It seems to me that folks get sore when their team is in peril.We had QPR fans kicking off when they knew the writing was on the wall now it's Wigan in the firing line.But whichever way you look at it they are the team with it all to do.The sides on 37 and 38 are all capable of getting clear of trouble with a single win.Wigan need two wins unless Villa fall apart,that is just a simple fact of life,I certainly wasn't having a dig or saying that I wanted you to go down.
True story. I pretty much had PMS at the start of the season when we were losing every game and leaking goals like a sieve.
Ron Vlaar of all people scores from thirty yards...Mignolet must not have seen it, because he should have saved it.
I would tend to agree that Wigan have three wins in them and will not go down. They know what is required to stay up and as demonstrated by their performance at st. Marys, have a manager who is technically intelligent and will gear his teams to grind out the results - largely against teams with little to play for (other than Arsenal and Villa.) I didn't think they would get anything against SPurs but we unlukcy to lose - this means that they have one more point than I would have predicted. The situation changes each week. Villa can turn out performances to avoid the drop and Sunderland seem to be firing on all cylinders. I would fear for Norwich and Newcastle but Saints are by no means safe. We should have won on Saturday but I can only see us getting any points against Stoke as we will lose to both Spurs and Sunderland. We need to have another performance against Spurs to make sure we are not sweating on the last game and we have shown that we can "do" the bigger clubs. I'm not sure that this will be possible without a recognise LB. Come the last game of the season I think Wigan, Villa, Norwich, Newcastle ansd Saints will see themselves under threat. It is odd that I would never have seen Stoke overtake us a few weeks back but this league seems to change each week.
Don't forget the other (bigger name) players out on loan. There's no guarentee that Barton, Cisse, Ferdinand and Faurlin will remain where they are. As it goes, I personally don't see anyone coming in for Taarabt. Well, not an English team any way. According to the Guardian, Cerny, Murphy, Ben Haim, Campbell, and Hulse are all out of contract. Apart from maybe Campbell, I can see all being released.
What seems like months ago now, I said that 37 points would never be enough this year. I then revised that, saying that I didn't think 40 would be enough. If Wigan do what Wigan have done for the last few years, even one more win might not be enough!
Look again at what Wigan did last year.They were never adrift to the extent that one win would not lift them to safety.I checked on statto and they remained in touch throughout.Now they are adrift by five points WBA is a nust win for them.
I guarantee you that one more win will be enough, with our goal difference we would effectively be on 43 points, which would already be enough.
In fact the club to come out of tonight the worst is probably not Wigan, their task hasn't really changed, it's Newcastle. They now have the joint worst GD out of the 3rd spot contenders, with West Ham, QPR and Arsenal to go. If West Ham beat them then they are in the ****, with realistically only 1 away game with a reasonable hope of points.
All the teams in bottom group love Wigan right now. I would be on sedatives if it wasn't for Wigan. Cannot believe Newcastle's plight...losing so badly at the same time as Villa's big win....almost looks like a fix. Their GD advantage has been hammered.
Saints are safe,end of.With the GD Wigan need 8points to overtake you even if you don't get another point.Sunderland are well back in it.
I am analyzing the death out of that 7 point plus GD advantage. Just want Wigan to lose to WBA on Saturday, so they will need to win 3/3, then I will feel almost secure (almost, because I am a Saints fan).
No need to panic yet. I think we probably only need one more point this year. Bear in mind many of the teams below us still have to play each other before the end of the season - so teams below us will be dropping points. If Wigan lose on saturday - then they really have to win all 3 of their last games - which doesn't seem likely (Swansea, Arsenal, Villa). We might drop down the league a bit, but we would need to lose the rest of our games and have a lot of other games go against us to relegate us
For the above to be correct, you have to throw Sunderland in the mix also. They play Stoke next and IF they don't win, they go into the game against Saints potenially on 37 points with two games to go with either Villa or Norwich above them (they play each other saturday) and possibly Wigan above them too if they win the next two games. Note, I said IF.
This is one massive weekend, the biggest so far in my opinion. Norwich-Villa is massive; the winner, if there is one, is safe. No question. The loser, if there is one, is in deep, deep trouble should Wigan beat WBA - especially given that their remaining two games include either Chelsea (Villa) or Man City (Norwich). Sunderland-Stoke isn't anywhere near as massive, but it is still very important. This is Sunderland's (second) chance to secure survival. Win, and they are safe. Even a draw would not be the end of the world for Sunderland. But with no Fletcher and no Sessegnon, where are the goals coming from? If Sunderland lose, and with an away trip to Spurs yet to come, there would be every chance that they'd have to beat us to survive. West Ham-Newcastle is on a par with Sunderland-Stoke. This is Newcastle's chance to get that final win on the board, and secure safety. But they're having a rotten time of it at the moment, have injury and suspension problems of their own, and are coming up against a strong West Ham team at home. And do you really think that Sam wont take a small bit of joy from potentially relegating Newcastle? Alarm bells are being rung at St James' already; lose this, and it's red alert time, especially considering that a home game to Arsenal still remains. WBA-Wigan is everyone's saviour. Wigan lose that, and ourselves and Norwich could probably both lose our games 5-0 and it would not matter. Even Villa, Sunderland and Newcastle, should either or all lose, would take one massive step towards survival should Wigan lose this. Is two wins going to be enough to save Wigan (ie 38 points)? Touch and go. But by losing this one, the only way they could possibly better 38 pts would be by avoiding defeat at The Emirates. A tough, tough ask. At the very least, ourselves and the winner of Villa-Norwich (or Norwich, if a draw) would not need to worry in the slightest about Wigan getting themselves up to 38 pts. I've not included our game because A) we're almost certainly going to lose, and B) we're the closest to 40 pts, and hence in the least danger. All six of us still have one game remaining against a top five side. And that starts with us, this weekend. Yes there's bound to be one surprise, but by and large you would expect all six of us to lose that one particular game, be it Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea or Man City.
