My posts have gone from relegation a slight possibility February, to certainly possible March, to now approaching probable. The goal difference advantage has almost disappeared in one go today, momentum is firmly downwards, the media are laughing at us again, and although the players have slightly more ability than McCarthy, Keane and Sgrabia's teams it seems they have less fight and less goals in them than say, Jones Cisse (and Bent).
Steve Bruce has brought in his own set of players but on this form are they really better than the previous set? The January transfer ins and outs are looking increasingly disastrous. And unlike previous eras there are no really poor EPL teams who you can rely on to go down
The teams that have no momentum are Sunderland, Blackpool and possibly Wigan and on current form those three would be favourites to go down along with Wolves who have lost Doyle. Our five or six point gap could disappear by the last game of the season or before.
We seem not to have much ability or fight so what we must rely on is some luck. Perhaps with Liverpool effectively beating us with a penalty, West Brom beating Liverpool with penalties, maybe we'll get something from the ref at home to West Brom. There have been an increasing number of heavy home wins in the EPL recently so maybe we are due one though I am clutching at straws.
Maybe we caught Man City on good a good day and we might just hold our own against the lower teams? I think the key thing is to try and steady the ship with draws against WB and Wigan - defeat away to Birmingham seems inevitable - and hope perhaps 40 points is enough. I could see us losing the matches after that on current form. The dreaded "needing something from last two matches" is looming.
However, even if we avoid relegation by some chance, next season will be a struggle.
Steve Bruce must create some anger amongst the players after today and convert that into a performance against WB. Just by ES saying "relegation is not an option" doesn't mean we can't go down. Its very much more than an option unfortunately.
Steve Bruce has brought in his own set of players but on this form are they really better than the previous set? The January transfer ins and outs are looking increasingly disastrous. And unlike previous eras there are no really poor EPL teams who you can rely on to go down
The teams that have no momentum are Sunderland, Blackpool and possibly Wigan and on current form those three would be favourites to go down along with Wolves who have lost Doyle. Our five or six point gap could disappear by the last game of the season or before.
We seem not to have much ability or fight so what we must rely on is some luck. Perhaps with Liverpool effectively beating us with a penalty, West Brom beating Liverpool with penalties, maybe we'll get something from the ref at home to West Brom. There have been an increasing number of heavy home wins in the EPL recently so maybe we are due one though I am clutching at straws.
Maybe we caught Man City on good a good day and we might just hold our own against the lower teams? I think the key thing is to try and steady the ship with draws against WB and Wigan - defeat away to Birmingham seems inevitable - and hope perhaps 40 points is enough. I could see us losing the matches after that on current form. The dreaded "needing something from last two matches" is looming.
However, even if we avoid relegation by some chance, next season will be a struggle.
Steve Bruce must create some anger amongst the players after today and convert that into a performance against WB. Just by ES saying "relegation is not an option" doesn't mean we can't go down. Its very much more than an option unfortunately.
