da stake casino： Following Saturday afternoon’s stalemate between Sunderland and Leicester City – which ensured survival for the Foxes – Dick Advocaat now has just two matches left to keep the Black Cats in the Premier League. And if they do manage to survive the drop then Advocaat, like Nigel Pearson at Leicester, will have pulled off a truly great escape.
da bwin： The relegation battle has been absolutely compelling this season especially as the top four looked all but wrapped up for a good few weeks and featured the usual suspects. But the race to avoid the drop has twisted and turned, condemning two already and is still putting fear into at least three teams who know that falling out of the top-flight can be all too easy while promotion can take many years to re-achieve. That is how competitive the Championship is nowadays.
Not only is being relegated the end of a dream for supporters who get to see their team play top English clubs throughout the campaign, but this year in particular is a bad time to leave the Premier League – with the revenue from broadcasting rights about to skyrocket the three losers will obviously miss out.
But there is still hope. Sunderland have a decent chance of staying up with Steve Bruce’s Hull looking like the most likely victims as they currently occupy the final relegation place and must win against Manchester United on the last day of the season if they want to have the prize of staying up.
Leicester City’s unexpected jump up to 14th has made Sunderland’s situation more precarious, but you really can’t imagine Hull beating United next Sunday so Advocaat’s men should be alright. Advocaat, who has never suffered relegation as a manager, was given the Sunderland job after the club decided that Uruguayan Gus Poyet probably wasn’t the right man to keep them up. That choice has proved to be a good one. Since the Dutchman’s appointment in back in March, the North-Eastern side are both performing better and picking up vital points at home and on the road.
Advocaat’s record since arriving at the Stadium of Light compared with his predecessor is quite impressive. The Dutchman has only lost two of the seven league games he’s been in charge of claiming important wins over Everton, Southampton and fierce rivals Newcastle, who sit a point below them and have played an extra match. In contrast Poyet won only one of his final seven league games and couldn’t prevent an FA cup exit at the hands of League One side Bradford City.
Queens Park Rangers and Burnley, two of last season’s promoted clubs, will be back playing in the Championship after an all too short return to the upper realms of English football. Hull, Newcastle and Sunderland are all fighting to avoid a similar fate, but time has almost run out.
Surely if Dick Advocaat had been installed earlier then Sunderland would be safe by now. No one will blame him if they do get relegated rather the supporters will thank him for giving the club a chance of survival and will hope that he stays on board for next season, no matter whether they line-up in the Premier League or the Championship.
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