The Relegation Battle 2023

[Lucas]

I'm waving the White Flag. Went to Goodison Saturday and it was an absolute honking performance with the cherry on top being the absolute ridiculous freak goal we concede. Indefensible performance. 

Wouldn't mind if we showed fight and lost admirably but that was as easy a 1-0 as Everton will have. Powderpuff stuff from us.

I'm not going to take anything away from Everton because they probably shaded it based on the first half having three cleared off the line, but for large chunks, that game looked like two poor teams remarkably low on quality and it always felt a mistake would win it rather than a moment of quality.

To not even test Pickford with a notable shot on target too was disgusting from our point of view. It's bloody Everton. How can you put in the performances you do against your arch rivals and go weak as shit in an equally crunch game?

We are a complete joke. No manager, no leadership at a time when we got massive fixtures our way and we're just running out of time. We got far too many tough games left and we're now going to have to pull at least two rabbits out of hats crom games we'd normally look to write off.

The board really have dropped the ball with this club and the position they have put us in, left it far too late with Marsch and as a result, cannot nail their top options to replace and are panicking like fuck who to get in as an interim manager till June. If i knew this palava was going to happen, I'd have just bit the bullit with Marsch to be frank, pains me to say it.

Either way, it's 10 PL games without a win, and only two League wins in the last 20. I can't see what will suddenly change now that hasn't to this point already and what's massively frustrating is, I don't think we have that bad a squad on paper, certainly not a bottom three one.

I've resigned myself to Championship football. It's happening.

[Rick]

@Lucas Time for Big Sam? 

[Lucas]

5 hours ago, Rick said:

@Lucas Time for Big Sam? 

Are you trying to kill me off? 

[RandoEFC+]

6 hours ago, Lucas said:

I'm waving the White Flag. Went to Goodison Saturday and it was an absolute honking performance with the cherry on top being the absolute ridiculous freak goal we concede. Indefensible performance. 

Wouldn't mind if we showed fight and lost admirably but that was as easy a 1-0 as Everton will have. Powderpuff stuff from us.

I'm not going to take anything away from Everton because they probably shaded it based on the first half having three cleared off the line, but for large chunks, that game looked like two poor teams remarkably low on quality and it always felt a mistake would win it rather than a moment of quality.

To not even test Pickford with a notable shot on target too was disgusting from our point of view. It's bloody Everton. How can you put in the performances you do against your arch rivals and go weak as shit in an equally crunch game?

We are a complete joke. No manager, no leadership at a time when we got massive fixtures our way and we're just running out of time. We got far too many tough games left and we're now going to have to pull at least two rabbits out of hats crom games we'd normally look to write off.

The board really have dropped the ball with this club and the position they have put us in, left it far too late with Marsch and as a result, cannot nail their top options to replace and are panicking like fuck who to get in as an interim manager till June. If i knew this palava was going to happen, I'd have just bit the bullit with Marsch to be frank, pains me to say it.

Either way, it's 10 PL games without a win, and only two League wins in the last 20. I can't see what will suddenly change now that hasn't to this point already and what's massively frustrating is, I don't think we have that bad a squad on paper, certainly not a bottom three one.

I've resigned myself to Championship football. It's happening.

This was me a few weeks ago as well to be fair and then we made what's hopefully the right managerial appointment and we've won 2 out of 3 and got ourselves out of the relegation zone. Things change quickly in seasons like these.

[Coma+]

 

[Dan+]

12 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

I haven't been shaken from my feeling that Bournemouth, Southampton and Forest are the three naturally worst teams. Forest look so poor every time I watch them, I still can't decide whether they've done something right to rack up the points they've got or whether they've just had more than their fair share of luck in catching teams at the right time.

Genuinely think it's the latter but I probably have my own biases - but then I've seen fans of others saying similar. I don't think Cooper is a bad manager at all, I just think they've taken some unreal points this season. West Ham, Leeds and Man City at home - lucky to get a single point and they took 7. Even against us we missed two sitters at 0-0. They've been extremely fortunate for me. Hopefully it's all just building false sense of security for them to eventually drop, which is far more painful for them.

