The Great Escape

[Fox Talbot]

For sake of argument we need 36 points. 5 wins 5 draws would do it.

BUT assume we lose every game against the 6 big clubs (and I'm including Everton and Liverpool in that!) - then we need a result in EVERY other game.

The ask might well be a few points below 36 but enough to make a difference?

[maffff]

Can we - yes
Will we - probably not.

Two very different things.

[Woodcote Royal]

For sake of argument we need 36 points. 5 wins 5 draws would do it.

BUT assume we lose every game against the 6 big clubs (and I'm including Everton and Liverpool in that!) - then we need a result in EVERY other game.

The ask might well be a few points below 36 but enough to make a difference?

Totally agree with 36pts but hope the club now target 6 wins so that 2 or more draws should see us safe..........................on current form I believe we can do that and Kelly should make a difference at the back.

[Wimb]

One of our writers has been examining just this on The Tilehurst End.

http://www.thetilehurstend.com/2013/1/1 ... oming-soon

[andrew1957]

The following is the equivalent table from the last time we were in the PL. Reading looked safe and yet went down along with Brum. Both Sunderland and Fulham survived.

It is never over until the final whistle is blown on the last day.

Manchester United
22 16 3 3 44 11 11 1 0 29 3 5 2 3 15 8 +33 51
2 Arsenal
22 15 6 1 43 17 10 2 0 26 8 5 4 1 17 9 +26 51

3 Chelsea
22 14 5 3 35 16 7 4 0 22 8 7 1 3 13 8 +19 47

4 Liverpool
21 10 9 2 35 14 4 5 1 21 7 6 4 1 14 7 +21 39

5 Everton
22 12 3 7 38 22 7 1 3 23 11 5 2 4 15 11 +16 39

6 Aston Villa
22 11 6 5 40 28 7 1 4 19 15 4 5 1 21 13 +12 39

7 Manchester City
22 11 6 5 29 23 9 2 0 19 7 2 4 5 10 16 +6 39

8 Portsmouth
21 9 7 5 31 20 2 6 2 11 8 7 1 3 20 12 +11 34

9 Blackburn Rovers
21 9 6 6 28 28 5 2 4 12 12 4 4 2 16 16 0 33

10 West Ham United
21 9 5 7 27 20 4 4 3 14 12 5 1 4 13 8 +7 32

11 Newcastle United
22 7 5 10 27 39 5 3 3 16 17 2 2 7 11 22 -12 26

12 Tottenham Hotspur
22 6 6 10 42 40 5 1 4 30 21 1 5 6 12 19 +2 24

13 Reading
22 6 4 12 30 47 6 1 4 14 15 0 3 8 16 32 -17 22

14 Middlesbrough
22 5 6 11 19 36 2 4 5 12 18 3 2 6 7 18 -17 21

15 Bolton Wanderers
21 5 5 11 23 32 5 3 3 16 9 0 2 8 7 23 -9 20

16 Birmingham City
22 5 5 12 23 33 3 3 4 12 12 2 2 8 11 21 -10 20

17 Wigan Athletic
22 5 5 12 22 37 4 2 4 13 12 1 3 8 9 25 -15 20

18 Sunderland
21 4 5 12 20 40 4 3 3 11 13 0 2 9 9 27 -20 17

19 Fulham
22 2 9 11 23 39 2 5 4 16 18 0 4 7 7 21 -16 15

20 Derby County
22 1 4 17 10 47 1 2 8 7 20 0 2 9 3 27 -37 7

[CountryRoyal]

Just a massive lol at anyone that voted no.

Also apologies for a rather lacklustre first post, I imagined I would have entered HNA? with a post of somewhat more grandiose proportions... guess not.

Oh and inb4 oxf*rd off newbie.

[Rex]

It's a little like losing a tooth only for that last annoying bit of skin keeping it from falling out.
Can this team stay up? A mighty mighty ask and history states otherwise. I do not want this team relegated on the last day of the season by you know who.
That journey home will be with a heavy heart and spaz overdrive.

[Big Ern]

Can we really stay up? Well seeing, as of this post, we are one win away from safety I am thinking the answer to this question right now is...obviously yes.

Agree, but we will require a bit more committment from the club..i.e. some more players. It would be criminal for us not to try and we´ve put ourselves in a position where we can attract slightly better players now we are in touching distance. I just hope we have learnt from last time we were in the Prem.

[Libertine]

Can we really stay up? Well seeing, as of this post, we are one win away from safety I am thinking the answer to this question right now is...obviously yes.

Agree, but we will require a bit more committment from the club..i.e. some more players. It would be criminal for us not to try and we´ve put ourselves in a position where we can attract slightly better players now we are in touching distance. I just hope we have learnt from last time we were in the Prem.

