Relegation 2016: Bournemouth and Watford, Norwich or Leicester. Not Villa or Newcastle (or SAFC)

John McCormick:
John McCormick: I’m biased. Are you?

Casual visitors to this site might might not be aware that at the start of last season I made a prediction about who would suffer relegation from the Premiership and then tracked those clubs (and SAFC, of course) over the season. At the end of my final post of the series I set up a poll to see who readers thought would be relegated at the end of the coming season.

With almost four hundred votes cast you might think the results bear scrutiny. But think again. The average PL attendance is 36,000. MOTD can attract over 4 million.  More than 26 million viewers watched FA Cup action on TV during last January. So a few hundred’s  really small beer, especially as each reader can have three votes.

But it’s our beer. SAFC supporters’ beer, that is. Have a look at the results:

Relegation poll, 19th June. Votes cast for each team
Relegation poll, 19th June. Votes cast for each team

The number of votes cast for Bournemouth and Watford, and maybe also Norwich and Leicester, compared to the few cast for for Sunderland (and to a lesser extent Villa, Newcastle and even “other club(s)” [I don’t know which all of these are but do know someone chose West Ham]) leads me to think that it’s predominantly Sunderland fans who have completed the poll. Why shouldn’t it be? It’s a Sunderland website.

Pete Sixsmith found this on his travels. A big deal or small beer?
Pete Sixsmith found this on his travels.
A big deal or small beer?

But that doesn’t  mean we don’t  want a more representative opinion.

So here’s your chance,

You, your friends, your granny, even the neighbour up the street (the one you really don’t like) can vote for their three favoured candidates for the drop. If it isn’t one of the seven listed you can choose an alternative. You can even – in fact, are encouraged to – leave a comment saying who you’ve chosen and/or why you’ve chosen a club. If it’s Sunderland don’t worry. We’ll report all votes and publish all comments unless they offend common-sense rules of  decency, libel and so on. If you haven’t posted on this site before then your comments will be held for moderation but we’ll be working overtime to keep up to date.

And you, or your granny, or that annoying neighbour don’t even have to be a fan of Leicester, Watford, Norwich etc. to vote. Fans of other clubs are welcome, as are fans of SAFC who haven’t given their opinion yet. 

Some time next week – probably towards the weekend – I’ll update the poll and give you the results as they stand. I might also tell you how I’m going to select and track this season’s clubs.

[polldaddy poll=8923571]

14 thoughts on “Relegation 2016: Bournemouth and Watford, Norwich or Leicester. Not Villa or Newcastle (or SAFC)”

  1. Everyone in the bottom 12 is in a relegation battle….same every year. Glad to see the newbies have some spirit. Time will tell but it’s bloody hard scoring in the Prem. …..you’ll need a good start.. And avoid being bottom at Xmas….despite the last two years. A small squad is problem once injuries and suspensions kick in. Finally you’ll need a sense of humour because s##t happens… Ask Alan Johnson,

  2. Just stumbled upon this page and, after reading your honest analysis of your own data, decided to cast my vote too. I’m a Watford supporter and, while it seems obvious, genuinely think we will avoid relegation. Not only that, but I think we’ll finish in the top 12. Now, when I say, “top 12”, I pretty much mean 12th, or there about. I can already hear the Premier League stallwarts scoffing at this but let me explain why.

    We have a technically gifted side and as you read around the transfer movements so far, we are going for some very talented players. We were rampant in the Championship and now we will be playing in a league that better suits our style of play. We have a captain (Deeney) who will not be sold and does not want to be sold to Newcastle, Swansea etc. He turned down moves to bigger clubs last year and the year before, and now he has finally achieved his goal of getting the top flight with his team, why would he leave? Unless a top 7 team comes in, which I can’t see happening, he won’t be going anywhere.

    We also have a great defense – just need a couple of solid, more defensive-minded, midfielders, which we are working on now. The only problem I see is having to start the season with a new manager who hasn’t managed in English football before. This might drop us a few points, but it also might not. We have a very strong, tight-nit squad that put up with a managerial nightmare in the first half of last season, so that is a huge strength for us.

    I genuinely think you will be surprised by how good we are! So there we go; my 2 pence…

    • Not happening. You boys rely on goals, and you won’t score anywhere near as many in the prem. You will go down, no doubt.

      • My Wearside friends….

        It is 22nd April 2016. The Golden Boys are currently in 12th place. What was it I said back in June? – You’ll have to remind me, I’m afraid.

        Oh and we are also in the FA Cup Semi-Final.

        As far as things go, I hope you boys avoid relegation – it has been fun having a bit of banter on this awesome fan site – I think Watford needs something like this!

  3. If you find arrogance in what I’ve written please visit my previous posts in the series and spend a few minutes on them. They’ll help you understand what I’ve been doing and provide a context.
    I hope you’ll find humour in them, you’ll certainly find faulty logic, though the underlying facts and the maths are correct.
    I also hope you’ll find respect.

    But arrogance – no, that’s not my purpose.

    John Mac

  4. I understand the bullishness of fans of the promoted clubs – we’ve been there a lot – and the natural defensiveness of supporters of other Premier teams we assume may have to fight for survival next season. But any fair reader of the above would agree there not a trace of malice, even less arrogance, and the massive reader interest as expressed in votes and “hits” completely justifies John’s little poll and accompanying analysis. No Sunderland fan with an ounce of realism would reject the possibility of yet another scrap. We’re a big club but we don’t often play as if that were the case. Dick Advocaat is our latest great hope for changing things.

    But thanks to all fans of other clubs who have come here. Please let us know if you;re up for the ‘Who are You?’ interview, a Q+A by email, when your teams meets Sunderland. Say so in the Comments, use your real email address to post the comment (the email address won’t appear) and you’ll hear back.

  5. Bournemouth have the best manger in UK and they have a thing called team spirit, not recently seen at S of L.

    • Those of us who have believe you were a terrific side last season. Provided we finish above you, I’d be delighted to see you do OK in the Premier

  6. You guys have been hanging on too long. Sorry, but it’s your year. Only so long you can throw money at situations.

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