Was thinking the same. Feels about as good a club (stature-wise) that RM will get, if he wants to be sure of a full preseason. I know there's Leicester rumours but I read from John Percy that the board are wary of public perception if they replace RvN with Russ
Underrated manager. Pretty sure a lot of Saints fans turned their noses up at him for a previous vacancy. May have even been the summer we appointed RM?
Seems to be someone who hasn’t figured out how to keep a team up, even though he clearly knows how to get them there. I remember Fulham fans saying he was the most negative manager they’d seen in his time there, no idea if that’s a recurring theme but looking at his Burnley sides goals conceded it may well be. You’d think a manager like that might have a decent chance of keeping a side up but he hasn’t made it work yet as far as I know
Hawthorns on the opening day then Would certainly add a bit of extra interest in games against them. Can see them having a bit of spice anyway after the way some of our idiots acted on the pitch towards them.
100% promotion rate is very impressive. Be interesting to see how they get on next season if they can sign some decent attackers.
Someone told me the other day that he saw a special with a bookie who was offering 1/2 on the three promoted sides getting less points combined than this years bottom 3. Seemed like a good bet to lay
I think Leeds will do much better than the three from this season. Burnley hard to tell. Play off winner will get battered most weeks.
Hard to say at this time before the transfer window etc but wouldn’t surprise me if there was a 10+ point gap from 17th to 18th. Agree that Leeds have the best chance to maybe do anything but they are still miles away from someone like West Ham who are 17th atm
Said a few times it's hard to see who out of the 17 are likely to even be in a relegation battle next season. Wolves if they lose Cunha? Possibly but their manager seems decent and if they reinvest well suspect they'll be okay. West Ham if they get off to a shocker, sack Potter, and make a poor appointment? Would still expect them to have too much. They seem the most likely but wouldn't bet on them going down. After that you're probably looking at perfect storm situations eg Bournemouth if they lose manager/players and recruit poorly - seems pretty unlikely though. Spurs and United will be better next season. Don't see any of Everton/Palace/Brentford being in trouble. Ditto Brighton/Fulham.
Yeah if I had to pick someone it would be Brentford personally. Said that this season as well so I probably just underestimate them. Think they have the weakest squad of the 17 who will survive this season. But compare them to any of the promoted teams and you’d struggle to have any of the promoted sides players in a combined XI. They have a transfer window to try and sort that out but it feels like a mammoth task to achieve in one window
Also would have Forest as one of the more likely to go down. European football could really effect their league form
Yeah I said them this season too and they showed me up a bit lol. Think they'll be fine as long as they keep Frank. Their home form is always decent and while you're right that they seemingly lack quality compared to others that also means they aren't likely to lose anyone and will have a settled squad. Palace could be an outside bet if they lose Eze and Mateta and sign poor replacements? But really this isn't even discussing those I think I might go down but more those that might be in a battle so it'll be tough for those who come up. If a Coventry/Bristol City/Millwall managed to win the play offs they could genuinely end up having a season like ours.
We speak about Palace possibly slipping every year if they lose player X, and yet they always seem comfortable enough without threatening the top half
They have a really strong front line with Mbuemo and Wissa, and Frank is a very good manager. Lose them, then possibly, but I don't see it.
Don't see it personally. They'll obviously be worse than this season but they have a lot of good players and a really good manager.
I'd be tempted to say Brighton might have a poorer season but I don't know enough about their squad to know who they might lose.
It’s funny as I have a mate who lives near Brentford and has a season ticket, but doesn’t support them. He reckons Wissa is the worst footballer he’s ever seen at any professional level and has no idea how he keeps getting picked or scoring goals. He usually knows his stuff as well so whenever Wissa scores he gets grief
