Relegation Thread Version...99?!

[Papillon]

To stay up, we have to emulate roughly what Liverpool and Everton have done so far this season - that will get us to 36ish points in the end - which will probably be enough. Swansea only need 17 points in 19 games to reach that target, but who is to say they will do any worse than us? The Premier League is super tight this season, the level in the middle of the pack is higher than it has ever been in the past - expect for us, we are the worst team in the league by a mile. Southampton are a good team, everyone is praising Koeman and their level (they just beat Arsenal 4-0 mind) - but surprisingly they are 12th on 24 points. Copying their tally in the next 19 games would not nearly suffice for us, that would bring us to 32 points and we would relegate. How would our team suddenly turn around and play even better than what Soton have done so far this season? Manchester United are only on 30 points right now due to some incredibly bad games lately, but they were top only 3-4 games ago - copying them would only barely save us from relegation. It is not going to happen.

Our manager does not have experience and don't know this league very well, our team is by far the worst in the league and we have won one game out of 19. To be honest; even if we spent 100M on new, experienced players in two days, it would still be an enormous task. I have given up already, there is no way we will escape this - but I am of course hoping for a slight miracle.

Next up we face: Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Bromwich, West Ham and Norwich. It goes without saying that we need to win AT LEAST three out of those games. What do I predict? I think we will do much better and end up with a run of around 4 wins - 7 draws and 8 losses. That will significantly improve our current state, and we will end up with approx. 27 points. Relegation is a certainty, unfortunately.

 

[dakid007]

Half a season to go. Other teams are doing their best to play shit and give us a chance to catch them. If we can put a run together they will start panicking and our momentum will carry us but if our survival relies on us beating Arsenal on last day......

[VillaChris]

How many teams can we realistically catch though? A team limited like West Brom is a full 15 points clear of us. If we'd beaten Norwich they'd only have been 6 clear of us and they'd have been a realistic option, instead they're 12 clear and going off to the distance. Good luck trying to catch Chelsea and Swansea as both are stringing together unbeaten runs.

Our only target I think now is at least to not finish bottom for club pride. 

[John]

12 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

How many teams can we realistically catch though? A team limited like West Brom is a full 15 points clear of us. If we'd beaten Norwich they'd only have been 6 clear of us and they'd have been a realistic option, instead they're 12 clear and going off to the distance. Good luck trying to catch Chelsea and Swansea as both are stringing together unbeaten runs.

Our only target I think now is at least to not finish bottom for club pride. 

I think we need to set individual attainable goals. We should go for Sunderland first who could be only a point ahead of us on Saturday night. We can then turn to getting above Newcastle and if we can do that we could then try to get above one other club whose form drops between now and the end of the season. 19th seems a realistic target, 18th will prove tougher and 17th does seem to be beyond us but I would really love to see Villa look like they are really up for trying to get out of the bottom 3 rather than more than willing to accept relegation at the half way point of this sorry season without a proper fight.  

[Rds1983]

38 minutes ago, dakid007 said:

Half a season to go. Other teams are doing their best to play shit and give us a chance to catch them. If we can put a run together they will start panicking and our momentum will carry us but if our survival relies on us beating Arsenal on last day......

Let's hope Arsenal have the title wrapped up by then and that Wenger does Garde a favour.

[VillakevBromsgrove]

In most seasons there are teams who do well up till Jan then fade badly as other teams learn how to play against them, suspensions and injuries occur. Teams that have 20 points now may only end up with 34 points. The top teams have dropped alot of points against the lower teams in the first half of the season but will most likely go on winning runs from now on the run in. It is not over for us yet by long shot but the fat lady is sure as hell waking up.

[Ingram85]

Unless we get some miracle signings this Jan then this squad aren't going to win another game all season. We haven't won in 18 games so what makes anyone think were going to win again this season? I see no signs of it happening at all. We're done.

[Kingman]

Well its half time and we are 11 points behind, well 12 including GD. 

10/1 to stay up! 

1/25 for relegation! 

Says it all really.

[Kingman]

23 hours ago, supernova26 said:

The Leeds protest over Sky is interesting. This is definitely going to affect us next season.

Both Forest and Leeds have been chose 9/23 times to be on TV. The kick-off times are all over the place and it massively affects the attendances. If we go down without Newcastle coming with us you'd expect at least half our games to be televised.

If you like 3pm kick-offs, prepared to be disappointed. Good for those of us who watch via alternative methods though, but of course we'll still miss a large slice of the matches.

I wouldn't worry about it to much, At first Sky will assume that we will be the new Bayern/Barcelona of the division. 

Once they have seen how shite we are after the first bout of selections then they will leave us alone for showing such public displays of shitness.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Kingman

[srsmithusa]

1 hour ago, John said:

I think we need to set individual attainable goals. We should go for Sunderland first who could be only a point ahead of us on Saturday night. We can then turn to getting above Newcastle and if we can do that we could then try to get above one other club whose form drops between now and the end of the season. 19th seems a realistic target, 18th will prove tougher and 17th does seem to be beyond us but I would really love to see Villa look like they are really up for trying to get out of the bottom 3 rather than more than willing to accept relegation at the half way point of this sorry season without a proper fight.  

