MY ACCOUNT
Rock-bottom Southampton host a Nottingham Forest side who are also in the drop zone in a relegation six-pointer tonight.
The Saints sacked manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and replaced him with Nathan Jones but it has not resulted in an upturn in form with the strugglers having lost their last five Premier League games.
Promoted Forest spent big in the summer to transform their squad, only to still find it difficult to pick up points in the ultra-competitive league.
With the season nearly at the halfway stage, we take a look at the survival chances of both teams and for the other clubs in the bottom half of the table.
Saints sinning
The next few weeks will be crucial to Southampton’s hopes of staying in the Premier League.
In their next five fixtures the Saints face three sides that are also fighting against relegation in the shape of Forest, Everton and Wolves, along with winnable games against the likes of Aston Villa and Brentford.
Southampton have lost all three of their Premier League matches since replacing Hasenhuttl with former Luton boss Jones.
Their only victory under the 49-year-old came in the Carabao Cup fourth round against a Lincoln side who are struggling in League One.
The club have built a reputation for making left-field managerial appointments during their ten-year spell in the top flight and Jones is no exception.
Though the Welshman impressed during two successful spells at Luton, he was sacked within ten months of joining Stoke.
The Hatters’ success has continued since Jones left. He must prove that his reputation is merited and not a mere by-product of being involved with the sort of well-run club that Southampton themselves were once a shining example of.
Forest fighting fires
Southampton are bottom of the table after claiming just 12 points from 17 games, with Nottingham Forest two points ahead of them in 18th position.
Though their advantage is minimal, the East Midlands outfit have more reason for positivity. In their most recent outing against Chelsea, Steve Cooper’s team claimed a valuable home draw.
Forest showed faith in Cooper earlier in October as they gave the promotion-winning manager a new contract at a time when his team had just lost their fifth successive game in the Premier League.
Since then, they have only lost three of their subsequent nine league games, with two of those losses coming away at Arsenal and Manchester United. Wins are proving hard to come by but Cooper’s team are at least making some progress.
Their home form certainly looks like something that they can build upon as they are now unbeaten in six at the City Ground across all competitions.
This includes wins against Liverpool, Tottenham and Crystal Palace in which Cooper’s defence have not conceded.
Wolves make big changes
Sandwiched between Southampton and Forest are Wolves in 19th position.
Like the Saints, the Midlanders have changed manager in an effort to rejuvenate their season. In the case of Wolves, it does seem to have made an impact.
Julen Lopetegui took charge of his first Premier League match against Everton on Boxing Day and enjoyed a 2-1 win. There were also encouraging signs in the 1-0 defeat to in-form United that followed.
With just ten Premier League goals all season, Wolves’ issue is scoring and they have addressed that problem by signing Atletico Madrid forward Matheus Cunha. Such spending power is a major advantage in a relegation fight.
Of the teams currently in the bottom half of the Premier League, the likes of Aston Villa, Leicester, Leeds, Everton and West Ham all have the financial capacity to make major changes in their managerial or playing staff.
Two look doomed
There is plenty of time for Southampton to escape, but their squad does not look good enough and results have not improved since they changed manager.
Promoted Bournemouth have done brilliantly to be outside the relegation zone at the midway point of the season. Yet they remain the bookies’ favourites to go down and have lost all three of their games since the season restarted.
So if the South Coast duo look doomed, it is just a case of who will join them. Though there are reasons for positivity for Wolves and Forest, they both still seem likely to be fighting for survival throughout this season.
Based on current form, West Ham or Everton could also be in this predicament, but they can be expected to change managers should that prove the case. Frank Lampard, in particular, looks in a fragile position at the Toffees.
Leicester and Leeds are perhaps the likeliest teams to be sucked into a relegation dogfight alongside the current bottom three and Bournemouth, although both also have considerable resources to throw at the issue.
