nottsblue wrote:There are now thirteen PL games left. For which three teams do you think it will be unlucky!
Leicester are in barely chartered waters of being in danger of only the second reigning Champions to go down. Their form of late is shocking and they haven't scored in their six PL games I believe.
Palace also are in free fall. Will BFS be able to work his limited magic and save them? Their home form which for ages has been good has deserted them this time around and they like a team bereft of ideas and confidence.
Sunderland you feel must go down sooner or later and with Gollum in charge it's likely to be sooner. Every year they seem to be in a dogfight and they just manage to scrape through. Maybe that's why their nickname is the 'Black cats', because they have so many lives?
Hull and Swansea looked certainties at Xmas, but both have done well under new management of late and they have some momentum going into the business end of the campaign. New signings have refreshed them and given them a bit of impetus.
Middlesboro are by no means out of it and their impotence in front of goal could be their undoing. They are relatively solid at the back, especially at home but the lack of killer instinct is worrying for them.
Imagine Bournemouth, Watford and Burnley are safe with what they have. But as we know only to well from 1983 is even mid table teams can get sucked into a relegation battle.
Myself, I think it will be Sunderland, Palace and Middlesboro. I hope I'm wrong and Leicester go down though in place of Middlesboro.
Shudder, shudder, but you're right NB.
Quite often, a side which looks relatively comfortably placed in mid-table, at this stage in the season, gets sucked into the mire. However, I just can't see, for the life of me, Southampton, Burnley or Watford, at the moment, entering the quicksand, so Bournemouth, who are just below this trio, might be contenders in this scenario.
It's brewing up to be a real dogfight at the bottom, from now until the end of the season and it'll probably be a bookies' delight but Leicester are in something of an unfortunate position; Ranieri seems increasingly unable to galvanise the side so that they play themselves out of trouble and, to add to the equation, he's just received the dreaded vote of confidence from the Board.
However, if they now sack him, who will they get to save them from the drop, as who, of any proven calibre, would be prepared to risk his/her reputation in a relegation battle with a side which looks increasingly doomed ?? They could try promoting from within, but that might only be more of the same so, they could be damned if they sack Ranieri and damned if they don't. Moreover, the side already looks as though they're losing the will to fight their way out of trouble, as well as losing the belief and confidence in themselves.
Of the three already in the danger zone, I think Palace might just sneak out because of the BFS factor and their far superior goal difference compared to the others. The other two look like complete 'no hopers' but Hull, with their new manager just might have it in themselves to escape the drop, whilst Sunderland have only Gollum's 'magic' to draw upon; which is no magic at all.
So, for me, it's Bournemouth, Leicester and Sunderland, but I wouldn't put your money on it NB, let alone mine.
