[Archived] Relegation Watch

[den]

Newcastle's fixtures are undoubtedly difficult. On the other hand, they are still above us and have Smith, Owen, Viduka and Martins still to come back.

[1864roverite]

Newcastle Fixtures

Newcastle v Man Utd, 19:45 0-2

Hull v Newcastle, 15:00 1-1

Newcastle v Arsenal, 17:30 0-1

Newcastle v Chelsea, 15:00 0-2

Stoke v Newcastle, 17:30 1-0

Tottenham v Newcastle, 15:00 1-0

Newcastle v Portsmouth, 20:00 1-0

Liverpool v Newcastle, 15:00 2-0

Newcastle v Middlesbrough, 15:00 0-0

Newcastle v Fulham, 15:00 1-0

Aston Villa v Newcastle, 16:00 2-0

You are right of course Den, but then again, are players of their ilk going to get you wins against the likes of manure, Liverpoo, Chelsea, Villa and Arsenal ?

I have not even considered before today doing a prediction of their games but there are my predictions !

Thats 8 points from me at best.

[Bobby G]

I think the blow of losing Given can be costly. How much longer is Owen out for as well?

I believe they are in real trouble. Would love them going down.

First things first, I think we need 15 more points to stay up, and thats 5 wins. Looking at our fixtures, its doable, and 4 points against Everton and Fulham will go a long way to realizing that.

[Billy Castell]

I'd really love Spuds and the barcodes to go down. Yes, the barcodes have Viduka, Owen and Martins coming back, but will take time to get up to speed. And come on, who thinks that at least 1 of them will get a run of games without their knees falling off or whatever. The barcodes must surely be in the brown stuff with those fixtures.

[SoccerHQ]

Viduka is old and @#/? nowadays, Martins is pretty inconsistant, Owen will be back in the next two weeks but will probably pick up another injury and well if you're relying on Alan Smith for goals, then god help you.

So Ameobi upfront for the rest of the season then!

[thenodrog]

Has anyone factored in the fact that the form of many teams becomes topsy turvy in April. Mid table teams become patsy's as do top 4 teams once the Prem has been won and CL qualification ensured. For example who had WHU down to win at MU on the last day of the season to stay up? The hardest matches are frequently away to relegation threatend teams.

[brfcs5359]

Newcastles problem is not just the top 5 to play, but three of them at home. That means they HAVE to pick 3 points up on the road. Portsmouth, Middlebro and Fulham are the only other 3 home fixtures. One a derby. One against a team that hasn't won away YET! and one against a a team like Newcastle, not interested. Pompey.

Newcastle need 12 to be safe. Where?

They MUST win AT Stoke and Hull. If they lose there they are compounding their own problems.

I think Geordies might be going down. Still got West Brom for the Harry Houdini award.

[Blue blood]

Hmm... thinking on the latest twists in the relegation dog fight. Much as I'd love Spuds and the Barcodes to go down I'm thinking it'll be boro and hull.

Stoke are battling and getting the odd point, not many, but it could well be enough. Spurs, have a decent goal difference in the circumstances which is worth an extra point. Plus, regardless of that muppet Redknapp's protestations the squad had quality before he came, and he's added yet more quality to it.

Newcastle - borderline, but they will beat Hull and much hinges on the Stoke game. Somehow I can see them nabbing the points here, and the way the big 4 (bar manure) are wobbling their might be the sneaky point in their for them.

Boro have a lot of youngsters, and I'm not sure mentally they have the bottle to stay up. Also maybe i don't know the players as well, but they don't really have many match winners aside from that turkish chap, very few players you think can make that match winning save/tackle/pass/shot on a regular basis to save them.

As for Hull the manager has lost it big time, and the way they're playing you can't see where their next point is coming from let alone the next win. Most of all though, as we've seen with us, the manager makes a huge difference, and Brown seems to have completely run out of ideas and is clearly feeling the pressure. So Hull and Boro to go down. Huge sigh of relief all round.

[47er]

Has anyone factored in the fact that the form of many teams becomes topsy turvy in April. Mid table teams become patsy's as do top 4 teams once the Prem has been won and CL qualification ensured. For example who had WHU down to win at MU on the last day of the season to stay up? The hardest matches are frequently away to relegation threatend teams.

Quite right. And who plays Utd on the last day? Hull! They can count on 3 points there. Title will already have been won, reserves will feature, focus will be on Big Cup. We are the unlucky ones cos we've played them twice.