[Honey Honey]

On 20/02/2023 at 17:24, Rick said:

@Lucas Time for Big Sam? 

Big Sam with Alan Smith as his assistant, dream ticket for Leeds fans 

[Dan+]

I really think we're a bad Maddison injury away from the drop. The positivity and freshness of the new signings has vanished already, Rodgers is still as useless as ever and the complacency that plagues this club is deeply worrying. When the chips are down, I see the others stepping up more than I do us. Saturday's game at Southampton will be quite telling - we might get away with it through sheer quality but for pure fight we're so utterly dismal I'd almost be glad to see this manager and some of these players suffer the embarrassment for the disgusting toss they've served up for the last 18 months.

I'm not having any more "we'll be fine" shouts until we're above somebody like Villa. We've not pulled away at any point this season, we're capable of a dire run but most worryingly, a dire run that never seems to have anybody held accountable. The drop in standards in the last 2/3 years is absolutely sickening and for me means the relegation is likely next season if it doesn't happen this year, given we'll be losing two of our main bail-out players in Maddison and Tieleman. Tonight should be a massive wake up call for where we're really at. Blackburn haven't just pinched a win - they've battered us. 1-2 flattered us. Nobody could've complained if they'd scored 4 goals. This is a side 4th in the Championship.

There is such a complacency of "we'll be OK" that I think the players and manager believe it'll just happen without having to put anything in. I'd not be surprised if we end up crashing on the final day after all of this, and plenty - the manager, the owner (mainly for persisting with the manager), the fans (for not making it toxic enough), the players (for their utter shitness themselves), the local media (for not putting any serious pressure on the twat of a manager) would have blood on their hands. They allowed this fucking shitshow to manifest.

We're totally capable of pulling clear but nobody at the club seems to have the guts to get things together.

[Dave]

On the plus side, if Leicester do go down 'The Rise and Fall of Leicester City' will make a great Netflix series.

[Dan+]

If the manager isn't changed, then it will happen next season if it doesn't this time. I still don't think we'll actually drop this year because I think we've got too many players who can win a game virtually on their own to get us enough wins. But I really do think that's the mentality the club seem to have. It's OK everyone, Maddison or Tielemans will score a wondergoal and we'll be OK. Forget the fact everything else is a shambles and.. oh, Tielemans is out for 6 weeks.

It would be totally in-keeping with this season for Maddison to get a bad injury. It's got that sort of vibe.

[Lucas]

34 minutes ago, Dan said:

If the manager isn't changed, then it will happen next season if it doesn't this time. I still don't think we'll actually drop this year because I think we've got too many players who can win a game virtually on their own to get us enough wins. But I really do think that's the mentality the club seem to have. It's OK everyone, Maddison or Tielemans will score a wondergoal and we'll be OK. Forget the fact everything else is a shambles and.. oh, Tielemans is out for 6 weeks.

It would be totally in-keeping with this season for Maddison to get a bad injury. It's got that sort of vibe.

Maddison is definitely your key. You are completely different with and without him I'd say, it's really remarkable how much of an influence he has on that team.

You certainly don't bang in four goals a game when he's out, that's for sure.

[Dan+]

7 hours ago, Lucas said:

Maddison is definitely your key. You are completely different with and without him I'd say, it's really remarkable how much of an influence he has on that team.

You certainly don't bang in four goals a game when he's out, that's for sure.

Which to me tells you everything about why the manager should go. If he was finding solutions and looking for alternatives then you could tolerate it, but he has no interest in trying to deviate from his idealistic system. It's like the system is chosen and the players we have must fit it, rather than the other way around.

Without Maddison it's more like a goal every four games.

[Lucas]

Pretty good results for us tonight with Everton and Wolves losing.

That's one less game for them and one in hand for us.

To be fair, both were expected but Everton conceding four has really hit their goal difference, especially as they have only scored 17 in 25 games.

It really might come down to that.

[Stan]

February comes and goes in a flash. Several of the same teams still involved, but Villa and Palace have swapped positions. Villa now on the same points as Chelsea (31), but Palace are now only 6 points off the drop after their winless run.

Not as many games in March due to the internationals, but some very important ones nonetheless...

