Are West Ham United Doomed to relegation?

Over the last few seasons, the Premier League seems to be getting tighter and tighter, with more big name clubs being dragged into relegation scraps and falling into the lower echelons of the English game.

Leeds fan's know more than most
about the consequences of
relegation

In the last decade, many big name clubs have fallen through the Premier League trap door and not returned for a long time after. Probably the biggest name to have done so is Leeds United, who, 7 years on after their relegation in the 2003/4 season, are yet to return to England's top division. Other teams such as, Middlesborough, Southampton and Charlton Athletic, to name a few, are teams who find themselves dwelling in the lower leagues, after once being considered established Premier League teams no more than five or six years ago.

If West Ham are not careful, they could be another team who find themselves in the Championship and not seeing what their future holds. Their owners don't seem to have much control financially, which shows by the transfer signings they are making or the lack of them to try and get the club out of trouble.

Avram Grant finds himself deep in
a relegation dog fight

West Ham however, could also be included alongside the likes of Leeds, Charlton, Southampton and Middleborough as in 2003 they were also relegated and didn't return until the 2005/6 season. Although, over the past few seasons, they have re-established themselves some what and haven't been in this position (bottom of the league after 23 games) since their return in 05.

Aston Villa are another high profile name who find themselves in trouble near the bottom of the league, but the reason why I am not mentioning them under the same breath as the Hammers is the quality of players they have to call on, especially with the recent signing of Darren Bent from Sunderland. West Ham on the other hand, are struggling to score goals, with their leading strikers, Carlton Cole and Frederique Piquionne only having 8 goals in the league between them. When you main two strikers have statistics like that, you have to fear for your league status.

Even the clubs labeled
'too good to go down'
can slip out of the league

The Hammers only have to look at the shock relegation of Newcastle United in 2009. They had players such as Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, Damien Duff, Kevin Nolan and Steven Taylor in their squad. Those players could make most starting XI's in the Premier League, however, they found themselves slipping out of the Premier League. However, if such a disaster was to happen to West Ham, funnily enough, Newcastle would be the ideal team to look at, as they are one of few teams who have bounced straight back to the Premier League after relegation and they did it in style.

But one thing West Ham have is time, there are still 15 games to play and 45 more points to play for, so relegation fears should not be in the forefront of their minds, yet.