As ever at this point in a Premier League season there is a relegation dog-fight going on and the January transfer window provides managers of struggling clubs with the perfect opportunity to add the players they need to retain top flight status.
Of the current bottom 6 clubs (Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Southampton, Wigan Athletic, Reading and Queens Park Rangers) it is only The Magpies that I would say are too good to go down, just like they were in 2009 when they were relegated to the Championship on the final day of the season!
Of the other 5, only QPR have access to the money to bring in top quality players however that hasn’t served them well so far in the season and a half in which owner Tony Fernandes has been ploughing money in to the club.
It seems Wigan Atletic’s role in the pantomime of the Premier League is to fill a place somewhere in the bottom few for the first 30 games of the season before Roberto Martinez kicks his side in to shape for survival in a dramatic last scene for The Latics.
The problem for Reading and Aston Villa is simple, a lack of Premier League quality and experience in their respective squads. Paul Lambert’s squad at Villa Park is assembled of young players gathered from lower leagues while at The Madjeski Brian McDermott has plenty of good Championship players, but that counts for nothing in the topflight.
Southampton, meanwhile, should have enough to survive. The fee, close to £12 million, shelled-out for Uruguayan Gaston Ramirez seemed a lot in the summer, but he could well be the difference between keeping the Saints up and if he does, that money will have been worth every penny.
Sam Jewell