Relegation Thread 25-26

[Saint Domingo]

50 points is the max this squad can produce imo unless 2-3 really good players are signed in January.

Already Gana is out for one match and defence is being cut through no problem so him not being around for most of December and some of January is a short term issue that will result in plenty of points being lost.

Will be like 23/24 I think. Winning games when needed but not enough to push further on although of course ridiculous points deductions were an added factor then.

We've seen it a bit already this year. When bottom 3 was closing in just went out and beat Palace and Fulham so would be astounded if we get to April and there's any serious threat of relegation.

I’ll be disappointed with 50 as a max limit. The squad in 23/24 is much worse than this one and got 48 points amidst the issues of two points deductions and failed takeovers.

If we’ve poured over 100 mill in it should be targeting mid 50s as a par performance for me.

Grealish Ndiaye Dewsbury Hall Dibling Alcaraz Rohl are all much better options than anything we had in 23/24.

 

[longers]

We don't get relegated, we are the unflushables

 

[windymiller]

At the start of the season I said we'd finish 12th. I still think we'll finish 12th.

I also think, despite the usual fears early in the season from some posters, that we won't need 40 points to stay up once again. For all the talk of the promoted clubs being far superior to previous years, only Sunderland look to be giving it a good go, and AFCON, injuries and suspensions haven't even begun to bite properly yet. 36 or 37 will be all that is needed. So we're already half way there, imo. We shouldn't be complacent, but there's nothing really to worry about at the moment.

 

[matty1878]

At the start of the season I said we'd finish 12th. I still think we'll finish 12th.

I also think, despite the usual fears early in the season from some posters, that we won't need 40 points to stay up once again. For all the talk of the promoted clubs being far superior to previous years, only Sunderland look to be giving it a good go, and AFCON, injuries and suspensions haven't even begun to bite properly yet. 36 or 37 will be all that is needed. So we're already half way there, imo. We shouldn't be complacent, but there's nothing really to worry about at the moment.

also sunderland lose the most players afcon

wolves,burnley and leeds unless they
change manager soon will drop

 

[Drico]

We'll not be relegated - not a chance given the dross below us. However, lose tomorrow and again to Forest and this thread has a second wind as we will be dragged into the conversation - if not the actual relegation zone.

 

[windymiller]

also sunderland lose the most players afcon

wolves,burnley and leeds unless they
change manager soon will drop

I suspect it'll be those three too, I think Sunderland having 22 points already will give them enough of a cushion even when they inevitably lose a bit of form. I wouldn't rule out West Ham, however, they look pretty atrocious.

 

[windymiller]

We'll not be relegated - not a chance given the dross below us. However, lose tomorrow and again to Forest and this thread has a second wind as we will be dragged into the conversation - if not the actual relegation zone.

It's hard to see us winning tomorrow, tbh. Against Forest, who knows given our recent home form? You would imagine our fans and players would be up for it against Dyche, but Dyche will also be desperate to put one over on us too.

That being said, I don't fancy Wolves, Burnley, Leeds or West Ham to pick up many points over the same period so we'll probably still be a good few points above the drop zone even if we were to lose both. That's not to say we shouldn't be targeting at least 4 points in two games against teams in and around us in the league table. Especially as one of those games is at home.

 

[OneTrueLegend]

I’ll be disappointed with 50 as a max limit. The squad in 23/24 is much worse than this one and got 48 points amidst the issues of two points deductions and failed takeovers.

If we’ve poured over 100 mill in it should be targeting mid 50s as a par performance for me.

Grealish Ndiaye Dewsbury Hall Dibling Alcaraz Rohl are all much better options than anything we had in 23/24.

In the premier league you often do spend £100m to stand still. That's one of the issues with PSR. If we really wanted to improve the squad to a point where we were 10 to 12 points better off a season, we may need to spend £300m, not £100m.

