If Wigan and Sheffield United....

A friend pointed out why Fulham should be part of the relegation race in the Premiership. If Wigan beats West Ham at the JJB Stadium Saturday AND Sheffield United beats Watford at Brammal Lane, what Fulham does comes into play. At that point Sheffield United and Wigan would be at 38 points and GDs that were no worse than -18 and -19. And with West Ham's current -30 goal difference they, for all practical purposes, need 39 points to finish ahead of those teams. So what Fulham does matter. If Fulham wins, they're at 39 points and West Ham's hopes are 99.9% down the toilet. That said, West Ham and Charlton really do need to win their remaining 3 games and hope that Wigan, Sheffield United or Fulham slip up. After this weekend the picture of what has to happen will be a lot more clear. Fulham's remaining games : @ Everton April 6th ~ 4-1 Loss Manchester City April 9th~ 1-3 Loss @ Reading April 14th ~ 1-0 Loss Blackburn April 21st ~ 1-1 @ Arsenal April 29th Liverpool April 5th Middlesbrough April 13th

Premiership Relegation Battle Update

In my last look at the relegation battle, I mentioned that I thought Fulham would stay out of the fight. In the mean time they seemed to slip into it. But some of that was more appearances than points and results. Sure they danced on the edge of it. But they've shown they can get draws and back then with 6 games left with the point gap all it would take was a few points to ensure they didn't slip into the mix. Wigan has shown this starting out lower but keeping their chances of survival decent with draws against Aston Villa and Tottenham. And to add to the perception that Fulham was in a relegation battle, the board panicked and fired Coleman and brought in interim manager Lawrie Sanchez. West Ham has picked up some points where we didn't expect them. And Charlton has been putting up a fight. They both have a chance to drag themselves to safety from their original positions during the last 3 games. For West Ham, if they're going to do it, they'll need to beat Wigan. But it'll be difficult for them and Charlton with Wigan and Sheffield United having easier schedules to close the season out. Although they missed out on a big chance to stay up with a 3-0 loss to Sheffield United at Brammal Lane. With their goal difference, West Ham essentially needs an extra point since baring huge losses by Charlton, Sheffield United and Wigan if they tie on points they'll loose out on the first tie-breaker, goal difference. Watford was relegated last weekend after their tie with Sheffield United. Wigan - 35 points Sheffield United - 35 points Charlton - 33 points West Ham - 32 points Watford - 24 points And the remaining games : Charlton's remaining games : @ Man City April 6th ~ 0-0 Tie Reading April 9th ~0-0 @ Everton April 14th ~ 2-1 Loss Sheff Utd April 21st ~ 1-1 @ Blackburn April 28th Tottenham May 7th @ Liverpool May 13th Sheffield United's remaining games : Newcastle April 7th ~ 1-2 Loss West Ham April 14th ~ 3-0 Win @ Man Utd April 17th ~ 2-0 Loss @ Charlton April 21st ~ 1-1 Watford April 28th @ Aston Villa April 5th Wigan April 13th West Ham's remaining games : @ Arsenal April 7th ~ 0-1 Win @ Sheff Utd April 14th ~ 3-0 Loss Chelsea April 18th ~ 1-4 Loss Everton April 21st ~ 1-0 Win @ Wigan April 28th Bolton May 5th @ Man Utd May 13th Wigan's remaining games : Bolton April 7th ~ 1-3 Loss @ Aston Villa April 9th ~1-1 Tottenham April 15th ~3-3 @ Liverpool April 21st ~ 2-0 Loss West Ham April 28th Middlesbrough May 5th @ Sheff Utd May 13th

Polish Power!

Another Foreign Prem Owner?

Malcolm Glazer bought Manchester United as part of a leveraged buyout. Roman Abramovich owns Chelsea. Randy Lerner bought Aston Villa. Stan Kroeke owns about 12% of Arsenal. George Gillett and Tom Hicks and recently bought Liverpool. And now former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shiniwatra is looking to buy Manchester City (Thaksin had previously been linked with buying Liverpool). Is owning a premiership team really that great of a business proposition or is this trend a matter of rich guys buying glamorous toys?

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