Got to love a bit of optimism!

we've got quite a few players with champion mentality in the team, the likes on ben arfa, tiote, cabaye, coloccini, they believe in themselves and are disappointed with defeat, this is the kind of players any team needs if they want to win, hence why they're attracting others.

 

Ben Arfa is like a stereotypical Geordie fan

 

Just out of interest, I don't think we will be anywhere near it, but how highly do you rate our chances of getting into the top four, as an outsiders point of view?

Aginairrr

In all honesty I'm with the majority who think you'll fall short. It's not because I think you're in a false position or anything, I totally buy into the way your players are working for each other and as a group, you lot can give any team a good go. The reasons I think you'll falter is because 1. Your owner will almost certainly, once again be tested in January when bids start coming in for your players, such as Tiote, Coloccini and maybe even Krul. 2. Your top goalscorer is off to the ACON. 3. as is Tiote. 4. Possible suspensions and/or injuries to key players, S Taylor and Coloccini in particular. 5. Arsenal and Spurs look like they're playing good stuff at the minute and I think Chelsea will pull it together sooner or later.

Even if all of the above points don't happen, I expect some of them will therefore I can see you falling off the pace. The biggest positive for you guys surely has to be the fact that a relegation scrap won't even cross your mind this season, which is a real sign of progression.

 

Avoiding relegation was the main objective for me this season and sneaking into the top 10 was the target. The fact that we are so high up is amazing and sadly I don't think it will last. However, the objective now has got to be 7th which could possibly be Europe. The top six are too good and in time will pull away, but we already have a 10 point gap between us and 8th and we have played the hardest two games this season already!

 

We've been playing well without Tiote for a fair few weeks now

 

As far as Ben Arfa is concerned, we have an unreal record this season, only lost Man City away, and got a well deserved point at Old Trafford. The way he thinks is, why cant we go for the title? Aim high.

Its not delusion, its total confidence in his team mates. Fair play.

 

i've said many times, we've a fair few players if were playing for the "top" teams, they'd be getting there cocks sucked, amazing, brilliant, hard working, all's thats happened is we're playing to our strengths and plugged a gap or two, now we're starting to see the quality ooze

GRAHAM ****ING CARR

 

Yep, I think all those things are in the mind of us NUFC fans. Demba and Tiote going to the AcON in January is a blow. And if we sign this Maiga bloke he'll be gone to. So we'll be relying on Best, Ben Arfa and Shola for the goals. Luckily Ben Arfa is now getting good game time to get up to speed. Mind you, Guthrie has been fantastic in the absence of Tiote recently so he'd a very adequate midfield replacement.

I think an injury to one of our CB's would be a massive blow as at the moment it would be Perch stepping in as Williamson is still out. Hopefully in Jan we can sign some good cover. And as you say, Spurs and Arsenal were always going to come good. If we finish 7th it will be an outstanding season. But, if we keep players fit, don't sell anyone, and sign one or two then who knows where we could finish. We have a very strong, tight, and confident unit who fight for each other. Time will tell.

 

To be fair lads (and don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting we're going to win or even be close to the title come the summer) but, looking back at previous seasons:

Manchester United...10/11 Champions...13 games played...25 points
Manchester United...08/09 Champions...13 games played...25 points

Manchester United have a massive squad and are famous for starting slowly and getting stronger at the back end of the season, but my point is, amassing points totals like we've got so far, is no small feat and can lead to big things.

If, as Terry Hardcore quite rightfully predicted, Ashley makes another questionable decision then it could all come crashing down. BUT, if, as you'd expect, we've done our homework, found the right players, and can strengthen well enough in January (as well as having a large chunk of luck) this could result in a quite incredible season for us!

Dare to dream Benny you metal little Frenchman, dare to dream!

 

Have to agree with all of this. As far as I can see, ManC, ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs will all finish above us, most definitely. Liverpool probably will too.. but there's no reason why we can't fight with them for that 6th spot. After that, is there anyone else left good enough to overpower us for 7th? 7th is the realistic target for me this season. 6th if we have a blinder.

As for the HBA comments... ! Bless him. Hilariously optimistic there Hatem! Hope he doesn't get too disappointed when we don't win the title and then want to leave...

 

Nice thought! But as you say, Man U trundle out win after win after win from New Years onwards. Winning is a mentality, the more you do it the more you want it.

We are giving ourselves a solid foundation for later in the season. I'm sure we all expect a blip at some point, when that blip comes, and how big it is will determine where we finish.

Just loving the feel good factor at the moment! Clearly Benny is too.

