Not because of Hughton. I think he was definitely the best candidate out there at the time and he did good stuff with both Newcastle and Birmingham. I'm worried because I really think the Prem is going to be very tough next year. There are no obvious strugglers. The three teams coming up will have momentum, which is crucial, and Reading and West Ham don't seem short of cash, so I fancy that all three may survive again. QPR and Villa surely can't be as awful again this time round, Swansea could go either way with Laudrup. Wigan will be down there somewhere, I imagine, but they always seem to pull it out at the last minute. West Brom could be in trouble - no one seems inspired by their new manager, but that makes them a hard call - who knows? Can't see Sunderland struggling with MON. That leaves Stoke as a possible struggler - maybe their style has finally been found out. On the other hand, they survived easily enough last year whilst also having the distraction of Europe. Can't see anyone else being involved in a relegation scramble. Fulham too many good solid players. Ditto Everton. Big Six no chance. Last year I was kind of happy-go-lucky at this stage because I felt we had nothing to lose and we could just go for it (which we did, with courage, brains and skill). This time we do have something to lose. I know these players now have a year's experience of the Prem whereas this time last year hardly anyone had played at this level. I also know we possibly have better players than we did at this stage last year (Bennett, Howson, Snodgrass) and that if Vaughan stays fit that would be like another signing. But I'm jittery. Anyone out there want to reassure me?
I can't say I particularly worried, if we get relegated then so be it, but then I have thought this way since NW got us relegated from the PL last time. I started to not let it bother me as there is bugger all I can do about it! I am not convinced the PL will be stronger this season though and there will still be 10-12 teams fighting for survival with the typical 4 or maybe 5 scrapping it out over the last 1 or 2 games. My thoughts on the teams VC highlighted on are.... Reading - They have some money behind them but I am not so sure they have enough strength in depth West Ham - Who knows. A team that "on paper" should have walked the Championship but didn't. I think they will survive but maybe just. Southampton - Should have enough to be fairly comfortable, providing their key players remain fit. QPR - Should do better this season but that is not a given, I would be surprised though if they were battling relegation again. If they are then then we will know their transfer policy really has not worked. Aston Villa - I DO think they will struggle again. They already have Bent and Agbonlahor unavailable for the start of the season. Just get a feeling another rough season awaits. Swansea - I don't really like to say this but I think they will have a harder time this season and perhaps a lot harder. I would not be surprised if they were in the bottom 5 or 6 for most of the season (but I would rather they had another good season). West Brom - Bottom 3 for me. Similar to Reading and a lack of quality depth to the squad. Sunderland - Too good to be in the mix Fulham - Same as Sunderland Stoke City - A team in real danger of relegation this season. They were very poor last season and appear to have done very little to improve the team or squad. Everton - As always. they are likely to be rubbish or inconsistent at best until November/December again but will be fine in May Wigan - Lost some good players in the summer and likely to be in the mix, can they survive? I hope not! Going by what I have written it would appear Norwich are likely to be there or there about BUT I see us being similar to Southampton. As long as our key players are fit, we should have enough to stay up again. At this moment in time my bottom 3 (in no particular order) would be...West Brom, Stoke & Wigan
I think you'll be fine. You'll have a tougher time of it and probably finish a bit lower but there are three worse teams for sure.
I reckon Swansea, West Brom and Stoke will be relegated with Wigan somehow avoiding it in the later stages of the season. They just appear to be by far the worst teams in the prem to me.
Not sure about the Swans tbh Josh, they are still capable of playing "pretty" football but with little penetration sometimes and same as last season if I was a Swans fan I would have my concerns about where the goals are going to come from, as was the case in the early part of last season.
I have a feeling WBA are going to have a mare of a season. They will be down there, i can see stoke struggling especially with the way they were second half of the season and believe Wigans time will be up this time. But there are so many teams at a similar level its really hard to call.
Don't know why people think Fulham will be so safe, they've lost Danny Murphy and Andy Johnson and if Clint Dempsey goes as well (which sounds fairly likely) that's the heart of their team ripped out. Definite relegation candidates for me, along with WBA, Swansea, Wigan and Reading who I think will find It very hard as I'm not inspired by any of their signings at all. Don't panic, we'll be fine
I share the concerns but it is a funny old game after all. If Holt fires as well as last year that will be crucial and the defence looks tighter in pre-season than in recent years so we should be O.K. I agree that WBA could be in trouble but it never goes to plan does it?
