Relegation Possibility

[jonc73]

This team can play if given the chance.

The key to survival in my view.More Arsenal, Chelsea and QPR performances rather than Tottenham and Man City. The team needs to have a go, and no more Heskey before more creative options.  I'm not sure if the manager has been affected by the negativity? If so he needs to stop that now and be brave.

[andyh]

As some are saying we should, in theory and given our squad grab enough points to see us safe.

However, there is more to it. If we DO lose the next few the mentality changes. Confidence goes, fear sets in and with AMC in charge he will make us sit even deeper and invite other sides onto us. Now add to the recipe our defensive frailty.  His fear and lack of guts is our real problem. This team can play if given the chance.

Personally, I am very concerned.

Precisely this.

Remember, this manager has form for seeing it coming but being incapable of stopping it

[andyh]

Just taken look at the table.
Fuck, I wish I hadn't.

[Rick_avfc]

Relegation is a massive possibilty.  The next 4 games are crucial and we need to we all 4 to have any hope of finishing comfortably but I cant see it.  We'll prob win 1 or 2 of the next 4 games and then comes the tough games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Stoke and Man Utd.  Im more worried about this season than last season and fear that this could be the year we are going down.  We are not too big or too good to go down as other teams who we all thought the same have, West Ham and Newcastle.

[richard moore]

Relegation is a massive possibilty.  The next 4 games are crucial and we need to we all 4 to have any hope of finishing comfortably but I cant see it.  We'll prob win 1 or 2 of the next 4 games and then comes the tough games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Stoke and Man Utd.  Im more worried about this season than last season and fear that this could be the year we are going down.  We are not too big or too good to go down as other teams who we all thought the same have, West Ham and Newcastle.

Absolutely Rick. For those of us perhaps of an older vintage, you can add Man Utd and Man City to the list. Everton were one game away the season they had to beat Wimbledon in the last game too. What may just save us is that whilst we are all worried about playing Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal etc, the other teams down the bottom will have games against similar opposition. What I worry most about us is that I fear we don't realise we are in a relegation scrap whereas teams like Wigan and Wolves do.

[Concrete John]

Possibility?  Yes.  Massive possibility?  No, not for me.

We've got 4 winnable games coming up and the ability in the side to win them.  I dount we will win all 4, but 7 points puts us on 35, which is close enough that we'll all be beathing a lot easier.  I think the next two being away helps as our away form is better and they'll be less pressure on them.

[darren woolley]

I don't think we will go down I reckon we will have enough to stay up but we need to start putting points on the board asap.

[Jockey Randall]

People need to stop panicking. Look how many points those 5 teams down there have got after 25 games. It's highly unlikely 3 of them will get anywhere near 40 points. I'd wager 35 points would even keep us up. It would take a Devon Loch style capitulation for us to go down.

[CJ]

I think it's a very real possibility but don't think we'll drop purely because there are 5 teams on 7 points or more below us . It would need 3 of them to go on a run for us to be seriously threatened and I think the bottom 5 now will be the bottom 5 come 13th May:

QPR may get a couple of results given that Hughes has replaced Colin Wanker and he's brought in Cisse and Zamora, but they're probably the worst team I've seen at VP this season so don't think they'll go on a run.  Stay below us but stay up

Blackburn will score a few more now they've got Yakubu back but they haven't got any resilience against a half decent team - they apparently played Newcastle off the park and still lost.  Stay below us and scrape it to stay up

Wolves were shocking yesterday and McCarthy (if he's still there) doesn't look like he can get them out of it. Relegation and bottom of the league

Bolton just look poor which is surprising as I thought Coyle was a decent manager, although he does look a bit silly wearing shorts at every game. Their next 2 league games are Chelsea and Man City away. By the time we beat them at VP they'll be more or less gone. Relegation

Wigan are there or thereabouts every season and much as I like Roberto Martinez and his style of football they just concede too many goals.  Feel a bit sorry for Dave Whelan who's put a lot of support into the club to get them from League 3 to the PL, but he's fighting a losing battle against rugby up there, their support is shit, and this year they'll drop. Relegated, finishing 18th.

