...the results last season and the points we got from them against the sides we have played so far. Would we have had more than 5 points? I reckon we would still have been in the bottom 3 With all that's been going on it isn't so surprising where we are but I get the feeling we're about to come out of this bad phase and by Xmas we should be out of the bottom 3 Things look very bad at the moment but we really do have a lot of good players and if Gus can get it right we'll be fine.
Currently we have to get at least 38 points from 30 matches..thats a 42% win rate..when in that last decade or 2 have we ever achieved that in the premier league?
We still have to play Hull & Cardiff twice plus Swansea, Palace, Villa, Stoke, West Ham, Norwich, Newcastle etc at home. We have Hull, Stoke, West Ham, Cardiff, Villa, Fulham, Newcastle, Norwich, etc away. There are enough games where we can win points and Poyet is having his first full week with the whole squad. I'm not inclined to become hysterical tbh.
If only we'd had Palace Hull and Cardiff at home instead of Arsenal Man Utd and Liverpool. We wouldst be bottom with 1 point that's for sure. Our only two shocking results are Fulham at home and Palace away. West Brom and Swansea are good teams.
Perhaps, with all the turmoil we had, it's better to have the 'easier' games in hand. No one can say Fulham were the better team, makes you wonder what would've happened if we'd won that game.
Home Games: Fulham This (L) 0-1 Last (D) 2-2 Arsenal This (L) 1-3 Last (L) 0-1 Liverpool This (L) 1-3 Last (D) 1-1 Man Utd This (L) 1-2 Last (L) 0-1 So at Home we are 2 points worse off than last season Away Games: Southampton This (D) 1-1 Last (W)1-0 Crystal Palace (Replace QPR logically as they came up through playoffs and were "worst" promoted team) This (L) 0-3 Last (L) 1-3 West Brom This (L) 3-0 Last (L) 1-2 Swansea This (L) 4-0 Last (D) 2-2 And Away we are 3 points worse off In total, against the same oppo last season, we had 6 points Still bottom 3! But I'd rather have 6 than the one we've got!!
Do we? Can you foresee form? Palace are in free fall, norwich are struggling to pick up points so are Stoke and West Ham. For all we know this could continue the entire season, these teams could struggle to pick up 25 points, they could pick up 40. You're speculating and laying it down as fact when the truth is you have no idea whatsoever how many points we'll need. Fair do, be negative if that's your bag, but please don't try to make it spread to others by laying down speculative bullshite.
Derby HAS become real make or break game now as we took 4 points from them last season as they were the only team not to register at least one victory vs sunderland i think.
Derby HAS become real make or break game now as we took 4 points from them last season as they were the only team not to register at least one victory vs sunderland i think.
makes the derby even more important 4 from 6 last season i think they were the only team not to register a victory over sunderland last season lose and i think its relegation
makes the derby even more important 4 from 6 last season i think they were the only team not to register a victory over sunderland last season lose and i think its relegation
You haven't had a good set of fixtures at the start of the season but I don't think they're as bad as some make out. Of the home games you would hope to beat Fulham and get at least one or two points from the other 3. You can't just say "oh they are bigger teams than us so no points is enough" and by not getting results in those games you have extra pressure to get positive results in every game where you are the favourite. Any away game in the premiership is a tough call and I don't think you can 'expect' to win anywhere but the hardest away game I'd say you've had so far (and possibly the hardest fixture overall) is the one you got a point from! I think you'll stay up because you are better than a few other teams and still have plenty of time to recover but as for comparisons with last year: a) You can't afford to get many fewer points than you did then b) The most telling point is that you had a goal difference of about -4 from these games last year, this year its -15. If you aren't playing well then all games look hard but a couple of results and teams like Chelsea and Tottenham wont be relishing the trip up to SoL so much. Good luck AFTER next weekend. Confident you'll be ok.
To be fair marra... We should have had 3 points from Fulham (and I still wonder 'what if'!) In the other home games there have been glimpses that we can play football and but for the odd refereeing decision & lapse of concentration we could have been in a totally different predicament ... The away games have been woeful like... But again.. Had we held on at Soton ?!?! As much as it sounds like a 'sob story' and 'everything is against us'.. I'm sure we have enough to get out of this. I think there is some equally poor teams around us.. And the difference at the end of the season could be the 'ridiculous' results that keep cropping up. Eg Cardiff beating Citeh, Villa winning at Arsenal, WHam at Spurs etc! What we need is a slice of luck (hopefully this weekend).. And away we go!! The fixture list is frightening and my main concern that players, staff and fans will be mentally demoralised before the turn of the year when the fixtures become more winnable. KTF & FTM
The solution is in our hands and we have enough games to get out of it. If this was mid-season I'd think we were down but 2 wins in the next 2 games would change everything and ............ we have to win some time
HaA you have been unlucky with a couple of decisions certainly (the Arsenal game springs to mind) and could easily have had a couple of wins from your games so far and that's the main reason why I think you'll be ok. Your team have been guilty of raising their game for some of the better teams but then being poor against the ones they were more likely to get results in. Palace stands out as a terrible result given that its their only points of the season though we'll probably give them 4 or 6 points this season ourselves (when Derby set the record of 11 points they took 4 from us - and should have had 6 as we equalised late on in our home game). Palace will surely go down and Norwich look poor too. You may only need low 30's to stay up but you're better than that and should be able to get to 40 before the last weekend. 'should' is an unreliable word though.
When I first saw the fixtures for this season, I feared something like this. We are now coming out of the really hard stuff but...... Our main hope is that the lads' heads aren't too low. x
