| So relegation/survival rivals? 11:34 - Oct 7 with 5611 views | ElderGrizzly |
From the first set of games, it looks as though Wolves are hopeless and Southampton not much better.
Southampton have them in the next 4 games, plus a slowly improving but still poor Everton team and Leicester.
I can't see either of Wolves or Southampton improving significantly if the current managers stay. O'Neil is on a run of 1 win in 18 PL games, so he probably won't last much longer so that could turn their season, but then they also have issues with PSR.
We are going to need to finish above 3 of:
Wolves
Southampton
Everton
Leicester
I can't see many others being dragged into it based on how the season has started.
Palace are too good to stay down there for much longer.
Thoughts? [Post edited 7 Oct 2024 11:35]
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:42 - Oct 7 with 4420 views | JimmyJazz |
I still think Everton will improve enough to be hovering over, but always a few points ahead of the drop zone, which leaves hoping / relying on Wolves not improving
For this kind of relegation fight, Dyche is perfect, so it will be in Everton's best interests to keep him on board
Was hoping Forest might struggle, but they have a good defence, early points on the board and goals in the team |  |
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:47 - Oct 7 with 4391 views | Superblue95 |
Palace and Everton will both be fine. Southampton are as good as gone unless they make a cracking appointment after Martin. Wolves will hopefully stay being crap.
Hopefully a Brentford or Forest will go on a bad run and be sucked back in but they look decent so far. We really could have done with Leicester getting that points deduction. |  |
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:50 - Oct 7 with 4378 views | ElderGrizzly |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:42 - Oct 7 by JimmyJazz |
I still think Everton will improve enough to be hovering over, but always a few points ahead of the drop zone, which leaves hoping / relying on Wolves not improving
For this kind of relegation fight, Dyche is perfect, so it will be in Everton's best interests to keep him on board
Was hoping Forest might struggle, but they have a good defence, early points on the board and goals in the team |
If Everton's takeover ever goes through, they will almost certainly look to dump Dyche, but their PSR situation appears to stop them going out and improving the squad significantly?
I was thinking Forest or Brentford (post-Toney) would struggle. Maybe Bournemouth will without Solanke across the season? | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:52 - Oct 7 with 4360 views | ElderGrizzly |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:47 - Oct 7 by Superblue95 |
Palace and Everton will both be fine. Southampton are as good as gone unless they make a cracking appointment after Martin. Wolves will hopefully stay being crap.
Hopefully a Brentford or Forest will go on a bad run and be sucked back in but they look decent so far. We really could have done with Leicester getting that points deduction. |
Leicester have certainly lucked out on the lack of deduction that should have been coming.
They do have an ageing squad and seem reliant on Vardy who isn't getting any younger and they have no wriggle room to buy anyone unless they sell for decent money. | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:53 - Oct 7 with 4353 views | phillymark |
I think you have it about right, but sometimes an unexpected team slips down there. Are Palace in the mix? |  | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 12:22 - Oct 7 with 4218 views | tractorboy1978 |
Not sure re Palace. They've not had a disproportionately hard start and picked up 1 point from Everton, Brentford and Leicester. You can look at their squad and assume they are 'too good' but it doesn't always work like that. | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 12:23 - Oct 7 with 4208 views | WeWereZombies |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:47 - Oct 7 by Superblue95 |
Palace and Everton will both be fine. Southampton are as good as gone unless they make a cracking appointment after Martin. Wolves will hopefully stay being crap.
Hopefully a Brentford or Forest will go on a bad run and be sucked back in but they look decent so far. We really could have done with Leicester getting that points deduction. |
Brentford and Leicester do seem to be thriving with unfancied managers, Palace and Man Utd however have managers who have arrived with good credentials that have not been lived up to (yet). And are Bournemouth too small a club for someone of Iraola's ambition ?
