Premiership Relegation Battle

[LarryTalbot]

So now that the championship has been awarded to Chelsea, the excitement still lies in the bottom of the table. The standings are as follows:

Southampton: 31 points
Crystal Palace: 31 points
West Brom: 30 points, maybe 31 if they get a point off Arsenal
Norwich: 30 points.

With 2 games left to play, West Brom with 3, which team would you like to avoid relegation from a realistic and fan's point of view? For me, the avatar says it all. I love how Norwich plays, always on the attack. But as you can see from the goal differential, these lads don't know how to defend. Before the Southampton game, they were very fortunate in their results as Newcastle and Charlton missed numerous attempts. But the Southampton game really showed how porous their defense is. I really want the Canaries to make it, but realistically, that goal differential will haunt them and getting the full 3 points from Birmingham is realistic, but Fullham has played well as of late.

Realistically speaking, I think the Eagles from Crystal Palace have the best shot of surviving this battle. Andy Johnson is always an offensive threat, and even though he is accused of diving to create penalty chances, he constantly makes the defenders work their tails off so he doesn't drill one past them. In their schedule, they have Southampton and Charlton remaining. The Southampton game will be huge for both clubs, and I think the Eagles have a better defensive game, if any, than the Saints.

West Bromwich most likely won't make it just because of their horrible schedule. With Arsenal tomorrow, the Hawthornes have to face Manchester United and then a winnable game versus Portsmouth. While the other 3 can pick up a potential point in their remaining games, West Brom can probably get a maximum of 3, and that is against the Pompey. Southampton is not strong defensively, but striker Peter Crouch is always a threat. They face Crystal Palace on saturday, most likely a high scoring event. But, they wrap the season against Manchester United, a team that has dominated them over the years.

So my pick: Crystal Palace.

Thoughts appreciated

 

[HinesWard86]

It's amazing.....the thought that we might have to deal with another year of having Crystal Palace in the Premiership, where they most certainly do not belong. Wild, now I can say I know 3 Norwich fans....unbelievable, are you as in love with Darren Huckerby as the other two are? I think Southampton will go through by beating Crystal Palace this weekend. Southampton is a better team than Crystal Palace and should show it. Regardless, if Crystal Palace does manage to survive this year, they will definitely be gone next year. Sunderland, Wigan, and probably Ipswich are coming up to the Premiership next year. Sunderland I'm sold on, they won't finish in the bottom 5 next year, they'll be a mid-level team. Wigan and Ipswich I don't know so much about though. I forget which one would have to play in the playoff right now but weird stuff always happens there. Maybe West Ham or Reading could come back up as well.

 

[LarryTalbot]

Huckerby is a gritty player, and you will always expect a full effort from him on the pitch. I think he has some kind of statistic that says he is the most fouled player in the premiership. I like watching Mckenzie and Ashton play, they have great potential to perform well in wherever they go. I think Ashton is a loan from Crewe, but I'm not positive. Coach Worthington is a humble figure, who is one of the few who relies mostly on the "i will coach you like i am still a player" method. However, when the team was really struggling, he changed the formation and got a win against manchester united.

The only reason why Crystal Palace may beat the drop instead of Southampton is, if the game ends in a draw this weekend, then Palace faces an out of form Charlton while Saints face United at Old Trafford. But, if Southampton wins this weekend against Palace, they'll have the best chance of surviving then. I agree that if Palace or Soton make the drop, they will be in serious contention next year. Something tells me that Charlton won't be so hot next year and Blackburn, the most boring team in the premiership, will make some noise for a european cup bid

Sunderland will do well in the Premiership, and they are definitely capable of putting decent results against the big guns. I'm not too familiar with Wigan but I think Ipswitch would struggle, as their results in the championship look very inconsistent. They also seem to concede a lot of goals or they would score a lot of goals, reminds me of a Norwich.

It's not definite whose going to survive this drop; Heck, West Brom would change everything if they actually notched a win today.

 

[honestabe]

hey wildemu, nice to see another norwich fan at theRX.
i think that our only chance to stay up is to take the maximum 6 points from our final 2 games.
with our goal difference 4 points probably won't be enough.

if we're good enough to stay up we'll beat birmingham at home, and in the final game face fulham who have nothing to play for now that they're completely safe from the drop. it depends who chris coleman plays and he may give some kids a run. so it's not unthinkable that we will get 6 points.

you're right that crystal palace will probably beat charlton who are on their usual post-christmas slump, so we have to hope for a draw between palace and soton.

dean ashton isn't on loan. i'm not sure whether he'll stay if we go down. he's been brilliant but i hope that his spell with us has been too short to convince others of his talents. long-term i think most the team will stay together if we're relegated. ashton may go, and i think thomas helveg won't want to play in the championship. as for the rest of them, as much as you and i like leon mackenzie i don't think he's shown enough for a prem team to sign him. and robert green has had a inconsistent season so may not go either. that may depend on what sven has to say to him. so even if we go down i think the team is much stronger for another run at getting back in the premier league and staying there.

hinesward86 - whoever finishes 3rd out of ipswich and wigan faces the lottery of the playoffs. often the 3rd placed side struggles; after getting that close to automatic promotion they aren't as up for the playoffs or maybe more nervous than other teams. it seems the form side often goes through, like palace last year, or birmingham several years ago (knocking off norwich in the final). so derby may be a good bet as they're on a good run. but of course derby, preston and reading all have zero chance of staying up if they make it.

anyway, come on the yellows!