Kelvin’s Premier League Predictions

It’s that time of the year again! This is how the Premier League table will look at the end of the 2013/2014 season.

1	Manchester City
2	Chelsea
3	Manchester United
4	Arsenal
5	Tottenham Hotspur
6	Liverpool
7	Swansea City
8	Everton
9	Fulham
10	West Ham United
11	West Bromwich Albion
12	Newcastle United
13	Southampton
14	Sunderland
15	Aston Villa
16	Cardiff City
17	Norwich City
18	Stoke City
19	Hull City
20	Crystal Palace

Disagree? Tweet us!

@ChapsTalkFootball

@KelvinJonesCBE

Can Arsenal win the Premier League next season?

Bacary Sagna believes that Arsenal can win the Premier League next season. Does he have a point?

There is no denying that Arsenal were schizophrenic last season. Cup defeats to Bradford and Blackburn were inexcusable, but Wenger’s team finished the season excellently, taking 26 out of a possible 30 points to secure 4^th position.

In the end, Arsenal finished with the second best Premier League defensive record, conceding 37 goals. Comparing this with the 49 goals conceded in the 2011/2012 season, a significant improvement has been made. The central-defensive partnership of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker has flourished and the old cliché of Arsenal not being able to defend is surely out of date now.

In order to mount a title-challenge, it is vital to make a good start. But over the last couple of seasons, Arsenal have made poor starts. This can be attributed to the departures of key-players. For example, after losing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in 2011, Arsenal failed to gain domestic form until October. They also stuttered in 2012 after losing Robin van Persie and Alex Song, as it disrupted a major part of the team’s spine.

Arsenal are unlikely to lose a first-team player this summer. It could be argued that this is because Arsenal no longer have any world-class players, meaning that clubs such as Barcelona have no need to swoop. By keeping the nucleus of the team intact, there is no reason why they cannot build on the form that was captured at the end of last season.

However, if Arsenal are to mount a serious title bid, they must buy a world class striker. Although I think Olivier Giroud has been a good signing, he admittedly struggles against the best Premier League teams, and because of this, he should be second-choice up front.

As for a first-choice striker, Wenger will never purchase someone like Edinson Cavani at their current market value, and rightly so in my opinion. Kaká and Fernando Torres were bought at £56 million and £50 million respectively; they both failed to live up to massive expectations.

Gonzalo Higuain has been heavily linked with Arsenal and he would be a superb signing. He should be available at around £22.5 million, which would break Arsenal’s transfer record, but I think he is good value for money. According to transfermarkt.co.uk, he had a market value of £33.5 million in 2011. While this could provide evidence of stagnation, at 25 years old, he would be worth the risk.

Arsenal should also be able to benefit from the managerial changes at the title-contending clubs. It will take a considerable period of time for David Moyes to feel comfortable at Man Utd, and with tough opening fixures, there is, for the first time in many seasons, just a hint of uncertainty at Old Trafford.

To conclude, I do think Arsenal can at least challenge for the Premier League this season. Their defensive frailties appear to be ironed out and with some intelligent signings, such as Higuain, they’ll have a competitive team. While actually winning the Premier League may be a little too optimistic, a second place finish would provide a solid base to build upon for the 2014/2015 season.

By Kelvin Jones

Follow us on Twitter! @ChapsTalkFBall

Released XI

Last week Premier League clubs revealed the players who they would be releasing, this prompted @False_Number9 to create a Released XI, here is my team to face his. I have not used any of the same players, not even from the bench, and therefore this presented something of a challenge. None the less a team has been put together.

Mucha (Everton) - Whilst Mucha only played 2 games in the season gone, one of them was a sensational clean sheet and man of the match performance against Manchester City which allowed Everton to win the game 2-1. His second performance being a good game in Everton's 3-1 defeat of Reading. At 30 years old Mucha still has plenty of years ahead of him and a steady run in a team could allow him to shine.