West Ham, as we found out on Saturday, may have made their management change at the right time and about to put a decent run together. With seven games gone the table still looks undetermined to me, sure there are five clubs at the top who will probably be fighting it out for the title and plum European spots for the rest of the season but elsewhere I think it would take just three games to change the picture. Take Spurs, looking good before the weekend but now doubts are creeping in about their ability to compete. It is easy to say that it would be madness to change manager but is Postecoglou that happy (I know, he never looks happy) and just looking to play the season out before finding a better fit ?
So I can see Wolves, Southampton and Man Utd panicking with the result of a worse manager in place for the rest of 2024/25 leading to relegation. Equally I can see Everton and Palace sticking with the plan and gradually falling away too. All I really know is that we should stick with McKenna. |  |
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 12:24 - Oct 7 with 4198 views | Dubtractor |
Lots of people assuming Palace will be fine, and I'm not sure why. The have fewer points than us (our total being very low), have also scored fewer than our modest total, and sold their best player in the summer.
I think they as much in the mix as we are. |  |
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 12:29 - Oct 7 with 4157 views | JammyDodgerrr |
Everton are basically only a DCL injury away from falling apart again and Leicester are scarping it, and if they lose Vardy or he runs out of form, they are in trouble. We can do it. |  |
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 13:18 - Oct 7 with 3989 views | MattinLondon |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:50 - Oct 7 by ElderGrizzly |
If Everton's takeover ever goes through, they will almost certainly look to dump Dyche, but their PSR situation appears to stop them going out and improving the squad significantly?
I was thinking Forest or Brentford (post-Toney) would struggle. Maybe Bournemouth will without Solanke across the season? |
If they sack Dyche then they’ll have to pay him off which won’t be cheap. Plus, will they be able to afford someone still in post? They aren’t a big club that they’ll be a long queue to takeover but their fans will demand a bigish name.
I’ll think they’ll struggle even with a takeover. |  | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 13:21 - Oct 7 with 3970 views | tractorboy1978 |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 12:24 - Oct 7 by Dubtractor |
Lots of people assuming Palace will be fine, and I'm not sure why. The have fewer points than us (our total being very low), have also scored fewer than our modest total, and sold their best player in the summer.
I think they as much in the mix as we are. |
It's bonkers to me that we've picked up 4 points from 7 games and still aren't in the bottom 3! Shows you the standard. | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 13:41 - Oct 7 with 3885 views | BlueMoon |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 13:21 - Oct 7 by tractorboy1978 |
It's bonkers to me that we've picked up 4 points from 7 games and still aren't in the bottom 3! Shows you the standard. |
Wolves have had tough fixtures. We've said similar up until the weekend. It's not a given Wolves will be poor for the whole season.
Brentford A L
Liverpool H L
Villa A L
Brighton A L
Newcastle H L
Forest A D [Post edited 7 Oct 2024 13:41]
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 13:52 - Oct 7 with 3830 views | tractorshark |
Wolves score goals, that’s something we’ll struggle with despite Delap.
I think Everton will be ok which leaves us battling with Southampton, Leicester and hopefully one or two others.
If we’re not going to be free scoring, our priority has to be stop gifting teams goals. We’ve made costly and very avoidable mistakes against Man City, Southampton, Villa and West Ham.
We must cut those out otherwise we’ll make winning very difficult.
January is a long way away but another striker is a must, although that won’t be a simple process, particularly if we’re in the bottom three. | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 14:10 - Oct 7 with 3783 views | Europablue |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 11:47 - Oct 7 by Superblue95 |
Palace and Everton will both be fine. Southampton are as good as gone unless they make a cracking appointment after Martin. Wolves will hopefully stay being crap.
Hopefully a Brentford or Forest will go on a bad run and be sucked back in but they look decent so far. We really could have done with Leicester getting that points deduction. |
After the Aston Villa match, we were definitely staying up, now we are definitely going down. The teams at the bottom have so few points that two wins in a row changes everything. Anyone could get right out of it, but it all depends on which teams get demoralized and settle for that level. Southampton have shown major signs of accepting their fate, especially the fans. It's a shame we have had our worst performances away to sides who have fickle fans and given them hope with an early goal.
