Before the opening day
I picked out eight potential relegation candidates, three of which Southampton must
finish above to survive the drop. With the opening skirmishes of the Premier
League season complete, what have we learned about the other relegation
candidates?
Norwich
The Squad post-window– The summer saw
an unwelcome resignation from manager Paul Lambert followed by a transfer
request from star striker Grant Holt – hardly an ideal recipe for continuing
the great progress made at the club in the past three seasons. However, new
manager Chris Hughton has recruited well, strengthening the defence with
Bassong and Turner and snaring Robert Snodgrass from Leeds. He adds these to a
squad made up mainly of lower division players come good. Surman, Pilkington,
Hoolahan, Howson, Jackson, Morison, Barnett and Bennett – these were
progressive signings made by Lambert who all played their part in the club’s
upsurge from League One strugglers to Premier League surprise package. But now that the man responsible for
the resurrection has departed, all the symptoms point to a textbook case of –
say it quietly – second-season syndrome.
Whether this comes to
pass or not remains to be seen – Hughton performed commendably in the Premier
League with Newcastle – but the side’s winless start to the season has done
little to allay fears that Norwich City might come down with a bump this year. The
momentum from successive promotions saw them thrive in their first season back
in the top division, but now –with the ‘feel-good factor’ subsiding– the real
work starts for Norwich City.
The
manager – Chris Hughton has
undertaken one of the most difficult jobs in the division at Carrow Road. It
seems strange to say after three of their best seasons in decades, but
Norwich’s is a squad that, without the right guidance, could very well see last
year’s wide-eyed enthusiasm crushed. Hughton is undoubtedly a talented coach,
but is relatively inexperienced as a manager at the top level and will do well
to stop Norwich from slipping into trouble.
The prospects – Five-goal defeats to Fulham and Liverpool have set alarm bells
ringing, but they performed well when snatching a point from Tottenham in
September. Much depends on whether Grant Holt can reproduce last season’s form
having successfully manipulated himself new contract from the club, as his only
competitors, Simeon Jackson and Steve Morison, may not provide sufficient
firepower themselves. A real worry for Hughton will be that several of the Liverpool’s
goals this weekend were entirely self-inflicted– Norwich must rid themselves of
this soft touch if they are to steer clear of trouble.
Reading
The squad post-window - Reading made several low-profile yet astute
signings from the division they won last season before adding more high-profile
names in the form of Fulham’s Pavel Pogrebnyak, highly sought-after following
his short-term stint at Craven Cottage last season, and Newcastle’s Danny
Guthrie. The Russian Pogrebnyak scored a fine header at Stanford Bridge in his
second game, but hasn’t yet added to his tally. Mariappa’s arrival provides
competition for Pearce and Gorkss at the back and supplies much needed Premier
League experience, although his last appearance in this league came in 2007.
One man with plenty of experience is Ian Harte, but his startling lack of pace
has already been exploited this season and his place lost to the returning
Nicky Shorey.
Gunter and McCleary
have as yet failed to nail down starting places following their moves from
Nottingham Forest, while similarly Danny Guthrie has lost out in midfield to
those players who earned Reading their promotion and recently tweeted that he
was working hard to adapt his style of play to suit his manager’s philosophy.
The manager - A mixed bag on the transfer front so far, then, but McDermott’s
preference for the slow evolution of his squad is in keeping with his
calculated management style. The former scout is unafraid to make tough
decisions, having quickly dropped last season’s star performer Adam Federici
after two errors in as many games, replacing him with young Englishman Alex
McCarthy.
The prospects -After five games Reading find themselves without a win, but they can
count themselves unlucky not to have recorded their first against Newcastle
this weekend after Demba Ba equalised with his hand and the visitors somehow
survived a late onslaught. This was a welcome improvement from the
disappointing defeats to West Brom and Tottenham that preceded it, but Reading
fans know their side need to start putting points on the board if the
pre-season relegation favourites are to prove the bookies wrong. Should goals
from Pogrebnyak fail to materialise it is difficult to see where Reading’s
threat will come from.
Wigan
The squad post-window – Make no mistake - Wigan lost three key
players this summer. Victor Moses, Hugo Rodallega and Mo Diame all joined other
Premier League clubs, and it will be another severe test of Roberto Martinez’s
abilities to conjure up the required wins to beat the drop come May. The losses
of Moses and Rodallega, Martinez will hope, have been dampened by the arrival
of Aruna Kone and Ryo Miyaichi, while Ivan Ramis comes in at centre back. The
combative Diame will be a real asset for new club West Ham, but Wigan will have
to rely on the skills of McCarthy, Watson and McArthur to plug the gap. They
possess a fine goalkeeper in Al Habsi and showed wonderful resolve in last
season’s winning run - however I fear that this season’s squad is a weaker
version of the one which barely survived last year, and to repeat the trick is
a tough ask for Wigan Athletic.
