Five disastrous Premier League teams that make Blades look like world beaters
SHEFFIELD UNITED will be dealt a blow all the way back to the Championship, but they are already safe from becoming the worst Premier League team of all time.
The blunt Blades conceded five or more goals for the THIRD home game in a row as they romped to a 6-0 thrashing of Arsenal at Bramall Lane on Monday night.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher described Chris Wilder’s first-half performance as the worst he had ever seen at a top club.
But even if the current United team failure If they want to win even one point for the rest of the season – and you wouldn’t bet on that – they won’t even be in the bottom five of the Premier League era.
A whopping SIX teams have finished a PL campaign with fewer than the 20 points the Blades already have.
One of them, Portsmouth, deserves a special mention for its mismanagement on and off the pitch.
They finished bottom of the pile with 19 points in 2009/10, having deducted nine for going into administration.
But when it comes to unhappiness on the pitch, the Blades can rest easy in the knowledge that there have been five teams worse than them.
SUNDERLAND 2002/3 – 19 points
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The proud North East club quickly fell out of favour.
They went from Fat Black Cats, where they finished seventh in 1999/2000 and 2000/1, to 17th in 2001/2 and then as Dead Black Cats at a low point in 2002/3.
The season was a classic of the genre, featuring three different managers and an absolute stinker of a post-New Year run.
Peter Reid was sacked in October and replaced by Howard Wilkinson, who resigned as FA technical director to take up the job.
After five months, Wilkinson was on the road having won just two games. The second of these, a 2–1 win over Liverpool at the Stadium of Light on December 15, was the last time fans celebrated three points.
Sunderland claimed only two points in total. After a goalless draw at home to Blackburn on 11 January, they lost their last 15 games of the campaign.
Mick McCarthy was in charge of the last nine, with his team scoring just twice and ultimately falling 25 points adrift of safety.
But much worse was to happen for him and the club.
ASTON VILLA 2015/16 – 17 points
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It’s hard to believe now, but less than a decade ago Villa were in total freefall.
Into a dispersal gun summer With a lot of money they bought three players with the first name Jordan – Ayew, Amavi and Veretout – but it turned out to be the club’s last dance in the Premier League for four years.
What should have been Tim Sherwood’s first full season as manager ended at the end of October after just one win on the opening day of the season.
Replacement Remi Garde tried to instill more discipline in the squad by dropping a promising 20-year-old named Jack Grealish after he was seen in a nightclub for hours following a 4-0 defeat against Everton.
Former Arsenal player Garde managed just three wins before leaving Villa Park in March.
The team took one point from their last 13 games to finish 22 points behind 17th-placed Sunderland, having hit bottom in November and never recovered.
It was the club’s first relegation since 1986/7, ending their run of only seven clubs ever having a presence in the Premier League.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018/19 – 16 points
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David Wagner and his team had already made a piece of it history in the way they survived one season in the Premier League.
In 2017/18, the club’s first season in the top flight since 1971/2, they scored just 28 goals in 38 games, the joint fewest ever by a non-relegated team.
But Huddersfield couldn’t pull off the same trick again as top scorer Karlan Grant found the net just four times in a miserable campaign.
After beating Wolves at Molineux on November 25, the Terriers managed just six more points and one more win – also against Wolves – for the rest of the season.
Had they not drawn in their last two games against Manchester United and away at Southampton, they would have finished with 14 points and would now be one place lower in the hall of infamy.
But the relegation was confirmed on 30 March, the earliest in the Premier League era with the lowest ever points scorers being the superstars that were Derby County 2007/8 (see below).
SUNDERLAND 2005/6 – 15 points
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A second appearance for the Black Cats and for poor old Mick McCarthy.
This time he was the man in charge at the start of a dreadful campaign that saw them hit rock bottom at the end of October and never even reach the dizzying heights of 19th again.
When McCarthy left in mid-February, the club was already well adrift having won just two games and ten points in their first 25 Premier League games.
The team certainly shared the goals and the blame, with the four joint top scorers – Liam Lawrence, Tommy Miller, Dean Whitehead and Anthony Le Tallec – all contributing with three each.
To the dismay of their supporters, Sunderland set a new record of 29 league defeats in a 20-team division.
Their point total was also a new low. But if Stadium of Light’s loyal fans feared things would never get better or worse, they only had to wait two seasons before losing the unwanted title of the Premier League’s worst ever team.
DERBY COUNTY 2007/8 – 11 points
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It’s not unusual for that Championship Play-Off winners are ill-equipped for life in the Premier League.
But never has a team been in as much trouble as the Rams in this dizzying season.
They only won once – ONCE – and that was in their sixth game on September 17. But even that one ray of sunshine was somewhat obscured by the fact that live TV cameras missed Kenny Miller scoring the only goal against Newcastle as a replay was in progress. shown instead.
Promotion-winning boss Billy Davies lasted until November, and successor Paul Jewell managed just five points in his 24 games in charge.
You can’t say they didn’t try everything to stop the rot; the 36 players Derby used is the third highest in a Premier League campaign.
All the numbers are staggering. A joint record number of defeats (29) and a new high for goals conceded (89) in a 38-match season, and an all-time low for points that will certainly never be beaten.
SHEFFIELD UNITED 2023/4 – 13* points
Unless Everton and Nottingham Forest receive huge points deductions for breaking financial rules, the Blades have no chance of survival.
And even then, it’s hard to see them putting together the shape necessary to give them hope.
Chris Wilder and his team play for pride and it’s hard to summon much of that when you’re so humiliated in front of your home fans.
Derby’s points total record is not under threat. But United only need to concede 18 or more goals in their last 11 games to become the worst defensive side in top flight history since defeating Swindon. Nice round number of 100 in a 22-team, 42-match Premier League season in 1993/4.
You also can’t rule out that they lose nine more games to equal Sunderland and Derby’s record of 29.
But with Burnley also on thirteen points and above that only on goal difference, the Blades can dream of not even being the worst Premier League side of this season, let alone of all time.