There’s nothing wrong with 17th place
Not for the first time, the Premier League has morphed into three leagues in one as the clubs head towards the final straight.
There’s the usual top half-dozen teams vying for Europe, if not the title, the middle eight or so not vying for anything in particular but happy to be out of the relegation scramble and the bottom group who know they have to brace themselves for the scrap of their lives to stay in the top flight. Most of the latter group would certainly settle for 17th place.
We’ve got Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Hull City in the bottom three, but Swansea, Leicester and Middlesbrough are only one point ahead of Hull. And above them, Bournemouth and Southampton are not exactly home and dry considering their current poor form.
At present there is a five-point gap between Bournemouth and Boro, but the south coast team will have to improve rapidly if they are to retain that cushion. The Cherries were ripe for picking at Goodison Park last weekend when Everton ripped through a hapless defence for a 6-3 victory.
The situation at the foot of the table is changing week by week. Despite being at the very bottom, Sunderland will have renewed hope after their extraordinary 4-0 away victory at Crystal Palace last week. Manager David Moyes was even sporting a hint of a smile in his post-match interviews.
“We can do it,” he said and they have a chance to maintain the momentum today with a home game against the shaky Saints who have the worst form in the League.
The win did not lift the Black Cats from the bottom, but they now have the same points as Palace whose manager Sam Allardyce was definitely not amused. Goodness knows how many packets of chewing gum Sam went through in that dreadful first half at Selhurst Park. Allardyce commented that his team were “playing with fear at home, and I’ve got to get rid of that fear”.
Allardyce, who has never experienced relegation, apologised to the Palace fans for his team’s wretched performance. To show it was not just talk, he ordered his players to attend a special Sunday training session at the uncivilised hour of 7am.
One manager far happier the way things have been going is Hull City’s Portuguese boss, Marco Silva. In their last two games Hull have drawn away at Manchester United and beaten Liverpool 2-0 at the KCOM Stadium.
When Silva joined the club it was in disarray, with an unpopular owner and bottom of the league. Silva notes diplomatically, “When I came the atmosphere was not the best.”
But things have changed, although they’ve still got the unpopular owner. After last week’s stunner over Liverpool, Silva commented, “Today I saw a fantastic atmosphere. Now our fans play with us.”
Despite selling their best players, Hull have looked a much more solid outfit during Silva’s brief tenure. However, he will have his work cut out today away to Arsenal.
With f ormer Bayern Munich assistant manager Paul Clement in charge, Swansea too could be seeing light at the end of the tunnel after dumping a number of managers. Recent defeats of Liverpool and Southampton have been the source of great encouragement.
They were also a little unfortunate at not picking up a point at Manchester City last Sunday, despite being overwhelmed in the first half.
Swansea have a huge game tomorrow when they take on last year’s champions Leicester City, whose troubles have been well documented as they tumble down the table to wallow in the relegation battle. Leicester are the only Premier League team that hasn’t scored in the league this year.
Manager Claudio Ranieri earned a brief respite on Wednesday night with a 3-1 win over Derby County in the FA Cup. Unfortunately, there was only a smattering of first-team players involved in the Cup action, so just how big a confidence boost it is remains to be seen. For some unexplained reason, players that shone last year, like Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, are just not clicking this season.
Leicester’s Thai owners are in a difficult situation. This week Ranieri heard the less than comforting words that he has “the full support of the board”, often a precursor to a manager getting the chop.
While Leicester remain in the Champions League, Ranieri should be safe. But if he can’t turn around the Premier League form he could be in trouble, no matter how nice a guy he is. Bookmakers still tip him as the next Premier League manager to be fired, with Middlesbrough’s Aitor Karanka a close second
Ranieri summed up the situation as only he can, explaining: “Last season was a fairytale. This season is not a fairytale.” No one would dispute that.
The Italian still maintains a certain endearing charm when he confides, “It is the same as last season. I speak the same s----- English and they still understand me.”
Tomorrow’s game at Swansea is huge. Defeat could send the Foxes into the bottom three and all its accompanying horrors and pressure.
Middlesbrough’s main problem is that they can’t score goals, having netted a paltry 19 times in 24 games, winning only four games all season, the lowest in the league. In contrast, their defence has played solidly, conceding fewer goals than Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City.
It would be foolish to predict which three teams are destined for the drop. There are sure to be some upset results and it could go down to the wire. And remember, there’s nothing wrong with 17th place.