Seeing all the stick that GMI is getting on his prediction thread, I'm really putting my reputation on the line with this, but I'm convinced that we will finish in 11th place in the final table. Added to this I also think that Rickie will be the highest scoring Englishman too and i'm willing to part with my hard earned cash at the bookies to back it up. There are a few reasons why I'm so sure of this, but the main one is that Nigel and the team have learned how to get results in this league now and we no longer are in awe of some of the better teams in the division, even without key players like Adam and Jose. The central defence will be strengthened in this window, although players like Yoshida and Jos have settled now after a shaky start to the season. We will always pick up points at SMS but now we have learned how to not lose away from home, who would've believed we would come out of Stoke, Villa and Chelsea away with 5 pts at the start of the season? The reason I say 11th is that I believe we play better and more effective football than the rest of the bottom half of the league but I think that Stoke will be hard to catch with their home record and Michu's goals will see Swansea above us too. Now bring on the ridicule!...
I don't think we'll finish quite as high as 11th but it's not beyond the realms of possibility. As for Rickie finishing as highest scoring Englishman, I think it's definitely worth putting a tenner on.
What excites me most is that we currently don't look any worse than Newcastle, and when you consider how good Newcastle were last year, it seems that it's not outside of the realm of possibility that we could be as good as that next year. We definitely have the foundations and funds to emulate that, and probably have the spirit to make it last longer than they did. I also have the feeling that the summer transfer window will be very exciting for us if we stay up. Where we finish at the end of this season is largely irrelevant as long as it's not the bottom three. It's the momentum that we take into next season that matters most.
My prediction is 14th so not so far away from the OP. Mind you me thinks our run in hopefully going to help us achieve that. Having said that we are beginning to get to grips with this league although no doubt there still is a few upsets in store for us still to come. Am still fairly confident of a good finish though.
I think people are getting a bit too excited. If we win the next three games then I might start to get a bit light headed too...but we are still very much in the mix and probably will be for the rest of the season. So long as there are three teams below us at the end I'll be happy. For what its worth I think we'll finish in 16th.
Woah! what are you lot on about. will will survive easy! i predict a 3'rd place finish, then next season we will get to the semi final of the champs league you heard it here first!
Question is Saints Alive what will you do if you are wildly wrong! Tom still has 3 trips to Skateland to do as punishment for inaccurate forecasting!
Well, as I was at the Villa game on the same day as the postponed match I can't really use that excuse.
I like your optimism and can't disagree with the sentiment. 11th may be pusing it a bit, but comfortably avoiding relegation isn't unreasonable. We've got a good core in place and I think a couple of well-placed signings could see us home.
your predictions are normally pretty good saints alive and it would be an amazing 1st season back if we did. the number of games this season we have played well or lost leads/points suggests we are capable with a bit more luck and confidence to climb higher in the table. there is an excitement about watching saints and they are playing better than I expected. I would be surprised with 11th but in the words of ellie goulding, anything can happen.
Before the season started I had a bet with a Pompey mate that we would finish top ten. I thought with the right purchases and momentum on our side there was no reason why we couldn't achieve this at the end of November my mate offered me double or quits that we would get relegated I of course accepted this bet so 17th would make me smile although I am still scared that if we lose Rickie for a few games then I will be very scared that relegation could sneak up on us.