THIS.  My only disagreement is that I think we should start with one match at a time rather than one league position at a time.  But resigning to going down now is EXACTLY what has our team losing far too many matches.  Look back here, it's been noted multiple times.  We give up an early goal because a moment of defensive stupidity and the heads go down; the effort drops, the ambition to make that run dries up, we become content with possessing the ball outside their pressure where there is no real chance of us scoring.  I suppose the players are just giving up on this bad game because we've had so many in a row.  They'll try again next week.  

Too many fans are doing the same f%*#ing crap.  Let's just give up on this bad season/team because we've had so many in a row.  We'll try again next year.  I don't wanna sound like some cheesy sports movie where one dramatic speech gets everyone fired up to go win, but FFS you lot, don't become the very same defeatist attitude we loathe in the players when they just give up!!!!!!

I can hear the whining response now.  "They're getting paid and we're not!"  Who the F#%* CARES whose getting paid.  Let's go out fighting... fighting... fighting.  I will not go softly into that good relegation!  What CRAP.  I will not go softly into losing any single point.

Other whiners will moan, "we'll go down anyway." SO WHAT?  At one point I said I wouldn't give up until it was mathematical.  I've changed that.  I won't give up!  Should we hit the point that it's mathematically impossible to stay up, I hope we win every single match after that.  I hope we AND this team finally show the fight that we have been missing for far too long.  If we don't see it this season, what makes us think it will magically appear next?  Now THAT's delusional.

IMO, any fan that posts things like "we're done for this season, and should just plan for next year," should, whenever a player's head drops say: "Good job, you're just like me."  (Cue "Cat's in the cradle" )  Too many fans have become the very lack of grit, fight, and ambition that they despise in the players.  

 

  

 

[chrissmith921]

53 minutes ago, Kingman said:

Well its half time and we are 11 points behind, well 12 including GD. 

10/1 to stay up! 

1/25 for relegation! 

Says it all really.

I had a 300-1 Acca come in once, spent it all on shit.

True story. But hey - 10-1 isn't that heavy.

[ender4]

2 hours ago, John said:

I think we need to set individual attainable goals. We should go for Sunderland first who could be only a point ahead of us on Saturday night. We can then turn to getting above Newcastle and if we can do that we could then try to get above one other club whose form drops between now and the end of the season. 19th seems a realistic target, 18th will prove tougher and 17th does seem to be beyond us but I would really love to see Villa look like they are really up for trying to get out of the bottom 3 rather than more than willing to accept relegation at the half way point of this sorry season without a proper fight.  

I like that.  Forget about getting to 17th as that is a 0.0001% chance. 

Catching Sunderland in 19th is realistic.

After that, we can worry about other things.

[Shaw_nuff]

1 hour ago, srsmithusa said:

THIS.  My only disagreement is that I think we should start with one match at a time rather than one league position at a time.  But resigning to going down now is EXACTLY what has our team losing far too many matches.  Look back here, it's been noted multiple times.  We give up an early goal because a moment of defensive stupidity and the heads go down; the effort drops, the ambition to make that run dries up, we become content with possessing the ball outside their pressure where there is no real chance of us scoring.  I suppose the players are just giving up on this bad game because we've had so many in a row.  They'll try again next week.  

Too many fans are doing the same f%*#ing crap.  Let's just give up on this bad season/team because we've had so many in a row.  We'll try again next year.  I don't wanna sound like some cheesy sports movie where one dramatic speech gets everyone fired up to go win, but FFS you lot, don't become the very same defeatist attitude we loathe in the players when they just give up!!!!!!

I can hear the whining response now.  "They're getting paid and we're not!"  Who the F#%* CARES whose getting paid.  Let's go out fighting... fighting... fighting.  I will not go softly into that good relegation!  What CRAP.  I will not go softly into losing any single point.

Other whiners will moan, "we'll go down anyway." SO WHAT?  At one point I said I wouldn't give up until it was mathematical.  I've changed that.  I won't give up!  Should we hit the point that it's mathematically impossible to stay up, I hope we win every single match after that.  I hope we AND this team finally show the fight that we have been missing for far too long.  If we don't see it this season, what makes us think it will magically appear next?  Now THAT's delusional.

IMO, any fan that posts things like "we're done for this season, and should just plan for next year," should, whenever a player's head drops say: "Good job, you're just like me."  (Cue "Cat's in the cradle" )  Too many fans have become the very lack of grit, fight, and ambition that they despise in the players. 

Rubbish,

I'll always give my support. It won't stop this steaming turd of a team being flushed. 

[Richard]

3 hours ago, John said:

I think we need to set individual attainable goals. We should go for Sunderland first who could be only a point ahead of us on Saturday night. We can then turn to getting above Newcastle and if we can do that we could then try to get above one other club whose form drops between now and the end of the season. 19th seems a realistic target, 18th will prove tougher and 17th does seem to be beyond us but I would really love to see Villa look like they are really up for trying to get out of the bottom 3 rather than more than willing to accept relegation at the half way point of this sorry season without a proper fight.  

