I won't be, no, it depends how you react to those defeats for me*. Don't forget that West Brom were actually 2 points off fourth after 10 games last season. It doesn't take much for teams to collapse after a couple of bad results like Blackpool, Bolton, Sunderland and West Brom did last season at different points in the season. *Obviously you haven't lost there yet, I meant that whenever your first loss comes, it'll be interesting to see how you react, as it could show if you're actual CL contenders or just a flash in the pan.
Fair enough, don't think they was on 22 pts mind. Nor did they have the likes of Santon, Ben Arfa or Gosling waiting in the wings. But your input is appreciated nonetheless, see were you're coming from.
I'll tell you why we're doing so well: Coloccini and Steven Taylor - Coloccini is one of the best CB's in the league, and the partnership with Taylor is formidable. They work together brilliantly. Krul - One of the best performing goalies at the moment. He's pulled off more world class saves than I can remember this season. Him and our CB duo are why we've currently got the best defence in the league, 2 goals less conceded than Man City. Cabaye - He's growing into one of the top performing CM's in the league at the moment. A real engineroom in midfield and an utter bargain. Tiote - One of the best DM's in the league. Right up there. Jonas - A very good player on superb form this season. I'm sure some of you saw him today. Ba - 8 goals in 9 games this season, up there with Rooney and RVP. What more needs to be said? Note that I said 'one of the best in the league' a lot there, and it's true. It's also why we're currently 3rd. To be this high after this many games, you need some of the best in at least a few positions, and it's what we've got. It didn't cost us much money, but the real value of these players is considerably high. Just think of how much it would cost to buy Ba, Krul, Coloccini, Cabaye, Tiote, Ben Arfa, Jonas and so on now, and you'll find that the value is up there with the top 6/7 teams in the league. Team spirit and Pardew's tactics have got us the rest of the way. The top 4 teams get some real bargains for around £5-10mill who end up in their best starting XI, so I don't know why it's so far fetched in the eyes of some that we've managed to do that too with some fantastic scouting.
Its funny, we never talk seriously about CL qualification on our board. 7th would Be amazing for all of us
This. Despite being the leagues so called deluded fans we are (for the most part) being very grounded about this start. Europa League is as high as the vast majority of us believe might be possible. We are just enjoying the ride at the moment. Am a bit frustrated at the lack of genuine credit we are getting. After all many pundits and rival fans predicted that we would struggle to stay up this season, meaning we must have been considered one of the weakest five or six clubs in the league. Yet 10 games in many fans and pundits are still saying that we haven't really been tested yet. This would suggest that there must be at least ten teams worse than us. Doesn't seem very consistent to me ...!
This. We are all ecstatic with our start so far and rightly so, but none of us expect top 4, not by a long stretch. Still, we haven't been tested really... Honestly it gets on my nerves, some of your lot were predicting a title push this season because you spent money, as were the pundits. That was before a ball was kicked! Don't get me wrong I think you'll finish above us however the constant lack of acknowledgement of a good start is frustrating considering we're unbeaten after 10 games yet you were going to be title challengers before the league started!
No one expects us to be anywhere near champs league come the end of the season. You should look towards the fact that you have spent a fortune and "king kenny's" record is bearly better than hodgson's over the course of a similar period of games. If we lose to the manchester teams........so what, we've put our points on the board where we have needed to which will ensure we come out of our run of tough games in good nick. for a fare comparrison, look at our results in the corresponding fixtures last season which will show you how much we have improved. No such thing as an easy game in the prem.
