Best season ever to be playing like idiots

Although we have no doubt been shoddy for the most part of the season so far, could we have picked a better season to be rubbish? Arsenal in 10th, Norwich, Swansea and west brom riding high with what most people will say are inferior squads, everyone is beating each other, and there really isn't a lot separating the majority of the league!

I may be scratching around for positives here but if ( a big if at present) we can get our act together its not too late to still do something of note this season.

We HAVE to start the revival on Monday though, the players we put out on the pitch need to prove their worth to us, our run of games coming up is going to be very tough and we have to start putting daylight between us and the mire. I know things look a tad bleak right now but we can still turn it around. Here's to 3 points tomorrow and a merry Xmas for the toon HTL

 

You're right its a massive positive. In a normal season our current form would see you cut adrift by 15 points or so from the top 8. Not this year.

I think its also indicative of how competitive the league is in terms the of the relative quality of the squads outside the top 3. The better squads of those teams outside that bracket (Spurs/Liverpool/Arsenal/Everton) is not so great that they run away from the rest because if you're not on your game teams make you pay. As we have so cruelly found! Monday is a big game for us because eventually little gaps will develop.

 

A good spin on things. You may well be right.

 

Another spin to put on it is that we've missed out on the best chance to finish top four that we'll have in many a year due to a combination MA & DL, Pardew & the players under performing.

Sorry but no thread is complete these days without a little bit of pessimism from me

 

I'm not so sure it as tight as you think, even a win vs Wigan would see us stay 14th.

A defeat paired with the fact Reading and Sunderland have to play each other and both are only a win away from jumping above us is more worrying

 

1 Man Utd 15 16 36
2 Man City 15 17 33
3 Chelsea 15 9 26
4 Tottenham 15 5 26
5 West Brom 15 5 26
6 Everton 15 6 23
7 Swansea 15 6 23
8 West Ham 15 2 22
9 Stoke 15 2 22
10 Arsenal 15 8 21
11 Liverpool 15 1 19
12 Norwich 15 -8 19
13 Fulham 15 -1 17
14 Newcastle 14 -7 14
15 Wigan 14 -10 14
16 Aston Villa 15 -11 14
17 Sunderland 14 -5 13
18 Southamp 15 -11 12
19 Reading 14 -8 9
20 QPR 15 -16 6

Don't know that looks pretty tight. 10 points separate 18th and 8th Either ourselves or Wigan win tomorrow and they are 6 points off 6th with 69 left to play for. Tight as a fishes arse at present but it will start to sort itself out over the Xmas period and that is why 3 points is a bit of a must if we have designs on a decent finish.

 

It's the same as it always is. 3 groups.

1st and 2nd (this group is normally bigger by 2)
3rd to 13th
14th to 20th

The void will gradually form into five groups over xmas as per, Normally

1st and 2nd
3rd to 6th
7th to 11th
12th to 15th
16th to 20th

We're stuck in the 2 categories covering 12th to 20th, especially if we don't beat Wigan

 

The league has been tight like this at this stage of the season for the last 3 years or so. Some would say that is because certain teams have got better, some would say certain teams have got worse. Every one of those years one of the teams roughly where we are now ends up rocketing up to 8th or 9th. Its usually Everton or Fulham (teams with quality like ourselves).

 

Lets hope this is the case

 

We've been outinvested. Getting only Anita in was not enough. We had a season above expectations, considering debut seasons for several players (Cabaye, Cisse,Ba and co.) We never replaced the loss of Best, Guthrie...

Above all, we really needed a third CB if not a freaking fullback.

To top things, we even have Europe to contend in, and where do we even get the players to play that

 

I've looked at the maths of this and the conclusion I have drawn: It's a result of the six top teams taking a higher number of points.Consequently there are fewer for the rest to play for and this causes the bunching we are seeing in the bottom two thirds

 

True, but is anybody else worried losing at Wigan could start seeing us get cut off, especially with the Christmas run in. If we win and win well could see us start a revival.

 

Not even AT wigan, we're home which makes it even scarier

 

Losing our last two games against the teams currently in 9th and 18th place hasn't done our cause any good.

It wasn't just losing, it was the way we lost. The guy's just didn't seem up for it.

 

You won't be cut off. 'arry is cut off!

 

Although not cut off, it could very well shape how realistic a top half finish is.

 

My concern is that 4 of those games are against Man. Un. Man C. Arsenal and Everton. How many points there ?

 

well 3 against Arsenal if they don't get their act together.

 

I completely agree with the opening sentiments of this post.

Taking in the results and goals over this weekend prior to our match tonight I was left with a twisted sense of optimism. We all know how poor Newcastle have been, but collectively in terms of the overall standard from top to bottom I believe this to be the poorest Premier League campaign in recent memory.
This is based on mistakes, defending of schoolboy quality (if that), refereeing and just general play. The ineptitude can provide entertainment sometimes, but with the exception of Swansea I'd say standards (albeit relative) have dropped across the board.

At 5:45pm on Saturday I said just this to a football fan friend of mine, after which we had the Reading v. Man United result – a case in point if ever needed.

The annoying thing is that if you can step up and achieve some consistency while the rest are struggling, you can take advantage and surprise a few... Hopefully the win tonight can help kick us on!