For West Brom, there is now a glimpse of hope. That in itself is hugely impressive: when Alan Pardew was sacked early last month, the Baggies were ten points from safety with six games of the Premier League season remaining. They appeared condemned to the Championship.
Now, though, with just one game left, there is a slim chance. That is largely due to the work of Darren Moore, who took over from Pardew in unenviable circumstances but has gone about his work with minimal fuss and maximum efficiency.
West Brom are now unbeaten in five games: 3 wins and two draws, including victory at Old Trafford and at home against Tottenham on Saturday, when Jake Livermore struck in injury time. Should they stay up – and it remains out of their hands – this would perhaps be the greatest of all the escapes.
Here are four teams from Premier League history that Moore and his players are looking to emulate.
West Brom – 2004/05
It might encourage West Brom’s current group of players that the club have previous. In 2004/05, the Baggies were bottom at Christmas and no one gave them a chance of survival.
Then manager Bryan Robson was assured that no team had escaped the bottom three having been 20th shortly before the turn of the year. But he dismissed such negativity. “That’s not a statistic I want to hear,” he said. “We’ll just have to prove that the impossible can be made possible.”
And they did. West Brom won three and drew four in the leadup to the final day of the season, when a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth at the Hawthorns saw them survive at the expense of Crystal Palace, Norwich and Southampton.
West Ham – 2006/07
On the final day of the season, West Ham knew that only a win would be enough. Their opposition: Manchester United. At Old Trafford.
The task was a daunting one but Alan Curbishley’s side were in excellent form: they had won six of their previous eight league games. In early March, they had been ten points behind Manchester City in 17th.
West Ham were boosted by the fact that Manchester United had already wrapped up the title. Sir Alex Ferguson insisted that his side would not “be taking it easy” and they didn’t. But West Ham, thanks to Carlos Tevez’s goal just before half time, left with a victory and their Premier League status intact.
It proved a controversial survival. The Hammers had been embroiled in a row over Tevez’s registration and third-party agreements. West Ham avoided any significant punishment and Tevez moved to Manchester United that summer.
Wigan – 2011/12
A 2-1 win at Liverpool was the catalyst for Wigan’s remarkable ascent from bottom to midtable in 2011/12. Roberto Martinez’s aesthetic but flimsy side had looked certainties for relegation throughout. They had leaked goals at a startling rate and appeared to lack the suitable resilience for an unlikely escape.
But victory at Anfield in late March sparked an improvement. Wigan embarked on a run of six wins in eight games – including victories over Arsenal and Manchester United - and ended the season seven points clear of the bottom three.
“We understand what we are,” Martinez said. “For Wigan to be seven years in the Premier League is an outstanding achievement.” Unfortunately for Martinez and Wigan, relegation could not be avoided the following season.
Sunderland – 2013/14
Sunderland’s eventual relegation from the Premier League in 2017 felt like an inevitability. That was because they had spent so long fighting it. Each season seemed to bring them closer and closer to the edge, until they finally fell.
In 2013/14, it seemed certain that they would drop out of the top flight. But in April, Sunderland won four games in a row, including a memorable victory at Stamford Bridge and a win over Manchester United.
The escape was inspired by the unlikely figure of Connor Wickham, who led the line impressively and earned April’s Player of the Month award. When safety was confirmed, manager Gus Poyet insisted that the club would go “from strength to strength”. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the Uruguayan was not particularly prescient.
Though the manner of Sunderland’s survival was dramatic and commendable, this was perhaps evidence that even the most miraculous escape might only delay the inevitable. Certainly, for Sunderland, it will feel like a distant memory.
