You often hear those who recoil in horror at the sight of soap mention that NUFC is 'overachieving'. A few of them seem to press on this point quite a lot. My question is, do you guys think we're overachieving in any way? In my view, overachieving doesn't really exist. A teams ability to win and draw rarely ever correlates directly with the quality they have in their team. This is less true at the top of the table, but very true indeed when you look at the middle of the table. Sure, you have the quality, but there's also morale, motivation, spirit, managerial abilities and tactics which have incredibly influential roles. These factors alone can mean the difference between Europe and relegation. So when people say that we're over achieving, surely that's a good thing and actually a compliment? We're correctly utilising factors other than team quality alone to push ourselves up the table. That's a good thing, and that's what I'm sure every manager in the EPL aspires to do. The problem some mackems seem to have is that they believe money is a direct sign of quality, so they become confused as to why they've spent millions and achieved mediocrity, while we're on a shoe-string budget and achieved, at this point, slightly more (including a win over them and a draw). However, that couldn't be further from the truth. We have low budget and clever spending which has resulted in: Enrique Barton Nolan Tiote Ranger Carroll (which turned into 35 mill) Simpson Ben Arfa Williamson Taylor Best Gosling To my knowledge, none of these have cost more than around the ã5-6 mill mark. Some of them have cost around a mill, and some of them have been free. The only player we have which I'd consider a big buy is Colo, for ã10.3 mill. However, in my opinion that's now paid off very well, as he's a rock solid CB. Plus, we also have players like Ameobi and Harper, who have been at the club for over a decade and have probably played a vital role in keeping the passion and spirit alive within the team. So, do you guys think we're overachieving? In my opinion, considering the quality, considering the structure of the club and considering the team spirit, we're ever so slightly underachieving.
You can set the standards but I don't think you overachieve. You just go out and do your best which is what you're getting paid to do.
We've shown you can't buy success by the fact we're nearing a top 10 finish with next to no money, and we got relegated buying 10m+ plus players.
I think it's more a case of underachieving 2 years ago. If we hadn't gone down then no one would be overly surprised at us sitting mid-table now (and ahead of afore mentioned unwashed), next year we'll do better.
I think that by saying that we're overachieving they really mean that we are doing better than they thought that we would, without having to admit they got it wrong. These same people will be saying that next season we will suffer from 2nd season syndrome. I think that our squad is of better quality than many people realise. However, one of the main reasons why we have done so well is our spirit and hard work, and the one thing that we must do next year is to maintain this side of our game.
Overachieving is a very subjective term. Are we overachieving or actually performing according to our ability, whilst other teams are underachieving? Those sorts of questions can go on and on. I think it is safer to say that we have performed well with a small and inexpensive squad (by premiership standards) and that this has surprised some of our would be detractors, hence allegations of overachieving. Personally I think we are where we are on merit and that our league position accurately reflects our ability and standing within the league.
Hey id have been happy with anything from 15th to 17th in preseason. Now due to agreat team spirit which i havent seen in years we and possible Blackpool are showing what a team with no money can do. Relegation season Owen, Viduka, Martins, Ameobi = 30m This season Ameobi, Best, Candy, Ranger, = about 4m spent
