Having spent the first quarter of the campaign struggling to maintain any kind of form, we now find ourselves very much in the ascendancy during the 2nd and into the 3rd quarters. We have had a very good end of year and start to new year and have picked up 12 points in 6 weeks to take us to a much more acceptable position, although by no means safe and comfortable. Our next 8 games are all winnable or drawable but I obviously don't expect us to actually win all 8. I have always thought that we will finish top 10 and I am even more convinced after performances like today. Wigan (a) 3 Swansea (h) 3 Reading (a) 1 Arsenal (h) 1 WBA (a) 0 Fulham (h) 3 QPR (a) 1 Norwich (h) 3 15 points is my target for this next 8 game period and with hopefully 2 or 3 new faces to come in, I reckon this is what we will achieve. That would give us 40 points and guaranteed safety imo, then we can use the next 8 games after that to get us that top 10 place. Also, I hope that all the MoN out posters (and to be fair, there were only 1 or 2) have ended that silliness now and can see what the best manager we have had in a generation is trying to do. Remember, he has still only been here 13 months.
Top 10 and a cup run/win it is 40 years this year and 40 years to the day 2moro since stokoe took over
It's another congested season in the middle of the table matey and we are capable of a top 10 finish without a shadow of a doubt. A good run of games on the way and I would be happy enough with 12 points from those 8 games leaving us with 37 points and another 8 games to play. If we put a run together you never know where we could end up!
15 points would give us 40 points. I think 15 realistic. Today should have brought confidence, A win at Wigan and we could put a run together. Good times to defeats though and it's back to square one haha! January could be a very good month for us.
Survival, thats it. We've had to many false dawns and are a team currently in transition. Hoping for a comfortable end to the season with anything above safety a bonus. Looking forward to who MON brings in during this window and expect a couple more arrivals/departures in the summer then it's time for MON to earn his bacon as by then it should be his team playing the way he wants and I would be looking for the next level (comfortable top half finish).
Aim for top 12 consolidation with a nice relaxing final 5 games with no worries of relegation. And a good cup run would be nice. That's good preparation for an assault on the top 10 next year. edit: 100th post *raises bat in the air*
Well done mate, I had to have a quick look at my own post count and I realise I spend far too much time on here.
Hopefully play some more good football. Bed in some new players and progress up the table. Can we get more points than we did last season. That has to be the target.
With Derry here we've all seen this before before but, hopefully we can get something next week an away point is fine then maybe beat our bogey team in the cup and the league. Top ten finish is about as high as we can aim for given our stuttering start to this season and as it's tight as a gnats chuff where we are from 10th down to ourselves. It's in our own hands now as long as we keep it going and get some decent results up.
Talc, top 10 is definitely our target. All clubs have a flatline period in the season bye we've had ours. The mags are having theirs now but will come through it. I think things are falling into place right now and with a couple of additional signings, our season could take off. Totally trust our manager.
Think one more new face in mate probably on deadline day and probably a defender then that is it, as I said it's up to us now and it makes a nice change not worrying about what other teams have done for a change.
Wigan (a) 3 Swansea (h) 1 Reading (a) 3 Arsenal (h) 1 WBA (a) 1 Fulham (h) 3 QPR (a) 1 Norwich (h) 3 hoping for 16 points...would love to see us have a healthy winning/unbeaten run happen for several games, inc. the FA Cup.
15 is my target mate and I'd take that. 40 points by the end of February would be just fine in my books. Gives us another 8 games to push on without any fears of what's happening below us.
As I said in another thread, we havent put many wins together this season but we were still drawing and picking up points. Now we that the results are starting to go our way, top ten is a very reasonable target. People have started to judge form over multiple seasons, which is why quite a few fans were getting edgy over our form but, imo, the form sheet should be wiped clean every summer. Under Bruce and previous managers we've had good starts that have petered out into bad finishes. Give me a choice and I'd much prefer to have a weak start and get stronger as the season goes on. Of course, good start, middle and finish would be nice but we are not a top 7 team yet. I am not going to predict # points from the next x games; cos it so ****ing unpredictable at the moment, we might stuff Swansea and Arsenal and get stuffed by QPR and Reading.