Requires a different culture than already exists at the club John 

[srsmithusa]

46 minutes ago, Shaw_nuff said:

Rubbish,

I'll always give my support. It won't stop this steaming turd of a team being flushed. 

Your support is not exactly crystal clear from your second sentence.  But taking you at your word.... I assume you agree with me that our team should be fighting for every goal, every point, in every match.  It's a habit that should be learned immediately, not next year.  And perhaps you'll even agree that it's inconsistent to think the players should be the only ones to develop that habit.

 

[srsmithusa]

19 minutes ago, Richard said:

Requires a different culture than already exists at the club John 

I agree with you Richard.  It does require a different culture than what we have now.  It's what I think John is proposing.

[Shaw_nuff]

14 minutes ago, srsmithusa said:

Your support is not exactly crystal clear from your second sentence.  But taking you at your word.... I assume you agree with me that our team should be fighting for every goal, every point, in every match.  It's a habit that should be learned immediately, not next year.  And perhaps you'll even agree that it's inconsistent to think the players should be the only ones to develop that habit.

 

No, your assumptions are incorrect.

I can't fight, I can only support. I never boo, and to that end I'm like 99% percent of our fans. My 'fighting spirit' can't turn this shower around any more than the bollox that is positive thinking or prayer.

[DCJonah]

2 hours ago, srsmithusa said:

THIS.  My only disagreement is that I think we should start with one match at a time rather than one league position at a time.  But resigning to going down now is EXACTLY what has our team losing far too many matches.  Look back here, it's been noted multiple times.  We give up an early goal because a moment of defensive stupidity and the heads go down; the effort drops, the ambition to make that run dries up, we become content with possessing the ball outside their pressure where there is no real chance of us scoring.  I suppose the players are just giving up on this bad game because we've had so many in a row.  They'll try again next week.  

Too many fans are doing the same f%*#ing crap.  Let's just give up on this bad season/team because we've had so many in a row.  We'll try again next year.  I don't wanna sound like some cheesy sports movie where one dramatic speech gets everyone fired up to go win, but FFS you lot, don't become the very same defeatist attitude we loathe in the players when they just give up!!!!!!

I can hear the whining response now.  "They're getting paid and we're not!"  Who the F#%* CARES whose getting paid.  Let's go out fighting... fighting... fighting.  I will not go softly into that good relegation!  What CRAP.  I will not go softly into losing any single point.

Other whiners will moan, "we'll go down anyway." SO WHAT?  At one point I said I wouldn't give up until it was mathematical.  I've changed that.  I won't give up!  Should we hit the point that it's mathematically impossible to stay up, I hope we win every single match after that.  I hope we AND this team finally show the fight that we have been missing for far too long.  If we don't see it this season, what makes us think it will magically appear next?  Now THAT's delusional.

IMO, any fan that posts things like "we're done for this season, and should just plan for next year," should, whenever a player's head drops say: "Good job, you're just like me."  (Cue "Cat's in the cradle" )  Too many fans have become the very lack of grit, fight, and ambition that they despise in the players.  

 

  

 

When the managers approach to games it to play safe why are fans going to be prepared to get behind and fight? 

If the club showed that they actually wanted to fight to survive in this league I'm sure the fans would respond. 

The atmosphere change at villa park when Lambert left showed this. We need something to get behind and hoping for a draw against norwich and ending up losing isn't it.

 

[vandaq]

Don't see it working out. You might have say we have progressed somewhere along the season but it's more or less the same. We have moments were we can get something but it never materializes. There has simply been too little payoff so it's hard to rationalize how they can materialize such a huge run that would be necessary. Defense has certainly not gone anywhere, there are still so many holes even if some can deliver. Amavi going out also hurt us much, we barely have any attack in the left side. Grealish has neither delivered or been sufficient enough for that part. The only way I can see it working out is if we got some players in that would have an immediate impact. There are so little margin for error there and it doesn't help that our owner won't do us any favors. It's been looking this way for long now.

 

I'll still watch every match and hope I am completely wrong.

[New_Jersey_Villa]

1 hour ago, vandaq said:

Don't see it working out. You might have say we have progressed somewhere along the season but it's more or less the same. We have moments were we can get something but it never materializes. There has simply been too little payoff so it's hard to rationalize how they can materialize such a huge run that would be necessary. Defense has certainly not gone anywhere, there are still so many holes even if some can deliver. Amavi going out also hurt us much, we barely have any attack in the left side. Grealish has neither delivered or been sufficient enough for that part. The only way I can see it working out is if we got some players in that would have an immediate impact. There are so little margin for error there and it doesn't help that our owner won't do us any favors. It's been looking this way for long now.

 

I'll still watch every match and hope I am completely wrong.

I agree. Amavi is the one guy who can stick a decent cross in from open play. Him getting injured really sucked.