The Trap Door Looms in the Premier League Relegation Scrap
Wigan Athletic were relegated from the Premier League just days after winning the FA Cup in 2013
Sunderland
Where else to start then with the league’s bottom club – Sunderland have endured a dreadful campaign.
Similar to fellow strugglers Fulham, Sunderland is a club that’s sat comfortably in the Premier League since their return in 2007. The Black Cats were in danger of relegation last season however, and with the dismissal of Martin O’Neill and the appointment of Paolo Di Canio saw the club survive on the penultimate weekend of the season.
In the period since his arrival, Sunderland have been anything but comfortable.
Di Canio was ruthlessly sacked after just games in charge and with the club sat at the bottom of the table. Uruguayan Gus Poyet has taken over the reins, but the outcome looks to be the same – Sunderland are going down.
A run to the League Cup final sandwiched with huge wins against Newcastle, Everton and Manchester City have given hope to the club’s fans, but even the most loyal Mackem might find it hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
This past Saturday was a nail in the coffin, losing 1-0 at home to Everton – The Black Cats won’t beat the drop.
Wes Brown scored a late own goal to give Everton a priceless win last weekend
Sunderland’s next two fixtures are against top three sides, with away trips to Man City and Chelsea.
The north-east side are completely out of form and the task of picking up points in those games to stand any chance of avoiding relegation is slim to nil.
Home games in late April and May to Cardiff City, West Brom and Swansea will prove worthless if they cannot get there with a fighting chance of staying up.
Sunderland have spent big during the past two windows. Financially they are in an unstable position. Should they fall out of the league, and given the way sides such as Bolton, Middlesbrough and Blackburn have failed to bounce back after being established Premier League sides, Sunderland may find themselves out of football’s elite league for years to come.
Fulham
Two huge wins back-to-back see Fulham as the form side in the relegation fight. The result has given hope to many of Fulham’s fans. It’s been a ray of hope in what has been a hopeless season for the London side in comparison to the season before.
A squad full of Premier League quality, the performances on the pitch have been woeful.
Hugo Rodallega’s first half goal against Norwich helped give Fulham a lifeline in their fight for Premier League survival
The problem lies up front – Fulham lack goals. In spite of his two vital goes these past two games, Columbian striker Hugo Rodallega hasn’t replicated his form since his transfer from Wigan, scoring five goals in 39 appearances for the club. Costa Rican star Bryan Ruiz had a devastating goal-to-games ratio at FC Twente with 35 goals in 65 appearances but flopped magnificently since his move to Craven Cottage with eight goals in 68 games and now finds himself on loan at PSV Eindhoven.
Since the departure of Dimitar Berbatov to Monaco, Fulham have been missing the creative spark and goal scoring ability of the Bulgarian.
The burden looked to fall to £12m January signing Kostas Mitroglou from Olympiakos. The 26-year-old has made two appearances without a goal and has been hampered with a knee injury since his arrival. At £40,000 a week and with six games to go, the striker, who is seeing a specialist in Italy, is more of a Greek tragedy.
The managerial merry go round that has been Craven Cottage has seen Martin Jol, René Meulensteen, and now Felix Magath attempt to steer the side towards safety and history may repeat itself.
In January 2008, after the departure of new boss Laurie Sanchez, now England boss Roy Hodgson stepped in to steer a faltering Fulham to a miraculous final day escape following last gasp away wins over Manchester City and Portsmouth sandwiched in between a vital win at home to Birmingham City.
With a vital win over Norwich this past Saturday, the gap to safety is two points with five games to go.
It may surprise everyone else, but it’ll be no surprise to Fulham fans should they stay up.
Norwich
A team completely out of form and out of sorts, Norwich have been in free fall since January, with only two wins in their last 11 games and a total of eight over the course of the season.
New manager Neil Adams felt his side were unlucky to lose at Craven Cottage in his first game in charge
With the dismissal this week of boss Chris Hughton, who guided the team to a club record eleventh place last year, chief executive David McNally has taken a huge gamble in installing youth coach Neil Adams in his place.
