are West Ham (A) Spurs (H) West Brom (A) Swansea (H) QPR (A) now even being very pessimistic, not like me I know , I would expect us to get at least 5 points from these 5 matches. That would give us 9 points after 12 games and we would be sitting comfortably outside the bottom 3. If I look at these 5 games with my usual we can beat every-one optimism then we draw two, win two and just lose one. That's 12 points after 12 games and we would be mid-table. So clearly it's not time for the suicide pills yet! The future is bright and red and white! (well it would be if we hadn't changed our kit) What do you all think am I still looking too much on the plus side?
I'll trot out the no easy games at this level cliché. West Ham have their tails up, and it'll be difficult. A draw would be fine there. Spurs are nowadays a high quality side, able to rip open anyone. Saints will be doing extremely well to beat them, or even draw with them. WBA are flying and have won every home game so far. Swansea are in the doldrums, so there's a real possibility. QPR are just a bit of a shambles, at present. Anything could happen. Hopefully, they won't have sorted themselves out by the time Saints play them, so a good result could be had there. Yes, I can see 5 points there. I can also see more and less too.
I reckon 6 points...going for 2 wins. In theory, we should be able to compete with all except Spurs, but our inability to hold onto a lead will cost us. I've said from the beginning that I reckon our ability to get odd wins will be our saviour...we are less likely to get a row of draws.
November looks like a big month for us where we need to capitalise.A couple of results together will take us a long way.
WHU - they look quite strong at present and and i am expecting to lose this one or a high scoring draw at best. Spurs - looking v good right now but two draws against Norwich & WBA so if we play well maybe a point. WBA - they have won all 4 games at home thus far, so not expecting anything from this one. Swansea - they dont look good right now so expecting us to win this one. QPR - looking shambolic so far so expecting a point, or maybe even a sneaky win, at Loftus Road So maybe 5 or 6 points, or 7 if we manage to beat QPR. But this is football, and it is Saints we are talking about - maybe 0 points ! - or maybe 15 points !!!
This us how I see these matches panning out: West Ham: draw Spurs: loss West Brom: draw Swansea: win QPR: win
We need to have a win and a draw minimum - most likely from Hammers, Swansea or QPR Discount Tottenham & West Brom, can't see us getting anything from them so write them off
Those predictions work for me. Spurs are a good team but we usually seem to do pretty well against them. Also they are the last team we kept a clean sheet to in the Premier League. Put me down for a draw.
Now i feel saints are capable of getting a result from every game we play and out of those 5 fixtures i don't think i'm wrong in expecting at least 2 wins and hopefully a draw so minimun of 7 points. Anything less than this and i'd be very disapointed. Apart from spurs i would expect the other 4 teams to be in our mini league so these are massive games.
Yes a draw would be better than losing but as we always go for the win! I think we could get three wins out of the five
All sorts of things wrong with that sentence! I would have preferred for Swansea and QPR to be at the start of that run rather than the end. They only need a win between now and then to instill the confidence.
I would be delighted with 7 points from the next 5 games. Although I reckon 5 points is the likely outcome. Just looked at the other clubs around us and QPR and Norwich don't have an easy run for the next 6 games, but Reading's isn't so bad after their next game (Liverpool away). A 7 point haul would see a bit of daylight between us and the bottom 3. Can't believe I am eyeing the potential relegation race at this stage of the season though!
Well I'm not feeling confident about us getting a point at the Bolyn, Carroll could tear our defence a new one. I've got tickets for the spurs game, again not feeling confident, although it could be goals galore!
West Brom are playing unbelievably well at the moment. I had them down as potential relegation fodder at the start of the year...not anymore! A slip in form against us would be very welcome!
It would be typical for Carroll to get off the mark against us. And for Nolan to continue his scoring run. Low-performing, unconfident strikers? Want to bed in a new signing with a first hat-trick? Want to test out your impact sub? Why not play Southampton?! Whether it was Le Fondre last season, or Gervinho, Van Persie, Richardson, or Scholes this season, it's fairly easy at the moment to guess where the goals will come from or who (as in Scholes' case) the player who is going to stretch us all over the place is going to be. Let's hope this next game is the first one to break that mould.
I've been on this board a lot, recently and before the season, asking why people thought West Brom were going to be amongst the teams we're competing against to avoid relegation. They have been this good for at least the previous season, and a lot of the one before (first half of DiMatteo's run). Threy picked up a winning habit with DiMatteo - 75% of their games under him were wins or losses. Steve Clarke was never goiing to make them worse. They have been a classy team for a long time now.