Since the last update (mid-Jan), Everton & Southampton still in the bottom 3 as Bournemouth drop into it; Leicester, West Ham and Wolves have improved on their positions, Forest remain 13th, while Leeds have dropped perilously closer to the drop zone.

 

Goal difference is added in as we all know that can play a big part come the final day...

 

Another huge weekend with 4 of the bottom 8 playing each other - Southampton vs Leicester & Nottm Forest vs Everton.

Then next weekend, 6 of the bottom 8 play sides currently in the top 8, so some tough challenges ahead...

[RandoEFC+]

Not looking good for us. You'd say 2 wins from 5 for Dyche when we've had Arsenal twice and Liverpool away in those five games is alright but the loss to Villa at home followed by a 4-0 drubbing isn't good mental preparation for this massive away game at Forest. If they beat us they'll go 7 points ahead of us and that's another rival starting to feel out of reach. Even under a new manager who has these players drilled and organised, we've been so poor away from home for years, with the exception of the Covid blip under Ancelotti with no fans, it's just impossible to feel confident.

I'm desperate to try and distance myself from it all emotionally. We lost the Villa game for one reason. No striker to suit this system when Calvert-Lewin is injured. When you look at the recruitment systems in place at (with all due respect) relatively small clubs like Brighton and Brentford, and compare it to Everton's inability to sign a backup for Calvert-Lewin when they know he's had a recurring injury for 18 months and you just think, you know what, the people running this club deserve relegation. The only thing that keeps me invested is wanting to see an end to the disappointment and anger felt by all of the Everton fans I'm in touch with in real life and through social media because they deserve better.

[OrangeKhrush]

if a team is relying on Calvert Lewin to save themselves, you know you are in trouble.   He misses 22 games and in the other 16 he gets you a goal or two.   

Everton could have sold him the previous summer and conned someone out of money, at 25 and chronically injured he is the kind of guy that will bounce around lower end teams like palace and wolves until he is completely useless

[LFCMike]

Everton are going to have to hope they can pull off another couple of wins against top half sides at home. Only one home game left against a bottom half side and that's Bournemouth on the last day.

I know they've already beaten Arsenal under Dyche but you have to wonder how much that was down to the new manager bounce. It doesn't feel like their fans are as invested in getting behind the team in a relegation battle as they were this time last season either. Almost resigned to it this time around.

[OrangeKhrush]

On 01/03/2023 at 07:04, Dan said:

I really think we're a bad Maddison injury away from the drop. The positivity and freshness of the new signings has vanished already, Rodgers is still as useless as ever and the complacency that plagues this club is deeply worrying. When the chips are down, I see the others stepping up more than I do us. Saturday's game at Southampton will be quite telling - we might get away with it through sheer quality but for pure fight we're so utterly dismal I'd almost be glad to see this manager and some of these players suffer the embarrassment for the disgusting toss they've served up for the last 18 months.

I'm not having any more "we'll be fine" shouts until we're above somebody like Villa. We've not pulled away at any point this season, we're capable of a dire run but most worryingly, a dire run that never seems to have anybody held accountable. The drop in standards in the last 2/3 years is absolutely sickening and for me means the relegation is likely next season if it doesn't happen this year, given we'll be losing two of our main bail-out players in Maddison and Tieleman. Tonight should be a massive wake up call for where we're really at. Blackburn haven't just pinched a win - they've battered us. 1-2 flattered us. Nobody could've complained if they'd scored 4 goals. This is a side 4th in the Championship.

There is such a complacency of "we'll be OK" that I think the players and manager believe it'll just happen without having to put anything in. I'd not be surprised if we end up crashing on the final day after all of this, and plenty - the manager, the owner (mainly for persisting with the manager), the fans (for not making it toxic enough), the players (for their utter shitness themselves), the local media (for not putting any serious pressure on the twat of a manager) would have blood on their hands. They allowed this fucking shitshow to manifest.

We're totally capable of pulling clear but nobody at the club seems to have the guts to get things together.

let's hope Maddison doesn't get a bad one as we would like to buy him

[OrangeKhrush]

On 02/03/2023 at 14:12, LFCMike said:

Everton are going to have to hope they can pull off another couple of wins against top half sides at home. Only one home game left against a bottom half side and that's Bournemouth on the last day.

