After a decent enough November, we now come up against stiffer competition in December. The three wins in November were against sides down the bottom but very welcome all the same. Decembers fixtures will give us a far better idea of where we are at!! What are your predictions for the festive season? I have included the game on Jan 2nd as class that as part of the festive period! Midds home MK Dons away Fulham away Derby home QPR home Brighton away Burnley away
Christ Spanish is this a sober you talking the use of English is superb! Amen! Agree looks a tricky month - 3 home 4 away - Boro / Brighton / Burnley all to play ............ tough.
Expect a toughy against you lads Friday, more than happy with a point Need Ayala all over Murphy like a cheap coat
I can only see 7 points. Boro - draw MK - win Fulham - draw Derby - lose Qpr - draw Brighton - draw Burnley - lose
With a big game for you Tuesday I hope it tires a few of your players so they are struggling Friday ..
I can only see 10 points from those 7 games but it may be better if Dids, Fraser and Bish are involved
Its an old cliche "lets concentrate on the league" but Karanks doesnt see things like that Every game he focuses on winning, regardless of game schedules and priorities He will pick a team that he thinks can win Everton, then worry about you lads Good or bad?? the jury will reconvene in January/February time We havent got a bad bench to pick from to be honest
It was a very good month for us, especially considering our run of poor form beforehand. The most positive aspect I think we can take from November is the consistently impressive performances by players who previously underperformed and looked patchy. Two notable names that spring into mind are Dean Gerken and Daryl Murphy. The former is still very much a second-choice pick in goal for some of our supporters, including me, who rate Bart as the better keeper, but Gerken deserves to keep his place for now after some strong displays between the posts. Murphy, who had gone on a barren run in front of goal and looked a shadow of his 2014/15 self, has returned among the goals, notched some assists, and is now our top scorer. I think scrapping for a play-off place is perhaps the realistic level we should be aspiring to, with the squad that we have got in a division where our rivals have invested rather heavily. With regards to November, as the old adage goes, 'you can only beat what's in front of you', and six games unbeaten is a decent statistic for any team in any division, particularly the Championship where it is notoriously difficult to go on a decent run. As for December, we have some very difficult fixtures, on paper, and I cannot see us getting much out of those games. However, Ipswich are a side that are capable of surprising us, sometimes for the best: Middlesbrough - DRAW (1-1) MK Dons - WIN (1-2) Fulham - LOSS (2-3) Derby - LOSS (0-2) QPR - WIN (1-0) Brighton - LOSS (1-3) Burnley - DRAW (1-1) Eight points out of 21 isn't great reading, but looking through those fixtures, it's clear we're going to have our work cut out, particularly as the likes of Boro, Derby, QPR, Brighton, and Burnley all seem better prepared for Premier League football.
No point flipping a coin until next season Warky seasons over isn't it!? For what it's worth I think Boro playing in the cup gives us a big edge. Difficult to predict all 7 as many variables - injuries / other sides form until then. What I predicted earlier in the season seems true - we're a lot better away from home than at " Fortress " Portman Road where we seem to be struggling to take the game to the opposition. Home last 4 - Wolves D Bolton W Cardiff D Huddersfield D ( infact we've drawn 5 of our last 6 at home ) Away last 4 - Charlton W Rotherham W Forest D Hull L
Warky you're the one who has said the season was over very recently - why on earth would anyone come out with that? For what it's worth - I always thought we had a chance of 6th this season. I didn't say E I E I E I O when we were top and I didn't go on about how we could get relegated under Mick like one poster or you claim the season was done and dusted. Max finish = 5th ( If Brighton collapse ) worst case scenario 11th in my opinion. COYB. I agree - Chartlon were jizz, but we made them look jizz. They ended Wendy's massive run and won away at surprise package Birmingham - great three points Sat.
We haven't got the killer instinct that you need to do anything and that's the bottom line. Too many draws when we should have won! Just look at the Brentford, Bristol and Wolves games. Beating relegation fodder is all well and good but dropping points from winning positions is just criminal. Who have we beaten in the top 6 apart from Burnley?
We have thrown away 6 points from those 3 games alone so I don't see how you can say that Weighty me old muckster.
What I mean is that we seem more able to score a few to kill off the slightly weaker teams ie. Charlton and Rotherham whereas last season we would only score one and be ****ty pants towards the end. I bet that every season there have been games that we've dropped points when we shouldn't have......that's football..
