Never said it was the same as liklihood, Weighty is the only poster i can think of that has openly stated a belief we "would" make the play-offs, everyone else has always only said "could" - expectations were only ever top 10. That "could" became "in our hands with 4 games to play" and then only became impossible on Saturday. Yes the fact we would throw it away was so frustratingly predictable but throwing it away is a lot different to not coming close. If Liverpools season doesn't recover from yesterdays blow would you be saying they didn't come close to the title? Out of interest, what (changing) factors did you base your prediction on that Arsenals form would change so dramatically to end up fighting for 4th instead of 1st?
I don't think anyone would argue that McCarthy hasn't been an improvement but that's a bit like saying my 3 year old niece would be an improvement for next Prime Minister after David Cameron. I think he's too cosy and laid back and our mediocrity stems from that, he's seen it all before. I want to see someone sweating blood and showing a bit of bite when we lose! Best case in point - Ryan Giggs, goes into his press conference with a smile on his face and talks about wanting to see entertainment and goals and his players expressing themselves and that's exactly what he got. Contrast that with McCarthy - "we did alright" - and that's exactly what you get, alright.
Yeah of course, but chances are if you rely on one striker you're going to come unstuck, we need two and some back up - Marriott hasn't had a look in which is ludicrous.
Things that have wound me up about MM this season; 1. not getting in a proper RB, when he did he would not play him. 2. His perseverance with Nouble is disconcerting. 3. Not giving JM a chance when Didsy got injured. (I guess 2 & 3 could be one of the same) Thats it, I have been wound up by team selection & tactics a couple of times but even I get it wrong on a Saturday morning now & then.!
Nouble just has to be the worst footballer I have seen in a Town shirt and I remember the days of Mark Fish, Rory Fallon and Graham Harbey! For the love of god I just dont see what he brings to the party apart from a bit of pace and hussle!
Liverpool's situation is very different, losing the league on goal difference is close obviously With Arsenal, not any changes but the old chestnut about doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Arsene Wenger is light years away from winning a Premier League - further away now than a couple of years ago when they had Fabregas and Van Persie in the side. You can be damn sure that having a manager and players who don't bring trophies home makes him less likely to win one than being up against someone who does - unless you've got the injection and positive or negative difference that comes with change.
Williams has been a masterstroke, it's not all bad. But we can all see the Nouble thing apart from Mick. Same thing with Van Wolfswinkel still getting game time - just bizarre!
I purposely used the vague term of not recovering to see your interpretation. You don't expect Liverpools form to average out again after a remarkable run? I'm sticking with the same broad question - what if they fail to beat palace? or lose both remaining games and lose out by 3 points? Or even if the scenario where they finish third comes to fruition. Would that still be close? I do expect the title to go to City on goal difference now, presuming they beat Everton -my overriding point to the question is, how can Liverpools fate being in their hands with 4 games to go result in a continued presumption of 'coming close', yet us not 'coming close' with our play-off fate in our hands with 4 games to go entirely expected?
Most definately but thats football, would JW have been playing if Didsy was fit? I really struggle with the likes of Nouble getting game time and Skuse keeping his place when obviously he is not performing. The thing is all clubs have injuries to key players and tbh we have been pretty lucky this season on the injury front, dont think that can be used as an excuse. I have just had enough of the bottling it when its really needed. We really should have made 6th place but we were let down by negativity and poor tactics/team selection.
Holmesy old boy. Ipswich Town don't have Luis Suarez in our ranks. Liverpool's form is excellent, ours is hit and miss. There's no comparison. We have always had a slim outside chance of making the play offs. Just because we had control of our destiny makes no odds, we would have had to win something like 5 of our last 6 and coming off the back of a couple of wins chances were we wouldn't continue winning whereas Liverpool are a slightly different proposition, it's chalk and cheese. Please don't waste any more of my time
But we do have a set of players that over the course of the season got themselves into a position where we were in the front of the race with 4 games to go, i.e had done better than Brighton, Reading, Forest etc. over the course of 42 games. Other side to that is over 42 games Brighton and reading hadn't produced enough for 6th place either. Thats a significant portion of the season, its not like being in 6th after 10 or 11, we can justifiably say after 42 games we were in pole position to get sixth by rights. Yes, I accept that we were hardly likely to win all the remaining games, but on the same page, Brighton, Reading, Forest were also only 6-10th because they struggle to put a run of wins together either, maybe the conclusion to that is nobody in sixth has it truly in their own hands until the final day, where it becomes akin to a cup final. But with 4 games to go we were 'leading' the race of the inconsistent teams going for sixth. It was the chasing pack that 'had' to win not us. I've mentioned a couple of times before, keeping other results the same, Wins at Watford and Bournemouth (neither of which were out of the question - turning off after just missing the chance to lead against Watford and a deflection no B'Mouth player could have planned, and none of our players could have prevented) would have meant we only needed a draw at Burnley to confirm play-offs, a loss would still have meant we would have been in pole position going into Sheffield Wednesday. As i said its all Ifs and Buts, the most basic way I have of making my point is that our Ifs and buts story, which is what drives the excitement of a push to get to the play-offs only ended with 1 game to go. In my opinion that is close. Also, you never actually answered, if Liverpool collapse and finish 3rd -which is still possible, in your opinion would they have been close to getting the title?
Holmesy, we were never in control of the chase. In any race you can sprint a little bit faster than anyone else for a short time. To answer your point about 'coming close' what constitutes that is subjective, but of course, whatever happens Liverpool have come close. I don't really see why you keep banging on about it, it's a completely different scenario.
Anyway I think we can all agree that Mick and the boys have done a bloody good job exceeding all but the most optimistic fans (just me) expectations by knocking on the play off door for a large part of the season only falling out of the picture with one game to go. I thought we would make the play offs but I have for once been wrong on a footballing matter but that's football in the end stats/form/wage bill/million dollar players don't help in predicting what's gonna happen, just look at Burnley I thought they looked very average at the start of the season many predicted relegation but they managed to get up a head of steam early on and kept on getting results....who would have guessed that. I'm sure that we can all see that the team has a good foundation and a few good additions should have us in the play off zone ( I will predict we will be runners up next season), I don't really care if we spend millions or we spend nowt as long as we bring in the right players to compliment what we already have and if the sale of Cresswell is needed for us to progress then so be it..... Coyb
I 'bang on' about coming close because you suggested we hadn't and continued to reject the fact we had. I bring up Liverpool coming close because in my eyes its a very similar situation, getting their fate into their own hands with 4 games to go and seemingly blowing it. You also mention Liverpool going to win the title in your OP. This contradicts everything you've been saying about why we haven't come close and having destiny in our own hands is just sprinting a little faster. Were Liverpool just temporarily running a little faster than Chelsea and City, or did they have a genuine shot at the title with 4 games to go? Its a parallel situation just with far far better players and for a much bigger prize.
