We still look as incapable on our own, but thankfully results elsewhere have helped us out.
Nothing has changed at Villa Park since the Bolton result and yet now, thanks to those other results, I along with many others no longer think we'll go down. I think we'll just about be safe.
What a difference a week makes.
When Wigan hockeyed Newcastle 4-0, I initially thought it was a bad thing. It brought them level with us. As it turns out though, it was a good thing. Newcastle's dropped points re-focussed Chelsea & Spurs in their race for 4th and they promptly went out and hammered 2 of our more dangerous relegation rivals. QPR & Bolton's defeats in the last few days have meant that it is now far more likely that there will be at least 3 worse teams than us come the 13th of May. It is scant consolation that we've stayed up off the back of other teams' failings and it is something that must be dealt with swiftly at the end of the season, but I'll take it. If it means staying in this league then I will take it gladly.
Our point against West Bromwich Albion will probably turn out to be the most important and most timely point we gain this season. By putting us one win ahead of 2 other teams it means they BOTH need 4pts (thanks to goal difference) to overtake us and send us down; with 2 games to go.
The re-introduction of Richard Dunne could hardly have come at a more important time. His defensive performance against the Baggies was fantastic and that's ignoring the lack of recent game time. The whole defence played well and Given pulled off a stunning save at the end but I just got the impression that Dunne's comeback had given the lads a bit of belief which they had been lacking. Without the spine of our senior players, the rest were spiralling out of control. The Dunny Monster halted that slide; even a little; and we're sitting a lot prettier on 37pts than we would have been on 36pts.
QPR are the key for me now. Even if they manage to beat Stoke; and there's no guarantee that they will; but even if they do, then they need to go to the Etihad and get something from a Manchester City side who have been given a 2nd bite at the title cherry. QPR are the absolute worst away side in the league and Man City are the best home side. Nothing is a guarantee of course, but for me this is as close as you'll get to one in the Premier League. Bolton can do what they want. With Wolves and Blackburn already guaranteed to finish below us, Bolton can win out and it doesn't matter. We can finish below Wigan & Bolton and stay up as long as QPR don't get 4pts from their last 2 games.
As of now, it would take a very unlikely set of results to see us going down. So while it is still possible and many will argue quite rightly that we're not safe until it's mathematical, I think we are at least now into the realms of only the incurable pessimists thinking that we'll be gone in the summer.
So have I changed my mind? Yes.
But as John Maynard Keynes once famously said "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"
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