Stam (Wigan) - Despite being a casualty in Wigan's disappointing season Stam offers solid defensive contribution and reliable tackling. His greatest quality, however, is his ability going forward from right back. Stam is an ablle dribbler and adept at crossing. At 28 years old Stam could provide a newly promoted team with cover or fit in well in the Championship.

Ben Haim (QPR) - At 31 his best years are no doubt behind him, but Ben Haim has 72 caps for Israel and has played for clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City. As a player with a wealth of experience and the ability to play anywhere across the line, a gamble on Ben Haim seems worthwhile, as if he were able to recapture his form for Bolton (04-07) he would certainly be an asset to any team.

Pearce (Reading) - Only 24 and already a full Republic of Ireland international it is surprising that Reading has let Pearce go. Said to possess "a superb work ethic and mentality" the centre back, who played 19 times in the 12/13 Premier League, offers terrific value for any team looking for an old fashioned centre back.

Tierney (Norwich) - Tierney was only able to play once last season, but as a 27 year old Tierney still has years in him. He is a player not dissimilar to Pearce in his willingness to put his body on the line for the good of the team. He is also a strong crosser of the ball.

Whitehead (Stoke) - Versatile, experienced and strong Whitehead is more of a destroyer than a creator. 26 Stoke appearances suggest he is still up to pace with the Premier League, and a pass success rate of 83.8% suggests he isn't completely bereft of qualities with the ball. At 31 Whitehead could steady an inexperienced midfield or offer cover to a higher calibre of player.

O'Neil (West Ham) - A different sort of player to Whitehead, ex-England U21 player O'Neil has good technique and this is reflected in his set piece taking ability, key pass rate and long shot accuracy. In this hypothetical team O'Neil and Whitehead would act in a similar way to Alonso and Khedira do for Real Madrid. O'Neil has never relied heavily on pace, and therefore it seems likely that, at 30, he has 4-5 years left playing at a high level.

Bentley (Tottenham) - One of the stars of this team. Bentley has amassed 7 full England caps and has played for Arsenal, Blackburn during their reliable 06-08 years and Tottenham. Bentley has exemplary technique and scored one of the best goals in North London derby history for Tottenham. Bentley is 28 years old and has the ability to play comfortably in the English Premier League.

Gera (West Brom) - 34 years old and subsequently lacking in pace, regardless Gera is a highly creative and intelligent player who is able to play in almost any attacking position. Gera scored 4 goals in 16 West Brom appearances last season and no doubt has another season or two in him.

Thomas (West Brom) - Whilst 30 years old Jerome Thomas is still a left winger with pace capable of causing defenders problems. Thomas, a junior England international, may well be a class below Malouda but offers a superior attitude to the Frenchman's and would be an asset to most Premier League squads.

Campbell (QPR) - 31 years old and injury prone, DJ Campbell seems like an odd choice. Despite this in the 10/11 season Campbell showed finishing prowess and scored 13 goals for Blackpool, with three players behind him who will create chances DJ Campbell, when fit, could relive his season at Blackpool and score amply.

By Alex Pointon

Follow us on twitter - @ChapsTalkFBall

Sources:

Whoscored.com

Wikipedia

http://outsideoftheboot.com/tactics-creator/

Kelvin and Alex's Predictions

Last August Kelvin and Alex predicted how the table would look come the end of the season. Now that the last Premier League fixtures have been played for the best part of 90 days we are capable of assessing who was most accurate. You can find Kelvin's predicted table here and Alex's here, also of use may be the final Premier League table, which you can view in full here.

There are, as far as I see it, three ways in which to assess the accuracy of our tables;
1.) How close to correct we were in predicting the Champions League places and relegation spots
2.) How many team's final positions we guessed correctly
3.) The cumulative difference between predicted positions and final positions for each team

1.) On the left is Kelvins predicted top four and bottom three, on the right is Alex's.

