Are we in a relegation battle right now?

[bicycleheader]

Having watched a fair bit of football this season, I would actually say we have been the worst side in the league.

So yes.

We have been by far the worst I've seen this season so far, but I still think it's too early to panic

 

[kiss the crest]

What a stupid post, have you had your head up your ar&# for the last 2 months.

This team is going down, unless their are drastic changes to personnel and attitude of the players.

We can’t score & we can’t defend = relegation

 

[Eggs]

I think @Eggs always stated his way of judging whether or not we would be in a relegation scrap was if we were at 20 points by New Year. Thats 12 more pts in 11 games.

Watford H
Palace A
Saints A
Wham H
Huddersfield H
Scum A
Toon A
Swans H
Chelsea H
WBA A
Bournemouth A

..yep, my benchmark is always a minimum 20 points at Christmas. I note @davek suggesting 23 points by the start of the New Year so we are in the same ball park.

 

[MACCA75]

We have been by far the worst I've seen this season so far, but I still think it's too early to panic

We've played 20 games like. If the next 20 are as bad then we will be adrift

 

[bicycleheader]

We've played 20 games like. If the next 20 are as bad then we will be adrift

It's true I am only talking about league games

Please don't make me think about our cup games......

 

[bicycleheader]

What a stupid post, have you had your head up your ar&# for the last 2 months.

This team is going down, unless their are drastic changes to personnel and attitude of the players.

We can’t score & we can’t defend = relegation

 

[Norwegian Cow]

If you're in the bottom 3 you're in a relegation battle.

also if its after the first game of the season?

 

[Black Belt Jones]

We simply don't know if we are in a relegation battle because those that think we will be ok believe that our board will buy a striker.

If they don't we are definitely in a relegation battle. If they do buy a striker then we have enough quality to pull out of it quite comfortably after Christmas.

This is far more important than a new manager. If it's true Koeman kept rejecting strikers other than Giroud then he should have been fired then or forced to accept one. Sounds like no one had any balls to stand up to the man.

People do seem to be a little blase over buying a striker in January - like we'll just go to Tescos and pick one up because we need one. We failed to do it over a full 6 months [since whenever Lukaku binned off the contract plus the summer] so you'd really hope that the board have total clarity on what is needed here. Steve Walsh needs to be sweating spinal fluid sorting this one out - he'll have a month to act and every other basket-case club fighting over a limited number of quality players.

 

[Blue toffee]

Two games in to a new season. You play City and Chelsea away and lose. You are bottom.

That's not a relegation battle. You ain't thought that through

Unless there are 3 teams who lose those games more heavily.

 

[LiamG]

Yeah, I think @Mikey_Fitzgerald mentioned that too. Obviously if I was certain the board were gonna sell Barkley and still not bother sorting out the striker option in January I would be way more concerned. I still reckon we will pickup enough points by Xmas to settle people's nerves, but I'd be closer to a yes on this poll if I didn't believe we will actually reinforce the attack and defence come Jan window.

Barkley won't be sold in the summer because there's no way Spurs will pay us a premium for 6 months when they can just wait until the summer.

Plus if he is sold (due to us being desperate and allowing spurs to bend us over) then I can't see Spurs offering us more than 10m which certainly won't be enough to pay for a striker.

No. This window is when we will see what Moshiri's intentions are because we don't have much we can sell and we need to buy a striker early.

So I guess when push comes to shove it all comes down to this rather than who is the manager. It would be a bit silly to build a 60K stadium for a championship club.

 

[Blues Harp]

People do seem to be a little blase over buying a striker in January - like we'll just go to Tescos and pick one up because we need one. We failed to do it over a full 6 months [since whenever Lukaku binned off the contract plus the summer] so you'd really hope that the board have total clarity on what is needed here - Steve Walsh needs to be sweating spinal fluid sorting this one out (plus know he has the financial backing to sort it out).

".........the board have total clarity on what is needed" What, you mean our board...like with Moshiri..and Kenwright..and Elstone...?? Really??

 

[Goat]

Well we certainly aint challenging the top 4!!!!

Its quite easy to get out of, you just need to win games, something we look very unlikely to do anytime soon.

We are actually totally goosed till January.

COYB

 

[toffee-L]

We need to win 10 games between now and the end of the season. With our current manager-less set up and squad I don't think we could do that. However the right manager through the door (doesn't have to be an Allardyce or Moyes type) along with solid additions in our problem positions in January we'll be fine.

Crystal Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Swansea and Stoke all look terrible this season so it's not all doom and gloom just yet.

 

[Blues Harp]

Well we certainly aint challenging the top 4!!!!

Its quite easy to get out of, you just need to win games, something we look very unlikely to do anytime soon.

We are actually totally goosed till January.

COYB

And with no guarantees even then I suspect...

 

[LiamG]

The manager can only work with the existing squad - and nobody can produce a good team from this squad. In that respect, an immediate change of manager will not produce any improvement.

By January - the mid-point of the season - we will be in a worse position. That's when we will have to sign a centre-forward and a right back. I can't imagine who will be attracted to join us.

So I'd say that the rest of the season will be a battle against relegation. Koeman must have known that he - like the team - was doomed when Giroud walked out of the building.

Hopefully Coleman will be back plus there's no reason we will be further behind. We have been truly dreadful up to now and still aren't bottom plus we have seen signs of improvement.

I think we will still be in the danger zone (out of relegation zone) around Christmas but pull out of it once we bring in a striker and end up finishing around mid-table. We just need to start performing well at Goodison again.

btw I don't think a new manager moves the needle much either way.