The good 😀 the bad 😕 and the ugly 👹: Saints survive, West Ham dive | OneFootball

It looked as if all the major storylines and turning points were done for this season but boy were we wrong.

This relegation battle is one for the ages and looks like it will be going right down to the wire.

THE GOOD 😀

Southampton’s escape with victory

Somehow, and right under everyone’s noses, Southampton have gone from the model Premier League club to relegation ready.

Ever since parting ways with Claude Puel last summer and appointing meh in human form, Mauricio Pellegrino, the Saints have been sleep walking towards oblivion.

The appointment of Mark Hughes at the start of March then seemed like an odd one. There’s never that New Manager Bounce with his teams.

A Hughes side needs time to adjust to his working methods and when they lost three on the bounce – including a tonking away at West Ham – the writing seemed to be on the wall.

What a time then to record your first Premier League win.

A south coast derby against Bournemouth was being billed as one of the most important matches in the club’s recent history and Hughes’side certainly didn’t disappoint.

Dusan Tadić and Mario Lemina put in their best performances of the season and Charlie Austin proved again why, without persistent injuries, he could be knocking on the England door.

Everton and Swansea are up next. Two wins there, and Southampton can count on Premier League football again next season.

THE BAD 😞

West Ham lacking a Moysiah

It was never going to be a game for West Ham to claw their way out of relegation trouble. But how on earth has it got to this point in the first place?

The move to the London Stadium was supposed to be a new dawn for the club. Instead, it’s come to encapsulate everything that is wrong with Premier League football in 2018.

The likes of João Mário, Javier Hernández, Marko Arnautović and Patrice Evra have all been brought in at either inflated fees or with inflated wages, and yet here they are, staring down the barrel of the relegation gun.

Pep Guardiola’s side didn’t even have to get out of second gear on Sunday, with the Hammers XI looking like they just’d just tucked into a nice, big roast pre-game.

Declan Rice’s own goal was the low point of the afternoon but the communication and positioning leading up to the goal was truly awful. This was farcically easy for the champions.

That’s the 15th time the east London club conceded three or more this season and the 13th time it’s happened at home.

Their last three games see David Moyes’ men go to Leicester, host a pre-FA Cup final Manchester United and welcome Everton on the last day. West Ham may well be looking for a new Moysiah come May.

THE UGLY 👹

What next for Leicester?

Claude Puel is stuck in a foxhole with no way out. Well, actually, there is one way out. And if reports are to be believed, that might come sooner rather than later.

The Frenchman has done a fine job at the King Power Stadium this season but the wheels truly came off on Saturday. A 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Crystal Palace looks to have all but sealed his fate, with rumours suggesting that player unrest will get him the boot come the summer.

This is the same Leicester squad that (reportedly) asked for Claudio Ranieri to be fired after winning them the Premier League. The sameLeicester squad that (reportedly) went over Craig Shakespeare’s head to see him relieved of his duties.

Yes, they won the most unexpected of titles. Yes, they got further in the Champions League than Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain did this year. But the player power at that club is beyond reasoning and will eventually see them relegated.

Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.