I know they've already beaten Arsenal under Dyche but you have to wonder how much that was down to the new manager bounce. It doesn't feel like their fans are as invested in getting behind the team in a relegation battle as they were this time last season either. Almost resigned to it this time around.

Goodison is a hostile place to play, and they are pretty good at home.  it does however take a Lampard run to turn that intimidating atmosphere to a toxic one again st their own team.

I won't miss Everton if they went down though, replace them with Middlesbrough

[Redcanuck]

4 hours ago, OrangeKhrush said:

Goodison is a hostile place to play, and they are pretty good at home.  it does however take a Lampard run to turn that intimidating atmosphere to a toxic one again st their own team.

I won't miss Everton if they went down though, replace them with Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough have been horrid in the Premier in recent years.  Blackburn would be a better team to come up with Burnley and Sheffield United.

[Dan+]

I'm absolutely completely convinced we're done. We are the worst team in the division for me. I backed us to come 20th at 33/1 a month ago. The trajectory has been absolutely scary. We have nosedived again.

I cannot believe how inept this ownership actually is. It's genuinely sad that he's this spineless. What the fuck is he even scared of? Or does he genuinely believe this to be acceptable? Good luck paying those loans off in the Championship clown.

[Whiskey]

On 02/03/2023 at 12:12, LFCMike said:

Everton are going to have to hope they can pull off another couple of wins against top half sides at home. Only one home game left against a bottom half side and that's Bournemouth on the last day.

I know they've already beaten Arsenal under Dyche but you have to wonder how much that was down to the new manager bounce. It doesn't feel like their fans are as invested in getting behind the team in a relegation battle as they were this time last season either. Almost resigned to it this time around.

It's because relegation is inevitable. If not this year, it'll be next. We're just like Sunderland in the sense that they'd always do shit for about 5-6 years on the bounce but do just enough to stay up (until they didn't). 

The issue for me is that the club just isn't the club I love anymore. The soul has been ripped out and it gets worse by the week, I hate so much about our club ironically because I love it so much. It's just really shite to be honest. 

[Dan+]

On 01/03/2023 at 05:04, Dan said:

I really think we're a bad Maddison injury away from the drop. The positivity and freshness of the new signings has vanished already, Rodgers is still as useless as ever and the complacency that plagues this club is deeply worrying. When the chips are down, I see the others stepping up more than I do us. Saturday's game at Southampton will be quite telling - we might get away with it through sheer quality but for pure fight we're so utterly dismal I'd almost be glad to see this manager and some of these players suffer the embarrassment for the disgusting toss they've served up for the last 18 months.

I'm not having any more "we'll be fine" shouts until we're above somebody like Villa. We've not pulled away at any point this season, we're capable of a dire run but most worryingly, a dire run that never seems to have anybody held accountable. The drop in standards in the last 2/3 years is absolutely sickening and for me means the relegation is likely next season if it doesn't happen this year, given we'll be losing two of our main bail-out players in Maddison and Tieleman. Tonight should be a massive wake up call for where we're really at. Blackburn haven't just pinched a win - they've battered us. 1-2 flattered us. Nobody could've complained if they'd scored 4 goals. This is a side 4th in the Championship.

There is such a complacency of "we'll be OK" that I think the players and manager believe it'll just happen without having to put anything in. I'd not be surprised if we end up crashing on the final day after all of this, and plenty - the manager, the owner (mainly for persisting with the manager), the fans (for not making it toxic enough), the players (for their utter shitness themselves), the local media (for not putting any serious pressure on the twat of a manager) would have blood on their hands. They allowed this fucking shitshow to manifest.

We're totally capable of pulling clear but nobody at the club seems to have the guts to get things together.

Didn't even take the Maddison injury.

That's 1 point from 7 games - the second different time that's happened this season.

Yet there are still no murmurings that the manager is actually going to go.

I don't know what it will actually take for the club to do something about this. It's the inaction, the apathy, that I just can't deal with as a fan.