[American]

Quite right. And who plays Utd on the last day? Hull! They can count on 3 points there. Title will already have been won, reserves will feature, focus will be on Big Cup. We are the unlucky ones cos we've played them twice.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that they put out their strongest 11 against us. We had our chance against a weakened squad and couldn't get points due to some dodgy officiating (and I don't think it happened because they are United and we are a small club - it happened because the level of officiating in this league is sub par).

[Hughesy]

Id love it if West Brom, Stoke went down and then a battle of Boro/ Newcastle on the final day - that would be great!!

The ones in bold are the ones they cant afford to lose.

Newcastle v Man Utd, 19:45

Hull v Newcastle, 15:00

Newcastle v Arsenal, 17:30

Newcastle v Chelsea, 15:00

Stoke v Newcastle, 17:30

Tottenham v Newcastle, 15:00

Newcastle v Portsmouth, 20:00

Liverpool v Newcastle, 15:00

Newcastle v Middlesbrough, 15:00

Newcastle v Fulham, 15:00

Aston Villa v Newcastle, 16:00

[Iceman]

Thats a terrible run in for the barcodes. They do look like they in big trouble now

[philipl]

someone between Stoke, Boro,Newcastle and Hull are going to be collecting points in the near future because there are games between them coming up imminently. Spurs are not out of trouble by any means yet by the way.

[Eddie]

They aren't out of trouble, but their form has picked up a bit (enough at least that they should get more than enough points to stay up) and they don't have the most difficult of run-ins. I don't think Spurs will be too close to the drop zone when we hit May. Those games between our rivals are going to be crucial and we sort of have to hope that either one of them hits form and cleans up in them or that there are a lot of draws. What we don't really want to see is each of the teams picking up a win or two as it will keep the pack very close together and keep the pressure well and truly on us.

[philipl]

We probably want draws in those games between rivals.

The folk at Spuds are as worried about their marshmallow midfield as we are about our's. They also have the same worries about mental resilience if they are still in trouble at the end of the season.

If you were given Stoke or Spurs to play for you in a one off do or die game against Prem opposition, who would you chose?

[Eddie]

It would probably somewhat depend on the opposition, but the vast majority of the time I would choose Spurs. There's never a team that is "too good to go down", but they do have talented players available to them in virtually every position on the pitch. Their midfield has been poor this season, but mainly because they have yet to find the right formation, combination and role for the group that they have, not because they have a dearth of fit and capable options. I'd absolutely love to see them go down, but I don't think it will happen.

[dave birch]

oooohh but wouldn't you love the spuds to go down.

I know I shouldn't be saying it as we're still in the mire, but it would be good.

[BlueMonday]

oooohh but wouldn't you love the spuds to go down.

I know I shouldn't be saying it as we're still in the mire, but it would be good.

Surely not. One of the 'Big 5' going down. No, refuse to believe it. Besides the Media wouldn't let it happen.

[philipl]

I'm not saying Spuds are going down but I am saying the Spuds people are sweating about it every bit as much if not more than the likes of Hull and Stoke. If they go down, they can wave goodbye to the new stadium for a decade quite possibly and will for the foreseeable future be North London's Burnley to Arsenal's Rovers.

[BlueMonday]

I'm not saying Spuds are going down but I am saying the Spuds people are sweating about it every bit as much if not more than the likes of Hull and Stoke. If they go down, they can wave goodbye to the new stadium for a decade quite possibly and will for the foreseeable future be North London's Burnley to Arsenal's Rovers.

Wasn't being sarky, there was a good dolop of irony in my post.

[DE.]

They ain't going down. I'd be very shocked if they got relegated now because they all know what jobs they're supposed to be doing and Roque Santa Cruz gives them that little bit of class.

Interesting that he and so many others are sure we're staying up. If you go to any of our rivals forums, we're generally not considered relegation candidates. I've seen a few lists on a variety of sites of players that could move if their clubs are relegated, and we never seem to be on them. It's nice to see, I hope the players will prove them all right.

On the other hand, Merson also said: "Player for player, they are almost as good as each other. If you were to pick the best team from the two squads you'd probably end up with half and half."

I don't think so somehow. You'd end up with Everton + Santa Cruz.

[1864roverite]

I think that we have just seen WBA cement 1 of the relegation spots, especially with such a poor goal difference.

1 down 2 to go....

[BB9]

Great set of results tonight. West Brom are practically down, Pompey sinking and a Sunderland defeat to keep them near the basement.

[Billy Castell]

Now do sort it at our end. I think we might just do it.

[DE.]

All good results tonight, with Newcastle likely to lose tomorrow as well. If we can sneak a win tomorrow and City are beaten by Villa we'll be within three points of the 'richest club in the world' ...