[Archived] The Relegation Thread

[thenodrog]

I do not think we will win this game as Wigan have a habit of bouncing back when you least expect. There will be no Samba, no Lowe (picked-up booking number 5 yesterday) and it will be fingers crossed that Olsson, & Pedersen return from international duty injury free.

How thick was that booking when he was already on 4? Kicking the ball away left Dean no choice. Stupid bookings like that and taking shirts off / running to the crowd should result in an extra hour of fitness training after the rest of the squad have gone home for a full week imo.

[Waggy76]

merce, what makes you think he will be gone before wigan? have u heard something?

I think Martinez will be gone before the Rovers game ..Whelan is a clever man ...It will improve his teams chances of beating us and the drop..

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

How thick was that booking when he was already on 4? Kicking the ball away left Dean no choice. Stupid bookings like that and taking shirts off / running to the crowd should result in an extra hour of fitness training after the rest of the squad have gone home for a full week imo.

Last weeks milking of a throw in was an idiotic booking also.

[Audax]

Mattyblue is correct, Derby County, I remember that year, just a few years ago and it seems they were down there with 7 points for the longest time, ended the year with 11 points. I went through the tables recently, the next club with the fewest points to be relegated was Sunderland with 15 and then next, Sunderland with 19, Pompey also had 19 but got 10 points or something deducted from them that year, about 2 years ago.

These are unofficial stats but here are the teams that have been relegated the most times:

Crystal Palace 3

Birmingham City 3

Leicester City 3

Sunderland 3

West Brom 3

I was doing an unofficial count, I have West Ham being dropped twice but maybe I missed one...

----

And then there are few more dropped twice and a number dropped once, Blackburn ? 1 time??

Also, I read the team with the longest run in the Championship are Coventry City.

[Emge]

Okey, this might seem a bit of a far out question, but is there perhaps a couple of good things about getting relegated? I mean, it seems to have done wonders to Newcastle - cleaned them up and restructured the club in a way.

When we go down (i say when, because there is no IF with Coco) - if Venkys panics and fires him and get in a manager capable of getting us up and decent backroom staff and all that, perhaps it will do us good?

This is just me trying the best I can to try and see the positives in getting relegated, because its going to hurt a lot and be very painful!

[DE.]

Okey, this might seem a bit of a far out question, but is there perhaps a couple of good things about getting relegated? I mean, it seems to have done wonders to Newcastle - cleaned them up and restructured the club in a way.

When we go down (i say when, because there is no IF with Coco) - if Venkys panics and fires him and get in a manager capable of getting us up and decent backroom staff and all that, perhaps it will do us good?

This is just me trying the best I can to try and see the positives in getting relegated, because its going to hurt a lot and be very painful!

It would be financial oblivion for a club of our size - there would be no positives. Newcastle was a different situation entirely.

[Emge]

It would be financial oblivion for a club of our size - there would be no positives. Newcastle was a different situation entirely.

Well, yeah I see your point. Perhaps we're doomed then Thanks Venky's!

[DE.]

Well, yeah I see your point. Perhaps we're doomed then Thanks Venky's!

Our only hope is Venky's following Mike Ashley's lead and bankrolling the club to the tune of about £35m (and that's just in lost revenue to pay off bank mortgages and player wages) to get us back into the top flight. There would also have to be a major fire sale as most of our players had their contracts re-negotiated to take out relegation payment cut clauses. Another brilliant move by our owners.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Ok - case for the defence - looking at our recent fixtures where do people think we would have picked up extra points with a different manager ?

Our last four home matches have been Arsenal, Man City, Spurs and Chelsea - we ended up with three points - which prior to them all I would have been happy with. In terms of performance - only City really played us off the park (as they have done many teams this season) - and we were unlucky not to pick up at least another point against either Spuds or Chelsea. Talking of luck evening itself out - we probably deserved draws in all bar the City match - so three points is a fair return.

Our last three away fixtures were all draws - and with a little more luck we would have beaten Norwich.

What is killing us at the moment is the first three games of the season. Wolves - no experienced centre half, Aston Villa - only a half fit experienced centre half, Everton - missed TWO penalties.

Taking everything else to one side - given the circumstances of the matches themselves (and ignoring last seasons record) - an experienced manager couldn't have done a lot better results wise (I am laying the blame for the transfer fiasco at the foot of our owners rather than Kean).

At the moment I have splinters in a painful place - as I personally can't decide what the owners should do for the best. Wigan is pivotal for me - a good performance turning into three points - and he buys himself a bit more time.

One thing is certain - now is the time for all Rovers fans to get behind the team (which in fairness, on match days, they largely have). Irrespective of the manager - we are in the brown stuff - and need a good run of results from the next few fixtures.

For anyone that accuses me of being pro-Kean - I am not I am PRO-ROVERS !

[Sparky Marky]

Taking everything else to one side - given the circumstances of the matches themselves (and ignoring last seasons record) - an experienced manager couldn't have done a lot better results wise (I am laying the blame for the transfer fiasco at the foot of our owners rather than Kean).

You seriously don't think a more experienced manager could do a better job than this knob?

[RibbleValleyRover]

So what's the general concensus on how many points we need by the end of Christmas and going into the new year? 20? more than 20?

We are currently on 7 points and our remaining fixtures between now and the 1st Jan are:

Stoke Away- 26th November

Swansea Home- 3rd December.

Sunderland Away - 11th December.

West Brom Home- 17th December

Bolton Home- 20th December.

Liverpool Away - 26th December.

Man United Away - 31st December.

