Think harry liks to play the pressing game thus limiting the oppos chances, its easier to see, even on a dodgy stream !
Difference with us and Reading is that we have good players.....players that were massivley underperforming, with a manager who had no clue. McDermott is a good manager, but the players arent good enough. Le Fondre is their only half decent player. Not saying we are out the woods, but I cant see Reading doing it...all my opinion of course.
It the effort, players playing for each other and the fans and Ferdinand not in the team! You can buy all the players you want but the team that puts the most effort will win most of the time which is why Man U work so hard.
West Ham traditionally come down along with the Christmas decorations, they were poor on Sunday. There are plenty of other sides that may get complacent after a good start. I expect Wigan, Southampton and Reading to be the obvious candidates, to fill the bottom four spaces along with us. But there are a few teams that are capable of losing a few and capitulating into the mire. Sunderland, Fulham, Villa, Norwich, Swansea , W Ham and even Newcastle are vulnerable. A few injuries and a bit of bad luck can see any of these sides get sucked in. Don't be surprised by anything in this league. Even Stoke have the ability to plummet from the summit ( 9th ish? )
I think Secret's right to advise caution. The match calendar this season is almost diametrically opposite to last year, which on the face of it appears to suit us: most of the higher placed teams in the first part of each half of the season, and the lower placed teams in the latter stages. But hold up right there! Two things to worry about - for me at least. 1. Rangers traditionally fare badly in the so called winnable games and better than expected against the leading lights; and 2. playing the relegation battlers in the last few weeks could find us being caught out (especially if we've gained a more comfortable position by then). That's kinda what I think Secret's on about. Just hope 'Arry gets to suss our traditional affliction and isn't given to sitting on his laurels. Fact is, the **** start means we've gotta be on it every single game until the curtain drops - or it could turn out that it drops on us. If anyone knows 'im, 'ave a word, please!
What you have to take on board is that we failed to beat Reading, Southampton, Villa and West Ham at home, we've got some tough games to come at home and, therefore, we've got to pick up some away wins to have any chance...
Let's kid ourselves please We are unbeaten in four What will be will be He who hesitates is lost Caution caution caution As in life you lie on the side of caution and yet still **** happens and when it does and it will you then spend time wondering what you could of done to prevent it . I used to think like that and then I got a free mind
Pessimists v Optimists Realists v Romantics Depressives v Dreamers Defeatists v Deludeds The eternal debate on here. And debate in the true sense - basic, unchanging positions, no ones' mind seems to be changed by the continual exchange of posts, until the maths makes everything a matter of fact. Fair enough, I'm firmly in the optimists column, will be kidding myself until I'm proved right. Never seen the point of worrying about things out of my control. In football/soccer (who the **** cares?) every game is a new start, a chance for redemption and glory. If the slim chance that we don't smash Newcastle into oblivion on Saturday happens, for me that only makes the next game even more exciting and our eventual, certain survival even more heroic. And even if it all goes tits up I'll have enjoyed the season and will quickly get over it - **** happens. But we optimists have to be fair - the pessimists have a valid position and its psychologically proven that a good chunk of the human race actually enjoy taking the negative stance - it releases endorphins in the brain*. Only two crimes on here for me: 1 Deliberate, malicious WUMing (as opposed to having a laugh) 2 Allowing yourself to get wound up by anything posted by an anonymous twat on a football message board The second crime is the bigger. The malicious WUMers are ill, they deserve pity. Newcastle 0 QPR 3 Bring it on! * untrue. Exercise, sex, being positive and engaged release the minerals. Being worried just makes you miserable.
Playing in front of 45k screaming, T-shirt wearing geordies is a tough ask even if they are having issue at the moment, getting a draw from this would be a good result. If we can get on top of them early the fans tend to turn quite easily against there own, if memory service me right. 4 pts from the next 3 games with the teams above us doing badly would be ok, we'll need 6 if they do better. For me key to our survival is attracting the right player in Jan, which means us closing the gap. I agree caution required but a glimmer of hope breaking through the gloom and doom.
Newcastle are 2nd bottom in the form table, 2nd only to Reading. Having only won once and loosing the other 5. There isn't a better time to play them and a draw is minimum for me.
We tend to play quite well against Newcastle. Few season's back they were flying high at start and we were the first team to take a point off them at St James' Park. They won at LR the year they went back up (maybe same season as the above game) but only by one goal and it was a defensive error as I recall. Last season in the PL we drew at LR though we were all over them and it was one of those 'how on earth did we not win' games. The more I think about it, the more I'm hoping for a cheeky QPR win!
Can i just say that Mackie had a shocker on Saturday, except for Onuha our most ineffective player, probably the worst he has played all season. I think the fact he has looked so good this season just highlights how poorly the rest had been playing. I like the fella and he does try , but if he is the best player on the park it shows how poor the team has been.
The key for me is that the Saints are the only team at the bottom that we,ve given 3 pts to. We,ve drawn with Reading, Villa, Wigan, Sunderland and we play Newcastle this wk end. Now with our improoved form and both Wigan and Sunderland to come to LR , i think we can turn these bottom clashes into 3 pointers 2nd time round. Trips to Reading and Saints should be winnable as well. Our new found confidence and team spirit will play a big part in the 2nd round of games, along with Harry's knowhow. Its going to be mighty tough, but i genuinely think we can do it.
I really consider that now our team finally seems to be firing on all cylinders that we have more wins in us. I remember Ollie in his Blackpool relegation season indicating the importance of wins, so he always went for it. Inspection of the current Premier League table reveals:- Reading - 1 win (home) QPR - 1 win (home) Wigan - 4 wins (2 home/2 away) Southampton - 4 wins (3 home/1 away - us) Sunderland - 3 wins (2 home/1 away) Newcastle - 4 wins (all home) Aston Villa - 4 wins (2 home/2 away) Based on Newcastle's home form, to secure an away win is obviously a massive challenge for us, and a tie wouldn't be a bad result for us. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/table
Tells you that he went for wins and 3pts, rather than settling for 1 pt draws. Unfortunately for Ollie and Blackpool, he ended up losing a good number of those games in goal fests when caution was thrown to the wind. Hopefully 'Arry knows when to settle for the draw and a solid point, rather than going all out for the win, which often produces the more entertaining football, as Reading & Arsenal have demonstrated in recent meetings.
True enough Killie. In fairness to Ollie and his merry men, the very fact that they took it to the last day of the season is testament to them. I thought they would be destroyed that season. He is of course right. If you go for it, lets say in 10 games, you might win 4 and lose 6 giving you 12 points. Playing it safe and you might win 1, draw 5 and lose four giving you just 8. Obviously what I've just written is a load of tosh but my point is: go for it and don't do a Hughes!
Draws wont keep you up as weve seen with Hughes, Id prefer to go down fighting than than getting the odd draw here an there.
