Aim For The Champions League!

I think we are pretty nailed on for 7th place at least this season, who is going to stop us..Stoke? Everton? Mackems? No chance.

So why don't we aim for 4th?

Liverpool and Arsenal continue to throw in dodgy results. Arse keep losing away from home and scouse keep drawing at home. Chelsea are capable of throwing in an Aston Villa result also. Even the mackems should have took a point from Stamford Bridge if it wasn't for the finishing skills of Niclas Bendtner.

We have nothing to lose this season and the wind in our sails. Those teams should be genuinely looking at us and be worried. We're a genuine wildcard in the race for 4th.

Now we have a new No.9 we are an even stronger unit then the one that completely smashed Man Utd the other week. We should also be expecting a centre back of some description to cover any short comings. We're looking good.

The fixtures without Ba, Tiote and now Cisse are massive if we are to genuinely challenge for 4th because if we pick a handsome amount of points, then those lads will come into the squad to hit the remaining months of the season with all guns blazing.

Chelsea are disillusioned at not being title contenders this season, Arsenal are the same old Arsenal and Liverpool are getting more frustrated with every 0-0 draw at home week after week. They are their for the taking.

None of us expected to finish 4th in 2002, but we did and built on it. Our strongest team is a match for anyone and is capable of playing anyone off the park, just ask Fergie.

Let's go for it! Nothing to lose, everything to gain! If we just fall short we wont exactly be disappointed will be?...considering everyone 'knew' we were going to be relegated this season..!!

HTL!

 

Let's not become deluded now! Seventh would still be an amazing achievement and could potentially put us into Europe. Champions League qualification isn't out of the question but it is highly unlikely!

 

F*** 4th.

I want the league title.

 

I want to win the African Cup of Nations, then the Carling Cup, FA Cup, League and Champions League, with a European Championship to collect in preseason.

Seriously though, theres a chance 1 or 2 of Arsenal, Liverpool and a very slim chance of Chelsea slipping up and letting us in, but not all 3. I'd be delighted with 6th, not expecting it though.

 

Why stop there? Surely you can finish higher than first, the way you are playing!

 

I think we've got a great chance of pushing for 6th if our players come back from africa in one piece and hit the ground running. we just need to carve out results whilst we're away. that being said a spate of injuries could derail us completely. if colo got injured for instance. i hope cabaye is fit for the next game. guthrie can fill in for either cabaye or tiote but is no substitute for both missing. it means going with untried youngsters. we might get away with it vs QPR but we'll be found out and against bigger sides.

 

Cisse is a great coup but are people forgetting that if willo or colo pick up a bad injury we will be in deep ****?

Could do with a new LB/CB & RW.

 

Why a RW? Presumably now that we have 2 top strikers AND Ben Arfa, we should expect Ben Arfa to drop to RW when we aren't playing 4-3-3 right?

 

Right, basically, it is extremely extremely unlikely.

However, it isn't impossible as it all depends on form. Everyone saw the form we had when we were unbeaten for so long at the start of the season, and our team has got stronger since then. If you get another run like that high on morale, you can be on par with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and so on when it comes to the number of points gained. If they than have a bad spell, you can start to overtake them.

Stranger things have happened, but it's just ridiculously unlikely.

 

I'm aiming for a victory so great, football has to be stopped

 

Like I said, I am expecting a CB to come in. HBA is a the answer to quality RW with Raylor in mind and Obertan as an impact sub.

 

It's possible but highly unlikely. Even though we ahve just made a fantastic signing coup we shouldnt get too carried away ala Mackems and Yewrope last year.

We do still need a LB/RB and possibly another decent CB cover, if we get that, and keep all of our current squad (minus the ****e like Smith et al, obviously), then we've got a great season ahead of us next year.

 

Seems people have got a bit ahead of themselves with the Cisse signing. It's not impossible but with our lack of depth in defence, Europa League would be a fantastic achievement.

 

I thought it before this signing to be honest, however it has given me more confidence.

 

I think 7th would be a brilliant achievement. 6th is very much a possibility as things stand. However, is 4th so out of reach? A point this weekend will more than likely push us up to 5th. Chelsea have 2 tough away games against the newly promoted sides, who knows what will happen. There is no consistency outside the top 3, we grind out results to form some consistency then why not?

 

I'm assuming we will try and win as many games as we can same as always, so it isn't necessary to say we are aiming for it. Lets face it we have an outside chance, but it is pretty unlikely. I think 6th is still the best we can hope for but I will be happy with 7th.

 

It's a crazy league but remember we are Newcastle. We like to mess it up last minute/when things get serious.

Let's just keep plodding along and not 'aim' for anything until we have a few games left.

 

Mind you, it hugely depends on what sort of fixtures are left for the teams around us.

We've already got all of these tough games out of the way:

Arsenal away
Sunderland away (not in the same league as the other teams but it's always nice to pick up points in the derby)
Spurs home
Stoke away
Everton home
Man City away
Man Utd away
Chelsea home
Liverpool home
Man Utd home

All of the teams around us are capable of dropping points to pretty much all of those sides, especially with Sunderland now looking much better.

We then have:

Fulham away
Blackburn home
Villa home
Spurs away
Wolves home
Sunderland home
Arsenal away
Norwich home
West Brom away
Liverpool home
Swansea away
Bolton home
Chelsea away
Stoke home
Wigan away
Man City home
Everton away


Some quite winnable games there, with some additional draws to be picked up along the way.

If we won all those games (excluding the possibilites of draws or wins elsewhere) we would have 57 points. Last season that would have left us 7th. However, with Liverpool, Arsenal and even Chelsea looking a little shakey, it could be very different this season. Who knows.

 

Well yes. We can expect Ben Arfa to play RW but he wont because Pardew wont start him, let alone play him at RW.

?

 

We're away to Blackburn mate, although not sure if that's going to affect our chances of winning with their home support!