WBA, QPR,Chelsea and Reading in the next 3 weeks, with Norwich away chucked in for good measure. Now, today will be a tough game but I feel we will have a renewed confidence after a good away win last week. Although QPR on Tuesday could well be a totally different game now old Arry has taken the reigns, I still think a 3rd straight win is achievable against a team in turmoil. I think we will draw at Norwich. The Chelsea game is interesting. I think the sacking of Di Mateo has unsettled the camp and Benitez hasn't gone down that well. Might be a good time to play them if Rafa starts to tinker with the team and they have a world club match half way round the world to confuse matters? Then we meet plucky Reading who although no easy touch, I still think we ought to be looking for all 3 at home. 5 games from today and things may look a lot different and we will have played 8 at home and 8 away to balance the record out. My prediction is we will be 10 or 11 points better off in 3 weeks time and comfortably top 10 with 22 or 23 points after 16 games. Haway the lads for today and FTM.
Could be a nice little 15 points there, oh how I wish. I would expect a minimum of 8 and think we will get 10. Would be happy with that. I expect to win these next two home games, draw with Norwich (minimum) then would be nice to get at least a point of Chelsea. Bloody hell if that comes off Reading might as well not turn up. Onwards & upwards.
I would take ten points in a heartbeat, out of that lot. WBA and Chelski will be really tough, but winnable and we should be looking to win the other games. Whether we will or not...?
As Cest has said, todays game will not be easy. West Brom are more than capable of causing us problems. In Odemwingi and Long they have two very mobile forwards, and backed up by Brunt and Morrison, i can see us being under the cosh at times today. We must cut out their supply from the wings, hopefully if we can do that and show as much up front as we did at Fulham then the three points should be ours. I would like all 3pts today, but would settle for a point now against a high flying West Brom.
Got to be totally honest and say I'm pretty worried. Nothing today. Tuesday is going to be really tough. Nothing but a tanking from Chelsea, Reading are hitting a bit of form. Norwich away is never easy. 4 points for me and a long hard winter in the bottom 6. A stat today worries me even more (think it was 3 years but maybe 3 windows) WB have spent £10.5m and SAFC £50m and we still haven't got a team.
Well, I dont know about you lads but this 1 up front, especially at home, is starting to piss me off now. I really thought after last weekend MoN would losen the shackles a bit and go for the game from the start. WBA were not a good team and were there for the taking but we were chasing this game after the first goal and never looked like getting back into it. For some weeks now he has been quite rightly highlighting the away to home game ratio and yet here we are 1 game down in that 4 game sequence and already going into Tuesdays game behind the 8 ball. Its a massive 6 pointer now and yet it could be so much different had we at least got a point today. We had possession today and we had shots but we didn't have a cutting edge in the final 3rd. Fletcher cant do it on his own every game and Saha's legs are gone. Its time to turn to Wickham who is scoring for fun for the reserves and England under 21's and is bang in form. Tuesday will be a watershed for me if we go 1 up front and don't win the game and I will be extremely critical of the manager. His record is now just as bad as Bruce's and although this is still early days and not his team, the formations and tactics are piss poor at home and we are very easy to play against and extremely predictable. I'm very pissed off today (and yes I'm stone cold sober) and at the end of this 5 game period, if things are no better in the league, I will not be as supportive of the manager as I have been. Today wasn't bad luck that cost us the game it was boring, ****ty, predictable negative tactics and a complete lack of a plan B up front when Plan A is not working.
If this happens then Martin will be under severe pressure for his position from fans, pundits and above all the owner.
God QPR is massive now. It's the be all and end all for me. Just can't afford to be negative. Will he play two up top? doubt it. Will he split Cattermole and Colback(pass)? doubt it. Worrying.
No but if we were to lose all 4 at home then there may be no alternative as we would be well entrenched in the relegation fight and with these tactics, I cant see us getting out of that. I'm gutted tonight as MoN is showing no signs of the manager that achieved so much in his career and more like all the other muppets we have endured over the decades. WBA were piss poor imo and yet they have scored 4 and sit 3rd or 4th in the league. A very worried man tonight and defeat on Tuesday will start alarm bells for me big time.
