It'll be bluddy freezin' at Turf Moor on Saturday....... I'm thinking that grinding out a point in the face of the Burnley (bully) boys would be a really precious point in the greater scheme of things.
In true Nigel Adkins style, I've already got my pen out and have begun to look towards next week. Obviously home to Stoke is monumentally massive, for both sides (but particularly us, as the home side and given our lack of home games that follow). That goes without saying. The loser, if there is one, is in serious trouble. But there's also Newcastle going to Liverpool, and Huddersfield going to Spurs, and Palace hosting Man Utd, and Brighton hosting Arsenal. Whilst Swansea and West Ham play each other, so there's definitely points dropped there. It could be our best weekend of the whole season, by an absolutely mile.
Well deserved point today. How crucial will that 'daylight robbery' at Watford be come the last knockings of the season?
The concerning thing is that I didn't see a Stoke team today that I thought were there for the taking. Next weekend will not be easy, I fear. I guess in many ways, they're like us. On paper they don't look awful, and they don't play awful football. But they're massively lacking in the final third, and don't seem capable of being able to shut a team out.
“But they're massively lacking in the final third” Which is why they will play Crouch against us, knowing that he will either score or disrupt our CBs, into making errors. We don’t play well against them at SMS, so not a game I am looking forward to. Edit. Just seen Crouch wasn’t in their squad today. Injured?
I'm assuming so, yes. Would have seemed strange to have put an 18 year old on their bench instead of him if he was fit - even though the kid is Kevin Campbell's son.
Mini form table since this was started (every team save Palace has played three matches): Brighton - 7 Huddersfield - 6 Watford - 6 Newcastle - 5 Bournemouth - 4 Saints - 4 Swansea - 4 West Ham - 3 Palace - 2 Stoke - 2 WBA - 0 As a collective, the bottom half is in decent form; 43 points in 32 matches played is significantly better than they'd managed to date. Unless three teams fall off the back (well, two more), this might not end up being the low bar to clear that appeared possible at the start of the month.
Naturally things will continue to change, but just in the space of this round and the previous round of matches, I have re-evaluated my points targets. Previously I thought 36 would give a real chance of survival, and 39 was basically nailed on safety. I've now shifted that up to 38 and 41 respectively. This merry-go-round of sides constantly handing points out to each - rather than just three sides taking the initiative - is pulling pretty much everyone up. Stoke beat Huddersfield. Huddersfield beat Bmouth. Bmouth beat Stoke. Brighton beat West Ham. West Ham beat Watford. And then you throw in sides like us and Newcastle, who aren't winning many, but equally aren't losing many either.
Scoring is up too as more of those clubs go for broke. In the month of February, only three teams currently in the bottom ten have gotten blanked in a match: Huddersfield (away to Man Utd), WBA (away to Chelsea), and ourselves (home to Liverpool). That's kinda nuts!
BT mentioned the kid has scored 17 goals for the youth team so far this season as to why he was included
I've had bad feelings about this Stoke game for a couple of weeks now. They always seem to cause us bother at St Mary's...In my predictions I predicted a loss but to still stay up!
Out fans must stay with the team for 90 minutes next week against Stoke. If things are dull or go wrong early on, they need to stop the pathetic moaning and groaning. Get behind the team for 90 minutes as I think they will need us. Anyone in that crowd who works or is in education, should know that a pat on the back (encouragement) goes further than a bollocking. Please, please, please fans at the ground - stay behind the team for the entire team. It could make a difference at this stage of the season.
Just had a vision of us needing a win on the last day and being awarded a last minute penalty to get it. I’m nervous just thinking about that, imagine if Tadic stepped up too.