Hughton was given a hefty transfer kitty in the summer and spent big on Celtic striker Gary Hooper and Dutch international forward Ricky Van Wolfswinkel for a total of £14m. In return the pair has scored only eight goals between them with seven coming from Hooper.
Likewise to Fulham, Norwich have a squad full of tried and tested top flight players – John Ruddy, Sebastian Bassong, Johan Elmander, Martin Olsson and Leroy Fer amongst others. Again, likewise to Fulham, the squad has under-performed.
Their final four fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are the stuff of nightmares for the Carrow Road faithful, and Norwich must get results in at least two of those games to stand a chance. This past Saturday’s defeat to Fulham was a disaster and they are in real trouble.
With such huge games, starting at home to Liverpool, the Canaries will either take flight or crash and burn.
Cardiff City
If you haven’t noticed by now, there is a theme running in the relegation dog fight. Managers come, and managers go. Cardiff City are no different.
Storming to the Championship last year, Malky Mackay and his boys came into the Premier League with a huge amount of optimism and it showed early on. Wins against Manchester City, Fulham and Swansea merged with credible draws against top sides such as Everton and Manchester United had heldCardiff in good stead.
Happier times: Fraizer Campbell inspired Cardiff City to their first Premier League victory in August 2013
Owner Vincent Tan decided that despite bringing Cardiff into England’s top league, his services were deemed replaceable by former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has only managed in his home of Norway.
The Welsh side spent big, very big, in the summer to cement their status as a top flight club. Nearly £8 million was spent on centre forward Andreas Cornelius only for the Denmark international to flop spectacularly and be shipped back to Copenhagen at more than half price. Chilean midfielder Gary Medel joined from Sevilla for £11 million in August, whilst England defender Steven Caulker jumped ship from Spurs for £8m. Both have been bright sparks in what has been a testing time for the club.
The Bluebirds have struggled since the arrival of Solskjaer and are sat currently in nineteenth place but a massive win away win over Southampton this past Saturday has changed their perspective.
With the plight of Norwich and Swansea, Cardiff have a slither of hope – but must perform well.
West Brom
The Baggies took a momentous stride towards survival for a fourth with a 1-0 away to relegation rivals Norwich last weekend.
Crucially they also have a game in hand over teams below them and a five-point cushion for protection.
Similar to Norwich, West Brom were a side who over-performed last year, finishing eighth in a magical season with on-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku leading the way with 17 goals.
They have had their moments this year, including a stunning 3-1 win away against Manchester United and the emergence of young talent Saido Berahino, but the highs few and far between the lows.
Pepe Mel has done little to prove to Baggies fans that he is the right man to lead them forward
The sacking of Steve Clarke in December, given his team’s previous season placing was a poor move, but many feel he took a side that Roy Hodgson had moulded and under the Scot they were now easier to beat.
The Midlands side have five games to go and are still to face Man City and Arsenal. This means that fixtures against West Ham, Sunderland and Stoke are all must win.
With the dreadful form of the teams around them however, West Brom all but sealed their Premier League status with that vital win away at Norwich and with a draw this weekend against Spurs they are out of danger.
In the Mix…
A quick mention to Swansea who have slid into sixteenth place, level on points with West Brom and Crystal Palace who have both (surprise, surprise) had a managerial shuffle mid-season with contrasting fortunes. Under Tony Pulis, Palace have gone from strength to strength and are clearly out of trouble. Swansea have done the opposite and now find themselves in the trenches. Both have enough to steer clear especially with the form of others around them to avoid the drop.
Final Standings
Prediction: Relegated – Sunderland, Cardiff, Norwich
Despite the win at Southampton, Cardiff have left it too late to get out of jail now. Norwich are falling with no net to catch them and Sunderland are all but gone. Fulham will bail themselves out in a repeat of their 2008 escape whilst Palace, West Brom and Swansea are all out of the real danger.
Are Sunderland already down? Can Fulham perform another great escape? And could the likes of West Ham, Hull and Swansea be dragged back in to the bottom three?
The Offside Rule 
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