Where do Newcastle United stand after another dismal derby defeat, and ten difficult fixtures, compared to previous seasons and clubs in similar situations? Ten games into the 2015/16 Premier League season, Newcastle United sit in 19th place, still two points adrift from the relative safety of 17th position. Before the beginning of this campaign, after the overhaul worth £52 million, many United fans were optimistic at what lay ahead for the upcoming season. Yet, with over a quarter of the season gone, Newcastle have amassed a miserly six points from the single 6-2 win over Norwich and three draws. One win in ten games is relegation form and not the standard that many have come to expect inside and outside of the club.
Compared to this time last season, Newcastle had over double their current points tally, with 13 points from three victories and four draws. More worryingly however, is the statistic that the clubs in 19th and 20th position after the first ten games into the 2014/15 season were Burnley and Queens Park Rangers, who were both relegated.
However, more encouragingly, the two sides in 19th and 20th after ten games of the 2013/14 season are both still in the Premier League; Crystal Palace and Sunderland, both having amassed a single win each during that period. Yet the fact remains that after a quarter of the season, the teams struggling cast adrift at the wrong end of the table are destined to be condemned to a relegation dog-fight or a seriously difficult uphill task for the rest of the season. This is obviously a position Newcastle fans hoped they would not find themselves in once again after the pulsating final day of last season.
Historically, where do Newcastle United stand? In seven of the ten last Premier League seasons, the team placed 19th after ten games, has been relegated.
In two of the three seasons where this pattern has not occurred, the team in 19th after ten games only survived on the last day of the season, securing 17th position after 38 games. This means that 90% of the teams in Newcastle’s current position over the past ten years, have not finished above 17th place in that season. This is a very worrying pattern for Newcastle United and means that in order to have any chance to get out of this rut, Newcastle must turn it around and fast. In the 2008/09 season, the team in 19th position after ten games was Newcastle United, who many fans will remember all too vividly, were relegated on the final day of that season.
While Newcastle’s league position is a culmination of poor performances and difficult fixtures, it is also sadly down to poor officiating displays, which has been a long-running theme over the past few seasons. In the past 48 Premier League matches, Newcastle have received ten red cards, more than any other team and in the same time period, Newcastle have failed to be awarded a single penalty, whilst being on the wrong end of a number of dubious penalty decisions. Following last weekend’s derby defeat Newcastle have decided to appeal Captain Fabricio Coloccini’s red card, awarded on the stroke of half-time, undoing all of United’s good work in the first half.
Unfortunately, there is a real possibility of relegation looming large over Tyneside, but with the squad United possess brimming with young international talent and an experienced manager, there is still hope. There are no signs from the coaching staff or players of accepting the fate of dropping down to the Championship, but there is a fighting spirit around the club and amongst the fans. The firm sense of injustice in terms of refereeing decisions and results not going United’s way will hopefully unite the team together, in order to spur them on to continue fighting on the pitch in a United fashion.
Where do Newcastle United stand? That is the question during these times of crisis, and hopefully the answer is on the horizon in the form of a run of good form, but the stats are damning and it will take a mammoth effort to turn this season around to firstly avoid relegation and secondly, finish respectably.
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