Toon and Spurs are having a nightmare

There are a lot of similarities between Newcastle and Tottenham. Both have fanbases who expect good football and believe their team should be threatening the Big Four. Both started the year optimistic they were turning the corner under Kevin Keegan and Juande Ramos. Both have had their transfer policies criticised in recent months by supporters. But most importantly, both are underachieving drastically.

Obviously, the two clubs are stuck at the bottom of the Premier League after five games but The Spoiler decided to research how they have been performing since January 1 and it doesn’t make for pretty reading: they have been the worst of the division’s seventeen everpresents:

2008 League Table (points per game)

1 Chelsea 2.39
2 Manchester United 2.14
3 Arsenal 2.09
4 Liverpool 2.08
5 Everton 1.70
6 Aston Villa 1.61
7 Blackburn 1.52
8 Portsmouth 1.39
9= Sunderland 1.26
9= Wigan 1.26
11 Fulham 1.23
12= Manchester City 1.22
12= Middlesbrough 1.22
14 West Ham 1.21
15= Bolton 1.04
15= Tottenham 1.04
17 Newcastle 0.91

So whereas teams like Manchester City and West Ham were poor in the second half of last season but have improved this year, Spurs and Newcastle finished the last campaign poorly and have managed to start this one even worse. What needs to be done to improve things? Is it too premature to start mentioning the dreaded ‘R’ word? Let us know with a comment below.