[Archived] Relegation Watch

[Ricky]

I'm in agreement with you Hughesy. I had Hull to go down on my prediction. Like you said their one win recently was extremely fortunate. Can't see them picking up more than 2 points between now and the end of the season, they've got some tricky games to come.

[Blueheart]

We have to realise that at the moment our fate is entirely in our hands and we do not need to rely on the other teams around us getting beat or drawing.

If we dont pick anything up from the Wigan game our plight becomes bleaker. the way we are playing at the moment I would not feel confident in picking up points against Wigan and Portsmouth and we are relying on the last game when WBA will no doubt have already been relegated, they will have nothing to lose and could play us off the park.

Sunday's game is massive !

[rovers_rob]

We have to realise that at the moment our fate is entirely in our hands and we do not need to rely on the other teams around us getting beat or drawing.

If we dont pick anything up from the Wigan game our plight becomes bleaker. the way we are playing at the moment I would not feel confident in picking up points against Wigan and Portsmouth and we are relying on the last game when WBA will no doubt have already been relegated, they will have nothing to lose and could play us off the park.

Sunday's game is massive !

I agree, I have just done the predictor on the bbc website and I had us losing the two away games and getting 3 draws at home and we ended going down on goal difference.

I think 1 win and 2 draws will see us safe but after the stoke game I am not confident.

[martmitch]

just done the bbc predictor once more, with 5 games to go its getting more and more like the final outcome, I have 38 points to be safe this season, have west brom, middlesb and hull to go down on 29, 31 and 37 points respectively, rovers in 13th with 43 pts winning our final 3 home games and getting spanked in the final 2 away games, pray with me!

Maybe more crucially going into the final game I have Hull on 37, sunderland on 37, newc on 39, rovers and pompey on 40 so if results didnt go our way on the final day and we blow it against west brom we could be relegated, the good news is according to the predictor the only teams who could possibly relegate us is Hull (playing Man U-possibly pick up a win if utd have league tied up by then), Sunderland (play Chelsea @ home) or Newc (away to villa).

Lets hope we can pick up the 3 vs Wigan otherwise we could be going into final day on 37 only out of relegation by goal difference

[The Rover of Finland]

3 points against Wigan and we are very close to stay up. Hull won´t get a single point for the rest of games. Stoke is their big chance get something. Boro has to play their maximum to get 2 wins and 37 pts. Newcastle has every chance to win their left home games but that´s only 39 pts for them. And it´s very difficult to win 3 times of 5 matches for them. Win Wigan and not lose to pompey should be enough. Then again, there´s WBA at Ewood still in hand. My guess is it´s Hull, Boro and WBA relegated.

[Iceman]

I think compared to those around us, we have an easier game( should i say easy on here) against Wigan. Even if we can get a point, the likes of Hull and Boro got very difficult games. Newcastle have Pompey on Monday, so if we win then both those teams will be under serious pressure. Newcastle if they dont beat Pompey, then they are in serious trouble as is Hull. I did the predictor and had West Brom, Newcastle and Hull going down.

[bazza]

The problem is we have played atrocious football in the last three games. Yes, that includes the 2-1 win against Spurs when everyone walked off the ground in disbelief.

Playing that sort of football in all our remaining matches will get us 0 points, especially Wigan who are quite a tidy footballing side. Can we stay up with just 34?

Emphasis has been on getting our strikers fit but midfield is just as important, if not more so.

We need Dunn, Grella (and Tugay as supersub) to be available for the vital games against Wigan and Pompey. Only then can we hope for a point or three.

I agree with Fife that if we need something from the WBA game we just won't get it. Got to be safe before then.

[John]

Can we stay up with just 34?

That is what I have been thinking over the last couple of days, but you would think we will need more points to survive. From our perpsective, if we did not have so many key injuries/players unfit I would be feeling a lot more comfortable. However, having players missing, just highlights our lack of quality.

Don't like the fact that West Brom is the last game, and if it comes down to that match, the pressure could be unbearable.

Sam has set the team a target of 40 points

[TimmyJimmy]

Now there's only a few games left I can manage to do the sums so I did my calc and reckon its WBA and Hull down for defo plus either M'brough or Newcastle, the deciding game is of course their game on 11th May. As I've always thought Newcastle would wriggle out of it the bottom three are going to be Hull, M'borough and WBA. I've never won a bet in my life so you'd better ignore this, but I'm right this time, honest.

[47er]

Now there's only a few games left I can manage to do the sums so I did my calc and reckon its WBA and Hull down for defo plus either M'brough or Newcastle, the deciding game is of course their game on 11th May. As I've always thought Newcastle would wriggle out of it the bottom three are going to be Hull, M'borough and WBA. I've never won a bet in my life so you'd better ignore this, but I'm right this time, honest.

34 points wouldn't do it. 37 might. If we had 37 going into the last game against West Brom I'd be confident. But I agree with those who say we are playing so badly we might not get another point. If we start with both Andrews and Mokoena in the middle I think the game is lost before it starts. That's not even Championship standard.As for up front I never thought I'd say it but we need Roberts back, I've given up on Santa.

