Going Down
 

We're at the business end of the season now and with roughly 10 games left who are the three clubs who'll be playing Championship football next year?

I think we can all agree that West Brom are doomed and then it's any two from the next 8 or 9 teams with Middlesbrough, Blackburn & Portsmouth the favourites to join the Baggies although looking at this current form table Newcastle & Hull need a rapid improvement and fittingly they meet this weekend. Newcastle could certainly do with a win as they then face Arsenal & Chelsea so could be in a very precarious position in a few weeks time...

Re: Going Down
 

I think playing Chelsea or the Arse is the best possible time seeing they have FA Cup and Champions League games. There team selection may be weaker as they try to underestimate us.

I dont think we'll go down. Think it'll be the Smogs, Baggies and Stoke.

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Incidentally, these are the latest odds so it looks like the bookies have Stoke & Boro as faves to join West Brom with Newcastle & Hull not far behind

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Chelsea maybe but the Gunners are fighting for that lucrative fourth Champions League spot so I'm sure they'll take the game very seriously

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if we play as well as we did against man u, with our midfield returning from injury/suspension/prison/the dead then i think we've got a better shout than the other teams being mentioned. but it's scary stuff! typical that we get chelsea and the arse just when they're remembering what it's all about again...

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I figured this thread.....on the "dirty" forum....in the "technique" subcategory.....was about something else.....

the thread title.....is....nevermind.....

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i honestly wouldn't be able to say, seriously any of the 8 teams above WBA could go down

if a team puts a run together they can get out... Spurs are still in trouble... but Newcastle's forthcoming games look very dodgy...

its gonna be interesting...


i'm gonna stick my neck out and predict WBA, Portsmouth, Boro, in that order...

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the bottom 8? they all deserve to 'go down'

baggies for def
stoke cos they're shite
Hull because of their squad size.......

but then again..........

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We're away to Villa and then have our bogey side Chelsea at home so we too could be in a very precarious position in a couple of weeks but we've still got to play Blackburn (away) and Newcastle & West Brom (home) so if we pick up points in those matches I think we'll be safe

Massive win for Blackburn last night and it's certainly going to be an exciting run in at the lower end of the table

Re: Going Down
 

Handing Blackburn 6 points this season is perhaps the worst thing Fulham could have done in an already stressful season. Welcome to the struggle, yet again, Cottagers.

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Great result for Spurs yesterday and I think that's enough to put us out of trouble looking at our remaining fixtures. However, if we didn't need the points so badly ourselves I would have been happy with a loss yesterday as it'd be nice to see the Big Four monopoly broken up this year but I don't think that's going to happen now as Villa have a tough run in

Re: Going Down
 

Are you still thinking that? ;)

Think Hull are in serious trouble now and it's an absolutely massive game for Newcastle next Monday against Portsmouth as Boro & Hull are both likely to lose this weekend with games against Arsenal & Liverpool, so a Newcastle win would move them to within one point of safety and really put pressure on the clubs above. Lose to Portsmouth though and I think you're doomed...

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I think the 3 that are going down are the 3 that are there now. Brom / Boro / Toon. Simple as that.

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Agreed.

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i agree - for once....

and the top three will stay the same too if anyone cares about the title ;)

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I rarely look in the lower reaches of this board...
but seeing as I have, I'm a Saints fan.

Looks like we're down, thanks to Lord Mawhinney's infinite wisdom, was it just me or did he seem to enjoy that a bit too much?

I didn't really think we'd get away with the "it's not the club" loophole, so we deserve the same fate as Luton, B'mouth etc
It's no fun reading that we'll get -10 if we finish outside the bottom 3, or -10 next season if we get relegated all by ourselves.

Thank God the board has gone, time for a new dawn at St Mary's, fingers crossed.

As for the Prem, Fulham have been great to watch this season (mostly at home) as have Villa, at times.
Newcastle & Boro have been shocking, and in the spirit of the underdog I'd hope that Sunderland and Hull stay up in their place.

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to be fair stan, i do not believe how shit that is......penalise the fans for some financial fuck up aint right....end of:(:(....what has the financial stuff got to do with the team and the supporters? .....not their fault so why penalise them?

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I agree, it's always the fans that suffer.
But if other clubs have suffered the penalty then we should all live by the same rules, saying that the Football League does seem to make it up as they go along.

It's been heartening to get messages of support from other fans, points deductions are becoming more and more unpopular.

Perhaps the boards could be punished rather than the fans, I'm looking at you, Risdale.

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look at luton - the got buttfucked completely, with an extra penalty for an admin problem - that was totally shoddy...

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not good for football is it?.......oh, the sdmin people have screwed up....lets penalise the players and the fans:rolleyes:
i sincerely hope luton get promoted back into the league asap

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the mighty BSS agrees with me. and i agree that no-one gives a shit about the title race. its all about the race for 7th! the final UEFA cup spot! who will it be? Fulham / West Ham / Man City / Wigan / Tottenham are in the running, though Wigan will need to win their game in hand to have a chance.