You've got to remember that the league was pretty strong last season though, so they were never going to pick up as many points, teams like Birmingham and Blackpool were pretty good for relegated teams, and most likely would have stayed up if they were playing in this years premiership, as the likes of Wigan, Blackburn and even Bolton are looking awfully bad. The only team that were bad last season were West Ham, and they would probably finish above Blackburn and Wigan of this season! Disagree with this, Hull City had 20 points after 10 games a couple of seasons ago! And their team was ****! They picked up 15 points from the next 28 games after Phil Brown's Man City implosion. And if there's any other team out there capable of having a mid season catastrophe as bad as that one then its probably Newcastle! Its probably because they've been burnt in the past by praising managers and teams so early on in the season who then go onto disappoint and make them look silly. Pundits don't often put their necks on the line, they won't even admit that Steve Kean isn't the right man for the job on Match of the day, and they're still claiming that he's just "unlucky" Oh but it is!
Yet Lawro states week in week out that Spurs are his favourites for fourth, Wigan are for the drop etc. Nothing like not putting your neck on the line eh? I'm not saying i want them to say we're amazing, unstoppable etc but the odd brief glimpse of acknowledgement wouldn't go amiss.
Why would Hull City influence whether we have some players who are very, very good? Some teams can be riding high on plenty of confidence, and we are to a degree, but we also have quality players in the starting XI and in depth. I've already spoke about the great talent in the starting XI, but we have players like Santon, Marveaux and Ben Arfa waiting in the ranks, with backup CM's like Guthrie (who you may have saw today) and plenty of youth talent like Sammy Ameobi, Vuckic, Ferguson and so on (something smaller teams with smaller academies don't have). So whilst other teams have defied odds to do so well, we're in quite a different position. I'd honestly say that the quality alone is enough for us to finish within the top 8 this season, but the addition of team spirit and composure has pushed us up to 3rd so far. It won't last, but the great start could give us a better result than we've expected this season.
You said "To be this high after this many games, you need some of the best in at least a few positions" I said "Disagree with this, Hull City had 20 points after 10 games a couple of seasons ago! And their team was ****!" I thought it was pretty simple! You don't have to have a set of brilliant players or even a couple of brilliant players to be that high in the league after 10 games, all you need is a couple of things to go your way, a favourable fixture list, good old fashioned hard work and a bit of confidence and you'll do well! Do I think Newcastle will turn to **** like Hull did? No, I think you've got more quality than that, I reckon you'll be more like Charlton Athletic in the 2003-04 season, having a good season and hangign about the CL spots like a bad smell and just dropping off towards the end because of the small squad and lack of quality outside the first 13 or 14 first team players.
I fear your noisy neighbours more so than yourselves however I expect 0 points from both of you and probably Chelsea too! No shame in that though
Credit has to go to Pardew for their form this season. regardless of who they have played it's still difficult to stay undefeated for such a lengh of time. I really hope Newcastle finish well this season... Hwck i'd go as far to say i'd like to see them win a pot as well (as long as Liverpool win the other)
Dont be fooled so easily. United will be stronger for that defeat and its everyone else who will feel the brunt of it. 5 points is nothing, we could give every team 5 points head start most seasons and still win the league. City will drop points, its almost inevitable they will have problems with egos and stuff as its quite common from them. They are on fire right now but thats all about them being in form.
Er, a few corrections. We actually had 20 points after 9 games (6 wins, 2 draws and a single defeat), so it was actually 15 points from the next 29 games (2 wins, 9 draws and 18 defeats). Also, few Hull fans would blame a 'Man City implosion' for our poor form afterwards. Look at the game before that and it probably provides more answers.
Hull's Premiership team wasn't **** either. It just suffered from a poor attitude when things went against them. It could easily have survived that second season compared with some of the **** in the bottom half, but Cesc Fabregas' unlucky spit hit Brian Horton's boot and Hull, as a consequence, went down.
Just to do a bit of fact checking with you son. I'd like to point out that Hull in fact had 17 points after 10 games..... 6 behind us putting them in just behind Arsenal in this seasons table. Also they had 4 losses during this time, one of which was a 5-0 defeat to Wigan. I think most sane people would agree that doesn't really compare to our stats this season. Let me remind you if your struggling to comprehend... 4 win, 2 draws, unbeaten. Just thought that might help your smug self to get your facts right.....