[mhead]

It boils down to one question....' Can the Manager get ONE good performance out of 11 fit players before the last match of the Season'

Personally I think all the other sides seem to have much more quality -even West Brom. Its very depressing.

[tony gale's mic]

It boils down to one question....' Can the Manager get ONE good performance out of 11 fit players before the last match of the Season'

Personally I think all the other sides seem to have much more quality -even West Brom. Its very depressing.

We've had THREE bad games in a row. One against the side with the third best home record in the league, one against Liverpool and one against Spurs (which we still managed to battle back to get three points out of). Before that we dominated an in form West Ham side at Ewood and were unlucky not to get three points, and before that it was your usual mix of good and bad performances that you'd expect from most sides in the bottom half.

If you honestly think bottom of the table West Brom, 7 points in 16 games Hull or a Newcastle side rudderless and hopeless in attack and defence for much of the Stoke and Spurs games are better prospects than us you need your head testing.

I know things have been very poor lately but at least we're reasonably solid in defence which is more than can be sad for some of the teams around us.

[jim mk2]

If you honestly think bottom of the table West Brom, 7 points in 16 games Hull or a Newcastle side rudderless and hopeless in attack and defence for much of the Stoke and Spurs games are better prospects than us you need your head testing.

Dangerous comments particularly in view of Rovers' capitulation against supposedly much inferior teams such as Forest at the end of the last relegation season.

West Brom gave City a very hard game last weekend. On present form I wouldn't bank on us to beat them.

[thenodrog]

Dangerous comments particularly in view of Rovers' capitulation against supposedly much inferior teams such as Forest at the end of the last relegation season.

West Brom gave City a very hard game last weekend. On present form I wouldn't bank on us to beat them.

Correct. And certainly not with just BM up front on his own. Our lack of striking options makes half a dozen crappy goalless draws seem like the promised land.

[Sysagent]

Treacy scored a couple last night and was apparently very good for the reserves against Wigan, Tugay played a full 90 minutes as did Zurab, we won 3 - 1.

Perhaps we should field the reserve squad for the remainder of the season!

[Hughesy]

Keep the faith lads - we will be fine

[67splitscreen]

Treacy scored a couple last night and was apparently very good for the reserves against Wigan, Tugay played a full 90 minutes as did Zurab, we won 3 - 1.

Perhaps we should field the reserve squad for the remainder of the season!

Not that it's a big deal but, Tugay was subbed on 77 min (Lowe) and Zurab on 86min (O'Connor)

Must admit I was gob smacked at the two and an assist from Treacy.

[JC4LAB]

Come back Jason ASAP..cos Boro aint out of it either.. .Three draws for us.and two wins for .Middlesboro and Boro could be the surprise escapees..

[Ozz]

For those of you thinking we will be ok, it is hugely possible that by next Tuesday, after a home loss to Wigan and Newcastle and Sunderland winning we could be looking down the barrell.

[gumboots]

For those of you thinking we will be ok, it is hugely possible that by next Tuesday, after a home loss to Wigan and Newcastle and Sunderland winning we could be looking down the barrell.

Yes, and it's equally possible we will be 3 points closer to safety. It feels unlikely at the moment but as has been said, it's all ifs and buts at the moment and there's no real way of predicting what might happen.

[Iceman]

My tv has been plugged out for the next 5 weeks, radio is off, newspapers im not buying and no more internet. Ill check what happened when its all over lol

[b12_simon]

There's no denying we're bad at the moment but look at the form table and calm yourselves. We've got 7 points from the last 6 games, Newcastle have 2. Even if you remove the 3 points we nicked off Spurs (funny but undeserved) that still gives us 4 to Newcastle's 2.

We can do this*!

* not 'cos we're good, 'cos Newcastle and Hull are worse.

[thenodrog]

There's no denying we're bad at the moment but look at the form table and calm yourselves. We've got 7 points from the last 6 games, Newcastle have 2. Even if you remove the 3 points we nicked off Spurs (funny but undeserved) that still gives us 4 to Newcastle's 2.

We can do this*!

* not 'cos we're good, 'cos Newcastle and Hull are worse.

I dare say that it's not the last 6 games that is worrying anyone!

[Iceman]

Agree Gordon. Its the next 5 games that will determine our fate. Our season starts on Sunday,and if we dont improve quickly we might be the team with 2 points from 5 and Newcastle could end with 7 from 5. Its worrying, but if we go down then part of it has Ince to blame, but part of it also has the players to blame. As professional players, some having played Champions league and been in Europe to have 1 shot against an ok team in Stoke is pathetic. However we are Rovers and to us with no disrespect to them the likes of Stoke, West Brom etc we play so bad its as if they are really good and get turned over with embarrasing ease. The reality of it all is that with no transfer money to get good players into our midfield, we will struggle no matter what strikeforce we have. Midfield is key area, and we have the worst midfield in the top 2 divisions of English football.

[Nelsta]

I am very worried about the situation, I think Newcastle are going to turn it all around.Can anybody believe Newcastle are going to go down without a fight?

And the way we have been playing we cant score for love nor money.