1st - Manchester City (2nd)                          1st - Manchester United (1st)

2nd - Manchester United (1st)                      2nd - Manchester City (2nd)

3rd - Arsenal (4th)                                       3rd - Chelsea (3rd)

4th - Chelsea (3rd)                                       4th - Arsenal (4th)

-                                                                  -

-                                                                  -

18th - Wigan (18th)                                      18th - Wigan (18th)

19th - Swansea (9th)                                    19th - Southampton (14th)

20th - Southampton (14th)                            20th - West Ham (10th)

Both predicted the top four teams correctly, however Alex predicted the precise order, Kelvin didn't get one in the correct position. Both predicted that Wigan would finish 18th, both incorrectly predicted the other two relegated teams. 

Due to the more accurate top four Alex wins this round.

2.) Kelvin correctly predicted that Liverpool would finish 7th, that Fulham would finish 12th and that Wigan would finish 18th. This gives him three exact predictions.

Alex Predicted the top four exactly, Everton's 6th place finish and Wigan's 18th place finish. This makes six exact predictions.

Alex Wins this round.

3.) Kelvin's cumulative difference totals 78, with his farthest from the truth guess being Newcastle finishing 5th, which is 11 positions too high.

Alex's cumulative difference comes to 66, with two predictions 11 places incorrect (Newcastle and QPR).

As his total is 12 lower than Kelvin's Alex wins this round.

A clean sweep for Alex, for next years predictions all four CTF writers will contribute and see if Alex can retain his crown.

EDIT

Mark Lawrenson of the BBC also made a predicted table before the season began, that can be found here.

His top four contains all of the correct teams, however three of them are in the wrong position, making his top four prediction better than Kelvin's but worse than Alex's. Lawrenson, just like Alex and Kelvin predicted only one relegated team correctly, but his prediction for Reading to finish 20th was not exaxtly right, unlike both Kelvin and Alex's prediction of an 18th place Wigan finish.

Lawrenson only got one exact position correct, Manchester United finishing first. This is lower than Kelvin's three and Alex's six.

Lawrenson's total difference comes to 74, which is 8 higher than Alex's but 4 lower than Kelvin's.

Follow us on twitter - @ChapsTalkFBall

Life After Ferguson: the Moyes Appointment

 It has now sunk in, Sir Alex Ferguson is to end his time as Manchester United manager. In his 26 and a half years at Manchester United much has changed, for one I have been born and grown into a young adult. It is his longevity, ridiculous trophy haul, constant reinvention and never ending passion for the game that make him a one off. Sir Alex once said "there are too many examples of people who retire and are in their box soon after. You're taking away the very thing that makes you alive, that keeps you alive." It very much seemed that way with Sir Alex Ferguson, that football, that being the Manchester United manager, was what kept him alive. Waking up early and dealing with mounds of paper work before training seemed to pleasure him. To turn Ferguson's own phrase onto him, he is a "unique freak". However this piece is not an ode to Ferguson, it is about his successor. David Moyes is the man set to come in and replace the irreplaceable.

Many have said that Moyes is not the right appointment, that he lacks European experience or that his record against the traditional big four is poor. Despite Moyes' only real European experience being guiding Everton to the UEFA cup round of 16 in 2008 and the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League in 2005 the obvious question is, how do you gain the experience if you aren't qualified to compete in the competition? As for a poor record against the big four, that is neither here nor there. Never before has Moyes had a squad of Manchester United's quality at his disposal. Realistically it was not the points picked up against the very biggest teams that defined Eveton's seasons, it was consistently picking points up against those teams around and below them. That is not the case at Manchester United, the games against Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and even Liverpool and Tottenham can be the difference between a historic season and a forgettable one. It will be in his first year or two as Manchester United manager that he can define his ability to outwit the top managers in the country.

