Sheffield United next? The Premier League’s five worst-ever teams…
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Sheffield United stank out Bramall Lane again while losing 5-0 to Aston Villa. Would you back them to get the nine points required to keep them off this list? At the current rate, they might struggle for the point they need to equal the worst of the lot.
Using points total as the measure, here are the five worst teams in Premier League history…
5) Sunderland 02/03 – 19 points
P38 W4 L27 D7 F21 A65 GD: -44
The only positive for the Black Cats: sh*te though it was, this wasn’t their worst season.
Sunderland went through three managers during the campaign, with Peter Reid giving way to Howard Wilkinson, who then stepped aside for Mick McCarthy. Reid was sacked after seven years in charge in October, with Wilko the surprise replacement having been out of club management for almost as long as Reid had been at the helm. After first dropping into the relegation zone on matchday six, they bobbed around the safety mark until Boxing Day, after which they were rooted in the drop zone. The last of four wins came in mid-December, with Sunderland claiming just a single point – a 0-0 draw with Blackburn – and scoring only seven goals in the New Year.
The Black Cats lost all of their last 15 games, setting new Premier League lows for points earned and goals scored.
4) Aston Villa 15/16 – 17 points
P38 W3 L27 D8 F27 A76 GD: -49
Tactics Tim pulled off a great escape the season before but he was gone by October after eight defeats in their first 10 games, with the final six coming consecutively. Remi Garde replaced Sherwood and Villa immediately held leaders Man City to a goalless draw. The Frenchman earned 12 of Villa’s 17 points but never could he lift them off the foot of the table and another six consecutive defeats did for him too at the end of March.
Eric Black took caretaker charge but another six defeats in seven matches followed, with relegation confirmed in mid-April with four matches still remaining.
3) Huddersfield 18/19 – 16 points
P38 W3 L28 D7 F22 A76 GD: -54
Huddersfield were relegated even earlier, with Town’s demise confirmed with six games still remaining.
Had Wolves not taken pity on the Terriers, it might have been even earlier, with the Molineux men giving Town six of their 16 points. David Wagner’s side won only one other game against Fulham on Bonfire night.
Wagner departed in mid-January, with Wagner-lite Jan Siewert poached from Borussia Dortmund’s second team to replace him, but Town lost a dozen of his first 13 games in charge, before finishing with two draws to lift themselves in this list above this miserable lot…
2) Sunderland 05/06 – 15 points
P38 W3 L29 D6 F26 A69 GD: -43
Sunderland lost their opening five games of the season upon returning to the Premier League after losing their last 15 before slipping out of the top flight a couple of years before. It did not immediately set alarm bells ringing as the Black Cats had started slowly in the previous two seasons in the Championship before improving to third and first-place finishes. A three-match unbeaten run raised hopes that Sunderland were at it again – then they lost their next nine.
Five points in eight games between Boxing Day and Valentine’s Day cost McCarthy his job after three years in charge and Kevin Ball couldn’t stop Sunderland breaking Stoke’s 21-year-old record for the fewest points since three points for a win was introduced. At least they only had to wait a couple of years before this shower of sh*te turned up…
1) Derby County 07/08 – 11 points
P38 W1 L29 D8 F20 A89 GD: -69
The lowest points total (11) in a single Premier League season. The least wins in a single Premier League season (1). The joint-most defeats in a single Premier League season (29). The fewest goals scored (20) in a single Premier League season. The most goals conceded (89) in a 38-game Premier League season. The fewest clean sheets in a single Premier League season (3). The most consecutive Premier League matches without a win (32).
Still, they had a better record than this season’s Norwich side – Newcastle and Burnley too – having earned five points from their first nine games compared to the two the Canaries are clinging to.