7 games to get 13 points if 20 is the target going into the new year. Looking at the fixtures does anyone else think that's a big ask? If you write-off the United and Liverpool games that make 5 games to get 13 points, we would have to go unbeaten to achieve that so 4 wins and a draw.

I can't see it, I think Rovers are dead and buried already.

[John]

Having so many games around Xmas worries me, need to be savvy with team selection, injuries might mount up - Stoke have been poor recently so could be looking at least a point from that. Home games look OK on paper but Ewood is nae fortress these days.

[roverandout]

So what's the general concensus on how many points we need by the end of Christmas and going into the new year? 20? more than 20?

We are currently on 7 points and our remaining fixtures between now and the 1st Jan are:

Stoke Away- 26th November

Swansea Home- 3rd December.

Sunderland Away - 11th December.

West Brom Home- 17th December

Bolton Home- 20th December.

Liverpool Away - 26th December.

Man United Away - 31st December.

7 games to get 13 points if 20 is the target going into the new year. Looking at the fixtures does anyone else think that's a big ask? If you write-off the United and Liverpool games that make 5 games to get 13 points, we would have to go unbeaten to achieve that so 4 wins and a draw.

i would say stoke away 0 points

swansea at home 1 point

sunderland away 0 points

west brom at home 1 point

bolton at home 1 point

liverpool away 0 points

and man utd away definetley o points with a thumping to boot

so that leaves us with 3 points from a possible 15

[Amo]

So what's the general concensus on how many points we need by the end of Christmas and going into the new year? 20? more than 20?

We are currently on 7 points and our remaining fixtures between now and the 1st Jan are:

Stoke Away- 26th November

Swansea Home- 3rd December.

Sunderland Away - 11th December.

West Brom Home- 17th December

Bolton Home- 20th December.

Liverpool Away - 26th December.

Man United Away - 31st December.

7 games to get 13 points if 20 is the target going into the new year. Looking at the fixtures does anyone else think that's a big ask? If you write-off the United and Liverpool games that make 5 games to get 13 points, we would have to go unbeaten to achieve that so 4 wins and a draw.

I can't see it, I think Rovers are dead and buried already.

We're already relegated. Every game whilst Kean is in charge becomes a formality. Heck, even if we hired a REAL manager, it would be an uphill task - but at least we'd have a fighting chance. The longer Kean remains in charge, the closer Rovers come to oblivion. Fixtures, form-guides etc. mean nothing to me whilst this chump is in charge. He'll never collect enough points to stay up. Pure and simple. Don't waste your energy.

[Hekla]

So Stoke come along after two bad defeats and who is next up? Blackburn! This means we will be battered.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Can anyone honestly say they can see Kean turning our current plight on its head to get the required points we need?... a mere miracle is needed under current form to salvage any hope of survival.

This whole situation is ridiculous,untenable and most probably beyond saving.

[Balwer]

Assuming we do get relegated my worry is that we'll need a manager good enough to ensure the better players stick around for a crack at going straight back up. Nobody is going to want to join us if Kean is still there and the better players we do have will all be off, even Robbo who seems like the only one who really cares.

[LDRover]

I find it sickening that, not only are we talking about relegation as a formality, we're also talking of Kean still being in charge when it happens.

[Audax]

Also, in these relegation scraps, it always becomes, if we can stay up, who goes down instead of us.

The problem there is most teams are playing fairly well...newly promoted and all.

[47er]

I think we will continue along the path Kean has already set. The odd victory we don't expect, a few draws and loads of "unlucky" losses. 32 points with a bit of luck but certain relegation.

[philipl]

Relegation is already settled for Rovers and Wigan.

I don't think we have enough quality in our squad to pull back to 17th place even if we got a very good manager.

[Audax]

I agree with those who see this as a gloomy outlook. I feel rather frustrated and gutted today but if I were playing "devil's advocate" concerning relegation, I'd look at the table and say "Guys, 2 teams have 1 win, 2 teams have 2 wins, Sunderland and Fulham at 15th and 16th, 6 teams have 3 wins including Aston Villa at 8th. We're still in striking distance." It shows you how important a game is in the PL, 2 wins and your out of gaol. Draws are important too. 4 Wins for WBA but only 2 draws.

Championship League usually plays 2 games a week and fortunes can turn very quickly. The PL has more like a separate chapter every week. It's a long haul to get back up the hill especially for the bottom two right now.

[Kamy100]

I think is going to be very tough for Rovers to survive from this position. I believe that we do have the quality to stay up but have a manager who is not upto the job. He is going to have to pick up at least 10 wins from the remaining 26 games, so that means having to improve his current games/win ratio, I just can't see him being able to do that.

[rovermagic]

On this board we are much more pessimistic than we should be. The main betting sites have us 10-11 odds on to go down. Wigan 1-3, then all four of Wolves, Bolton, Norwich and Swansea roughly 2-1 against. Given poor points tally of bottom 6, and unbalanced high points tally for top 6, 36 points could be enough to stay up. We need some perspective. Played abysmally v Wigan after 4-5 decent performances on the trot. You'd think we were 1-5 to go down from this board.

[Audax]

I think is going to be very tough for Rovers to survive from this position. I believe that we do have the quality to stay up but have a manager who is not upto the job. He is going to have to pick up at least 10 wins from the remaining 26 games, so that means having to improve his current games/win ratio, I just can't see him being able to do that.

Well stated, that's pragmatic. Often a manager gets sacked when the whole team is not playing well but this is more of a case where a manager is out of his depth. He doesn't have the experience to really turn things around.