We have got slightly better quality footballers than we had in the 23/24 season, in certain positions (Grealish instead of Harrison, KDH instead of Doucoure). But there are still fundamental issues with the fullbacks and strikers and certain areas, like defensive midfield, where we look light if 1 player is missing.

I would also say that Ashley Young was one of our better Fullbacks and we have not replaced him and Onana was a better CM than Irogbunam

 

[Bally1989]

The fact this thread is back is beyond a disgrace

 

[NeilMorepies]

The fact this thread is back is beyond a disgrace

We just got humiliated by a struggling Newcastle side, we’ve lost our best defensive midfielder for the next two months, we don’t have a functional striker, we don’t have any full backs who can get forward, our defensive has no pace, we are suddenly clueless at set pieces again, and our most creative attacker is off to AFCON for 8 week.

Everything is chipper mate. Goals galore, let the good times roll…

 

[Saint Domingo]

In the premier league you often do spend £100m to stand still. That's one of the issues with PSR. If we really wanted to improve the squad to a point where we were 10 to 12 points better off a season, we may need to spend £300m, not £100m.

We have got slightly better quality footballers than we had in the 23/24 season, in certain positions (Grealish instead of Harrison, KDH instead of Doucoure). But there are still fundamental issues with the fullbacks and strikers and certain areas, like defensive midfield, where we look light if 1 player is missing.

I would also say that Ashley Young was one of our better Fullbacks and we have not replaced him and Onana was a better CM than Irogbunam

If we’ve spent over 100 million to stand still with one of our worst PL squads then questions need to be asked.

 

[Marcus Kendall]

At the start of the season I said we'd finish 12th. I still think we'll finish 12th.

I also think, despite the usual fears early in the season from some posters, that we won't need 40 points to stay up once again. For all the talk of the promoted clubs being far superior to previous years, only Sunderland look to be giving it a good go, and AFCON, injuries and suspensions haven't even begun to bite properly yet. 36 or 37 will be all that is needed. So we're already half way there, imo. We shouldn't be complacent, but there's nothing really to worry about at the moment.

I'd be amazed Windy if Wolves, Burnley and Leeds aren't the 3 to go down. Can't see anyone else being in the mix at all

 

[GoldenToffee]

Just another season of nothingness. No cup run, nowhere near European football, and we're expected to be grateful if we aren't dragged into a relegation fight. 31 years and counting for any success... wow.

 

[OneTrueLegend]

It's hard to see us winning tomorrow, tbh. Against Forest, who knows given our recent home form? You would imagine our fans and players would be up for it against Dyche, but Dyche will also be desperate to put one over on us too.

That being said, I don't fancy Wolves, Burnley, Leeds or West Ham to pick up many points over the same period so we'll probably still be a good few points above the drop zone even if we were to lose both. That's not to say we shouldn't be targeting at least 4 points in two games against teams in and around us in the league table. Especially as one of those games is at home.

When you look at Wolves' December it looks quite bad for them, but I think when you are down there its hard to see where the points will come from, Man u twice, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Forrest (h)
Man utd (h)
Arsenal (a)
Brentford (h)
Liverpool (a)
Man utd (a)

Burnley's you could argue are a better run in December, they have home games against Palace, Fulham and Us, I am sure they will be targeting them games in particular.

Palace (h)
Newcastle (a)
Fulham (h)
Bournemouth (a)
Everton (h)
Newcastle (h)

Leeds is potentially a bit tougher, they have liverpool twice, Chelsea and Sunderland, who have been in good form.
Chelsea (h)
Liverpool (h)
Brentford (a)
Palace (h)
Sunderland (a)
Liverpool (a)

For us to keep our momentum going we probably need 7 points out of the next 6 games. If we do better than that we will be top half, any less than that and I can see us dropping down the table

 

[OneTrueLegend]

If we’ve spent over 100 million to stand still with one of our worst PL squads then questions need to be asked.

what questions? and who are you asking them to?