We still need to get some points from our next 4 games but I think we'll stay up. Next season however.....

[Jimbo]

ELLIS did'nt make us Champions Of Europe...It was Mr. Ronald Bendall

How the fcuking hell have we ended up being relegation candidates so soon after being Champions League contenders?  Our decline in the past 3 years is remarkable.

It took Ellis five years to take us from champions of Europe to relegation. That was remarkable.

I think it was Ron Saunders and Tony Barton TBF.

Ronald Bendall was the Chairman in '82...it was won on his watch....like any success or failure, its the chairman and the board that take the praise or the flak...Its called LEADERSHIP.

Nobody claimed Ellis was chairman when we won the European Cup. But he did inherit the European Champions, and get them relegated in record time. Out of interest, has it happened quicker anywhere else?

[NeilH]

Whilst it’s easy to over-react after yesterday’s performance, there were enough green shots in the 2nd half QPR game to prove to me that we are simply not going to go down. With the possible exception of QPR (if Hughes can get them organised), the rest of the teams below us are a shambles and I’ve seen nothing to suggest that even with McLeish at the helm we can’t get points off them and steer ourselves away way from the bottom 3.
Like many others on here, my concern is not about this season, which I wrote off as soon as it was made clear we were entering a major cost-cutting period. My concern is next season, when we will have shipped out the big earners and McLeish remains at the helm. What calibre of replacements will McLeish attract, how many fans will drift away and will Lerner show any remote interest in the club upon achieving an aim of sustainability?
I guess it’s still too early to speculate right now, but my sinking feeling is building for the summer and not the next couple of months.

[maidstonevillain]

People need to stop panicking. Look how many points those 5 teams down there have got after 25 games. It's highly unlikely 3 of them will get anywhere near 40 points. I'd wager 35 points would even keep us up. It would take a Devon Loch style capitulation for us to go down.

Or a BCFC 2010-2011 style capitulation.

[maidstonevillain]

ELLIS did'nt make us Champions Of Europe...It was Mr. Ronald Bendall

How the fcuking hell have we ended up being relegation candidates so soon after being Champions League contenders?  Our decline in the past 3 years is remarkable.

It took Ellis five years to take us from champions of Europe to relegation. That was remarkable.

I think it was Ron Saunders and Tony Barton TBF.

Ronald Bendall was the Chairman in '82...it was won on his watch....like any success or failure, its the chairman and the board that take the praise or the flak...Its called LEADERSHIP.

Nobody claimed Ellis was chairman when we won the European Cup. But he did inherit the European Champions, and get them relegated in record time. Out of interest, has it happened quicker anywhere else?

The 60's Man Utd side must have run us close.

[Mazrim]

I don't fear relegation. It can be a cleansing force although not desirable and financially problematic.
Villa in particular have usually come back stronger for it.

I don't think we will go down by the way. There's a lot wrong at the moment but not to that degree.
Steps have to be taken to get this club on the right track again though. And soon.

[pauliewalnuts]

ELLIS did'nt make us Champions Of Europe...It was Mr. Ronald Bendall

How the fcuking hell have we ended up being relegation candidates so soon after being Champions League contenders?  Our decline in the past 3 years is remarkable.

It took Ellis five years to take us from champions of Europe to relegation. That was remarkable.

I think it was Ron Saunders and Tony Barton TBF.

Ronald Bendall was the Chairman in '82...it was won on his watch....like any success or failure, its the chairman and the board that take the praise or the flak...Its called LEADERSHIP.

Nobody claimed Ellis was chairman when we won the European Cup. But he did inherit the European Champions, and get them relegated in record time. Out of interest, has it happened quicker anywhere else?

I don't think any other club has had the sheer rollercoaster of third division to first division champions to european champions to the second division in, what, fifteen odd years?