'Mini League' tells a tale......

As the Premiership progresses it could be argued quite often three distinct 'mini leagues' begin to appear.....

In the first 'league' are the 'Champions League' contenders, usually headed by Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool....as is the case this season a small number of other clubs (Pompey for example) occasionally mount a 'surprise challenge' but usually run out of steam by Christmas and are destined to fall by the wayside sooner or later......

The second 'league' is for those chasing the 'UEFA' spots, this is where the Everton, Villa, Spurs and Bolton teams sit for most of the season, they have done their best to sustain a serious challenge to the 'big four' but eventually have to come to terms with the fact they don't have the resources to keep up the likes of Chelsea and Co. This 'league' can be one of the most exciting as the 3 points for a win can move clubs in and out of the 'Uefa spot' with back to back wins, or defeats, with annoying regularity.....

The third 'league', unsurprisingly, comprises of those fighting the dreaded 'drop'. As with the 'Uefa league' back to back wins or defeats can change the positions dramatically but the overall pattern of clubs remain in the bottom six. At the moment this years six clubs are: Sheffield United, West Ham, Middlesbrough, Watford, Blackburn and Charlton. Each of the six clubs realises the importance of beating each other as it is an indicator as to where they are placed in the 'mini league' of under achievers.

To date the 'mini league' is as follows.......

............................P...W...D...L...Pts
West Ham............5....3....1....1....10
Sheff. Utd............5....3....1....1.....10
Watford...............4....1....2....0....5
Charlton..............4....1....1....2.....4
Blackburn............4....1....1....2.....4
Middlesbrough....4....1....0....3.....3

With a game played more Sheffield and West Ham appear to be powering there way ahead with the bottom four 'everything to play for'. Of course not every club has played each other yet but a 'picture' is begining to appear and the coming weeks will be most interesting as they strive to claim that elusive 17th place or higher.

Unless Charlton can claim more points from the 'easy clubs' their push to move out of the relegation spot is likely to be one they are going to struggle to achieve......