The manager – Martinez has performed miracles on a budget again and again for
chairman Dave Whelan when written off by pundits, so it would be foolish to do
so again this year. However, it is certainly one of his toughest tasks yet to
survive in a Premier League finally rid of three sides who could be relied upon
to struggle year on year – Blackburn, Wolves and Bolton. He is undoubtedly as
experienced in relegation battles as any other manager in the league, and this
will stand his side in good stead.
The
prospects – Wigan recorded their only win so far at St Mary’s in what can
only be described as a ‘smash and grab’ display, and have otherwise struggled
in a challenging run of fixtures that included Manchester United and Chelsea.
They would have hoped to pick up more points, however, from home ties with
Fulham and Stoke and have yet to threaten a clean sheet. They face West Ham and
Swansea in their next three matches – the kind of games Wigan need to perform
in if they are put space between themselves and the bottom three.
Aston Villa
The squad post-window – The Villa squad is a strange mix resulting
from the club’s being in a state of transition. N’Zogbia, Delph, Hutton, Given
and Bent were big-money signings from a bygone era at Villa Park, when the
owner Randy Lerner was more willing to throw his money around. In Sunday’s 1-1
draw with rivals West Brom, though, Delph was the only of these to start the
game as Paul Lambert is tasked with producing results using young, hungry
replacements. The well-established names that failed under Alex McLeish last
season have found that their starting places are by no means guaranteed; Guzan
has displaced Given in goal – a surprise to many onlookers – while Benteke and
Agbonlahor left no room for England international Bent. Lambert will rely on
the ability of his collection of promising youngsters, such as Ciaran Clark,
Barry Bannan and Marcus Albrighton, to steer his side away from trouble.
The manager – This is a brand new managerial experience for Paul Lambert who has
been tasked with inspiring a disillusioned fan-base with a largely unproven
squad. At Norwich, he took up the reins with the club seemingly at its lowest
ebb, slowly building up a head of steam that endeared him to supporters. The
situation at Aston Villa is quite different, though, as Lambert will have to
balance the blooding of new talent with the appeasement of his star names. His
arrival at his previous jobs signalled an end to the bad times, but Lambert’s
task at Villa will test his adaptability if nothing else, as Aston Villa have
conceivably a little further to fall just yet.
The prospects – Villa’s inconsistent start has seen solid performances at Newcastle
and at home to Swansea, but also a second-half capitulation at Southampton and
a toothless display at West Ham. Highly paid stars may have misfired last
season, but Lambert does not suffer fools gladly and I just can’t see them
failing to get themselves together over the course of the season. If Bent stays
fit and in favour Aston Villa will find goals aplenty, something that not all
their relegation rivals will be able to match.
QPR
The squad post-window – Where to start? Robert Green replaced Paddy
Kenny, but he now finds himself playing second fiddle to Julio Cesar – an
eyebrow-raising acquisition from Inter Milan. Other high-profile signings were
Manchester United’s Park Ji Sung and Fabio, Stephane Mbia, Junior Hoilett, and
Jose Bosingwa. This continued investment in the playing squad suggests the
board have more faith in Mark Hughes than they ever did in Neil Warnock, who
could only dream of a strike-force including the likes of Zamora and Cisse. In
other news, perennial troublemaker Joseph (don’t call him Joey) Barton has
relocated to France.
The manager – Mark Hughes has undoubted pedigree and has
never failed to make a positive impression in a Premier League job. In fact, for
this reason I was loathe to assign them the tag ‘relegation candidates’ back in
August, but their nightmare start – capped off by a terrible 2-1 home defeat to
West Ham on Monday – forces me to reconsider. Hughes finds himself in the
familiar position at the helm of a club whose hierarchy have a notoriously
itchy trigger finger. He didn’t let the pressure get the better of him at
Manchester City, but ultimately failed to deliver what was asked of him and was
sacked. Now, with a mini injury crisis in defence and a squad low on
confidence, Hughes finds the pressure is back on to first save his job, and
then QPR’s season.
The prospects – Something tells me that QPR will be this season’s relegation red
herring. The firepower served up by Zamora, Cisse, Johnson and Hoilett, should
be enough to get them out of trouble, and once the injuries subside and signings
gel Rangers should be looking at a low mid-table finish. They will want to
rediscover the winning touch sooner rather than later, however, as no squad
with Taarabt, Wright-Phillips and Dyer in midfield is will be a model of
consistency.
