Football
The Premiership ups and downs (season 2012/2013)
Who will win the league? Who will go down?
September
We have played against Arsenal, Everton, Man City, Man Utd and are in 17th place. It's been a tough start but we are out of the bottom 3. The postives are that we are scoring against the best and both Manchester clubs were fortunate to score late winners. Not many teams have scored as many goals, but defensively there is a worry.
As a Saints supporter, all I want is us to stay up. There are still 32 games left. I believe we can make it between 12th and 14th position (around 50 points) at the end of the season. Here is the table as it stands (on 1st Oct 2012):
| Pos | Team | Pl | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Wigan | 6 | 4 | -6 |
| 17 | Southampton | 6 | 3 | -8 |
| 18 | Norwich | 6 | 3 | -9 |
| 19 | Reading | 5 | 2 | -5 |
| 20 | QPR | 6 | 2 | -9 |
December
We have played most of the top teams now and now we play the teams in and around the bottom half of the table. We have crept into the bottom half, but this win has really helped. We were only a couple points away from 4 teams above us and we have now leapfrogged the teams to make it to 15th. One day later we dropped to 16th thanks to Sunderland, but we are playing well now. We have been better defensively and it shows.
After 10 games we had 4 points and were 20th. After 16 we have 15 points and were briefly 15th. Other news, Norwich are now 12th with 22 points. Well done.
| Pos | Team | Pl | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Sunderland | 16 | 16 | -4 |
| 16 | Southampton | 16 | 15 | -10 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 16 | 15 | -11 |
| 18 | Wigan | 16 | 15 | -13 |
| 19 | Reading | 16 | 9 | -12 |
| 20 | QPR | 16 | 7 | -16 |
January
We have played some tough teams of late including Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton, but none of them were victorious against us. We have had some controversy with a new manager turning up out the blue. Pochettino (Argentine) is in and Adkins is out. The fans are behind him and we battle on. We are now 6 games unbeaten and next play Man Utd.
After 16 games we had 15 points and were 16th. After 23 we have 23 points and were are now 15th. Other news, Reading are closing the gap but then are still in the bottom three. Sunderland are 11th and looking strong. Well done.
| Pos | Team | Pl | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Fulham | 23 | 25 | -7 |
| 15 | Southampton | 23 | 23 | -10 |
| 16 | Newcastle | 23 | 21 | -13 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 23 | 20 | -25 |
| 18 | Reading | 23 | 19 | -15 |
| 19 | Wigan | 23 | 19 | -18 |
| 20 | QPR | 23 | 15 | -19 |
March
We have played Newcastle, QPR, Norwich and Liverpool and we played well in all the games but were only victorious against Liverpool (3-1). Unfortunately outplaying other teams doesn't get you points and only scoring the goals do. When we played QPR they converted 2 of 3 changes and we converted 1 of 12. We have had more controversy of late with our old manager Nigel Adkins going to Reading. Reading recently got rid of Brian McDermott and you got to wonder why when he won them the championship.
After winning against Liverpool we went 15th and 7 points ahead of Wigan with 8 games to go. The next day they beat Newcastle and are keeping the gap down. Sunderland also drew to overtake us on goal difference. In other news, Reading and QPR are 7 points behind so they have a cushion of 5 games before definate relagation. Can they survive? We are now 16th. The table is tight so here is 10th to 20th and only 4 points separate 11th to 17th.
| Pos | Team | Pl | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Fulham | 29 | 36 | -4 |
| 11 | Stoke | 30 | 34 | -8 |
| 12 | Norwich | 30 | 34 | -18 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 30 | 33 | -11 |
| 14 | West Ham | 29 | 33 | -11 |
| 15 | Sunderland | 30 | 31 | -9 |
| 16 | Southampton | 30 | 31 | -10 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 30 | 30 | -25 |
| 18 | Wigan | 29 | 27 | -21 |
| 19 | Reading | 30 | 23 | -22 |
| 20 | QPR | 30 | 23 | -22 |
April
We recently played Liverpool (mentioned last time), Chelsea and Reading and won all three games in a row. That's 9 points out of 9 and could it happen against West Ham? The answer was no. We drew when we outplayed them too, but the bonus for both teams was that the draw puts both teams on 38 points and the bottom 3 know that we are safe.
It looks like 1 of 4 teams are still fighting for safety with little in points difference. Who will go down? I say Wigan, but people say they manage to survive every year. Reading and QPR are 10 points behind with 5 games left. Surely there season is over now. Can it be turned around, I say not now. In other news, Sunderland won away at Newcastle today. It was a vital game for both, but Sunderland wanted it even more so. Southampton are 11th (last time 16th). The table is still tight so here is 10th to 20th and only 4 points separate 14th to 18th.
As it's close to the season ending, I want to add that goal difference is importand and between Newcastle, Norwich, Aston Villa and Wigan, this could be the difference between relegation and survival if they are level on points on the last day.
| Pos | Team | Pl | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Fulham | 32 | 40 | -4 |
| 11 | Southampton | 33 | 38 | -7 |
| 12 | West Ham | 32 | 38 | -9 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 33 | 36 | -17 |
| 14 | Norwich | 33 | 35 | -21 |
| 15 | Sunderland | 33 | 34 | -8 |
| 16 | Stoke | 32 | 34 | -11 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 33 | 34 | -24 |
| 18 | Wigan | 31 | 31 | -20 |
| 19 | QPR | 33 | 24 | -25 |
| 20 | Reading | 33 | 24 | -27 |
