Out of all those teams still in with a chance of Auto´s or a place in the P.O´s (say the top 10) Which ones, with all things taken into account, do you think will stand a real chance of staying in the prem next season ?
Non bias but i think Leicester have the best chance, as we have some bankroll. Cardiff i think are a strong team and Bellamy is a great influence, i think they have a chance. Watford i think are one of the weaker teams up the top, but due to their italian influence and Udinese agreement they could spring a suprise. Hull are a team with improving players (chester, hobbs etc) and i think would go down, but go down fighting. apart from that id say the others have little to no chance on paper, but often its the smaller of the 3 teams that puts up the biggest suprise!!
Hull would struggle unless they invested a considerable amount on firepower. They struggle to score in this league never mind the prem Watford could go either way. They would even do really well or completey struggle. Cardiff i think would just survive I think we would be lower mid table.
I think that any of the current squads (with the possible exception of Watford and their unusual foreign links) will really struggle in the premier league. Cardiff have a strong all round squad with some very good individual players - maybe not the most exciting football but defnitely very effective in the Championship. I think they would stand a fair chance of keeping their head above water and doing reasonably well in the relegation league that most new teams find themselves in when they go up. After Cardiff I think both Leicester and Hull City would definitely struggle but might just be better than the perennial strugglers at the foot of the league. I've been unimpressed by Crystal Palace - some great results but inconsistent and I think just lacking the overall physical strength that seems to be a big factor. Of the current "outsiders" I think Blackburn could also survive amongst the strugglers but suspect that, if they don't make it back soon, may go into meltdown.
We'd all get relegated with our current squads, but if promotion would see us all improve our squads, so it's somewhat academic.
I think even if we were to get promoted we'd probably be a bit of a calamity in the Premier League. Owners will see an opportunity and sack Pearson, and we could go all QPR.
Wigan may be a small team, but they're clearly very well organised behind the scenes, and have a knack of appointing good managers- I really rate Martinez as a manager and a bloke for that matter. One of my mates is a Newcastle fan and seems to think it's very unfair that Wigan stay up because they're usually crap early in the season. Not sure he quite gets the concept of a table, he seems to think that the Premier League gods grant them safety for a couple of good results.
Thats debateable Apart from James McCarthy they dont have a player that I would "really" want us to sign.
Thats debateable Apart from James McCarthy they dont have a player that I would "really" want us to sign.
Gary Caldwell, Arouna Koné, Shaun Maloney, Franco di Santo, Maynor Figueroa are all players I'd take.
Caldwell is crap Kone looks decent but very hit and miss, Di Santo has alot of ability but doesnt score the goals to back it up. Maloney looks like an upgraded Gallagher. Figueroa is a good player but i wouldnt be too excited if we went for him
McManaman has looked good in this match. But he is playing against Huddersfield, hardly the standard Wigan have to play week-in, week-out.
I think, given Bruce's experience in the Premier League, we would be the most likely to stay up. Not only has he done that, he has kept them up comfortably, some finishing mid table! I do, however, agree with OLM, we would have to see who strengthens their squad, and who goes up first.
IMHO there is a lot of 'elitist' crap spouted about Wigan - facts are there for all to see if you are prepared to look beyond the 'small club with **** support rhetoric" - well run club often spotting talent that goes on to 'bigger' things e.g Valencia, Moses - they have a very good manager who gets them playing (and in an attractive manner) but usually has to do it in the latter parts of the season due to having to bed in new players because their better ones are 'cherry-picked' during the close season / transfer windows Uncomfortable as it is we have to face up that they just crushed a club that we looked very average against - why? - because man-for-man currently they are quite a bit better than any of us right now
The only thing truly poor at Wigan is their support. They have a 25,000+ seater stadium, and get around 18,000 fans (which is more then QPR, but Loftus Road holds just over 18,000), which is poor for a top tier side. The team itself plays decent football, they have a good manager in Martinez, are well-run behind the scenes, and even though they usually stay around the lower end of the table, they get the results and have good performances when it matters most. If they had kept players like Moses and Valencia they could easily be around 10th. Back to the original question, and although I believe at least one of us will get promoted, I agree that it is way too early to predict what will happen once one of us is there. Around late July/early August is the time to start predicting.
