Out of the top 6

......and that's the last you'll see of it for this season. Repeat of last season coming up?

I see two Championship away games for you next - Sunderland and Fulham - you'll lose both and then and then we're across there to make matters worse.

The trouble with Johnson in charge is like having brown toilet paper - you don't really know whether you've wiped your arse or not.

Time for a change before the rot sets in?

 

Well **** is all you seem to post on our board

Anyway we have lost twice this season in 13 games, no panic, most of us expect and would take mid take / top 10 so the fact we've dropped out of the top 6 is no concern at all.

bye

 

Hi Tom - why did you say bye?

Don't you like to talk like you did when you posted your **** on the Leeds board after our game with them?

By the way, we beat them 3-1, how did you do at home?

 

Come on guys - you're usually quite chatty on here - cat got your tongues?

Anyone think yesterday was just a blip like ours against Brum last week, or maybe the start of the slide and you'll lose your next three games?

 

Sparkey it is down to how the players react.
Yesterday was pathetic from start to finish.

 

No problem RR - we were the same against Brum. Bloody hopeless on the night - and it was on the telly for all to see.

As you say, it's how you handle it and the next game can't come soon enough. Boro yesterday did the trick.

I know you've got a CC game coming up next, but a result against Palace would only be a bonus. The real cruncher will be at the SOL.

 

Yep the palace game will be good for the players before the league game.Will give them a chance to return to winning ways.
Sunderland is more important as is the Fulham game,before we play you.
Just hope last seasons issues don’t return to haunt us.

 

We’ll be ok. Only a few very naive people thought we would go the whole season without another defeat.
There were some strange results yesterday but the stars will realign and the universe will return to normal very shortly.
Don’t write us off yet!!!

 

Early days pal.

 

Sparkey - have you been over on the Man Ure board yet to take the piss? They lost to HUDDERSFIELD on Saturday - so that's obviously their season over too!

 

Saturday was a bit of a sickener, but it's important not to get too down over it. All clubs suffer bad results - Liverpool got spanked yesterday, Man Utd lost to Huddersfield and even The Great Cardiff City lost 3-0 to Preston earlier this season!

A top six finish would be a big ask for us this season, but's it's still not completely out of the question - if I were offered 7th spot and 21 points from 13 games at the start of the season I would've bitten your hand off. That shouldn't be an excuse to become complacent and accepting of a plummet down the table. If the same kind of collapse were to happen as last season, then I think that LJ shouldn't survive it a second time, as it would be indicative that he struggles to maintain form over an entire season, but I'm confident that we won't see anything quite as spectacularly bad this time round.

Crystal Palace have shown some signs of recovery, but their interest in the Cup is likely to be even less than ours - it'll be two sets of second strings as it probably should be and who knows what'll happen. We're treating the competition the right way, in being a nice bonus and keeping the League as the priority.

Sunderland are still struggling to find form, but they are undefeated in three now, so they're probably a sterner test than than earlier this season. It'll be tough, but we should be disappointed if we can't come back with at least a point. Fulham away is one of the toughest fixtures on the calendar, but again we ought to be targeting a point to prove we can mix it in this division.

Back to Sparkey's original post, it would be interesting to see the odds on whether City can re-enter the top six at any point this season or not. I wouldn't want to put money on it either way, as I think it's 50-50. I do hope that we can get back to the standard we were playing at before the International break by time Cardiff come to town, as it could make it an excellent game.

 

Hey redandwhite - Huddersfield were my team at the start of last season in our "Championship Dark Horse" thread on our board.

I liked Wagner after his time at Dortmund. I was screaming for over a year before Man City snapped him up for someone at our club to go and get Aaron Mooy from Melbourne City in the A League - he was a class above that lot and wouldn't have cost a lot.

Like you suggest, one defeat for ManU means nothing on its' own - it's the next, and then the next result that will matter for them and you.

 

Nick - we were pants in that game and deserved nothing. Just to reenforce my point in the OP - it's how you react to such a poor game that matters.

After the Preston debacle we drew with a very strong Sheff Wed side, went up to Sunderland and beat them, then beat Leeds at home 3-1. Likewise we had a dreadful game at Brum last week and then went up to Boro and beat them on their own patch. That's what I was referring to.

 

Yep, and exactly the point I myself was making also; i.e. don't judge too much on a single result in isolation. It was a poor result when we lost to Birmingham in our second game, but we responded well to go undefeated until Saturday - hopefully we'll have a similar response to this defeat, even in spite of the tough games we have coming up.

 

Nick - I've got no problem with that. My point in the OP was do you believe you can do it or do you fear this is the satrt of a slide?

 

As has been mentioned, it'll be interesting to see how the players react. Last season we went on a spectacular nosedive. However, I genuinely believe that the psyche is different this season. It could still happen, but I would be very surprised (and upset) if it does.
We have the Palarse game on Tuesday. Although another defeat tomorrow would be disappointing (as every defeat is), I don't think it would be indicative of another major slump, as the likelihood is that LJ will put out a second-string side like he did v Stoke. In fact, its 'Win-win' for us; a defeat is to be expected to Premiership opposition who have (finally) found a bit of form, whilst a victory would be a huge psychological boost and could be considered an immediate return to form - without risking any league points.

 

I think we'll struggle to maintain the same points return as before, but won't fall apart like last season. I expect us to level out and finish comfortably mid-table.

 

That just how I see it Nick- Dont think that we will witness such a spectacular collapse again but I dont see a huge points haul out of the next few games either.

We seem to have plenty of possession, which is ok especially as we were guilty so often last year of surrendering it, but we lack punch lately in the final third. The Burton game was a classic example. It would probably still be 0-0 if we were still playing now.

 

Losing a home game before a couple of tough away games isn't ideal. Our 12 match unbeaten run can quite easily turn into a no win in 4 by the time we play Cardiff. I don't believe we will fall away like last season but I make a prediction that neither us or Cardiff will be in the top six by the end of the season!

 

Spot on Nick