 

Amnesiac - yep, I'm fully aware that he's been missing and I was very grateful of it on Saturday believe me, but he'll still be missed as he's often the difference in a tough fixture.

Why Aye Cabaye - you're absolutely right, 7th is a brilliant season. I think that's where you've got to aim for, maybe battle for 6th with the bindippers.

If you look at Villa, you can see what losing a couple of top players can do (Young and Milner...NOT BARRY) to a side that's pushing the big guns for Europe. You lot seem to place a lot of trust in your scouts, which is great as it softens the blow when you have a departure, but sooner or later you could end up with unrepairable damage to your side, I mean on a morale-demolishing level. I hope for your sakes you get yourselves new owners to avoid that.

I seem to have tapped into some grey matter in the basement of my memory, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't your owner's policy to emulate the model of Arsenal?

French players in abundance - check.

Buy them cheap, stack them up and ship them out for mega money - check.

Establish and develop a good youth setup - Semi-check.

Win some silverware.....

 

Imo, I think we have the starting XI to compete in and around the top 4 with good confidence. People vastly underestimate players like Krul, Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Cabaye, Tiote, Ba, Ben Arfa, Jonas and so on. They really do.

However, it's the depth which is the major issue, and whilst I love Ben Arfa's confidence, our success this season might be out of our control if the injuries start to mount up.

 

This is what I like about his forum!

You're right in pretty much everything you say and hte Villa comparison is an apt one. The only difference is, we know our owner is only out for financial gain. He wants to use our club as an international advertising billboard (not only with the Sports Direct signs, but with the global partnerships he is building). I'd like to think he is aware that selling TOO many players will be counter productive!

The French connection is one that will snowball throughout the Premier League imo. The financial fair play rules are causing almost EVERYONE to look elsewhere in the markets. The french and dutch leagues are massively cheap in comparison to our own and wages are miniscule (again, relatively speaking). Come January I think the English Chanel will not only be busiest shipping lane in the world, but also in terms of player transfers!

 

Is this what we've done to him now? Given him a Wolverine-esque makeover to make sure he doesn't break again?

 

Jesus was a Geordie

It is amazing to see how many players come from France already. The thing that would worry me (fortunately I don't have to) if I was a supporter of a club outside the big/sky/top 4/5 teams, is that essentially you are just harvesting players for the aforementioned teams to cultivate. Even Arsenal have fallen prey to this over the last couple of years, losing top players to Manchester City. From our point of view we like to take players from Spurs, I mean I'd love Luka Modric in a United shirt, as well as Bale and to some extent Rafa VDV. It was refreshing to see Levy rebuff Chelsea's attempts in the summer to clip Spurs' wings by taking their top player, I was as happy as any of the Spurs fans to see Harry confirming they weren't going to sell on Sky Sports News.

Some of the other clubs such as Villa, Everton and yourselves have not been in a position to rebuff the money offered. Andy Carroll was a great piece of business for you guys but at the same time, you let a top-drawer LB leave for what is peanuts in todays market due to his contract running out. I think your owner is thriving on this current policy of being a breeding ground for young players, he's shown that in his transfer dealings in his reluctance to invest in anybody who has hair on his chest.

 

Fair points again mate, but what you have to remember is that we're a 2nd season Premier League team (yes we have the support, stadium and recent European history). We've not got Man City's owner and we're gunna have to sell in order to buy in a lot of cases. As long as its done sensibly (Nolan - Cabaye...Andy Carroll - Demba Ba) then I'd be satisfied. The key for us is to keep progressing. Whether its slowly season on season, or with a good amount of investment in the next 2 windows. That's all I reallly want!

 

Yeah, that's also a fair point. People (myself included) often disregard the fact that you're newcomers to the Premiership because you've been part of the woodwork for so long.

I think your sell to buy policy is great, not only does it mean you avoid accumulating dead wood, it also keeps your club in a decent position in the shop window. Any potential buyers can see that they aren't inheriting a Chelsea style wage bill, and that they have young assets with a potential resale value. I have no idea if your owner intends to sell up still but I guess the guy deserves some credit for making it a saleable asset considering the state it was in when he bought it (allegedly).

I'll be first to admit that I was shocked when you sold Nolan, not just because it was to a Championship side but because he was a goal scorer, a leader and a big personality. Seems us outsiders don't know as much as we'd like to think we do.

 

The ACON is such a big thing, we should be looking at bringing in someone other than Maiga in January. Anyone know what kind of price we'd have to pay for Giroud? If we only get Maiga I can see us slipping a bit in January

 

As an avid youtube user I would love Giroud, some of his acrobatic efforts are amazing (plus 6"4 who is good with his feet and scoring freely at the minute!)