Interesting piece on the plight of the current relegation threatened sides. http://www.espnfc.co.uk/barclays-pr...ue-relegation-battle-is-intensifying-already?
Yeah, although I question the effort put in when the thing they say will send us down is a lack of goals and yet we have scored more than any of the other teams in the article... I don't totally disagree with the statement (we do need to score more goals when we are getting into good positions) but that needs to be clarified because at the moment the article sounds a bit poorly researched
It's all a bit vague as each team is being judged by a different journo. Rob is right that we have scored more goals than any of the others. We have lost more points through individual errors, IMO, and AN has made big strides to cut those out in the last 3 matches, which makes me feel more confident about the future. If we can hold the likes of ManCity and Chelsea to a one-goal margin, then we can also win the matches we need to win from here on out. Mbokani is improving and adjusting to the PL, Mulumbu is finally match-fit and Brady, Jarvis and Redmond offer a real threat on the wings. We need another CB, another striker if any leave and I'd like to see a goal-scoring AM added as well, if Andreu isn't able to step up.
Just to bring the relegation mini-league up to date with Swansea now added: Swansea: Leicester(h), ManCity(a), West Ham(h), West Brom(h), Palace(a) Norwich: Watford(a), Everton(h), ManUtd(a), Spurs(a), Villa(h) Sunderland: Arsenal(a), Watford(h), Chelsea(a), ManCity(a), Liverpool(h) Bournemouth: Chelsea(a), ManUtd(h), WBA(a), Palace(h), Arsenal(a) Newcastle: Liverpool(h), Tottenham(a), Villa(h), Everton(h), West Brom(a) Villa: Southampton(a), Arsenal(h), Newcastle(a), West Ham(h), Norwich(a) Sunderland's next 5 games look pretty unforgiving, as do Bournemouth's and Newcastle are only a bit better.
It's also worth pointing out that Swansea and Newcastle will have played one more home game than us and all the others in the first half of the season.
If I were a swans fan I'd certainly be looking over my shoulder nervously. They were garbage at our place and can't seem to buy a result currently. Gradually they are being dragged into the mire and hopefully if we can get something against Waford we will nip ahead of them. You have to hand it to Bournemouth despite all of their injury problems they must have a hell of a team spirit down there to be digging out results.
I do like Bournemouth and if we wasn't in a relegation battle, I'd be rooting for them to stay up. As it is I have to hope they'll do rubbish, but they did well to comeback to get a 3 - 3 draw.
Swansea are now only 1 point above us so whatever Monk says, they're into the battle for now. Watford, West Brom and Stoke are still on the fringe. We can have an affect on Watford if we do well on Saturday.
Villa 4/9 Unchanged 4/9 Sunderland 1/2 Shortened to 2/9 Bournemouth 6/4 Shortened to 17/20 Norwich 8/5 Lengthened 9/4 Newcastle 13/8 Unchanged 13/8[/QUOTE] After this weekend Villa 4/9 shortened to 1/4 Sunderland 1/2 lengthened to 8/13 Bournemouth 17/20 legthen to 10/11 Norwich 9/4 lengthened to 5/2 Newcastle 13/8 shortened to 11/10
I know what you mean, Thurnby, but then it'd be surprising if they didn't react to results. Taking a point off Arsenal with a good performance should improve our odds slightly, whereas Villa losing at home should worsen theirs. I'd be surprised if any of the 'pundits' would say that we have a better chance of survival than Newcastle.
We're 2 points away from where I'd have liked us to be at this stage (largely due to our awful October). However, things are looking a fair bit healthier now than they were at the end of October due to our good results against Swansea and Arsenal. I'd like us to target 6 points from December (originally I'd targeted 5 points from December, but IMO we've got 2 points to make up!).
Any points gained from ManUtd away or Spurs away would be a bonus, so it's really 5-6 points from Watford, Everton and Villa. That makes the Watford match particularly important as they could be dragged back into the relegation scrap. A win against Villa is also crucial.
I'm pretty annoyed Poch has gotten Spurs playing so well because we usually get at least 1 win off them a season and I just can't see that happening now. Oddly enough I can see us getting a result against United. I think we'll beat Watford, lose to Everton and beat Villa so that'd be 7 points. If only it was as simple as that.
I think we've shown that we can compete with the top teams after draws against Liverpool and Arsenal and running both ManCity and Chelsea close away from home. Arsenal are the only big club we play away in the second half of the season. 6 or more points in December would keep us on at least a point a game towards at least 38 points by the end. I'm also confident that we'll continue to improve as the season goes on and stay out of trouble.
Have to agree with your post RER and the December games are some of the most important. If we gain a MINIMUM of 6 points, our league position should improve considerably (yes, I realise teams around us will pick up points as well), but we need to move up the league to tempt the better players/targets to join us.
Looking at the table, Watford is one of those teams like Arsenal and Leicester who have done better away than at home, so that could prove to be an advantage for us given our new tactical approach emphasizing counter-attacking. Looking forward to this one.
One of the factors which could be a big influence in the relegation battle is injuries. Bournemouth now have 10 players injured and Newcastle have 9 out. Our major injuries have been Mulumbu early on and Jarvis recently, though he must be nearing a return now. Tettey is also out at the moment, but hopefully that won't drag on too long and we do at least have plenty of cover there. It could have been a lot worse, and let's hope our luck continues. Here's the full table of PL injuries: http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php
Given our descent into the bottom 3 despite battling back against Everton, I thought it's time to revive this thread with a look at the final 3 games for the relegation mini-league: Swansea: West Ham(h), West Brom(h), Palace(a) Norwich: ManUtd(a), Spurs(a), Villa(h) Sunderland: Chelsea(a), ManCity(a), Liverpool(h) Bournemouth: WBA(a), Palace(h), Arsenal(a) Newcastle: Villa(h), Everton(h), West Brom(a) Villa: Newcastle(a), West Ham(h), Norwich(a) Sunderland look to have the hardest fixtures, but we're not far behind. Unless we can produce a surprise or two in the next two games, we're really depending on a win over Villa to even stay in touch with those above us.