Well seeing as we've signed the highest scoring midfielder in la liga last season (apparently messi and ronaldo aren't classed as midfielders..) I think we will be fine for goals. We've also signed a CB who was a key cog in a defence that had the best defensive record outside the top two in la liga last season. However it's almost impossible to tell how they will fare in the premier league this season so here's hoping ey . Wigan, west brom and Southampton for me.
It will be harder this year than last for sure - as I have said in other posts the three promoted teams seem much stronger than the three that went down, QPR and the Villains should (but by no means guaranteed) have an improved season this year and there are about a dozen clubs who could get sucked into a relegation dogfight including Stoke and Fulham who haven't improved their squads over last season imo. We'll be in that mix unfortunately and there could be some anxious moments during the season but I reckon we've got enough to stay safe - our defence seems tighter (thank goodness) and that may be at the expense of the expansive football we saw last season, but if it makes us harder to beat then I'm happy and a bit more confident.
Pretty much sums up my views. I think we'll fare quite well, now that the backbone of the team have had experience of playing in the PL, but we have unknown quantities in our recent signings - especially Whittaker (though I've heard good things about him, I wonder how he'll adapt to the frenetic pace of PL football), but I'm hoping that they'll all be able to 'give the lads a hand!!' in ensuring our survival. If however we do get relegated, we'll just have to do our darndest to get promoted again.
Whilst the Danny Murphy point is fair, Andy Johnson played 14 league games last year and was far from being at the heart of the team. As for why people tend to group Fulham into the safe teams category, I would think it has alot to do with three top 10 finishes in four seasons. Not saying I think we are guaranteed to be outside the relegation scrap, but Fulham as a team is more settled than half of the Premier League. Honestly, any of 12 teams could be deemed relegation candidates: anyone from Fulham (ninth last year) down to the newly promoted teams.
He scored 11 goals for you though (ok, not sure how many in the league, but it proves he was still your top striker) and if you do lose Demspey as well that's almost 40 goals from last year gone. Do you think your new 31 year old Croat Bosman signing or the massively over-rated Hugo Rodallega with his huge wage packet are going to score anywhere near that many? I'm not saying you're relegation favourites, but you've not made any signings that inspire me at all and I'd be far more worried than in any recent season if I were you.
i tend to agree with this view on fulham. johnson was a bit part player last year, and murphy was replaced by diarra. yes they may lose their star players in dembele and demspey, but they have too many resources to on paper be involved in relegation. they have a very good academy and some of those are coming through - kerim frei and kalasnic (can't spell it, but he hit the crossbar against our boys at the cottage) are two now pushing the first team. Also rodeaga could be quality for him. it's too tight to call, we don't know what will happen. I too am worried about our chances, but not too worried as frankily what's the point of over-worrying!
Andy Johnson scored 8 goals in the Europa League. We don't have those games this year, so those goals are somewhat moot. Aside from the Europa League, AJ's three goals all came in one game against QPR. Bobby Zamora & Pogrebnyak both scored more league goals for us than AJ last year; to call AJ our top striker is something of a joke. The much more relevant point, which you also made, is Dempsey. Replacing Dempsey's goals is the challenge this year and to be perfectly honest, much like when Ronaldo left Man Utd (I am not saying Dempsey is as good, but he had similar importance to us last year), his departure will change the way we play. So it is hard to tell at this point who will need to come up with the goals. Anyways, there are legitimate concerns for us this year. But to imply losing AJ will affect us is misleading.
Why do people think Rodallega is any good? 24 goals in 112 games for Wigan including TWO in 24 games last year is hardly what I'd call "quality" to be honest. He's crap. Yet another player who doesn't live up to his exotic sounding name, it amazes me how so many people are convinced by players just because they have a foreign name. I forgot about Dembele, if he goes as well then surely Fulham will be in trouble if you ask me.
Fair do's mate, that'll teach me not to do proper research! I've always rated him and he's always caused us problems, though I'll admit he's not the player he was so point taken
