Not really ct we've not played consistently well in about 2 months, it's not looking good And I'm a fence sitter
Admire your optimism CT and indeed it is not over and done with but can you see us getting anything from our next 3 games?
If I had a pound for everytime I've heard that this season. Some people will be saying it even if/when we go down. We are like a blind man at an orgy, just feeling our way around.
The perspective is the nine games after Manchester City and before Liverpool. We just don't seem like getting the 'bonus' points from the big teams this season. I just hope I'm wrong. Losing from winning positions to Fulham and Cardiff has heaped on the pressure.
I can definitely see us getting something. Wet Sham have been impotent without Carroll, so he's done us a massive favour there. Saturday aside, they've been atrocious at home. We could get a draw, possibly even a win. And Hull drew with Tottenham - I'm far from convinced by Sherwood and so while he's got good results I think he's got lucky, I can see us pinching a draw too there. Obviously I can't see us getting anything against Man City, but damage limitation could be great. So best case scenario I CAN see us getting four points. I think we'll manage only one though and agree there is a good chance of getting none unfortunately.
Without doubt the losses to Fulham and Cardiff have hurt our chances, but the win over Hull and the away draw against Palace has helped. What it comes down to now is whether you think City can do better over the rest of the season. With players returning from injury and Turner and Bennett to come, as well as the addition of Gutierrez and Yobo, there is some cause for optimism. The other factor is whether our strikers can start scoring more often and the mid-field and defence chip in as well. Basically there are ten teams in the same situation and three of those will go down. I'm concerned, but not yet panicking. For me, it isn't an issue about CH, it's about the players and how they will rise to the challenge.
The bottom eleven teams took fourteen points this weekend,so the average barely moves up more than one point.Stoke and Sunderland's wins could be regarded as shocks but Cardiff and West Ham's were against others in the mix and,more importantly home games.Those fixtures are always the ones that are likely to yield the wins for the strugglers so there is nothing especially shocking there.Next weekend offers a rash of six pointers: Villa v West Ham Palace v WBA Sunderland v Hull Swansea v Cardiff
So I'd imagine there is a real possibility we will be in the drop zone next weekend, DM said that CH's mandate is to keep us out of the relegation zone, wonder what will happen if we're in the bottom three next weekend. CH has his best players fit now(bar two), so we should be seeing an improvement really.
For me, it's all about the players' performance against ManCity. Aquero being out will help, but the players need to be disciplined and keep possession. Gutierrez has brought a solidity to the left side and seems to be matching up well with Olsson. Tettey being back will also help, as he closes down opposing players so much more quickly. I'm not expecting points, but I am hoping for a performance.
I think that's the key thing, we see an improvement and not a drubbing like last time. If we lost 0-2 I'd say that would be okay and an improvement as Man City are the best team in the league atm.
Your not expecting points, ditto, it looks extremely unlikely. I'm also hoping for a performance, but are you expecting one? I think it will come down to when we first conceed, In the 1st 10minutes and we'll fold horribly. 30-40 minutes and we may keep it respectable. Anything beyond that would seem pointless to speculate, I just can't see us; a) not making a mistake to gift them something by then or b) them tearing us apart by then, they are really bloomin good! We just don't look capable of upsetting even mediocre teams at the moment leave alone the bigboys. Bah!
I'm not too fussed about Saturday's match, to be honest. I'm not even expecting a good performance and I won't blame the team if we don't have one. Man City are just too good - they've made much better teams than us look silly. The only real aim on Saturday is to try to minimise the damage to our goal difference. I'm still fairly confident we won't go down, but I think if we are in the mix it is highly likely to go down to goal difference. We are alreaday struggling on that front. Lose by fewer than 3 goals on Saturday and I will count that as probably ok
Our strikers have scored 6 goals between them in the Prem. We have played 24 games and they have not yet found any consistent form in front of goal, although, it has been argued for many a day that they do not get the service. I am convinced that we have to rely on other teams performing worse than us. IMO both Fulham and Cardiff are destined for the drop as both Sunderland and Crystal Palace have become better sides under new managers. The defeat at home to Fulham and the Cardiff defeat away were for me the biggest disappointments of the season. Hughton should have been sacked before the January transfer window opened - now we can only pray that miracles do happen.
David Freezer, Archant journalist, thinks we'll survive on 35/36 points. Cutting it fine, I know, but see if you agree with his predictions. http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwic...d_to_secure_premier_league_survival_1_3280553
Most of those I agree with, apart from maybe Spurs, I still think we will lose there but the real question is will 36 points be enough?, imo no, mainly because so many of the lower table teams are getting surprise results against the top sides this season.
Bottom line for me from the weekend is that we played really well and lost because of two defensive howlers. We could and should have scored several but also their goalkeeper played a blinder. I am sorry but how is all of that CH's fault? What else could anyone have done? 25 shots away from home, you would expect that from the top 4 not us away! All of the results pretty much went against us, it has made everything look a lot worse for sure.
I would actually say that, until last weekend, this has happened exceptionally rarely this year. The only team dropping points surprisingly has been Man U (and unfortunately we didn't take advantage of it). From CT's earlier analysis, I think if the season continues as it has so far (with this weekend being the exception rather than the rule) we will need 33-34 points to stay up, possibly 35 due to our goal difference. If we draw against West Ham, Swansea and Fulham away, along with wins against Stoke, Sunderland and West Brom, I think we'll be fine (though still uncomfortable).
I set the bar at 36-7 as far back as October.Things trended downwards for a while and then turned back up.It's the revivals of Palace and Sunderland that caused it,which incidentally makes away points at both all the more creditable performances coming as they did mid way in the upswing of both clubs. Most of you will know that my analysis was based largely on the games/points relationship.Currently it's -2 having moved upwards.I still think 36.It's tight but currently I think we will do it.That though is largely based on the fact that we are in the mix with nine other clubs so it's effectively three chances in ten or 30/70 in our favour.Maybe marginally worse on account of our GD.But certainly better than evens.
Well,the much vaunted Citeh backlash never happened.Not parking the bus was a good tactic and we didn't even have to ride our luck like we did against The Geordies. Things are not sorting themselves out at all at the bottom.Now only three points covers Swansea in 10th down to Sunderland in 17th. Fulham 20th A good point but remain 4/9 on favourites. Cardiff 19th.Now 10/11 on and looking the worst side at the moment.Luck against us got them the three points but their form is abysmal. Baggies 18th The surprise team but still 5/2 against.The lowest number of wins (4) of any team,the highest number of draws (11) Highest scorers (29) in the bottom half.Little Horses gallop into town next. Sunderland 17th 2/1 against.The result against Hull and losing Wes brown is a setback.Makes you wonder if their revival is at an end.Is it a good time to go to Citeh? Norwich 16th We are not on a bad run really.Five points from Hull,Newcastle and Citeh isn't relegation form and the Cardiff defeat is acknowledged as an aberration 9/4 West Ham 15th A revival that they will need to continue against us tomorrow.5/1 (Generous IMO) Palace 14th Still 15/8 third favourites.Pulis has worked wonders when they looked doomed.No idea why the odds are so short. Stoke,Villa,Hull,Swansea: All on the fringe but a couple of poor results could easily see any of them back in it.
