[Football] Are the Nigels going down?

[The Mole]

One mid table always goes into freefall after Christmas …. Palace is that team.

Just what I was thinking - we can but hope it’s them

 

[nwgull]

It's weird that Chris Sutton thinks the opposite and feels it's an advantage that they are playing the lower teams. I tend to agree with your point though, could turn out very messy for them. My heart bleeds.

Not really. It makes fans nervous as you feel you should be taking points fromthese teams to stay up, as opposed to free hits such as Arsenal or City, but with 9-10 points needed for safety, you’d rather a run of games where you have a realistic chance of 1-3 points than playing top-half teams.

That’s not say that I don’t think that they’re at risk and could well fail to win more than 1-2 of the 6-pointers that they have coming up. That’s definitely a possibility, and 13-2 available with SkyBet for them to be relegated are decent odds.

 

[Skuller]

You say all that, but I noticed a Palace fan sneering that the lyrics to GOSBTS appear on the jumbotron, which I believe trumps all those things.

I mean, what a win for Palace that is.

Yes, I get that sneer from my Palace acquaintances. I remind them that Brighton supporters are so old they forget their own names, let alone the words to a song they last heard in the trenches.

 

[barbus_max bhafc]

They are total shite and sincerely hope they go down

 

[macbeth]

dunno. but they have an absolutely critical run, playing all the other relegation teams pretty soon after one another, so we’ll find out pretty quickly. and there does always seem to be one team every year whose form takes an absolute nosedive at the turn of the year and they then end up getting dragged into the mire. thinking about it this objectively, that’s palace this season.

 

[A1X]

But for what it’s worth, i think we’d miss Palace if they went down, no?

Over a long term maybe, but for a season or two I think I'd get over it pretty quickly TBH.

 

[The red pepper kid]

Lots of six pointers, though, and any slip up against teams around them will pull them further down towards the fiery couldron.

But for what it’s worth, i think we’d miss Palace if they went down, no?

well ive thanked my Palace friend for our 4 points towards Europe

 

[Stato]

No, not a chance. They are currently struggling to score goals,but they're playing good sides. They have all of the poorer sides to play.

The belief that one mid table side always drops like a stone to relegation is generally a myth. Only Blackpool 2010/11 in the last couple of decades have been relegated after sitting twelfth after 27 games. Palace's players are obviously playing for Vieira. They ran us and City close in the last couple of games. All of their 2023 results, bar Tottenham's second half thrashing, have been very close. After they play Arsenal on Sunday, they have ten games left and seven of them are against the bottom seven, five of those at home.

They are the very definition of a mid table team. They've beaten nobody in the top ten and lost only two to anybody in the bottom ten. Their six wins came against teams below them and only Brentford and Newcastle have more draws than them this year. They were 12th last season, they've been 12th all this season. This will be their tenth season since they were promoted. Every year they have finished mid table: 11th, 10th, 15th, 14th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 14th, 12th. An exciting season for them would be to finish 13th as its the only one of the midtable places they've missed.

Seeing some of their fans believing they're in trouble is great fun though. They're turning on Vieira when he is no worse than anyone who they would replace him with. They're just having the type of season that makes fans sick of the top tier. They haven't even had a win against any of the big six to make it all seem worthwhile. (Don't you think about it Arsenal).

 

[MJsGhost]

They are certainly bang in relegation form:

EDIT: It's mad that we've scored 22 in those 10 games (same as City & the Arse). Palace have scored 4

Their remaining fixtures:
Arsenal (a) LOSE
Leicester (h) DRAW
Leeds (a) LOSE
Soton (a) DRAW
Everton (h) DRAW
Wolves (a) LOSE
West Ham (h) WIN
Spurs (a) LOSE
‘muff (h) WIN
Fulham (a) LOSE
Forest (h) DRAW

Considering their return of 5 points from the last 10 games, the above yields an optimistic (for them) 10 points, putting them on 37 and RIGHT IN THE SH|T

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

They may have five six-pointers at home, but four of them are against teams showing signs of life (Everton, Forest, Plucky, Leicester) and only one against an equally poor side (West Ham). They can't score goals, so I'm of the opinion that the inhabitants of the Holmesdale are in for some ugly 1-0 wins thanks to dodgy penalties if they are to hang on this season.

 

[RandyWanger]

Luckily for them, there are 3 worse teams. They'll be in the battle but will ultimately stay up.

 

[Doonhamer7]

I think there form and inability to score could see them in big trouble, any of the bottom 9 could go down and its now not about squad ability but the attitude and fight - so Everton and B’muff might be ok, West Ham and Palace on other hand……

 

[BLOCK F]

No.

 

[warmleyseagull]

Surprised at posts above. IMO, they are ripe for drop:

• Bottom of current form table for last 12, 10, 8 games and 19th (with 1 point) for last 4;
• Have scored 6 goals in last 12, 1 in last 4;
• Scored 9 goals all season from open play

Could go on but think this is enough to say they are in perilous position. Bad form at this stage of season is difficult to overcome; Vieira could be sacked but they would need to find someone else who could mend things. Granted, just a couple of wins from new manager bounce could be enough, but it is far from nailed on. Saints and Leeds showing no sign of it working for them.

 

[nwgull]

Nope. For me it’s not so much the points they’re on, more their league position; we need 6 teams to pull above them which is highly unlikel.

This is a fair point. With 8 other teams in the mix with them, some of whom already have a 3 point deficit, chances are that at least 3 of them will have stinkers in the last quarter of the season.

 

[highflyer]

If they play like yesterday, I don't think they'll have much problem staying up. Their April fixture list looks like it should bring them the points they need.

Said same on another thread. They showed fight and Viera showed a bit of courage and tactical nous which almost paid off.
Think they will be OK, unless that performance was a complete one-off.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

No. I think they are quite decent, have a good young manager and one or two decent players. The style is a bit old fashioned, and I'm not sure whether Zaha is really an asset (he's a sort of bargain shop Ronaldo when it comes to deportment on the pitch - all about him).

In contrast, Stains, Wolves, Bournmouth all look much more brittle.

Only a few points off the drop though. I would be happy to see them go down.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

You say all that, but I noticed a Palace fan sneering that the lyrics to GOSBTS appear on the jumbotron, which I believe trumps all those things.

I mean, what a win for Palace that is.

Trophy presentation is tomorrow and the open top bus tour for Having The Best Fans is on Sunday morning

I've never heard the Always Ultras so subdued as they were last night. It speaks volumes (unlike them) that Palace were only one goal down for most of that game and yet they could barely raise a song. They know, as we know, that they are officially a terrible football team and the slow realisation for them that the tide might actually be turning in our favour after all this time must be excruciating.

 

[MJsGhost]

No. I think they are quite decent, have a good young manager and one or two decent players. The style is a bit old fashioned, and I'm not sure whether Zaha is really an asset (he's a sort of bargain shop Ronaldo when it comes to deportment on the pitch - all about him).

In contrast, Stains, Wolves, Bournmouth all look much more brittle.

Only a few points off the drop though. I would be happy to see them go down.

Form over the last 6 matches suggests otherwise (particularly re Wolves) as there are signs of life from pretty much everyone bar Palace:

 

[jackalbion]

They may have five six-pointers at home, but four of them are against teams showing signs of life (Everton, Forest, Plucky, Leicester) and only one against an equally poor side (West Ham). They can't score goals, so I'm of the opinion that the inhabitants of the Holmesdale are in for some ugly 1-0 wins thanks to dodgy penalties if they are to hang on this season.

I think its

West Ham / Palace
Leeds
Southampton

Who drop, but Palace could just fudge some 1-0 penalty wins like you say.