West Ham and Palace on the brink

West Ham's capitulation at Anfield last night leaves them three points clear of hopeless Hull with three games to play. I want Ian Dowie to add another relegation to his unimpressive CV but wouldn't want to see West Ham relegated in any event. I know many other Charlton fans don't share my liking of West Ham, but surely we don't want Dowie to succeed at their expense? West Ham have a rejuvenated Wigan at the Boleyn ground on Saturday and must win as they face two possible successive defeats at Fulham and at home to Man City in their last game. Hull have four to play, starting with Villa at home tomorrow night. They then have Sunderland at home which looks like their easiest game before going to Wigan and finishing at home to Liverpool. Three or four points looks possible for Hull, so the pressure may well be on the Hammers.
I have a number of good mates who hail from the other side of the water and West Ham were a welcoming and supportive club when we needed respite from Selhurst Park in the late 80's, early 90's. It's not their fault they have been bought by Gold and Sullivan, and relegation could give them serious financial problems in view of their debt mountain. The one thing that's for sure, is that Gold and Sullivan will be unlikely to bank-roll them like generous benefactors in the event they go down.
Sheffield Wednesday's Sunday draw in the Steel City derby means they remain a point behind Palace in the scrap to avoid League One. Both sides look like losing their next games, with Wednesday at Cardiff and Palace hosting promoted West Brom on Monday in a live game we can all peep at. That leaves Palace travelling to Hillsborough for the last game of the season, in a fixture that will remind their supporters of their last relegation at the Valley. Luke Varney is running the show at Wednesday right now and could yet pip Christian Dailly to the Charlton Player of the Year award. It's at moments like this where you wish Wednesday had retained Akpo Sodje in the hope that  a Greenwich boy might apply the killer touch to Palace. 
Relegation for West Ham might induce a financial meltdown that could seriously weaken the Hammers for a few seasons to come but relegation for Palace really could spell the end. Unless their debtors are prepared to wash theirs hands, even a token pence-in-the-pound buyout looks pricey for any prospective buyer bearing in mind they need to buy a football ground to play on as well. Relegation may actually help Palace cut their cloth quicker and accustom them to what the future holds if they survive - lower league football for years to come on a ground fit for the lower leagues (I don't mean Selhurst Park). All the signs are that Brendan Guilfoyle, the Administrator, is underwhelmed with serious offers and that with no money anywhere, there must be serious concern that Palace will be wound up after the sell-off that must ensue after the Sheffield showdown.
Puts the potential failure to gain automatic promotion into perspective doesn't it?