For all the people saying "we're down". Think on. We're less than half way through the season. We're surrounded by teams pretty much as bad as we are. Leicester have amassed nine point more than us in 16 games. Its not beyond the bounds of possibility that we could amass nine more than them in the next 16. They're down here because they're ****e, like us. As are Everton and Palace. None of them are good sides. Add into this the fact that we're not playing suicideball any more and there's more than a slim chance that after 32 games we could well be back in the mix. We may well go down but we're not down yet.
Nice to read that. I've got some slim hopes based on the Liverpool 2nd half, and if the metalhead gets us banging, then who knows!
We're almost certainly down. I'd put our survival chances at about 5% I reckon as the turnaround in form required is so vast it just don't seem reasonable from a logical perspective. I can potentially see us being more competitive with Ipswich or Leicester. But overtake 3 other teams and find another 8 wins? Can't see it. 6/7 points from the next 3 and then I'll get my great escape hat on.
This is how I prefer to think of it. Rather than 2+ points per game, a couple of wins and a draw on the bounce then we’re back in the mix.
For me it’s the fixtures we’ve wasted as well. We’ve already played the 3 worst teams in the league (other than us) at home and are like 10 points from safety. We would realistically be needing to beat all of them away, plus picking up another 6 wins and a few draws. I just can’t see it, would surely be the greatest escape of all time? Opta has us at 97.9% chance of relegation at the moment if anyone is interested
Completely agree re the games we've had particularly how poor our away form is. As I've said all season I'm not convinced the squad is good enough anyway but I believe we could have been much more competitive under a different manager. Would undoubtedly be the greatest escape ever imo. Nobody has ever survived from this point total at this stage and unless we win tomorrow we'll surely have one of the lowest Christmas points totals ever?
Phrase used that pisses me off is "everyone accepts" when several posters don't accept relegation is a forgone conclusion of our current, difficult to say the least, situation. It's accepted by me when it becomes a mathematical certainty.
The thing is, we have a chance now, slim, very slim. Previously we didn’t have any. Everyone will be onside & behind us now. Let’s see. UTS.
Absolutely. If teams accept relegation if they were bottom at Christmas it would be a boring season and there would never be a relegation dogfight.
We need a Hasenhuttl Christmas run and the new man isn’t going to get any time to have any influence on Sunday. It’s unlikely, but if we can get two wins in the next four then it would restore a bit of confidence. First target 19th
Even in some of most famous great escape seasons - eg us in 98-99, Wigan in 07-08, Sunderland in 13-14, Leicester in 14-15 - you're looking at them having 9 or 10 points after 16 games. I appreciate that the margins are small, and that we could so easily have been in that 9 to 10 point range ourselves. But we're not. And nor are we finishing anywhere other than 20th.
