The Damned United

I didn't bother watching the game last night: the final score was too predictable. "We need results and we need them quickly," was Chris Hughton's incisive contribution to the post-match analysis. With eight games left and only twenty-nine points gained that qualifies as a bit of an understatement. The only winnable games we have left are Fulham, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough at home - and even nine points from those is unlikely to be enough unless we can get at least a point from Stoke.

There is a school of thought that relegation would be a good thing, enabling us to get rid of the dead wood and rebuild with a young team. But it's the likes of Bassong and Martins who'll go first, not high earning has-beens like Duff and Geremi. If we end up going down, I can see us staying there for a long time to come.