I trust KM to treat the season like we treat every match, we're still in it until the final whistle. | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 14:17 - Oct 7 with 3758 views | Chrisd |
I'd still throw Palace and Bournemouth into that mix. | |
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 14:20 - Oct 7 with 3739 views | ElderGrizzly |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 13:41 - Oct 7 by BlueMoon |
Wolves have had tough fixtures. We've said similar up until the weekend. It's not a given Wolves will be poor for the whole season.
Brentford A L
Liverpool H L
Villa A L
Brighton A L
Newcastle H L
Forest A D [Post edited 7 Oct 2024 13:41]
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It's more Wolves also only won 1 in 10 at the end of last season too and sold their best players in the summer and replaced with poorer quality.
Assume O'Neil is not around for much longer | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 14:22 - Oct 7 with 3705 views | ElderGrizzly |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 12:22 - Oct 7 by tractorboy1978 |
Not sure re Palace. They've not had a disproportionately hard start and picked up 1 point from Everton, Brentford and Leicester. You can look at their squad and assume they are 'too good' but it doesn't always work like that. |
I was in two minds over Palace, but I think they'll have financial headroom and a manager who knows what he is doing to pull clear.
It's going to be a tight race, but I genuinely do believe as long as we stick with McKenna we'll squeak over that line.
I noticed some in the media suggesting McKenna was under as much pressure as West Ham's manager before the game!? | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 18:03 - Oct 7 with 3403 views | reusersfreekicks |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 12:23 - Oct 7 by WeWereZombies |
Brentford and Leicester do seem to be thriving with unfancied managers, Palace and Man Utd however have managers who have arrived with good credentials that have not been lived up to (yet). And are Bournemouth too small a club for someone of Iraola's ambition ?
West Ham, as we found out on Saturday, may have made their management change at the right time and about to put a decent run together. With seven games gone the table still looks undetermined to me, sure there are five clubs at the top who will probably be fighting it out for the title and plum European spots for the rest of the season but elsewhere I think it would take just three games to change the picture. Take Spurs, looking good before the weekend but now doubts are creeping in about their ability to compete. It is easy to say that it would be madness to change manager but is Postecoglou that happy (I know, he never looks happy) and just looking to play the season out before finding a better fit ?
So I can see Wolves, Southampton and Man Utd panicking with the result of a worse manager in place for the rest of 2024/25 leading to relegation. Equally I can see Everton and Palace sticking with the plan and gradually falling away too. All I really know is that we should stick with McKenna. |
Err Frank is not unfancied but highly thought of. Very much doubt they will be dragged into trouble |  | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 18:10 - Oct 7 with 3367 views | FrimleyBlue |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 14:22 - Oct 7 by ElderGrizzly |
I was in two minds over Palace, but I think they'll have financial headroom and a manager who knows what he is doing to pull clear.
It's going to be a tight race, but I genuinely do believe as long as we stick with McKenna we'll squeak over that line.
I noticed some in the media suggesting McKenna was under as much pressure as West Ham's manager before the game!? |
Not by the fans he wouldn't be
But over £110 million spent. No wins.
It literally depends on what the targets are of the owners. If relegation is acceptable then nothing happens
If staying up is the minimum expectation after that expe diture then who knows how they'll deal with it.
What was the summary of the loan we took out to make the purchases.. something most promoted clubs do or have we loaned money with a view we stay up and have another year's worth of prem money to cover it... that but I didn't understand.
He's got credit enough with the fans for relegation I think. It literally does come down to Ashton etc and what they realistically see as the minimum acceptable finishing position. |  |
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 18:27 - Oct 7 with 3345 views | BLUEBEAT |
This is our table.
Just need to keep in the top half.
