Another international weekend, another look at the bottom of the table. And, yes, we’re still there. In fact, looking at the numbers, it looks very much as if we’ll be there until the bitter end.
Sunderland’s predicament is the stuff of shredded nerves. Sam Allardyce talks of needing perhaps four wins and a draw from eight games and many of us doubt we are capable of producing anything like such a haul.
This, as we approach yet another weekend without “our” football, is how the bottom half + one of the Premier League looks:
John McCormick writes: I’ll update my “relegation watch” charts over the empty weekend (aren’t all weekends empty these days?) and you can work out just what our chances are of surviving the drop from some numbers that are looking less dodgy with every match. In the meantime, here’s Peter Lynn, AKA Wrinkly Pete, with some reasons why we should not be feeling too happy after taking four points from our arch enemy
[polldaddy poll=9342929]
As we all know, the Tyne-Wear derby is more than just a question of whether SAFC can make it seven wins in a row. Premier League survival could depend on the outcome.
Steve McClaren has gone. The unprofessionalism he showed in handling the media in the death throes of his Newcastle United managerial career may have been caused by the stress of knowing the axe was poised above his head, so maybe he deserves our sympathy.
And the smart money – only money – is on Rafa Benitez, another manager with a history of strops with the press, to replace him. He may find St James’ Park “less sexy than Real” according to a Belgian site I came across, but we can hardly say he’s a useless manager.
Not forgetting ….
The Norwich-based Eastern Daily Press is inevitably getting as worked up about City’s prospects of survival as we are about our own. Black Cats vs Canaries vs Magpies. Which creature will prevail? So the EDP came knocking at the door and asked Pete Sixsmith how he thought the relegation battle would finish. The questions and answers presuppose that Villa are relegation certs so let’s hope they haven’t a Leicester-style revival up their sleeves …
 Relegation poll results after the close of the summer transfer window |
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By now you must be getting bored with the graph above on the left, especially as it has been less than a month, and only three games, since it was last posted up.
John McCormick writes: there’s no Premier League football this weekend, so it’s another chance to take stock and update my “relegation watch” series. If you’re new to the series and want to see how it began, or if you want to refresh your memory, you can try this link)
By now regulars should be familiar with the first graph. It dates from the close of the summer transfer window and shows our readers’ choices for the relegation spots. I’m putting it in once more so you can remind yourself how closely it resembles reality or, alternatively, so you can work out just what the clubs have to do to prove our readers right by the end of the season. If that’s too difficult you can jump to the end, where I’ve made it simple for you.
Forget the idiotic media-fuelled and possibly media-created spat between Big Sam and some manager-come-lately on Merseyside. Either the whole thing is a nonsense or one or two men need to grow up if an honest disagreement about fitness is to be seen by either as a row. This is a piece of more significance for Sunderland supporters. David Preece, Sunderland-born, a SAFC fan and on our books until he embarked on a career elsewhere, can write as well as keep goal (he’s currently player/goalkeeping coach at Lincoln City but see that wonderful bit of action in the clip).
His well-argued article for the Sunderland Echo can be seen in full at this link. We reproduce extracts with the Echo’s kind consent …
And this is the posting that took Salut! Sunderland past the milestone of 3 million hits …@salutsunderland I was pretty close. pic.twitter.com/mZPbVtlLMJ
— Robbie (@Robert_S_Sweet) January 7, 2016
John McCormick writes: It’s another international break, so another chance to take stock and update my “relegation watch” series. For some of the clubs at or near the bottom, it’s getting scary.
(If you’re new to the series and want to see how it began, or if you want to refresh your memory , you can try this link)
By now regular readers should be familiar with the first graph. It dates from the close of the transfer window and shows our readers’ choices for the relegation spots. I’m putting it in (again) so you can see how closely it resembles reality or, alternatively, so you can work out just what the clubs have to do to prove our readers right by the end of the season.
John McCormick writes: While Sam’s working hard to get the site finished Malcolm and I are beavering behind the scenes to repost some pieces which went missing. You can expect to see our Who are you and Guess the score shortly, if they aren’t up already, and here is the piece by our guest writer, Ryan James, who asks the question that’s surely on everyone’s mind. I haven’t been able to recover or repost anyone’s comments, however, so feel free to resume the discussion where you left off…