da marjack bet： As Aston Villa prepare for a difficult trip to Old Trafford this weekend, their Premier League status hangs delicately in the balance. If the Villains lose against Manchester United or fail to match the result of 17th-place Norwich City, their relegation from the top flight will be mathematically confirmed – and will be the earliest relegation we’ve seen in the Premier League since Derby County in 2008.
da fezbet： It has been an abysmal season for the Birmingham-based club both on and off the pitch, but where does it rank amongst the worst Premier League campaigns since the top flight’s reshuffle in 1992? Cross-referencing statistics with mitigating circumstances, here’s a rundown of the three sides who wouldn’t even beat the drop in our Worst Ever Premier League table – Derby County, Sunderland and the Villains.
Do Villa take the biscuit and the unwanted title of the Premier League’s worst ever side? We’ll let you decide…
DERBY COUNTY – 2007/08
They say the league table doesn’t lie, an unfortunate adage for Derby County. When Billy Davies took charge at Pride Park in 2006, he and the club’s hierarchy hatched a five-year plan to get to the Premier League. But promotion came just twelve months later via the playoffs – four seasons ahead of schedule – and it duly cost the Rams upon their ascension to the top flight, winning just one of 38 games.
Accordingly, Derby County are the owners of countless unenviable Premier League records, including the lowest points haul of all time, the fewest wins in a single season, most consecutive games without a win, fewest goals scored, most goals conceded and worst goal difference – not to mention becoming the first ever club to be relegated before April.
But promotion through the playoffs is often a poisoned chalice and like many clubs to take the same route to the Premier League, Derby simply failed to bring quality through the door during the summer transfer window. Regardless, the Rams never gave up, appointing manager Paul Jewell to inject some life into the team and signing Premier League veterans famed for their fighting spirit in January, including Danny Mills, Roy Carroll, Alan Stubbs, Robbie Savage and Hossam Ghaly.
However, it wasn’t enough to make a difference, claiming just four points from January onwards, and Derby’s 2007/08 cohort inevitably went down in the history books as statistically the worst Premier League side of all time.
SUNDERLAND – 2005/06
It was a similar case for Sunderland two seasons previous, although they had the advantage of being the first ever Championship champions – so promotion should have been a much smoother transition for them.
But Mick McCarthy’s industriousness-based recruitment over the summer monumentally backfired and the Black Cats were left with a squad lacking any sort of imagination, flair or netting prowess. John Stead was signed as their star striker after firing Blackburn Rovers to safety in 2003/04 but scored just once in 30 Premier League appearances, whilst Liam Lawrence was the hub of creativity in midfield.
It took just a matter of weeks – kicking off the season with five consecutive defeats – for the Irishman to admit his side lacked Premier League quality and that set a tone of inevitability for the rest of the campaign. Sunderland made just two signings in January, both free transfers, and Kevin Ball eventually replaced McCarthy in March to oversee their relegation.
That season, the Tynesiders recorded the joint-fewest home wins of any side in Premier League history, one, alongside Derby County, and the most consecutive losses over more than one Premier League season, twenty, following on from their similarly abysmal 2002/03 campaign.
One thing you can never fault a Mick McCarthy side for, however, is effort. Sunderland never lost by more than a three-goal margin in the league. They harried, pressed and never gave up but just convert their work-rate into points.
ASTON VILLA – 2015/16
Aston Villa may be spared from the title of the Premier League’s worst ever side in statistical terms, but there are some mitigating factors to consider. Most particularly, the fact the Premier League has been more competitive than ever this season with a number of ‘traditional’ top clubs falling by the wayside.
No game is seen as completely unwinnable anymore but Derby and Sunderland didn’t have that privilege back when Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were very much in a league of their own. With that in mind, finishing with just eight points more than Derby County and with the same amount as Portsmouth in 2009/10, who were docked nine for going into administration, is pretty damn pathetic – of course, provided Villa don’t add to their current 19 points in their next five games.
Likewise, Villa are a well-established Premier League club with proven Premier League players and Premier League resources; they weren’t facing the tougher challenge of survival after promotion from the Championship like Derby or Sunderland.
The Villians attempted to fill the voids of Christian Benteke and captain Fabian Delph with quantity over quality last summer and despite the £52million spend – Villa’s largest ever outlay in a single season, let alone a single transfer window – the sheer scale of change to the starting Xi has rendered the team lacking any leadership, identity or familiarity. That’s in no small part due to the cohort of players brought in from Ligue 1, which appears to have created cliques amongst the dressing room.
But most disappointing about Villa’s season is the obvious lack of effort, even from experienced players like Joleon Lescott. There is actual quality in this Villa team compared to Derby and Sunderland’s – Jordan Ayew is a decent forward, Carles Gil is an exceptional technician, Micah Richards, Scott Sinclair and Lescott are proven in the Premier League, Alan Hutton is an acceptable top flight right-back and Jack Grealish is meant to be one of the most exciting youngsters in the country – but players simply haven’t applied themselves in the manner you’d expect under the threat of relegation.
Similarly, the club’s hierarchy has really let the fans down. Tim Sherwood was sacked after being given a group of players he’d probably never heard of, Remi Garde was always going struggle, lacking any management experience in the Premier League or for that matter, relegation battles, and not a single player arrived during the January transfer window despite the Villians being rock-bottom of the league.
From top to bottom Villa have simply thrown in the towel this season. So if they’re not the worst in Premier League history, they’re unquestionably the most pathetic.