There are other positives too, Moyes is 50 years old. Neither old nor young for a Premier League manager. He has had time to gain the necessary experience and now is at a good age to settle down. Prior to Ferguson stepping down Moyes was the third longest reigning manager in the Football League. In his eleven year tenure at the helm of Everton he has had to build teams, a much praised characteristic of Ferguson. This will stand him in good stead as Manchester United manager as he will, presumably, stay long enough to have to build upon and develop the league winning team Ferguson has left him. Jose Mourinho's longest spell managing one club is 3 years, meaning he has never had to have a truly long term vision in regards to squad building. Another advantage of bringing in Moyes (that may well apply to bringing in any manager) is that because the team is not "his" it is easier to identify weaknesses and ruthlessly act upon them. It is a wide held view that a central midfielder is required at Manchester United with Fletcher, Scholes and Anderson all going (or deserving to go, Ando), however Ferguson hasn't bought a defensive minded central midfielder. Carrick enjoyed his best season in a Manchester United shirt and this may have slightly masked the problem, none the less a new manager will be able to objectively assess the strengths and weaknesses of the squad.

Recently Everton have been playing better football than many give them credit for. Regardless of their reliance on physical strikers (Anichebe, Jelavic, Fellaini. Historically, Yakubu, Cahill) he often employs a system with focus on wide areas. Pienaar and Baines have developed one of the most effective and consistent midfielder - full back partnerships in the league. Proof of this is that 43% of Everton's play is in the left third of the pitch. 31% of Everton's play is on the right, leaving 26% through the middle third. In comparison to Manchester United, a team who historically attack in wide areas, Everton actually play more down the wings. Manchester United play 32% down the left side, 40% down the right side and therefore 28% through the middle. This indicates that Moyes is unlikely to change the style of play associated with Manchester United. Another point worth noting is Moyes' effective use of a clever playmaker, Leon Osman. Shinji Kagawa has been used poorly for his first season in English football and it is possible that Moyes will be able to utilise him more efficiently than Ferguson has, especially with rumours suggesting that Wayne Rooney has handed in a second transfer request at Manchester United.

Moyes is also accomplished in the transfer market. Rarely does he make a big signing that doesn't work well, and even so, with the budget constraints at Everton a big signing for them may not be considered so at United. For example Kevin Mirallas for £6.7m has been one of Everton's top performing players this season, for comparison purposes that is roughly £1m less than Bebe cost Manchester United in 2010. Another shining example is Marouane Fellaini, the powerful midfielder cost Everton £19.1m in 2008 and has gone on to prove his worth and his sought after by many of the top clubs in Europe. With Ferguson staying at Manchester United in a directorial capacity Moyes will always be able to ask for advice or guidance. This bodes for success in the transfer market.

All things considered Moyes is a smart choice as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor. Whilst Mourinho may have provided the club with a sense of glamour, it is stability that is most desired. Sir Alex Ferguson has delivered success almost every year for his entire stay at Manchester United, undoubtedly a tough act to follow. Mourinho may have offered an attractive quick fling, however Moyes offers the dependability of a life partner. Which is what is required at Manchester United in the wake of Ferguson's retirement.

By Alex Pointon

Statistics from

www.transfermarkt.co.uk

www.whoscored.com

Ever Present Players

I have always been interested by the phenomenon that is a player who can go a whole season without missing a minute of football. Obviously injury, rotation and form or the presence of a decent replacement are all reasons for a player to miss minutes. How many players have done this in Premier League seasons of the past? The 95-96 season was the first to be reduced to 38 games a season (previously 42). Surely fewer fixtures would make it easier to not miss a minute? Also, does the increasing physicality of the league make it harder to go all season without missing a minute?

As you can see the trend goes very much up and down, however were you to add a trend line (and I did) the gradient is -0.0312, to the non-mathematically inclined that means that that there is, on average, a very very slight decline in the frequency with which a player achieves this feat. If this season 7 players had not missed a minute (which has been equalled or bettered 10 times) then the gradient of the trend line would be 0.0078. Basically, the number of occasions that a player has gone all season and played every minute is neither really more or less frequent than it was at the beginning of the Premier League era.

Most frequent not missing a minute-ers

Name	PL seasons without missing a minute
David James	8
Brad Friedel	5
Jussi Jaaskelainen	5
Shay Given	4
Tim Howard	4
Pepe Reina	4
Nigel Martyn	3
Paul Robinson	3

That list is exclusively populated by goalkeepers, with David James well ahead of Friedel and Jaaskelainen. The most seasons managed by an outfield player is 2, achieved by just 4 players (Gareth Southgate, Alan Wright, Wayne Bridge and Sylvain Distin). All of the outfield players to have achieved this are defenders. Alan Wright is the shortest player in Premier League history and once strained his knee reaching for the accelerator in his new Ferrari.

By Alex Pointon

Follow us on twitter @ChapsTalkFBall

Statistics from www.transfermarkt.co.uk

Luis Suarez: The most controversial footballer ever?

I’m sure you are all aware by now that in yesterday afternoon’s clash between Chelsea and Liverpool there was a rather crazy incident involving Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and Chelsea’s centreback Branislav Ivanovic. For those of you who remain unaware, this is the incident of which I refer to:

What happened there is that Suarez, seemingly frustrated at Ivanovic’s challenge on him has proceeded to bite the defender just below the shoulder. Now I am of the opinion that no matter what the scenario, there is no need to be biting other people, let alone during a competitive and physical environment such as a football game in which tempers are liable to flair. It would also be easy to now forgive Suarez for what seems to be a momentary lapse in self-control, if it were not for the fact the Uruguayan has a history of highly controversial moments on the football pitch, a history that I will now elaborate on.
First of all, there is this incident, which occurred in 2010 whilst Suarez was still playing for Ajax in Holland:

That’s right, Suarez has not once, but twice bitten an opposing player during a game of football. On this occasion it was PSV’s Otman Bikkal, and Suarez actually managed to draw blood with his bite to the collar of Bikkal. He was later banned for 7 games because of the incident.

However, Suarez’ controversies are not limited solely to the mastication of his fellow players. He was sent off in the 2010 World Cup Quarter Final against Ghana whilst representing Uruguay for deliberately preventing a goal with his hands. A goal that, had it gone in, would have won Ghana the game and sent them in to the Semi-Final. But the goal didn’t go in having been denied by Suarez in a way that any goalkeeper would have been proud of, and Uruguay went on to win the game on a penalty shootout.

Suarez then transferred to Liverpool in January 2011, and controversy followed him to the Premier league. He was banned for 8 games in December 2011 for racially abusing Manchester United’s French left back Patrice Evra. Suarez then refused to shake Evra’s hand before a game between the two sides in March 2012 because of this.

 As recently as the first half of this season, Suarez’s desire to win at all costs has led to even more controversial moments in his career. In October 2012 Suarez was accused of diving in a game against Stoke by Stoke’s manager Tony Pulis. Suarez later admitted on Argentinian TV that he had “fallen” intentionally in order to attempt to win a penalty. Suarez had also been accused of diving against Everton the previous season, in order to get an Everton player sent off, and later celebrated a goal against Everton in a different match by performing a swallow dive in front of the Everton dugout.
As well as these major events, Suarez has also been involved in a variety of smaller events including alledged stamps, kicks, dodgy challenges and other altercations with a host of other plays, notably with Dave Jones of Wigan, Scott Parker and Sylvain Distin.

Fortunately for Suarez, he is a player of undeniable talent, as demonstrated by the fact he is currently the Premier League’s leading goal scorer and his recent nomination for PFA Player of the Year, and this talent may be seen as a way of excusing some of his actions. As author Terry Pratchett suggested in his novel Thief of Time, “Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up” and this logic can, and perhaps will, be applied to Luis Suarez’s flashes of genius on the football pitch. However, for me Luis Suarez’s footballing ability will always be overshadowed by his willingness to cheat for his own gain, and I think that a player of lesser quality may not have been given so many chances to apologise for his actions, and a may have even been forced from the game.

