e.g Us beating Spurs last season at WHL. i'm not sure about the Saints, i want them to stay up, but if QPR get out of it, who goes instead.
There is IMO a massive hype around Harry at the moment. It isn't cast in brass that he is going to turn it around. He is not at Spurs now. He doesn't have a reasonably good squad that he can improve by adding two or three expensive buys. He has a poor squad that needs six or seven commited players. A Scott Parker for one, for instance. It is OK for the media to rave about Tarabt after one good game but he doesn't do it often enough for a team at the bottom of the table. Yes, Wes has been great for us since he was in the starting line up but it has been the partnership between Tettey and Johnson that has allowed him to flourish. It's the get down and dirty guys that get you out of relegation.
its also easy, as pundits keep telling us, to say qpr are now only 5 points adrift but they will still need to win about another 9 games to have any chance of survival! where do those wins come from? can't see qpr staying up. had they sacked hughes three weeks earlier i'd have given them a 50-70% chance of survival. now i wouldn't even give them 10%. failing to win those three games they drew when harry first came in could cost them. they'd have won them had harry been there a few weeks
At the halfway stage of the 2010-2011 season (i.e. after 19 games), Blackpool had 28 points and were 7th in the table. The three teams in the relegation places -- Fulham, Wolves and West Ham -- were level on 16 points, with Wigan and Birmingham above them on 19 points. Birmingham amassed a further 20 points in the second half of the season, but were relegated in 18th place. Wolves managed 25 points and survived. Blackpool managed just 11 more points from their 19 games and went down on 39 points. (Fulham, equal bottom after game 19, improved impressively in the second half, got to 49 points, and finished 8th.) As superman says, it would require a truly epic collapse on City's part to reproduce Blackpool's plunge from 8th to 19th. Far more likely is that the relegated teams will come from those already two or three wins behind us.
My view is that QPR need to win at Newcastle to get back in touch and that's a big ask when they only got draws with Sunderland,Wigan and at home to Villa.
Hi again guys. I'm a Reading fan as many know, but I'm not surprised that Reading are seen as such firm relegation candidates. Something smelt bad from the pre-season campaign, the only wins coming against AFC Wimbledon and Palace, with draws to lesser tier sides and a win-less 3-match tour of Portugal. Even then we were chopping and changing; it seemed the forwards above all couldn't be decided. Unfortunately it's been proved that our numerous new signings are not doing any better than the first team last season - whereas last January Jason Roberts made a very notable impact as a winter transfer winter signing and really injected something into the whole team. We are not playing the same side two games running at the moment; even McDermott appears clueless as to how to get the team to 'click', and that confidence factor is so important as we all know. I think that in the relegation team of 07-08 there was far more confidence in Steve Coppell, but then by December we were still mid-table; it was a terrible second half of season, but even then many consider it bad fortune the way events played out last two or three games (Portsmouth playing a very weakened side against Fulham to rest players etc.). But above all, that record points (106) team of 2005-06 in the championship was already premier standard - it was the backbone of the side for the following two seasons (remember first season up we were one place and one point off Europe!). To the contrary, last season we punched above our weight due to collective mental strength and determination shining above ability, and perhaps a bit of good luck too. In retrospect we needed more new players and certainly more higher class expensive players coming in, but the club didn't want to risk too much ... so we are sadly paying the price. But ... I'd like to say at the same time how refreshing it is to see Norwich doing so well; too many people's relegation choice as well, but happily proving all the doubters wrong. My hat off to all of you ...
pogrebnyak smelt like an owner signing rather than a manager one - as soon as he was signed i was worried about reading. i'd initially backed them to stay up as i liked their manager and they played quite direct, a bit like we did last season, getting plenty of balls into the box. i felt they might be able to surprise a few teams. early in the season i believed that prediction was a fair one as they did well at stamford bridge but i think their manager has sadly been found out to be tactically naive. he's just not aware enough to change things and adapt. when we visited the madejski stadium a few weeks back we performed really poorly, possibly our worst showing of the season (even worse than fulham away and liverpool home!) yet reading were incapable of breaking us down, they never looked like a threat to us. we could easily have won that game but for the merest of touches from a defender before holt pounced with a free header. victory against everton followed and you just wondered if they could get a run together but if anything i think they've gone backwards this season. i genuinely feel they would be better off writing off this season (unless they take 6 points from the next 9) and concentrate on bouncing back next season.
Dead right! I think we were uneasy that there seemed no obvious partner for the 'Pog' up front. McCleary promises a lot, but basically does best on the SAME right wing as Kebe. Guthrie looked a good driver, a motor figure, but according to Brian can't adapt to the team play. And so on ... it seemed a team of disjointed talents who can't adjust to each other. There are hopes - Le Fondre is doing more than decently for a player recently in League Division 2, the goalkeeping strength is always good at RFC, Shorey has done better than I expected, but you need to majority, not the monority, of the team to click in the premier - there is no charity here!!
It strikes me that, for clubs like Southampton and Reading, having money to spend in the summer following promotion to the EPL is a bit of a poisoned chalice. If there is not much in the kitty, there's no alternative but to stick with the players you have, with maybe a couple of modest additions, the priority being not to de-stabilise the successful side that won promotion and so carry the same confidence and momentum into the new season. With money to spend the temptation is to bring in supposedly better quality "Premier League" players, often from abroad. Since those buys are often completed only in August, the inevitable result is you start the season with an unsettled squad trying to adapt to a new style of playing and get used to new colleagues. We were spared this dilemma last year because we were strapped for cash and had no option but to go down the first route. But IMO that is the right way to go even if you do have money to spend. Stability, confidence and momentum are initially more important than putative "PL quality". If you need to strengthen more, do it in January when your weaknesses have been clearly exposed.
Good post, Robbie I think Lambert gained kudos by sticking largely with the squad that got us promoted. The common misconception that you have to spend zillions to survive in the top flight was shown to be flawed by players like Pilkington, E Bennett, R. Martin who helped us get there - and helped us finish mid-table. This will not have gone unnoticed by Villa - or any other club who had kept an eye on our progress under PL. Especially when compared to the perilous - and expensive route that QPR took/continue to take.
i think reading have done a similar thing to us, bringing a few players in. most of those have been in the wide areas, so mcrcreary (wing), gunther (RB), Marriapa (CB?), the Pog up front. what they haven't really improved much is the spine of the team which are either those from the championship or youngsters. it hasn't quite gelled for them either. saints on the otherhand have spent big on a couple of luxury players, well Ramirez is luxury, and Rodriguez, but also some players in key positions eg yoshida. edit - for us, we bought quite a few players for modest sums, E bennett, Pilks, morrison etc.
I wonder who 'Arry might try to buy in Jan (rumours I've seen is that he will stick to the TF principles - ie EPL experience and expecting approx £50K a week). The thing is, as a player would you want to be joining a club in the lower reaches of the EPL, or joining one higher up the league if a similar contract was on offer??
Not me personally but if they are mercenaries and get a release clause in the contract (which they would) - yes.
Absolutely! The problem with the QPR version is they throw their wealth in your face, then when it goes pear-shaped they accuse us of being jealous! We don't get any of that from Reading or Saints and definitely not from Swans!
Spot on Dave - I think more teams could do well to epitomise the Norwich/Swansea model. Reading claimed they were going to and then they sign the 'Pog' and reputedly (disclaimer - I may be wrong) pay him a sizeable salary!!!
My thoughts exactly about us , if we go straight back down . Next Boing Boing team IF it means stability ? Yes Please !!!!!! That's IF we go back up !
