Their stats are grim, and will come close to the record for the poorest single season in the Premiership (which was held - at one stage to my brother's unspeakable disgust - by Sunderland).
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The 2017-2018 Football Thread
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Their stats are grim, and will come close to the record for the poorest single season in the Premiership (which was held - at one stage to my brother's unspeakable disgust - by Sunderland).
I recall that season. It was grim.
I believe we hold the record for being relegated with the most points in the Premier League era.
How many points did you amass and still be relegated?
The rule of thumb used to be that if you managed to reach 40 points you would have to be unusual unlucky to be relegated, and most managers aimed to reach 40 to ensure and guarantee safety.
However, studying the current table - with six fixtures remaining - every club under ninth place (Everton) is still under 40 points and the 'range' of the band of points between Bournemouth (10th on 37 points) and Stoke (19th on 27 points) is strikingly narrow.
There used to be a clump of around five clubs in jeopardy - or possible jeopardy - and a bunch in the middle, (from 15th to eighth, or seventh) comfortable and safe but not threatening to actually win anything - and then the gang representing the gulf at the top, - with one or two clubs (improving and ambitious clubs, at - say - sixth and seventh, sometimes snapping at their heels), in other words, the real champions followed by a few also-rans, who would be hoping for a Champions League place.
Nowadays, that bunch in the middle - one or two clubs might accelerate away from them - are squeezed into a tight two or three. The gap between the top five-six (top four and two pursuing stragglers, if I am honest), and those under them is growing; the Premiership is now a two tier system, rather than the old three tier one, and - to my possibly jaundiced eye - somewhat the worse for it.
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42. Agree there are 6 clubs trying for the top 4 places. Then a couple of others. Everyone else is happy to stay up.
If you look at the 10 worst premier league points totals over the years, I think Sunderland have managed a few entries in that category.
Oh, yes, I don't doubt that.
This becomes personal because my brother supports them, and he used to suffer inexpressible agonies when they broke fresh records which expressed their dismal season of unremitting and unrelenting disaster which culminated - but, of course - in the inevitable and richly deserved relegation that invariably followed.
The Champions league really is becoming a closed, exclusive cub. Bayern and Real are both all but through after the first leg this round. The usual suspects.
You could say the same about most leagues in the world though. It's rare for a club outside of the top two or three. Leicester being the exception here in the UK.
Although Crystal Palace were relegated in the first season of the Premier League with 49 points - it was from 42 games though as there were 22 teams that year.
Ah, yes, with 22 teams.
However, since it became a league of 20 teams, 40 points normally seems to suffice for survival.
Agonising reading - if you like the sort of exquisite pain such stats suggest. Thanks for sharing, @pachyderm.
It's important to remember the league system is a pyramid. Sometimes teams get relegated because they just weren't prepared for the Premier League, but they remained decent Championship teams after that. Other times, as with Leeds and Sunderland, the club was so rotten that the relegations were merely a symptom of an imploding organization.
Sad to hear about Ray Wilkins today. I remember the later part of his career at QPR.
Meanwhile Liverpool roll out the red carpet for the Man City team bus!
[doublepost=1522870189][/doublepost]Just checked on the score. 3-0! Never saw that coming!
Meanwhile Liverpool roll out the red carpet for the Man City team bus!
[doublepost=1522870189][/doublepost]Just checked on the score. 3-0! Never saw that coming!
Yes, when I read about how he had collapsed and been taken ill on Friday, and how his family had made clear that they were not optimistic about the outcome, I was not terribly surprised.
Nevertheless, it is very sad. Good grief - 61 is not old.
Wow.
Neither did I.
Wow. Just, wow.
I had a busy evening and missed watching the match, but this is beyond my wildest expectations. I knew Liverpool could win, but never expected them to keep a clean sheet. Klopp is not going to go to the Etihad looking for a draw, but this scoreline puts Liverpool in a really commanding position.
On the other hand, Salah's groin injury is catastrophic blow. He's been imperious lately and Liverpool are going to miss him hugely. I can only hope that it is a minor strain.
Liverpool need Salah if they are going to go deeper in the Champions league. There is a chance we can get past Man City without him, but beyond that he is crucial.
I had a busy evening and missed watching the match, but this is beyond my wildest expectations. I knew Liverpool could win, but never expected them to keep a clean sheet. Klopp is not going to go to the Etihad looking for a draw, but this scoreline puts Liverpool in a really commanding position.
On the other hand, Salah's groin injury is catastrophic blow. He's been imperious lately and Liverpool are going to miss him hugely. I can only hope that it is a minor strain.
Liverpool need Salah if they are going to go deeper in the Champions league. There is a chance we can get past Man City without him, but beyond that he is crucial.
Yes, Leicester was a rare and wonderful exception - I was delighted when they won the Premiership.
Sorry to hear about Saleh - he is an absolute gentleman.
Reading the genuinely warm tributes that poured in to Ray Wilkins made clear that he, too, was an absolute gentleman and a class human being - this is a quality that deserves to be saluted and recognised in leading sportsmen and athletes when we see it.
Great result tarnished by:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...mn-fans-attack-man-city-team-bus-saw-windows/
Indeed, some truly embarrassing behavior from a group of fans there. I don't necessarily have a problem with fans giving the opposition bus a "warm welcome" with flares, chants and banners, though personally that is not my style. Threats, and especially physically attacking the bus are, however, beyond the pale. But in every crowd there are always an active minority of morons who just can't control themselves.
Yeah, that's not a 'pool thing by any stretch. Every club has an a** and he has his followers.
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