As for the Saints, well. Here's hoping they can beat Leeds twice to help keep those thugs from getting promoted (i'm assuming they will screw up in the playoffs this year)...

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Looking at the remaining fixtures think Fulham will drop off the pace as 3 of their remaining 4 games are against teams above them in the table and the other is away to a Newcastle side desperate for points. The Spurs-Man City game could decide which of those 2 teams finish higher with Spurs probably needing a win and then it's all about how the Hammers do in their remaining games

Re: Going Down
 

Special mention must go to Rotherham, who received a 17 point penalty this season and could still finish in the top half of the table if results go their way next weekend. They couldnt even afford the rent on their stadium this season so theyre playing at the local athletics stadium. Theyve struggled to pay players wages but still get the results. Without the points penalty they would have been automatically promoted. Its shit for the fans but its not all doom and gloom.

and the manager? The man who saved Alex Fergusons job in the FA Cup all those years ago. Mark Robins. I know Roy Keane had a go at his ex-Man Utd player managers lack of success but success isnt always measured in cups...

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I was assuming the same thing!
As a Saint in exile in Dublin I'm looking forward to the Leeds games next season, lots of fans over here (of a certain age).
The wind-ups have already started.

Strange thing this global warming - Nice and sunny in Portsmouth and -10 in Southampton.

Three ships have left the port of Southampton never to return - The Titanic, The Premiership and the Championship

Re: Going Down
 

Not sure the Pompey fans will be quite so jubilant if they lose to Newcastle tonight.

Think Hull are looking more and more likely to go down. 20 points from their first 8 matches of the season and only 14 points in the next 26 and have Villa & United still to play

Re: Going Down
 

Very shaky for Hull & Sunderland.
I'd rather Blackburn and Pompey went down personally, but I think they'll be ok.

I fancy a draw tonight.
If Shearer starts with 3 up front who will be the first off?

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Playing around with this predictor thingy I'm not sure a draw is much good to Newcastle tonight. Assuming they'll lose at Anfield in the following game it would make the Boro derby game on 11th May a must win for both sides as I could potentially see Hull winning at home against a Stoke side with nothing to play for on the Saturday before

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tbh - i know this is gonna upset some people round here - but i think Newcastle as a club deserve to go down... (as much that they deserve to stay up) they are in this mess for a reason...

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I don't really get what you're trying to say.

They deserve to go down 'cos they've been poor this season, and they deserve to stay up if they fight their corner and scrape 10 points (or whatever is necessary)? Is that what you mean?

I think they've been poor enough to get relegated, same as Boro.
Good for Stoke for doing enough to stay up.

Blackburn have been uninspiring but done enough, Bolton get a raw deal (I'd love to see Kevin Davies get a game for England in Heskey's place). Maybe I just don't like Big Sam.

After taking a bit more notice of the Championship, it is a great league, not the end of the world getting relegated (spot the optimistic Saints fan!)

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So, a draw it was which will probably leave Newcastle 3 points adrift with just 3 games remaining - so that Boro game is going to be huge. In the Geordies favour is that they do have a superior goal difference to the teams around them so they need to hope they don't take a battering at Anfield on Sunday from a Liverpool team who've scored 15 goals in their last 4 games.

Whichever team fails to win on May 11th is almost certainly going down

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I said it a month ago, and I was right. Well done Hull and Sunderland! You were slightly less shit than the teams below you! I think all the teams that get less than 40 points should be relegated. You're just not good enough for the Premier League and you should be replaced by the top teams in the Championship. We wouldn't need playoffs then!

I look forward to seeing them in the Championship! At least the boro/toon/baggies fans might see their team on telly on the BBC! BBC bagged 10 live matches and rights to show highlights of the matches. All I need now is Burnley to beat the pigs today and there'll be another Steel City derby next season (which will surely be on the telly!) - then again, i take back my theory on relegation. That would mean that the streaky bacon would be automatically promoted this year...

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Looking forward to Cardiff Newcastle next year.

And what stimpee said. The Championship is an extremely competitive league and there's no guarantee any of the relegated sides will bounce straight back up. I think West Brom will probably do well next year as they're used to the Championship but as for Newcastle I wouldn't like to guess. They may do well or they could end up fighting against relegation again. All depends on what changes are made during the summer...

Re: Going Down
 

I dont think they'll go down at all, media hype wanting them to do a Leeds and all of that. I can see Viduka retiring, Owen/Martins/Jonas/Bassong going. However, we have a very good youth system with plenty of youg kids doing well and if they do implode, they have people who they can bring in.

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Thing is though by all accounts they didn't have any relegation clauses in their contracts as Newcastle thought they were too big to go down. So instead of all those contracted players receiving a 50% pay cut (which is about the norm per a relegation clause), they're all going to be on the same money next year. So, as Andy Gray said on SS after the match, it's not that hard to believe a situation where several of their players are happy to stay at the Toon on their £50k+ a week contracts where the alternative is to sign for someone else on a lot less money.

Re: Going Down
 

erm and i agreed with you too:

and i predicted the top as well....

i'm looking forward to Shearer back on the BBC, but not managing his team watching as they struggle to come to terms with the championship from afar