A look at the bottom.........

As promised, here’s my look at the teams that occupy the bottom five positions of the Premier League at the start of 2009.

West Bromich Albion Currently 20th
It’s hard to see how West Brom can avoid the drop at the end of the season. Tony Mowbray must be commended for sticking to his ideals and belief in the way that the game should be played and at times West Brom have been a joy to watch when they play their flowing passing game and really go at the opposition. Unfortunately they just lack the overall quality to help them stay up and have really missed a front man to put away the chances they have created. Recent wins against Tottenham and Manchester City mean they are not adrift though and still have a lot to play for in the remaining half of the season but their lack of finances, compared with the bigger teams at the wrong end of the table, mean it will be hard to get the quality needed to help them stay up. It’s going to be tight but West Brom will be going down.
Prediction – 20th

Blackburn Rovers – Currently 19th
Blackburn are in an interesting position as they still have many of the squad that finished in the top half of the table last year and their current predicament is only the blame of Paul Ince. The timing of Ince’s appointment to the post was all wrong and ideally he should have spent more time learning his trade and continuing the good work he did at MK Dons rather than taking a big job in the Premier League. Sam Allardyce is a canny appointment and has already shown that he can organise and motivate Rovers and make them very hard to beat. What will certainly help him is that the Rovers squad has players who can put the ball in the back of the net such as McCarthy, Santa Cruz and even Jason Roberts and Matt Derbyshire can weigh in with the goals. I think they’ll stay up but it won’t be easy and it won’t be pretty.
Prediction – 17th

Stoke City – Currently 18th
Stoke have proven that if they do go down they’ll go down fighting. I’ve not seen a team that’s as physical opposing or as competitive as the side Tony Pullis has assembled and although some purists may not like their style of play, I find it refreshing and part of a highly compelling season that is unfolding. Stoke have shown they can battle with anyone and their results so far have been a credit to them but I suspect the lack of a plan B might be there undoing eventually. Another interesting development from Stoke is the Rory Delap throw in, much more deadly and accurate than a free kick, this might be something that a few more teams will specialise with in the future as it really does cause chaos in the oppositions defence. Stoke to go down but only just.
Prediction – 19th

Middlesbrough – Currently 17th
Boro are a team that often flatter to deceive. Blessed with some talented and hard working players they are another team that has fallen victim to a highly competitive and difficult to predict, Premier league. What has probably been there downfall so far this season is the lack of goals from their leading forwards, Alvas, Tuncay, Mido and Aliadiera, with only a measly 13 league goals between the four of them. Otherwise Boro are traditionally strong in defence and often make the bigger teams really work for a result, it is clearly the teams that they should be beating that is causing the problem this year. Bolton, Hull, Fulham and West Brom all have victories over them and it’s these kind of results that see them sit 17th. I think they’ll stay up but only because there are teams worse than them at the bottom already.
Prediction – 16th

Tottenham Hotsputs – Currently 16th
Spurs find themselves at the wrong end of the table due to a disastrous start under former head coach Juande Ramos which saw them with only 2 points from the first few months of the season. Harry Redknapp was brought in and he has brought a sense of belief and motivation back to the spurs team and given them a platform where salvation is realistically in their own hands. Spurs are blessed with talented players but there main problem is that beyond their first 14 the rest of the squad is somewhat bare or is not up to the task. Redknapp needs to bring in another striker and possible two more in midfield to cover these inadequacies but this should be no problem to a man who has an excellent reputation in the transfer market. The quality is there and don’t be surprised if Spurs make a late run up the table, possible even into the top 10.
Prediction – 10th

Regarding the final relegation spot I’ll leave you all in suspense and address this at some point next week.