The Bottom Three - Take 2

Jesus...What happened there? The last thing I wrote about was the bottom three and who I thought would be going into the Championship next season. I’ll fully admit when I’m wrong and I’m rather glad I was in respect to Leicester. I was almost certain they were dead and buried not so long ago. Now look at them. safe for another season and rubbing shoulders with some of the more established clubs in the league.

As for the other teams down there, I fully expected them to go down. QPR were starting to show signs of life after Chris Ramsey took over as caretaker manager but sadly the damage had been done and will find themselves playing against nobody teams like Leeds…

I was disappointed with them going down, like I said in my last post I don’t understand how these guys find themselves in the situations they do. Got a strong squad but it just doesn’t mesh together well enough. If they can keep players like Phillips and Austin I think they will definitely have the attacking capabilities to gain promotion but it’s their defensive frailties that will let them down as they have done this season. Possibly Sylvain Distin...in my opinion I’d rather have Sylvester Stallone at the back, every match would end as a ‘cliffhanger’ (see what I did there.)

*9/10 - very strong chance of bouncing straight back*

Second bottom on goal difference is Burnley the team that desperately wanted to stay up just because they have a squad full of strong hard working players which actually work for their wage. I prefer players so much if they work hard to make up for their lack of skill (come on its gotta be better that skilled players who can’t be bothered).

The team they had was definitely too good for the Championship but with little to no improvement on the squad has seen them far very short of the safety line sadly. No blame can be put on Sean Dyche of course as that bloke has done well with the resources available to him, at the end of the day though football is a money game and without spending millions of pounds you can’t expect to stay in the top division.

As for next season I think they also have a good chance of going back up depending of course if they can get someone to compliment Vokes in the same way Ings did when they went up in 2014 (obviously Ings isn’t the answer as he is probably going to be with Liverpool/Man Utd next season). Personally I think Jonathan Walters could be just the trick for them to bounce back, age isn’t on his side but he will nick goals for them with his poacher style of play and goes hand in hand with their hard working ethic. Or Matty Fryatt for the same reason.

*7/10 - possible to bounce back but need an Ings replacement*

~ Side note: I’m guessing I’m gonna get stick from some Burnley fans with that comment but I honestly think because he’s free and aging he’d snap Burnley’s hand off for another chance at a promotion push ~

The last team that is currently taking up the last relegation spot is Hull City who I in my opinion have the talent to stay up but have lacked a consistent goalscorer/creator. That plus their leaky defense has slowly sunk them to this position now. I said in another post that Hull defenders are good enough for this league but have not been putting in the performances that I’m sure Hull City supporters are used to seeing.

I personally thought Shane Long could have been a crucial factor in Hull’s mid table safety this season but was not replaced well enough. The inconsistency of Jelavic and Sagbo and the unknown quality of Hernandez has just been added to what is a bad team creatively. Having Elmohamady, Brady and Quinn being some of the main creators in the team just shows how difficult it would’ve been for any striker. They’ve even had Livermore in a more creative role...think Tom Cleverley meets Tony Montana.

Only 1 game left and it is a must win game against a more out of form Manchester United side with a possible third place finish to play for. Could happen...more shocking things have happened.

Next is Newcastle who sadly for me deserve to get relegated form wise. For me their season is now out of there hands, they have 1 game left against West Ham but for me they could be playing my Pub football team this Saturday and the Magpies would probably struggle. This one was the biggest shock for me as I thought Newcastle were too good for being a relegation battling team but with a combination of the lack of attacking quality along with clueless behind the scenes dealings has caused the club to look more and more like a Mickey Mouse operation than an established Premier League football team.

You have to feel bad for the Newcastle fans who have to watch their beloved club, that at one point were challenging Manchester United for the Premier League title, now reduced to having to make do with average first teamers in a below average squad being coached by a man who, like any of us in his situation, is struggling. Sissoko is good enough for any Premier League club, Arsenal will probably top the list for him and I’m sure Mike Ashley will be happy to snatch the first measly offer from Arsene’s hand.

I read somewhere that Mike Ashley would sell the club if they were to be relegated so if I was John Carver I’d do anything I could to get points deducted just to make it happen. But you know he’d try and weasel his way round saying “No one will match my £10 billion asking price.” The man is destroying the club from the inside out and the sooner he is gone the better.

Last team in the dog fight is over in Wear Side where Sunderland can still be relegated if results don’t go their way. With two games left for them (firstly against Arsenal which will be a tough ask and the second against Chelsea which is an even tougher ask) they stand the strongest chance of survival. With two teams below them, one of which is Newcastle, they seem all but safe in my eyes as it’s gonna take some truly shocking results to make The Black Cats a Championship team.

Last season it was Wickham’s goals which kept them up but sadly they seem to have dried up this season (which is annoying for me as I had him in my dream team…). The strikers aren’t the problem in my opinion anyway, the midfield is where the problem lies as Sunderland haven’t got that player who pulls the strings and can create the five or six chances that Defoe, Wickham, Graham or Fletcher would thrive on. There’s not many better in the Premier League who can whip in a dead ball better than Seb Larsson so you’d expect more goals from set pieces defenders than there has been. But no, chances have been limited to half chances snatched at and some pieces of good play.

I fully believe Sunderland can get a result in one of their next two games as Dick Advocaat is getting them playing good football and just setting out a team not to lose. With this tactic they could easily nick a goal on the break against Arsenal or even Chelsea.

As for next season, if they can get Adam Johnson firing on all cylinders like everyone know’s he can then Sunderland can look forward to a more comfortable season. Especially with a coach like Advocaat at the helm.

Anyways that’s all I have to say on the bottom three now. Looking forward to seeing both QPR and Burnley at Hillsborough next season and good luck to all the clubs still battling. Please feel free to comment your opinions on who you think will go down or to tell me how wrong I was about your clubs.

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Cheers for reading.