I'm a complete lunatic with following football. I'm doing thousands of miles every season watching us. But for the first time I'm really starting to just think I'm looking a complete prat with every game I go to. I can take supporting a bad team. We've been bad for the majority of my life. My childhood watching Leicester was stuck in the Championship, where a win against somebody like Luton would genuinely raise your spirits. I've seen bad. Believe me.

When the club aren't trying at all then why on earth should the fans? I've been to Selhurst Park more times than I can even bring myself to admit on here and our away end there is normally pretty good. It's loud. Yet I've been in today probably the deadest away end of the season, certainly the quietest I've ever been in at Selhurst Park and I have absolutely no qualms with any of the away end for that being the case. Why the fucking hell do they deserve any backing? This isn't Bournemouth with less talent fighting for their lives. This is a club resting on its laurels, and amazingly, 18th in the Premier League in April (and likely to be 19th tomorrow) that still seem to think the building isn't burning down.

All it would take is a sacking of the manager to at least demonstrate somebody at the club holds some standards. Somebody at the club actually gives a shit. But nobody seems to.

Do people think we're going to bounce back up with this kind of mentality if we do go down? I think we'd have every chance of dropping again.

Everybody says Leicester will be fine, until they actually watch Leicester. There are countless examples on this forum. I'm not exaggerating when I say these things. This is the worst Leicester side of the last 15 years. It has the least fight of any I think I've ever seen. It has the most inept performing manager relative to his supposed standing in the game and salary I think I will ever witness in my lifetime.

We are a joke. I'd be almost embarrassed to stay up this season. Teams like Bournemouth and Forest - they're rubbish, but they'll fight, they will pull their weight. They deserve it more than us.

[Batard]

9 hours ago, Dan said:

Didn't even take the Maddison injury.

That's 1 point from 7 games - the second different time that's happened this season.

Yet there are still no murmurings that the manager is actually going to go.

I don't know what it will actually take for the club to do something about this. It's the inaction, the apathy, that I just can't deal with as a fan.

I'm a complete lunatic with following football. I'm doing thousands of miles every season watching us. But for the first time I'm really starting to just think I'm looking a complete prat with every game I go to. I can take supporting a bad team. We've been bad for the majority of my life. My childhood watching Leicester was stuck in the Championship, where a win against somebody like Luton would genuinely raise your spirits. I've seen bad. Believe me.

When the club aren't trying at all then why on earth should the fans? I've been to Selhurst Park more times than I can even bring myself to admit on here and our away end there is normally pretty good. It's loud. Yet I've been in today probably the deadest away end of the season, certainly the quietest I've ever been in at Selhurst Park and I have absolutely no qualms with any of the away end for that being the case. Why the fucking hell do they deserve any backing? This isn't Bournemouth with less talent fighting for their lives. This is a club resting on its laurels, and amazingly, 18th in the Premier League in April (and likely to be 19th tomorrow) that still seem to think the building isn't burning down.

All it would take is a sacking of the manager to at least demonstrate somebody at the club holds some standards. Somebody at the club actually gives a shit. But nobody seems to.

Do people think we're going to bounce back up with this kind of mentality if we do go down? I think we'd have every chance of dropping again.

Everybody says Leicester will be fine, until they actually watch Leicester. There are countless examples on this forum. I'm not exaggerating when I say these things. This is the worst Leicester side of the last 15 years. It has the least fight of any I think I've ever seen. It has the most inept performing manager relative to his supposed standing in the game and salary I think I will ever witness in my lifetime.

We are a joke. I'd be almost embarrassed to stay up this season. Teams like Bournemouth and Forest - they're rubbish, but they'll fight, they will pull their weight. They deserve it more than us.

Maddison looked right off it yesterday, is it the system, carrying an injury or is he feeling the pressure of having to carry a team that ownership and manager has lost interest in?

[Stan]

4 hours ago, Batard said:

Maddison looked right off it yesterday, is it the system, carrying an injury or is he feeling the pressure of having to carry a team that ownership and manager has lost interest in?

System causing not enough players around him to play with enough freedom. 

That, and he probably knows he's off this summer. But I can't be angry or annoyed at Maddison considering he's the one that has bagged us a shit load of points this season.