It really is crunch time in the battle for Premier League survival and it looks as though West Brom and Middlesbrough are pretty much down.
They’re both a little too far adrift and even if The Baggies manage to get a couple of results, which is a big ask bearing in mind they play Liverpool on Sunday, their goal difference will probably cripple them. Middlesbrough have the look of a team that are completely demoralised. That defeat against Newcastle would’ve been a huge blow and they just haven’t got enough goals in the team to fire themselves out of the drop zone.
The final relegation place is between Hull City, Newcastle and Sunderland, and, at the moment, you have to say that Hull look the most likely to go.
It’s amazing really, the way they’ve slipped down the league after such an impressive start to the season, they really were flying. Phil Brown’s come in for some criticism for taking his half-time team talk against Manchester City out on the pitch, but I didn’t think that was a bad thing at all and I really rate Brown. He was heavily involved in the good work that Sam Allardyce did at Bolton and he’s worked miracles since taking the Hull job.
I’d like to see Hull stay up, but I think Newcastle now have the momentum. The win against Middlesbrough was a massive result and I’m sure they’ll get one more victory, which should be enough to guarantee another season in The Premier League for the Geordies. Their North East rivals Sunderland could yet be dragged into it though as their last two games away to Portsmouth and at home to Chelsea look very tough on paper.
There are some huge clubs in the mix at the wrong end of the table and it just shows how competitive The Premier League has been this season. When you see Newcastle struggling down there you have to question what’s gone wrong at the club. The introduction of Alan Shearer, even at such a late stage in the season looks like being crucial and the difference between Premiership and Championship football.
When you look at Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough, you have to say it’s great that Steve Gibson is loyal with managers and he obviously sees something in Gareth for the future, but a change of boss or a more experienced addition to the coaching staff may have just seen a turn round in their fortunes. The Shearer factor at Newcastle certainly appears to have had the desired effect.
Stoke City have been a revelation this season under Tony Pulis and have reminded me a lot of Leicester when we got promoted under Martin O’Neill. We got plenty of stick from pundits and supporters of the other clubs who were criticising our style of play. Yes, we were a physical side but we also played some football. That first season in The Premier League is all about getting survival. You’ve got to play to your strengths and Stoke have done that better than the other promoted sides. Against all odds the team from the Potteries have stayed up and it should be an inspiration to the likes of Wolves and Birmingham as they prepare for their top flight campaigns.
At Leicester, a lot of the players were on big bonuses if we stayed up in that first season and I’ve seen the Stoke chairman Peter Coates has recently been moaning about having to pay his players huge bonuses at the end of the season. In fairness to Peter, it was said with tongue firmly in cheek as he appreciates that the amount of money the club would’ve lost if they had been relegated.
The second season is always a tough one for teams like Stoke, in the past Ipswich and Reading have both been relegated following incredible debut campaigns in the top flight. At Leicester, Martin O’Neill was very shrewd and made some good additions which helped the team develop and also meant we could play more attractive football, but we always kept that basis of hard work and physical strength. We loved the fact that other teams didn’t enjoy playing against us and it gave us a real lift, I’d imagine that’s been the same for Stoke this season.
Another of my former clubs, Wigan, have also been impressive this season. Steve Bruce has done a great job and The Latics are well on their way to becoming an established Premier League side, much like Bolton Wanderers. Despite losing two of the better players in Wilson Palacios and my former team-mate at Leicester, Emile Heskey, Wigan bagged enough points to keep them safe months ago and their impressive work ethic combined with a sprinkling of flair players has been key.
For the supporters of Newcastle, Hull and Sunderland there are nail-biting games ahead and it’s arguably the biggest week in the history of each of the clubs. The relegation battle usually proves more exciting than the title race and this season has proved to be no exception.
Despite Liverpool’s gallant effort, it’s been United’s title to lose for months now and the champions have been at their ruthless best during the run-in. At least the relegation issues are still in the balance though, and, for the neutral, it promises to be very entertaining.