Relegation Fodder or a Fighting Chance?

Swansea City play an attractive, flowing brand of
football.  Will it be enough to save them
this season?

Every year I try to pick out three worthy contenders for relegation to the oblivion that is the Championship.  As a Newcastle United supporter, I know only too well the pain and distress one season in English football's second tier can cause - so the idea of multiple seasons has me reaching for the sleeping pills.

When Newcastle were relegated in 2009 I was like most fans - living in denial whilst fighting night horrors and cold sweats at the thoughts of trips to Scunthorpe, Doncaster and Preston.  Of course, immediately after that fateful day at Villa Park, while Shearer was still commiserating with fans on the pitch, the pub discussion turned to the positive.  The fact we will be top dogs.  The prospect of winning more matches than we lose.  We fantasised about Carroll tearing defences into shreds.  We dared to dream of Shearer bringing the heart and soul back to our club and resurrecting both our fortunes and reputation.

Once we got home from the pub, with the Stella now loosening its grip, harsh reality set in.  After 17 years of top flight respectability, our beautiful club was no longer going to compete in the best league in the world.  From nearly winning the title a decade earlier, we were cast aside into the 'lower leagues.'  The strange thing about it all was that the football world seemed to continue as normal.  Surely the Premier League would step in and stop such a huge club leaving Europe's best competition!  I remember logging on to the Sky Sports website and looking in vain for the Newcastle United page - I was looking in the Premier League section...

So, I am more than qualified and worthy on commenting on relegation prospects for the three clubs I have chosen.


Swansea City

Unfortunately the only thing that will keep a club in the Premier League is the quality of player.  No amount of genius tactical decisions, die-hard fans or Blitz spirit will prevent a team going down after 38 matches.  Swansea's purchases of Danny Graham and Wayne Routledge are commendable if not outright signals of intent.  Both are very good Championship performers but Routledge in particular has shown a lack of final product and an inability to perform at the very top level.  With so little Premier League experience in the squad, it is difficult to see how they can survive - perhaps they should call Steve Coppell and find out how he managed it with Reading?  I read an Oliver Holt article recently about the number of passes Swansea City put together against Manchester City in the season opener this week. Well if points were won by impressing the guys at Opta, the Swans may stand a chance.  Unfortunately for Brendan Rogers et al, clean sheets and goals are the best antidote to relegation.  Sadly, I see very few of either on the horizon.


Wigan Athletic

As a neutral I have mixed feelings about Wigan.  The scenes at the end of last season with Dave Whelan and Roberto Martinez sharing a warm embrace were nice to see in this era of millionaire strops and billionaire owners.  I also have a lot of time for Whelan who continually demonstrates a cool business head together with faith in his employees and that rarest of commodities for Premier League managers - time.  However, another part of me resents the club's very presence in the league.  Predominantly a rugby town, Wigan built a stadium on the back of the more illustrious Warriors.  Despite the modest capacity of 25,000 at the DW, I seldom see the ground more than half full.  I often find myself lamenting the negative image live games from the DW Stadium project to the rest of the world - akin to the empty stadiums all too common during the hooligan ravaged 1980s.  In short, I don't think the club are worthy of Premier League status - even Championship status would be almost impossible without Whelan.

Having said all that, I suppose I need to justify this choice.  Well, Wigan have sold their best player.  A player who without a shadow of doubt saved them last season - Charles N'Zogbia.  With no one even remotely matching his ability being brought into the squad, the future looks bleak.


Queens Park Rangers

After a tremendous season in the Championship, we all thought Briatore would splash some serious cash and begin to build a club to challenge Chelsea.  A summer of free signings, free agents and whispers of the imminent departure of Neil Warnock, surely isn't a recipe designed for Premier League success.  Kieron Dyer is already out of action (shock!) and QPR's defending against Bolton last week was truly horrific.  QPR look toothless up front and inept at the back.  Tarabt has already failed to impress at Premier League level and should Rangers have a season-long struggle at the wrong end of the table (which is very likely) it is a fair bet we'll see his famous bad attitude deteriorate as each match day comes and goes.

I will write a follow up piece at the end of May on just how insightful and knowledgeable I am about the Premier League!