West Ham
The squad post-window – The Hammers added Mo Diame, James Collins,
Matt Jarvis and most notably Andy Carroll in the transfer window, strengthening
their side in all areas. An Allardyce favourite Jussi Jaaskelainen has replaced
Rob Green in goal and has experience on his side, but it should be remembered
that he was considered second best to Adam Bogdan at Bolton last year, one of
the league’s least consistent keepers and has already conceded soft goals. The
significance of Carroll and Jarvis’ signings may be huge as the season wears on
as they are always likely to cause opposition defences all kinds of problems
but Carroll may still return to Liverpool in January, in which case West Ham
must rely more heavily on Carlton Cole – hardly music to the ears of the Upton
Park faithful.
The manager – Allardyce’s style of play, though much maligned last season, has
always secured results at this level and, in any case, the criticism hardly
seems to worry him. He even branded his own supporters ‘deluded’ at times last
year as they told him that their side traditionally ‘play on the floor.’ Andy
Carroll is, in many ways, the perfect Allardyce signing; unfussy and
unapologetically direct – Carroll will be a nightmare to defend against and
will certainly suit the Allardyce’s style better than Rodgers’ at Anfield.
The prospects – West Ham have made a very fine start indeed, taking advantage of a
favourable fixture-list to pick up maximum points against strugglers Villa and
QPR. More significant, however, is their demolition of Fulham in Carroll’s one
and only appearance before injury. The signs were that West Ham are finally
comfortable playing the ‘Big Sam Way’, and if that kind of form continues they
needn’t worry about relegation. Should Carroll be taken back to Anfield and
West Ham start to struggle the fans might resume hostilities with their manager
– though any such troubles seem an awfully long way off as they sit 7th
in the table.
Swansea
The squad post-window – In some ways, the Swans are in a similar
position to Norwich City – a promoted club who have paid for their first-season
success with the loss of their celebrated manager to a bigger side. Brendan
Rodgers’ continental approach, however, looks set to continue under new boss
Michael Laudrup with the signings of the talented Michu, de Guzman and
Hernandez. The latter is a like-for-like replacement for Scott Sinclair, lost
to Manchester City in the close season. Other significant absentees are Joe
Allen, who followed his manager to Liverpool and fullback Neil Taylor, who
broke an ankle in the opening weeks. However, they have retained the services
of Michel Vorm – one of the League’s top performers last year, and overall
Swansea look in better shape than Norwich to replicate the success of 2011-12.
The manager – In Michael Laudrup Swansea might just have found the right manager at
the right time. Having delivered relative success with some of the smaller
clubs in La Liga in recent years, and whilst employing the kind of tactics
Swansea fans have grown to love under Rodgers, Laudrup seems like the perfect
fit for the forward-thinking club looking to establish itself in the Premier
League. This may be his first job in English football but the Dane has more
than enough experience to suggest he is up to the task.
The prospects
– Swansea made a flying start with five and three goal wins in their opening
two games, but have since failed to recreate that form in defeats to Villa,
Everton and Stoke in which they failed to score a single goal. Michu’s start
has been encouraging, but his role is not that of an out-and-out striker and
the Swans will need to find alternative goal sources or they may struggle.
Danny Graham will be required to weigh in with goals, while Ashley Williams
must rediscover his form from last year to keep the defence steady at the other
end. The fixture list looks steadily less charitable in the coming weeks, and
they will hope to pick up maximum points from two home games to Reading and
Wigan before then.
West Brom
The squad post-window – West Brom and new manager Steve Clarke went
about their transfer business quietly this summer, picking up Ben Foster in a
permanent deal and Lukaku on loan from Chelsea while suffering no notable
departures. In truth, the core of Albion’s squad is not vastly different to the
one that Roy Hodgson successfully steered to safety in 2011 and earned the
England job with in 2012.Long, Lukaku, Odemwingie, Gera and new signing
Rosenberg all compete for striking positions, while El Ghanassy and Yacob join
the increasingly influential James Morison in midfield. Jonas Olsson and Gareth
McAuley have forged a fine partnership at the back, and it is this stable
foundation upon which West Brom manufactured a top half finish in 2012.
The manager – Steve Clarke’s name has been linked to Premier League vacancies for
years, but the highly rated coach’s appointment at the Hawthorns is his first
managerial post. Often the step-up from assistant to manager is a difficult one
– just ask Terry Connor – but Clarke has a fine reputation in football and has
more than done his time in the number two role. At a club like West Brom,
though, the first target will always be to pass the 40-point barrier, and
should Albion begin to struggle Clarke’s reputation will quickly count for less
and less.
The prospects – Albion have started the season in impressive style, picking up
maximum points from home games to Liverpool, Everton and Reading without
conceding. Should that kind of form continue the Baggies will have little to
worry about, and at present it appears that Clarke has taken to management like
a duck to water. It would be unwise to completely rule out a reversal in
fortunes given that Roberto Di Matteo struggled with a similar squad two
seasons ago, but with the Baggies already accumulating eleven points all the
signs point to another mid-table finish.
