Relegation Report: Who Will Survive This Premier League Season?

Six games into the season and we are beginning to see the strengths and weaknesses of the newly promoted teams as well as those whose top flight status is in jeopardy. In this article I€™ll be looking at the chances of survival for said clubs, as well as a brief analysis of their summer window activity. So here goes... Blackburn Rovers With Venky€™s millions behind them, many thought Rovers would be transformed from a mediocre lower-mid table club to European contenders. However with the rather odd appointment of Steve Kean as manager (a man who had never managed a professional football team) things haven€™t really changed too much at Ewood Park. After a very poor start to the 2011/12 season, Blackburn find themselves in 18th place. On paper there is enough quality in Kean€™s squad to survive, but players such as Rubén Rochina and Junior Hoilett may be lured to bigger clubs in January if Rovers€™ dismal form continues. Summer Transfer Activity: 7/10 €“ losing Phil Jones was inevitable but the addition of Yakubu will bring vital goals and Scott Dann was a bit of a coup considering Arsene Wenger was reportedly sniffing around. David Goodwillie could also be a great capture but time will tell €“ Premier League switches don€™t always go well for prolific SPL strikers, just ask Kenny Miller.Who can save them?: Yakubu Aiyegbeni €“ obviously Junior Hoilett is a massive player for Rovers but goals are what Kean€™s men need and the Yak is full of them, he already has 2 in 2 and has the quality to finish on at least 10 this season. My Prediction: 16th Bolton Wanderers It used to be a hotbed for horrible football, but the Reebok Arena has seen a complete turnaround since the appointment of Owen Coyle in 2010. They finished in a respectable 14th place last season, but now find themselves at the foot of the Premier League table with just 3 points from 6 games. There isn€™t too much cause for concern yet though as they€™ve had very tough fixtures €“ both Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Arsenal. Alarm bells were ringing though when Wanderers lost 2-1 at home to newly promoted Norwich. They have Chelsea this weekend so are not out of the woods yet, but should be able to start getting points together once their fixture list becomes a little more forgiving. Summer Transfer Activity: 6/10 when you haven€™t got much money bring in bosmans and loans €“ Coyle has borrowed Sanli Tuncay, Dedryck Boyata and Gael Kakuta but has made permanent signings in the form of Darren Pratley, David N€™gog and Nigel Reo-Coker €“ the latter on a free is a great addition. Rooting around his former club he€™s signed Chris Eagles too, but why Tyrone Mears once again finds himself in the top flight is beyond me. Who can save them?: Kevin Davies €“ Big Kev doesn€™t get 20 a season but will work his socks off for the Trotters and isn€™t a stranger to a relegation dog fight. He€™s also a great outlet when the going gets tough, is there a defender in the world who wouldn€™t find the bustling target man a handful? My Prediction: 15th Norwich City The Canaries have made a fantastic start to the 2011/12 and currently find themselves in 9th place after consecutive wins against Bolton and Sunderland. The genius of the man in the hot seat has led to the expression €˜in Lambert we trust€™ from the Carrow Road faithful after the enigmatic Scot won them back to back promotions. As to where they€™ll finish it€™s a tough one to call and it may go down to the wire, but the professionalism shown in their last two games show that they€™re not here to make up the numbers. They€™ll have to be wary of taking their foot off the gas though - conceding in both of their last two games after going two goals ahead. I think they€™ll just about edge it as long as they can keep hold of Paul Lambert. Summer Transfer Activity: 6/10 €“ an assortment of lower league talent brought on for small amounts include ex-Millwall man Steve Morison, Bradley Johnson from Leeds, Anthony Pilkington and Elliot Bennett with Lambert preferring an attitude of grit and hunger to bags of technical competence. It seems to be working so far, but anyone who knows football could have told him James Vaughan€™s knees would be trouble and he already looks to be out for some time €“ 2.5 million well spent. Who can save them?:David Fox €“ with so much fuss about Wes Hoolahan and Grant Holt this central midfielder can often be overlooked. However, with his pinpoint distribution and calm approach, he is the architect for City€™s brand of passing football. Undoubtedly, a team like Norwich can€™t afford to rely on one player, but Fox€™s playmaking will be very important. My Prediction: 17th Queen€™s Park Rangers Not many people consider the R€™s Premiership strugglers anymore, Tony Fernandes has pumped millions into the club already and they€™ve attracted a host of previously unattainable players. One problem Neil Warnock€™s men may have though is a lack of firepower up front - Jay Bothroyd is looking a little out of his depth and has yet to score though it is early days. They€™ll not want this problem to manifest though, they were all over Newcastle when the two met but couldn€™t break the 0-0 deadlock, and despite being the better team against Aston Villa they could only manage a 1-1 draw courtesy of a Richard Dunne own goal. Saying that though they currently sit comfortably in 10th place and I don€™t imagine their final position being much worse. Summer Transfer Activity: 8/10 €“ with that sort of money it€™s not really hard to impress with your summer signings, however Neil Warnock hasn€™t blown it on any old rubbish. