There’s nothing wrong with 17th place in tough EPL
With Manchester City running away with the title, apart from the customary scramble for European places interest in the remainder of the Premier league season appears to be very much on the battle for survival at the wrong end of the table.
At this stage it would be foolish to predict which three teams will be relegated because there are still effectively 12 clubs that could face the dreaded drop.
Ahead of this weekend’s matches, only seven points separated Bournemouth in ninth place on 31 points and Huddersfield Town in 19th. Rock bottom West Bromwich Albion were a further four points behind, but the way the season is going the Baggies could still haul themselves out of trouble if they cobble together a few wins.
As has been witnessed in recent weeks, all it takes is a couple of wins to send a team soaring up the table, while successive losses prompts a plunge into the depths.
The roller-coaster nature of the relegation fight is best exemplified by Bournemouth. On Boxing Day they were in 18th place, drawing 3-3 with West Ham and without a win in eight previous games. They looked in deep trouble. Despite this, manager Eddie Howe did not make any desperation signings and it seems to have paid off. This year the Cherries have enjoyed a terrific run including unexpected wins over Arsenal and Chelsea.
But Bournemouth must not get complacent and know they can slip down the table as quickly as they moved up. While by no means safe, they are definitely feeling a lot happier than they were at Christmas.
Speaking of Chelsea, f ollowing their woeful 4-1 defeat at Watford, The Guardian’s Barney Ronay came up with the wonderfully evocative observation that “Chelsea produced a performance that was like a 90-minute Viking funeral for the Conte era.”
For Watford it was a huge result which lifted them to 11th after having won only once in their last 12 matches. It was Javi Gracia’s first home game as Watford manager and he could not have wished for a better debut at Vicarage Road.
Most people agree that Roy Hodgson has done a remarkable job at Crystal Palace. When he took over, Palace already looked doomed and successive 5-0 and 4-0 defeats against the two Manchester clubs suggested he was fighting a lost cause. But a shock 2-1 win over Chelsea in October just gave a glimmer of what was possible and somehow Palace clawed their way up to 14th place.
But Hodgson has been desperately unlucky with a series of injuries to top players which has seriously dented the Eagles’ survival prospects. The latest blow is a knee injury to the outstanding Wilfried Zaha which could see the Ivory Coast star out for a long time. This follows last week’s huge blow when top scorer Zakaray Sako suffered a broken ankle and is out for the season. Half a dozen other first team players are sidelined which mean Hodgson will have to rely on struggling Christian Benteke, who appears to have lost all confidence.
Swansea City are suffering their own injury problems with Leroy Fer and Wilfried Bony out for the season. The Swans have shown improved form since the arrival of manager Carlos Carvalhal from Sheffield Wednesday, but are still far from safety.
Carvalhal expressed an offbeat view of his time at Swansea. “When we arrived the team was almost dead,” he said. “I wasn’t in the crematorium, but the team was there. The funeral car was waiting.”
Two teams hoping to avoid the funeral, Brighton and West Ham, clashed last weekend and it was the Seagulls who came out on top 3-1, sending Chris Hughton’s squad up to 13th, just behind the Hammers. Hughton was optimistic about his side’s survival chances but David Moyes expressed “disappointment” at the result as did the Hammers’ fans who are extremely unhappy.
Nestled together in 15th and 16th places before this weekend were Southampton and Newcastle and they will probably both settle for those spots at the end of the season.
Last week’s victory over West Brom was the Saints’ first league win since Nov 26 and a huge relief for under-fire manager Mauricio Pellegrini.
After the recent 1-1 draw against Palace, manager Rafa Benitez’s comment that “it could have been better, but it could have been worse” just about sums up Newcastle’s season.
It is just possible that the current bottom three before yesterday’s matches could be the teams that go down.
Bottom-placed West Brom have been playing more attractive football under Alan Pardew, but worryingly have not been getting the results. However, it is too early to write them off.
After a bright start to the season which included a shock win over Manchester United, Huddersfield have plunged down the table in alarming fashion.
Last weekend’s loss against United was their fifth in a row and the team that began as favourites for relegation are now back in that unenviable position.
Sitting in 18th place were Stoke City who considered themselves unfortunate to lose at Bournemouth last week.
“We should never have lost that,” said coach Paul Lambert who replaced Mark Hughes last month.
The relegation situation should become clearer in the next few weeks with many games being proverbial “six-pointers”.
With so much on the line, the old maxim of “there’s nothing wrong with 17th place” will soon be occupying the mind of many managers.