Southampton became the first team in Premier League history to be relegated with seven games remaining following their defeat by Tottenham on Sunday.
Their demotion resulted in manager Ivan Juric being sacked on Monday.
Derby are statistically the worst team the top flight has ever seen, recording just 11 points as they went straight back down to the Championship in the 2007-08 season.
But even if Southampton – who have 10 points with seven matches remaining – manage to surpass that tally in their remaining matches, is there an argument to suggest they have already taken Derby’s unwanted Premier League baton?
Here Telegraph Sport’s football writers put forward the worst teams they have ever witnessed in the Premier League. You can vote for your worst team at the bottom and join the debate below in the comments section.
Aston Villa 2015-16: When Garde decided to drop Grealish
Derby County were the worst ever team in the Premier League. But Villa have a claim and not least because they limply lost their status as one of only seven ever-present members of the league with a disastrous campaign highlighted by the fact that the hapless Remi Garde, who replaced the inexperienced Tim Sherwood in October, actually thought it was a good idea to drop Jack Grealish. Garde only lasted until March and, by then, it was too late. They finished bottom with 17 points and just three wins which was damning for a club of Villa’s stature.
Sunderland 2005-06: McCarthyism finally runs its course
Mick McCarthy was a good manager for Sunderland, winning promotion back to the Premier League the previous year, but there was little money to spend and minimal investment in the team, with McCarthy shopping mainly in the lower divisions for bargains. Sunderland set the tone for a miserable campaign with five successive defeats to start the season. They only spent a couple of weeks outside of the bottom three and McCarthy was sacked in March by which time relegation was all but assured.
Queens Park Rangers 2012-13: Great expectations turn into a nightmare
A reprehensible collection of big names, big egos and Joey Barton. Demented spending under Mark Hughes then Harry Redknapp summed up by signing of goalkeeper Rob Green at beginning of summer transfer window, then Brazil international Julio Cesar to play ahead of him when he became available a month later. Fans were thrilled by the recruitment drive, which also included Park Ji-sung, Jose Bosingwa and Real Madrid’s Esteban Granero. A 5-0 opening day thumping at home to Swansea dampened the enthusiasm and they managed just 25 points and four wins.
Derby County 2007-08: Bowing out with a season-long whimper
Unfortunately, the Midlands has become accustomed to teams fighting relegation over the years. Aston Villa’s 2016 season was a shocker, made famous by Joleon Lescott accidentally tweeting a picture of a £125,000 car after a 6-0 home defeat by Liverpool, while Leicester’s campaign this year has created a mammoth disconnect between players and supporters. But it is impossible to look beyond Derby and the current record lowest-points total of 11. After the unbridled joy of promotion at Wembley the season before, it proved a nightmare. After creditable performances against Portsmouth and Manchester City, heavy defeats against Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal and West Ham followed and Derby never recovered. Steve Howard, the forward, once remarked that the team felt they needed to score two or three goals just to stand the chance of getting a draw.
Leicester City 2024-25 (under Van Nistelrooy): Wrong man at wrong club at wrong time
I will admit there is probably some recency bias at play here, but we must not overlook how terrible Leicester have been since Ruud van Nistelrooy’s appointment in November. They have won seven points in 17 league games and have been woeful in front of their own fans: if they fail to score against Newcastle on Monday night, they will be the first side in history to lose eight home league games in a row without scoring.
How can they be worse than Southampton? I am marking them down because they were actually in decent shape under Steve Cooper (who was sacked with the club in 16th). Their subsequent collapse under Van Nistelrooy therefore represents a failure across the entire club, from board level to the players. Southampton were always going to struggle this season, having finished fourth in the Championship last year. Leicester, by contrast, were promoted as champions. Their self-sabotage since has been ludicrous.