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 21:48 - Oct 7 with 3131 views | WeWereZombies |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 18:03 - Oct 7 by reusersfreekicks |
Err Frank is not unfancied but highly thought of. Very much doubt they will be dragged into trouble |
Well I wasn't saying Brentford were relegation candidates, just that Frank doesn't seem to get the full blast of adoration from the MotD pundits etc. (not in the way that Pep and now Slot do.) He doesn't seem to be the first name that gets mentioned when a major vacancy arises either. Likewise Nuno Santo and I have thrown Steve Cooper in there as well because I suspect he has learnt from the Forest experience and will manage to get Leicester a mid table position (along with Brentford and Forest, that was my first point.) | |
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| So relegation/survival rivals? on 06:38 - Oct 8 with 2935 views | Blue_Heath |
Having deliberately watched the other teams around us I'd say only Saints will definitely finish below us.
Wolves have looked good in most games for stages, a new manager will sort them out.
Everton already starting to pull clear, best we can hope for is a takeover de-railing
Palace have been here before many times. can see them getting out of it unless Eze gets injured.
Leicester faring better than us.
Forest/Bournemouth both started well though could change, I'm not kidding myself it's going to be a long season, always thought that would be the case. I'd snap your arm off for 4th bottom right now to be honest. If we don't beat Everton we are going to be stuck in bottom 3 for some time. | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 07:38 - Oct 8 with 2843 views | tractorboy1978 |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 06:38 - Oct 8 by Blue_Heath |
Having deliberately watched the other teams around us I'd say only Saints will definitely finish below us.
Wolves have looked good in most games for stages, a new manager will sort them out.
Everton already starting to pull clear, best we can hope for is a takeover de-railing
Palace have been here before many times. can see them getting out of it unless Eze gets injured.
Leicester faring better than us.
Forest/Bournemouth both started well though could change, I'm not kidding myself it's going to be a long season, always thought that would be the case. I'd snap your arm off for 4th bottom right now to be honest. If we don't beat Everton we are going to be stuck in bottom 3 for some time. |
I think you are taking a very negative view here. It's all very fine margins at the moment and probably will continue to be as the season progresses.
Everton are 1 point ahead of us, hardly starting to pull clear! Wolves have conceded 21 goals in 7 games and have Man City/Brighton in their next two. They aren't going anywhere fast. | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 07:44 - Oct 8 with 2828 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
A reality check for those who thought we’d finish top half this season - they’ve clearly not been paying attention to the PL. £100m a year compounded to spend on players every season mean even the minnows like Bournemouth are really strong.
Leicester have done better than expected for a team that lost their manager and started the season with a weaker squad than last year. Whilst I think Cooper is a very average manager, (and clearly we have the best out of the promoted sides), he’s had a very pragmatic approach. Building on the foundations of a solid defence, and being clinical with chances.
I thought this is the way we were going having looked defensively solid against Fulham and Brighton, but conceding 6 goals in two games is a big concern. Muric must be in the last chance saloon for now, he can’t be inspiring the defence, perhaps time for Woolfie to return over O’Shea? | | | |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 10:05 - Oct 8 with 2716 views | Garv |
| So relegation/survival rivals? on 07:44 - Oct 8 by SuperKieranMcKenna |
A reality check for those who thought we’d finish top half this season - they’ve clearly not been paying attention to the PL. £100m a year compounded to spend on players every season mean even the minnows like Bournemouth are really strong.
Leicester have done better than expected for a team that lost their manager and started the season with a weaker squad than last year. Whilst I think Cooper is a very average manager, (and clearly we have the best out of the promoted sides), he’s had a very pragmatic approach. Building on the foundations of a solid defence, and being clinical with chances.
I thought this is the way we were going having looked defensively solid against Fulham and Brighton, but conceding 6 goals in two games is a big concern. Muric must be in the last chance saloon for now, he can’t be inspiring the defence, perhaps time for Woolfie to return over O’Shea? |
The Woolf vs O'Shea debate is interesting. I genuinely thought O'Shea coming in for the Brighton game was going to be a temporary measure and that LW would still be 'first choice' - maybe O'Shea was suited to dealing with the pace of Brighton, horses for courses etc.
I thought LW would have returned to play a couple of games again by now, and we'd be seeing a bit of rotation. It's not as simple as being upset about seeing previous regulars now out of the team, but there must be an argument for the centre back partnership starting from scratch being a potential factor in some of the goals we've conceded. |  |
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