I understood, but my point is that the situation you pick is so unlikely as to be virtually impossible. I cannot seriously envisage Wigan beating Man City a week Wednesday, especially after their FA cup match, I cannot fathom how Stoke could possibly beat Man united and I seriously doubt Sunderland will beat Newcastle away. So, in fact, the only likely result in my view is that Villa should beat Fulham, and that's no dead cert. A combination of all of those results going against us is so extraordinarily unlikely as to be pointless considering and (though don't think for a minute that I agree with Beef that you are in general, this is an isolated incident) is just doom-mongering. I'm willing to put £20 against your scenario - Wigan a point behind is, in the relegation spots, with a game in hand before the Reading match. Are you? (In fact I'd probably go for £200, but I'd feel like I was robbing you). I don't deny they could be much closer, but given the above I think even that unlikely. At best one point I suspect. There is a good reason why we are now averaging around 10-1 for the drop the longest odds all season... In that case, it's not really worth saying, because how the teams below us do will always affect what we need to stay up. The bottom line is, our position in this league is in our hands, and as long as we keep drawing will remain in our hands. Of course, we could lose and everyone below win and yes, that could result in us relying on others. But again you are liberally using the word "could" without really thinking about the realities of the situation. This is not the battle for a Champions League spot we're facing where a point gained is two points dropped. I'd like us to grip it firmly, quickly, but I suspect even if we don't, it will still be in our hands at Man City on the last day of the season (God forbid). Fair enough re Stoke. I think most of us would like to see them go down. I very much doubt anyone predicted they would at the beginning of the season - as you say Wet Sham is more likely. The funny thing is, they are plummeting because Pulis is trying to be more than one dimensional! He should have stuck to the only thing he knew... I don't think even you believe a draw is an awful result. It simply can't be. Even a 1-0 loss away to Wigan is not an awful result. 4-1 at home to Villa in the cup was, as was losing to Luton and the 5-0 away t Fulham, but recent results have not been awful. They've just not been good. It is recent performances that have been awful. The last time, inevitably, was the Everton win.
After the Arsenal game it is likely we will be 4 ahead with them having two in hand plus we will also have to visit Man City. I firmly thought Wigan would escape prior to playing us where I thought they looked just as bad as us. I see don't see the Houdini act in them anymore, they really are not that good. The results (plural) have been bad, if they were any good we wouldn't be right near the bottom of the form guide (which is solely based on results), sorry but that is undeniable, particularly over the last fifteen games. Its why we are in the position now. You're mixing up one off games with trends. A draw at Tottenham is good, a draw at home to QPR, et al is bad. Draws only keep things ticking over nicely when combined with the odd win, ours are mixed more with defeats so the draws are becoming our staple diet which is not enough. Its why we are in the position now. I don't think the team is generally playing badly, they are doing exactly as told, I just think they are being managed badly.
Not quite sure of the relevance of your first paragraph, or is this a new point? Yes, that's exactly what I said above, they then play City away on the Wednesday so as we discussed, going into the Reading match, they will have one game in hand. That we have to play City at the end of the season is irrelevant - you were talking about the Reading game and how some fans thought it might make us safe. I said I was willing to bet a considerable sum that this (Wigan in relegation spot, one point behind us with a game in hand) wouldn't happen. By the City game we should be able to lose and still stay up. I agree Wigan did not look great and certainly they still have a strong chance of going down, but I still think either of Stoke or Sunderland are so awful it will be one of them. Is this a new point? Now you're playing semantics - I said results have not been good, I.e. they've been bad, but the word you used before is "awful", you can't skip over to "bad". I suppose it depends how you want to define it, but I think most would expect awful to be considerably worse than bad. A fairly pointless technicality we've now got to... No-one thinks the results have been good, but, lest we forget, they could have been even worse... I'm not mixing up trends!! You're putting words in my mouth - I said the Swansea draw was a good one! I think we have to accept they are closer to Tottenham than they are to QPR. I quite agree the draw to QPR was atrocious, but overall the results could be worse. I never wrote anything you are ascribing to me. We have drawn 6, lost two and won one of the last nine. By definition those are not awful results. They are not great, admittedly, and should have been a lot better, but it is ridiculous to suggest that is an awful return. Awful would be a couple of draws and lots of defeats. I include the manager in the team "performance". I would agree that Hughton has not been impressive and most players seem t be following instructions (which is why I'm still loath to criticise Howson too strongly yet).
Agreed. I'm sick of this tambourine-rattling self-righteousness, too. The subliminal message is "I am a more true Norwich fan than the rest of you because I don't desert my team in times of trouble". Disagree about Coldplay, though. Their music is as exciting as our football has been in 2013.