Agree with you also. Some steps have been taken, some are being taken, with hopefully some more to come. I still say this isn't a "bad" team in terms of talent. Many games in the first half of the season we threw away leads and lost points to bad officiating decisions. I am of the belief that while certain areas of the team need to be improved what is needed for survival isn't a comprehensive overhaul right now. That is why I think staying up is very doable. Will it happen, and if it does will it be easy? Not by a longshot, but it is very doable...

[Big Ern]

Not enough has been done IMO. Teams around are and been splashing the cash, and we probably won´t. Spending money is no guarantee of success, but ti certainly gives you a better chance and only 1 of our signings has experience of the Prem. Could be argued we are preparing for next year in the Chump and have already given up.

[Woodcote Royal]

Yep, that's what I thought on Saturday.

2-0 down in the 82nd minute but couldn't be arsed to do anymore than what was required to win the match and just fell in a heap by the corner flag after scoring the winning goal.

Is there any limit to the utter sh*te some people are happy to post on here?

[Libertine]

Not enough has been done IMO. Teams around are and been splashing the cash, and we probably won´t. Spending money is no guarantee of success, but ti certainly gives you a better chance and only 1 of our signings has experience of the Prem. Could be argued we are preparing for next year in the Chump and have already given up.

Not everything is done and dusted in terms of this window, so I am not going to judge at this point whether enough has been done. And in fact I won't make that decision until the season is over. As a said earlier on the thread this team is different from the one, for the better, which played in the first half now that Kebe, Guthrie and Jem have settled back in after their injuries. Any acquisitions we make don't have to be splashing the cash ones. If we have "given up" on this season why are we still making moves? Why are guys like Tabb and Church, who would be solid Championship performers, being allowed to leave? I can't believe for the life of me that the management of this club has decided to throw in the towel on this season when the team is one win away from safety. If they did it would ruin my confidence in their ability to run the club...

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

It is a hard juggling act, qpr will be in difficulties if they go down, these new players will want high wages whatever division they are in next season. I think we are doing the more sensible approach. Though it is hard to take as a supporter.

[Libertine]

QPR is the poster child for everything I deeply hope we never become. I don't think there are many here among us on this web site, and the fan base in general, who think the answer is to do what QPR is doing. But another, or two, modest investments in the playing squad? Yeah, that could help imho.

[Libertine]

And when I say "modest investments", I mean modest by Premier League standards...maybe in the 2-3 mil range.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

so add on wages at about 3million a year and you are gambling a lot still. not many experienced player will come and agree to a drop in wages on relegation. you i would think only get players who take you up agreeing to that type of contract, or players from lower leagues

[Libertine]

Well with each division you move up means, as the saying goes, the price of poker has just gone up. Teams we seem to be trying to emulate, like West Brom and Stoke, have built slowly but steadily but once they got to the Pemier League had to up their spending to stay. WBA had the financial wherewithall to buy Long from us. There is no reason not to be doing deals in the 2-4 mil range. The revenue streams are greater but so is the cost of being in the Premier League...

- edited for typo, never content

[Wimb]

so add on wages at about 3million a year and you are gambling a lot still. not many experienced player will come and agree to a drop in wages on relegation. you i would think only get players who take you up agreeing to that type of contract, or players from lower leagues

'greed but then there's plenty of more established lower league players we could be looking at that would give the team and the fans a bit more of a lift than Akpan/Kelly etc.

For example, Norwich went and signed the likes of Howson & Snodgrass, Swansea got Graham, Wigan went and signed Moses and even West Brom spent a fair bit of cash on Chris Brunt while they were a Championship side. I'm not about to sit here and throw random names about who we should sign but a highly promising Championship player or two who might well fancy a move for a better contract at a well respected club who'll give them the chance of at least showcasing their talents in the Premier League would be welcome. Of course it's a gamble, any investment is, but that's what parachute payments and well structured contracts are designed for.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Fully agree Wimb, still think we should have gone for Rhodes, if he scored at Prem level then we could have cashed in big time.

Long cost sod all sold for £6mill profit, so Rhodes cost £5 mill it works sell at £12/15 mill similar profit, some players worth the risk IMHO, that is the club I want to see. If Longy had stayed fit and wacked in thirty goals then WBA would have made a fortune.

[melonhead]

established lower league players we could be looking at

the club cant win!

Rhodes cost £5 mill it works sell at £12/15 mill similar profit, some players worth the risk IMHO

lol at gambling 5 million quid on quite a big risk , to only double your money, only if it all works out and he performs, and even then we could still have gone down