with joel Crosskill

TOP TO bottom, the Barclays Premier League (BPL) is full of intrigue. In fact, due to the dominance of the 'big three' in taking the premiership's top prize, more and more attention turns to the bottom of the ladder.

Just remember last season's 'Days Of Our Lives' finish to the Premiership; with the newly signed Argentine Carlos Tevez rescuing West Ham from the brink of Championship football, against the team he currently plays for no less! Or, this season's managerial merry-go-round: the latest between two candidates for the drop in Birmingham and Wigan.

But, it's soap-opera storylines like that which keep football fans tuning in time after time.

So, whose show will get cancelled this season? Though it would probably be easier to assess the likeliest candidates after 19 games, when everyone's played each other, where's the fun in that?

GOING DOWN?

While Bolton, Tottenham and Fulham have been in shambles a third of the way into the season, I don't consider them relegation bait just yet.

18. But the same can't be said of Wigan. Steve Bruce left a good thing behind at Birmingham to rejoin a team he's already coached. But come the end of the season Bruce may wish he still had the Blues.

19. Despite Middlesbrough's impressive Premiership pedigree - maintaining nine consecutive years of mid-table membership they may not make it to double digits, as an uninspired squad struggles with the loss of Viduka, Yakubu and the spine of their coach Gareth Southgate.

20. By far, the easiest to predict, Derby County have looked like lambs to the slaughter all season long, clearly lacking the chops to manage the rigours of the premiership; records continue to be broken against the 'Rams'. They've scored just five times in 13 games, while conceding the mirror image of that figure already.

It's survival of football's fittest as the drop looks like a genuine possibility in the future of several other cellar dwellers.

But for the likes of a small club like Derby County, a year in the premiership could earn them in excess of £60 million, money that if well spent on their return to the Championship could mean they return to the premiership just as quickly as they had left - but bigger and better than before.

Contact Joel at jcrosskill@sportsmax.tv