I have every confidence that (even if that were to be the case) whoever stepped up to the spot would BURY IT.... However, still believe that that will not be the case; Saint will grind out the points needed before the last round of games on that Sunday afternoon.
And potentially we don't even need to be four points clear of the relegation zone, going into City. Being two points clear of Swansea and Stoke would be sufficient (with them playing each other), subject to being four points clear of WBA and A N Other (eg Palace). If someone whose name does not begin with S could please join WBA in being cut adrift over the coming weeks, that would be of great assistance, thank you.
Yep. Keeping our 'goals difference advantage' over our competitors is also worth a point, should the situation demand it.
Today's game between Palace and Spurs could help us, if (a very big 'if') Spurs score a hatful against Palace. This will keep Palace below us, and will make their goal difference (already 5 worse than ours) even worse. So, although it pains me to say/type it - "Come on you Spurs" (A range of options)
What worries our fans is our inability to win games. Too many draws being too afraid to be ambitious to go out and win games. All the draws we have if we were on the front foot sure some of those would be defeats but some would be wins and that is what keeps you up. Eddie Howe always seems to be ready to seize the initiative but our bloke seems too cautious and that may well get us relegated. Just to rub it in a lovely 20 degrees here in Fuerteventura!
The worry (surely) is NOT getting points. Look at the effect that 'hard earned point' was yesterday - two place jump, our 'better' goal difference intact! Yes, wins are important.... but an undeated run, breeds confidence and, in turn, leads to the chance of taking points from our forthcoming fixtures.
It's likely to be 20 degrees here (Hampshire) tonight/later on this week. Trouble is, that's 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Still, could be worse - could be 20 degrees Kelvin (that's a temperature scale, not SKD)
Last season we finished 8th despite trying our hardest to finish lower. Maybe this season we will stay up despite trying our hardest to get relegated?
Some big games next weekend with a chance for us to jump a few places, up to 13th, if results go our way. Desperately need the win against Stoke. Saturday Burnley12:30Everton Leicester City15:00AFC Bournemouth Southampton15:00Stoke City Swansea City15:00West Ham United Tottenham Hotspur15:00Huddersfield Town Watford15:00West Bromwich Albion Liverpool17:30Newcastle United Brighton home to Arsenal on Sunday and Palace home to Man U Monday.
We're only five short of equaling the record for the most draws recorded in a 38 match PL season. We're also level on points with 18th. Those two things are not coincidental; unless we draw every match from here on in, including the matches against the top four, draws are not going to be enough.
That's like ignoring the stats from the last couple of months then....... 4xwins; 4xdraws; 1xdefeat. That's the difference since the Spuds debacle..... youre either 'glass half-empty' or 'glass half-full' and I suspect that is ever the case on here at the moment.
Three of those wins came in the cup. Those wins do not ultimately count toward Premier League survival, leaving us with a total of 1 win, 4 draws, and 1 defeat in the games that accrue points. And yeah, 7 points in 6 would see us to survival, but that was a stretch with more winnable matches that our remaining schedule overall. We. Need. Wins. Three of them, in all likelihood, and if we don't get two of those in our next three matches, we're in heaps of trouble.
Yep. That's my point. Though it's a bit churlish to discount cup victories [especially away from home!]...... a run is a run; something to build on, something to raise spirits.
That something needs to be built on right now, heh. We have 10 matches to go, including a pile of difficult fixtures, and if we don't beat Stoke and one of Newcastle/West Ham, the odds are pretty good that we'll be building on it in the Championship.
