The Relegation Thread

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Trying to predict what our " owners " are going to do next in any given situation is a certain road to madness. Think what action will harm the Club the most and that's probably what they'll do.

Even what seemed to be a step forward in the appointment of Lambert served to weaken the fans base further. When they allowed him to walk lots of diehards like myself threw the towel in.

[philipl]

So we put a good little run together, got lucky with one dire performance, got beaten by PNE in a slightly less dire performance and we have ended up ahead of a relegation slot by a goal difference of 4 with a midweek trip to the Division's in form team to look forward to....

And a scrap against a Neil Warnock team after we totally messed about with Warnock this summer is only going to end one way.

So apart from Rotherham, who are we going to finish ahead of?

Answers on a post card to dodgy bookies, Pune... Coyle's League 1 bonuses looking pretty secure.

[AllRoverAsia]

We must finish above Burton and Wigan or else will be relegated. 21st place at the end and thankful for that.

That is the reality of how bad the Pune Turds have made us.

As always imo

[philipl]

Well it appears there are four truly awful sides in this division so we have a 25% chance of not going down.

[JHRover]

Well it appears there are four truly awful sides in this division so we have a 25% chance of not going down.

I wish I could be that optimistic. I'm confident we'll finish above Rotherham and we're about on a par with Wigan who have shown signs of improvement under Warren Joyce, so that one could go either way depending on what happens in January.

Who else?

There's no chance either Cardiff or Wolves will go down. Both Warnock and Lambert are too astute and Wolves in particular will throw money at it in January. We're pinning our hopes on Burton dropping into it which is a huge gamble. They're a real tight knit group that are hard to beat, particularly at their home ground. Clough has them set up strong at the back.

QPR could be the basket case club that drops into it with Holloway prone to a disaster, and possibly Forest if they hit another bad run, but again I've seen nothing so far to suggest we'll climb above them and stay there. Plus if they do end up looking like going down it is highly likely that their owners will take emergency action to keep them up.

[Lancaster Rover]

Rotherham and Burton are the two certs for me.

Leaving one from us, Wigan and QPR.

Wolves and Cardiff will spend in Jan.

Ipswich will grind it out.

Outside bet on Barnsley if they lose the centre half whose name escapes me and/or Houraine, Brentford if Hogan goes or gets injured and Bristol have been in reverse for a while but will spend in Jan and/or get a few decent loans in.

[1arC]

I think the big problem we have is January. With Emnes and Gallagher likely to go back to their clubs and Marshall sold, what then? We are bad

enough with them, so will be worse without them. Yes there could be new faces coming in, but even if there are, what will the quality of those be?

[Lancaster Rover]

We struck lucky with Gallagher, nobody expected him to contribute so many goals, Emnes has performed exactly how he has for most of his career, bright patches but in the main absent.

[JHRover]

Trouble is that all the teams around us will be busy working on budgets and lining up deals as we speak to strengthen their squads in January to try and stay up.

Meanwhile at our place the only interest the powers have is freeing up more funds by selling some more players. Then, and only then, will Coyle be afforded the opportunity to bring people in, but even then they will only be loans that nobody else wants and we get to pick up at the end of the window.

We're the only club down there that has owners/directors not interested in doing what is needed to survive or improving the situation, so irrespective of our squad's ability we're going to be up against it and on the back foot again in January.

Someone like Warnock will have a bit of money to work with and will know exactly what sort of players and characters he wants for a relegation scrap and he'll be allowed to get them.

[tomphil]

I think the big problem we have is January. With Emnes and Gallagher likely to go back to their clubs and Marshall sold, what then? We are bad

enough with them, so will be worse without them. Yes there could be new faces coming in, but even if there are, what will the quality of those be?

Lesser.

I'm sure Coyle would jump at keeping the pair of them but when Saints/Swansea ask he'll tell them i have to ask India. The slasha will don his briefcase jump on a plane then not be seen or heard of again till Feb. Meanwhile the only phone switched on in Pune towers will be the one marked outgoing sales which gets answered after 2 rings

'ah Mr Marshalls agent, yes that's fine tell him thankyou and goodbye '

[Lancaster Rover]

The issue we face with Gallagher and Emnes is that as soon as their loan period expires plenty of other clubs will be already on the phone with the green light. We wont.

[1arC]

The issue we face with Gallagher and Emnes is that as soon as their loan period expires plenty of other clubs will be already on the phone with the green light. We wont.

Exactly and that's precisely why I have suggested that our biggest problem will be January. It's bad now, but wait until then and we will all be

furious.

[JHRover]

Hence the relentless 'we can't compete with these other clubs' line that has been coming out of the club over the last 6 months. Excuse already there for when these players go elsewhere.

[1arC]

Its funny how we managed to compete and more often than not win, against much better opposition, before the Indian Chicken turned up to respect

Jack's legacy.

[philipl]

Looking at the table, we need to win all of:

Wigan H Rotherham A Burton A and QPR H and then fluke another 15 points from somewhere.

Basically we are as good as already down even though we are currently just 2 points from safety.

[DE.]

Yeah, no hope of us staying up with Coyle in charge. A very small chance of surviving if a decent manager was appointed, but we're more likely to end up with Warren Joyce after Wigan sack him.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I'm not a defeatist and I'd kick my granny to win a game but with this lot at Ewood we're as good as dead. This league is far from over and a team in our position could easily pull clear. It won't be us though. We haven't got any of the ingredients required to pull clear unfortunately.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Waggy76]

I'm not a defeatist and I'd kick my granny to win a game but with this lot at Ewood we're as good as dead. This league is far from over and a team in our position could easily pull clear. It won't be us though. We haven't got any of the ingredients required to pull clear unfortunately.

Very true ,the club is set up for relegation and has been for 6 years !

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

I do believe the fat lady is clearing her throat...

[ABBEY]

Only because her fat brother @#/? in it .

[tomphil]

What was it 8-1 at the beginning of the season ?

[Blue blood]

You know what, the more I see and hear of us, the more I think staying up wouldn't be too much of a problem IF we had a decent manager.

We're scoring lots of goals, bar yesterday, and have some decent players for this division. Any manager with a modicum of organisation could get the 3-2s against in to draws and wins. Also with a better fitness regime, perhaps good but crocked players like Mulgrew and Evans might feature more (though I am less optimistic on this).

Add in to which there are so many poor teams in this division and so many unexpected results that the bar is so, so low for staying up. Yes we're crap, but then Burton, Wigan and Rotherham aren't any good - and Wigan have done us a favour in appointing a poor manager. Birmingham and Forrest look like they could implode as well. There's a chance, through other teams self-destruction rather than any merit on our part, that we can still stay up. We don't have to be good, only less bad then 3 other teams. I believe with a change of manager, given what's at our disposal, 4th from bottom is quite attainable.

So the big question remains what is plan V? If it's to run us cheaply as possible in this division, then a change of manager should soon be forthcoming to preserve league status. However, if as I fear Coyle is here for the duration as part of plan asset strip, then the above optimism goes out the window. He clearly cannot organise a team to be successful, even from positive and solid positions.

Bugger, I've just talked myself out of my optimism. Think the point is though it's another "if only" scenario. If only we had a different manager, staying up would be a real possibility.

[Norbert Rassragr]

Plan V? Isn't that inviting people on board the spaceship and then eating them?

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38663851

Stay of execution according to SAM.

[Athlete]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38663851

Stay of execution according to SAM.

Down according to sem