Will Middlesbrough or Newcastle reveal themselves as unlikely escapologists?

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Alan Shearer, the new Messiah, is getting desperate. His plan to get Michael Owen scoring backfired, he keeps ineffectively tinkering with players and formations and even turned to an opera singer for inspiration. But while Newcastle look hopeless now, the most memorable acts of escapology are the unexplainable ones - transformations from hopelessness to safety that nobody anticipates. Will any of this year’s bottom three join the elite group of teams who have saved their season with just four games to spare?

» In the last twelve seasons, only five sides have escaped relegation having been in the bottom three with four games to go.

» The encouraging news for Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Brom is that three of those five “Great Escapes” have taken place in the last two seasons – West Ham two years ago and Bolton and Fulham last year.

» Last night Newcastle overtook Middlesbrough on goal difference but that might prove a bad omen. Four of the five clubs who have climbed to safety in their final four games started the run in 19th.

This table shows the remarkable contrast between how many points each of the five survivors took from their first 34 games and the number they managed in their final four games (PPG = points per game):

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Posted: April 28th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn |