As entertaining as the race at the top of the table was, the relegation battle on the final weekend will undoubtedly provide more drama and many more increased heart rates for the supporter's of all the clubs involved. West Ham United was the first to fall to the second tier of English soccer, by losing to fellow relegation battlers Wigan Athletic this past weekend. The loss leaves West Ham, who has one of the most faithful followings in the capital, in a very tough spot. The East London club was given the right to play in the 2012 Olympic Stadium after the 2012 summer games finish. How will West Ham fill the Olympic Stadium, if they are still playing in the Championship during the 2012/13 season?
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| Avram Grant will not be signing autographs at Upton Park anymore. The club sacked him after Saturday's loss |
With one match to go, Blackburn, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Blackpool and Wigan are all in danger of dropping to the nPower Championship. Relegation is not only a shot to a club's pride, it is also a hard hit to its wallet. West Ham, and the other two undeterminded teams that are set to join it, will lose an estimated £40 million in revenue. Aside from revenue, they will undoubtedly lose their best players and top coaches. All of these negatives can pile up and cause damaging long-term finanicial issues for a club. The plight of once great Premier League sides tells the tale of what relegation can do to healthy Premier League clubs. Look no farther than the carcass of Leeds United. The one-time Premier League and Champions League titles contender, which employed the likes of Johnathan Woodgate, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka, Rio Ferdinand, Eric Cantona and Robbie Fowler now lies in the middle of the pack in the Championship after falling to League One in 2007.
Yet, this upcoming weekend's losers are not destined for certain doom and gloom over the next decade. Newcastle United's resurgence this year shows that a club can bounce back to the Premier League. Key players like Jonas Gutierrez, Jose Enrique, Steven Taylor and Joey Barton stuck with the club despite its misfortunes and aided the Geordies back to safety in the Premier League. Yet, the Newcastle United of the late 1990s and early 2000s is certainly gone for the forseeable future, as they are more likely to compete for a spot in the top 10 and not the top 4 spot they were accustomed a decade and a half ago. Thus, is the price of relegation.
So, who will suffer a similar fate to West Ham United? We will all find out on Saturday. And the best thing about it: all the games will start and be played at the same time, which means nobody will know what teams are relegated until the final whistle!
Here are my predictions:
15th) Wolverhampton Wanderers - 43 pts (Win over Blackburn Rovers)
16th) Blackpool - 40 pts (Draw with Manchester United)
17th) Blackburn Rovers - 40 pts (Loss to Wolverhampton)
18th) Wigan Athletic - 40 pts (Draw with Stoke City)
19th) Birmingham - 39 pts (Loss to Tottenham)
20th) West Ham United - 33 pts (Already Relegated)