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joey Barton stand out but Luke Young, Anton Ferdinand and Armand Traore also look good (despite the latter€™s sending off against Villa). Nevertheless, the aforementioned lack of strikers could be an issue and they may have to recruit an extra hit man in January. Who can save them?: Shaun Wright-Phillips €“ put bluntly, Wright-Phillips should be too good for QPR, but due to him being apparently undervalued at Man City and Chelsea, he perhaps doesn€™t realise just how good he is. Or he just wanted the money. Either way his dribbling skills, crossing ability and unpredictable playing style make him impossible to deal with when he€™s on form. My Prediction: 13th Swansea City It€™s difficult to pick a team that will foot the table at the end of the season as there€™s certainly no 07/08 Derby County or 06/07 Watford to choose from. Like Bolton, Swansea have had a tough start to the season, being the first side to come up against the ridiculously good Sergio Agüero, and they also took a hammering at the hands of Chelsea. Saying that though, they beat West Brom 3-0 and currently sit in 16th place in the Premier League. I only pick them to finish bottom because someone has to, and I€™m not convinced there€™s enough quality in Brendan Rodgers€™ squad to keep them up. The Swans were so often reliant on the skills of Scott Sinclair last season, but it€™ll be difficult for the former Chelsea man to carry such expectations on his shoulders. Skinning defenders won€™t be as much of a breeze as it was last year and Danny Graham has been pretty woeful so far and doesn€™t look like he€™ll be contributing too many unless he improves significantly. I wouldn€™t be too surprised if City stay up, but all in all I think they€™ll be the first to go. Summer Transfer Activity: 5/10 €“ 3.5 million for Danny Graham looks too much so far €“ the striker has missed a few sitters but he is getting himself into the right positions. Michel Vorm looks like a good €˜keeper signed for just 1.5 million from Utrecht. However his mistake that handed Arshavin a goal was embarrassing and Swansea fans will be hoping he isn€™t prone to such howlers. Wayne Routledge could also be a good addition, but overall I don€™t think Rodgers has recruited enough quality to turn them into the genuine Premier League article. Who can save them?: Scott Sinclair €“ as I said before this will be a much tougher test for the young winger and he won€™t be able to do it alone but he really has been a revelation since he moved to Wales in 2010 and if anyone can save the Swans it€™s him. My Prediction: 20th West Bromwich AlbionRoy Hodgson€™s side sit just one place higher than Bolton. Their start to the season has also been a tough one and they battled well against Manchester United and Chelsea. Losing 3-0 to Swansea was an awful result though and getting no points from Everton or Stoke will frustrate the veteran manager but they did well to get a win at Carrow Road. Zoltan Gera has been a big loss for the Baggies as he is arguably their most creative player and has yet to play a game after joining from Fulham on a bosman, but he should be back from injury soon. In Peter Odemwingie and Shane Long they have proven goalscorers. However West Brom€™s rather small squad seems to be lacking in ideas and I predict they€™ll continue their €˜yo-yo club€™ existence by returning to the Championship, though they won€™t go without a fight. Summer Transfer Activity: 4/10 €“ The bulk of Roy€™s transfer budget went on Shane Long €“ the Irishman cost £6.5 million and although it€™s a lot of money for a Championship striker he already has two to his name, though who knows if he€™ll be able to keep it up? Zoltan Gera could be a great capture on a free and Ben Foster was a good loan acquisition but apart from these the Baggies haven€™t brought in enough players to cover those who have left the club. Marek Cech, Pablo Ibanez, Scott Carson, Boaz Myhill, Gianni Zuiverloon and Abou Meite were all among the departures. Who can save them?: Peter Odemwingie €“ he got 15 goals last season and although I think Zoltan Gera€™s return will also be a huge positive for Hodgson, it is the goals of Odemwingie that will make a big difference to what side of that narrow relegation line they finish come the end of the season. His first strike of the season already bagged them 3 of their 4 points as he got the winner in their 1-0 win over Norwich. My Prediction: 18th Wigan Athletic No one wants one of the nicest men in football to have to add Premiership relegation to his CV, but in truth Roberto Martinez has been fighting a losing battle at Wigan for years now. They have a knack for staying up but I think the loss of Charles N€™Zogbia will be too great for them to bear and they will finally return to the second tier of English football. They haven€™t started too poorly on paper €“ currently sitting in 15th - but this is a little misleading. All five of the Latics€™ points have come against newly promoted opposition. Their other two games have resulted in defeats. As long as Franco di Santo can find more opposition limbs to deflect his shots against they may have a couple of goals, but until Hugo Rodallega returns to full fitness they€™ll be struggling and I don€™t think they have enough about them to survive. Summer Transfer Activity: 4/10 €“ Wigan simply haven€™t recruited enough quality to make them a Premier League standard team. Splashing £4 million on Ali Al-Habsi may keep out a few goals, but with little at the other end of the pitch to win them games they€™ll be struggling. Shaun Maloney is a good addition for £1 million providing he doesn€™t get homesick again, but Wigan€™s pre-season was covered with the dark cloud that was the departure of their biggest asset €“ Charles N€™Zogbia. Who can save them?: Hugo Rodallega €“ there€™s a lot of €˜ifs€™ and €˜buts€™ about the Colombian striker €“ he may leave in January, and to play he has to get fit first, but if he doesn€™t and he can he is Wigan€™s best player. I fear however that his goals alone won€™t be enough to keep them up €“ Wigan needed to improve all over the pitch but due to an apparent lack of funds at Martinez€™s disposal, this just wasn€™t possible. My Prediction: 19th So that€™s my predictions for this year€™s relegation candidates. Admittedly Fulham, Sunderland and Wolves could be added to the list but I think Martin Jol€™s focus on Europe can be redirected if they are struggling to badly, and Mick McCarthy has started well with Wolves. Steve Bruce€™s Sunderland can be a little inconsistent, but I think they have enough about them to stay in the top flight. If you have any insights or feel I€™ve overlooked or underrated anyone, please don€™t hesitate to comment.