Suarez is not the only player to have featured in such controversial events in a football ground, and for a comparison, I direct you towards the two following clips:

The first clip there is of Manchester United's charismatic French Striker Eric Cantona performing his now infamous kung fu lunge on a Crystal Palace fan after he had received a red card. The second clip is from the 2006 World Cup Final and is, of course, of Zinedine Zidane's headbutt on Marco Materazzi. Both of these incidents involved stars of the world game, players of a standard that Suarez is yet to even reach' but in each of these cases this incident is often the first thing that springs to a person's mind when the player's name is mentioned. This shows just how drastically a career can be overshadowed by one moment of high profile madness, and in Suarez's case it is not even a single moment. At the time Cantona managed to recover from the incident and proceeded to have a fruitful career, but Zidane's action was his last of a long and prosperous career, having announced that that game would be his last. This just shows that it is unlikely that Suarez will ever be able to shed his mantle as a cheater and a controversial figure, no matter how much he can and may in future achieve.

Written by Paddy Milnes
Follow us on twitter: @ChapsTalkFball @thepaddy

The information in this post is from BBC Sport

Crunch time

It is approaching the most exciting time of the season, crunch time, the final straight, squeaky bum time, call it what you like it is certain to throw up surprise after surprise and no doubt controversy after controversy. With Manchester United already clearing space in their trophy cabinet for the Premier League trophy what's left to play for elsewhere in the table?

There is obviously the fight for Champions League football, with nine points separating Tottenham in third and Everton in sixth it seems only realistic that either of them two teams, or Chelsea and Arsenal between them, could start next season in the Champions League proper or in the qualifying stages.

Next there is the sister competition of the Champions League, the "it's not serious until you're into the final stages" Europa League. In 2010 Fulham committed heavily to the competition and it took a dramatic Diego Forlan goal four minutes before the end of the second half of extra time to defeat them. Those with a shot of a taste of Europe include those who I mentioned in the previous paragraph, however as they are currently fourth and fifth Spurs and Chelsea would be disappointed to miss out on the Champions League. Lying below those aiming for the Champions League are WBA just two points off of Everton (having played a game more than those around them), Liverpool, a point worse off than the Baggies and Swansea, already a successful season after a triumph in the League Cup against overachievers Bradford, two points behind Liverpool (also having played an extra game).

The third talking point is the one that always delivers, relegation. Ten points is all that is between Fulham in tenth and QPR at the foot of the table. Despite this it is unlikely that Fulham, Stoke, West Ham or Norwich being dragged into a position where there appears to be any chance of relegation. QPR have a run of fixtures that will give any hoops fan a hope and a squad that, in a parallel universe I could be mentioning them in the above paragraph as Europa League contenders and praising Mark Hughes. However it is "Harry Houdini" who has been called upon to try and save their squad of superstars. Reading, Wigan, Villa and Southampton are all at real threat of starting next season with fixtures against the likes of Huddersfield, Millwall or maybe even the glamorous (and currently League One) sides Doncaster, Swindon or Yeovil.

It is always a risky business making predictions, and as my gambling record shows, I am not especially good at it. But I will hazard a guess at who will come out well and who won't from the positions which I have previously spoken about.

Champions league: No change in the league table here, Tottenham and Chelsea will be third and fourth. Neither team have an easy run in with Chelsea facing up to Spurs, Liverpool, United and Everton and Spurs having to play Everton, Chelsea and City. Sky will love the fixture between Chelsea and Spurs on the 14th of April, but it may well be the game that decides who's third and who has to qualify for the group stages.

Europa league: Arsenal will finish fifth. Everton have matches against City, Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. The other team I can see making a charge for sixth spot is Liverpool, having had a surge of form and having an easier fixture run in (Chelsea and Liverpool on the 4th of May being their decisive games) they stand a real chance of overtaking Everton, and I think they'll do it.

Relegation: I'm going to say it now, I think QPR will stay up. Who will go down? Reading look like they are going down, since a really good January they have failed to make a push up the table. Wigan have a run of fixtures that can help them get points of the board, when their history is taken into account they appear to have enough to remain a Premier League team. The other two team who are most likely to go down are Southampton and Aston Villa. Two recently promoted teams going down wouldn't have surprised anyone at the start of the season, but with a squad full of quality and a brand new manager it seemed inconceivable that they would go down, but now it looks like there will be one fewer ever present Premier League team come the start of next season.

