try and keep them up. The win over arch-rivals Swansea was historic, but I think he could have beaten them 10-0 and still not have kept his job by the end of the season. Now Cardiff lie second bottom, three points from safety and have played more games than Sunderland, Crystal Palace and West Brom - the three teams above them. |
| I don’t mind Solskjaer and think his experience as a player will make him a good manager, but he has too big a task on his hands in my opinion. With 1 win in 10 games and 1 goal in the last 5 games, they play Fulham on Saturday which is a must win for both. Whoever loses that will seriously struggle to stay up and seriously fancy Fulham to snatch it there. Cardiff to finish bottom for me. |  |
Fulham
Shahid Khan doesn’t seem to have much luck in sports teams. Not only have Fulham been poor, his NFL franchise Jacksonville Jaguars likewise had a disappointing campaign in the NFL. Surely this man deserves a half decent club, if anything, for that magnificent moustache? Anyway, the fact is that Fulham have an awful defence, which leaks more goals than 90 of the 91 other clubs in England’s top four divisions (62). Only Crewe (63) have leaked more. Their midfield and attack aren’t too shabby however, plus Felix Magath has pedigree as a manager. I’ll take my hat off to if he pulls the great escape off, it may take some Roy Hodgson like magic from a few years back, the memorable 3-2 win away at Man City. IF (big if) they beat Cardiff, the momentum swings, because they weren’t too bad against Chelsea last weekend. I still believe Fulham will go down though.
Managerial changes
| Fulham and Cardiff are the stand out favourites to go down- but I genuinely can’t decide who else will go with them. All of five months ago, Sunderland and Palace looked the doomed ones at the end of October, but managerial switches have seen fortunes change. Gus Poyet and Tony Pulis have been shrewd and quietly brilliant, especially Pulis, because I didn’t give Palace a hope in hell five months ago. I find it baffling when a club switches their manager just because results are bad. Do executives not know that the same players (the ones who play the games they have lost) will still be at the club? The only person that is different is the man responsible for how they approach the game - the manager. Sunderland made the correct decision sacking Di Canio. The man was a mentalist and behind the scenes the club was being wrecked. But when you consider Fulham and Cardiff, their managers at the start of the season and their current league position, you have to question whether they were right. Tan certainly wasn’t and Fulham sacking Martin Jol still hasn’t proven to improve the clubs fortunes. Managerial changes have played a major part in the Premier League this season. |   |
what will happen come the 11th May
We wave goodbye to the 2013-14 Football on the 11th May, but who will go down? I did say that I didn’t know, but I’ll give it a go. Assuming Cardiff and Fulham are dead and buried at this point, it leaves one position to be discussed.
At the date of writing this (4th March) Sunderland’s last four away games are Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Man United, with their game away at Man City yet to be arranged. Ouch. I’ll be interested to see how they cope with
extra fixtures, both due to postponements and cup responsibilities. Should they beat Hull in the 6th round of the FA cup, you wonder where the priority lies for Poyet. I’ve already said I think Poyets done brilliantly, but his task will be very tough. However if they can take 5 wins out of home games against West Brom, Everton, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Cardiff and Swansea, the 40 point landmark is within touching distance. The other team, in my opinion, is West Brom. I still don’t understand how Pepe Mel is a better alternative to Steve Clarke- the man doesn’t speak English! How can you get your point across to your players if you don’t speak the language? (saying that, Pochettino hasn’t done badly). It just all seems to be going wrong at West Brom, results wise and off the pitch. They may just have enough in the tank, but this season has been extremely poor, especially after last year’s campaign. It’s a tough call, but I’ll stick my neck out on the line and say Sunderland to go down. Norwich and West Brom to finish just above them.
So there you go- Cardiff, Fulham and Sunderland to go down. Nice and boring considering they’re the current bottom three. Thanks for reading.
Birdy
At the date of writing this (4th March) Sunderland’s last four away games are Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Man United, with their game away at Man City yet to be arranged. Ouch. I’ll be interested to see how they cope with
extra fixtures, both due to postponements and cup responsibilities. Should they beat Hull in the 6th round of the FA cup, you wonder where the priority lies for Poyet. I’ve already said I think Poyets done brilliantly, but his task will be very tough. However if they can take 5 wins out of home games against West Brom, Everton, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Cardiff and Swansea, the 40 point landmark is within touching distance. The other team, in my opinion, is West Brom. I still don’t understand how Pepe Mel is a better alternative to Steve Clarke- the man doesn’t speak English! How can you get your point across to your players if you don’t speak the language? (saying that, Pochettino hasn’t done badly). It just all seems to be going wrong at West Brom, results wise and off the pitch. They may just have enough in the tank, but this season has been extremely poor, especially after last year’s campaign. It’s a tough call, but I’ll stick my neck out on the line and say Sunderland to go down. Norwich and West Brom to finish just above them.
So there you go- Cardiff, Fulham and Sunderland to go down. Nice and boring considering they’re the current bottom three. Thanks for reading.
Birdy
RSS Feed