Follow us on twitter @ChapsTalkFBall

whoscored.com was used to view the league table and remaining fixtures

QPR: good squad, little hope

Queens Park Rangers are currently bottom of the Premier League with 17 points from 26 games, 4 points from the nearest team (Wigan on 21 points) as well as being 7 points from Aston Villa in 17th. Despite the appointment of Harry Redknapp it would still require a gargantuan effort as well as a huge slice of luck for them to begin the 13/14 season as a top flight club. Where has it all gone wrong for them?

One thing it most certainly isn't is the quality of the squad. The Malaysian money provided be Tony Fernandes have allowed them to buy players with a surprising amount of experience, in fact I have prepared a table stating the number of Champions League, Europa League (or UEFA Cup) and International caps acquired by each player currently available to QPR, also in the right hand column I have added together CL, IC and EL multiplied by 0.66, as it is deemed a lesser competition I considered it unfair for it to carry the same weight.

	CL	EL	IC
Remy	18	7	17	37
Samba	0	15	26	36
Fabio	14	2	2	17
Cesar	52	0	65	117
Traore	2	2	4	7
Park	54	3	100	156
M'Bia	15	4	41	59
Taarabt	0	4	15	18
Granero	15	9	0	21
Jenas	14	38	21	60
Zamora	0	21	2	16
Onuoha	0	6	0	4
Bosingwa	63	4	24	90
Mackie	0	0	9	9
Hoilett	0	0	0	0
Diakite	0	0	8	8
Wright-Phillips	17	20	36	66
Johnson	0	15	8	18
Ben Haim	1	14	63	73
Young	0	8	7	12
Bothroyd	0	2	1	2
Green	0	0	12	12
DJ Campbell	0	0	0	0
Clint Hill	0	0	0	0
Yun Suk-Young	0	0	1	1
Cerny	0	23	3	18
Murphy	0	0	0	0
Derry	0	0	0	0
Ephraim	0	0	0	0
Townsend	0	9	0	6

A startling amount of experience is held just between Park, Cesar and Bosingwa, who all happen to have won the Champions League. There are, however, 2 worrying things about having so many big players within a team like QPR. Firstly, without looking it up I think it's safe to say that none of QPRs stars (bar the man mountain Christopher Samba) have been involved in a relegation battle before.  Secondly, should QPR get relegated there would have to be a mass exodus of players. A championship team would struggle to pay for the wages of that many big names, players like that understandably want to be playing top flight football and as none of the "big" players have been at QPR very long it seems unlikely that they would have developed the loyalty to take a pay cut and stay to help fight for promotion.

With all of this taken into account I think QPR would have to rely on a run of form based on being the better team in order to stay in the league (i.e. being the better team in all of the games they play as opposed to nicking wins despite being dominated). If we look at all of the Premier League fixtures they have reaming;

Opponent	Venue	Date
Manchester United	Home	23/02
Southampton	Away	02/03
Sunderland	Home	09/03
Aston Villa	Away	16/03
Fulham	Away	01/04
Wigan	Home	07/04
Everton	Away	13/04
Stoke	Home	20/04
Reading	Away	28/04
Arsenal	Home	04/05
Newcastle	Home	12/05
Liverpool	Away	19/05

How many of them are winnable? There are 5 games between Manchester United and Everton which present QPR with a brilliant opportunity to pick up points, followed by Stoke and Reading. So if QPR are to stay up, which doesn't look impossible, they can hardly afford to drop any points in these 7 fixtures and must aim to cause upsets in the other 5 games. Can I see them doing it? No. Expect to see the big names leaving Loftus road for cut prices in the summer.

By Alex

Follow US on twitter: @ChapsTalkFBall

All statistics and facts are from the marvellous sites transfermarkt.co.uk and whoscored.com