1pt from the drop 4pts from rock bottom

[rez9000]

well i wish i had your outlook...and optimism mate,not quite sure about your blackburn and west brom point,if they are shipping goals left right and center as you say,and yet there right with us down there,you've seen what a new manager did for us, maybe big sam will have the same effect for blackburn...

i just hope your right,i'll be happy to say thanks if you are.

:up: Just trying to make you feel better, pal.

My point with regard to West Brom and Blackburn is more about the bottom half of the table in general in that none of them are doing very well. We're in for a fight, no doubt and we'll have to scrap for points, but there are other teams who are far worse off than we are. Blackburn and West Brom are two of them, but Portsmouth seem to be going into freefall, and Man City are struggling too. West Ham are poor this season and they are in far more danger than we are, what with the state of their finances.

As for Big Sam in Blackburn's case, I doubt he'll be able to do much for them. There is nothing in Allardyce's history that suggests to me that he's that great a manager. When he was appointed as Newcastle manager my brother and I both agreed that even with Newcastle's resources, he wouldn't be able to do much and we were both proven right. He may be able to save them from relegation but I don't see them challenging for much under Allardyce in the long term.

The way things are looking the teams in trouble for me are: Blackburn, West Brom, West Ham, and Sunderland. They're the ones who I see fighting to save their skins. I don't see us being there at the end of the season.

 

[DC_Boy]

I think Stoke are in trouble too

 

[markiespurs]

Also think Hull are beginning to be found out too, although, barring a spectaculer implosion during the second half of the season, they should be safe, Portsmouth could also be in trouble, especially if they have to sell some of their top players.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

A &C

I was about to ask - how did you feel after 2 pts from 8 games?

at that stage I was looking for us to get 13pts from every 10 for probable safety - 14 pts for certain safety

which given our startwas a very tall order

we've got 17 in the first 10

so we carry forward +3 for the next 10

oh and Harry please play O'Hara v Fulham

After 8 games I thought we were going down. I reckoned that we needed to have 20 points by the new year and even then that we are in a fight that will probably last until the final couple of games of the season.

I don't think thats changed although i'm more confident about our chances than I was before. A run of three or four wins would be nice.......:razz:

 

[VegasII]

I think we have to take into account how many more games we're playing compared to the other teams down there. Apart from shitty, how many of them are in Europe & the Carling?

Our job has been tougher so far, but with our larger bank balance in January I'd like to think we'll be fine.

 

[fazza]

This results really niggled me today, so much so that I even questioned weather or not we should sign Arshavin, you know somethings wrong when I question that :duh:

 

[riversmonkey]

We need to put together a run of five or six games without a defeat.

Lets not forget, we have a manager using players he is not fully convinced by. Harry's comments at the AGM about the need for more quality, the candid Gilberto statement and cancellation of Stalteri's contract tends to suggest that he's done well with the resources at his disposal.

We are in the UEFA Cup with squad players absent and two players cup tied. Featuring in four competitions means that some players are not getting a rest. The mental drain of a midweek comeback meant that some of our players were underpar today.

Our Captain and defensive Lynchpin can only play once a week, sometimes not even that.

 

[Marty]

26 Fri Home Fulham Barclays Premier League 13:00
28 Sun Away West Brom Barclays Premier League 14:00

January 2009 H A Related:
02 Fri Home Wigan Athletic FA Cup 20:00
06 Tue Home Burnley Carling Cup 20:00
11 Sun Away Wigan Athletic Barclays Premier League 13:30
18 Sun Home Portsmouth Barclays Premier League 16:00
21 Wed Away Burnley Carling Cup 19:45
27 Tue Home Stoke City Barclays Premier League 20:00
31 Sat Away Bolton Barclays Premier League 15:00

Now seems like a good time to do just that....

 

[fazza]

26 Fri Home Fulham Barclays Premier League 13:00
28 Sun Away West Brom Barclays Premier League 14:00

January 2009 H A Related:
02 Fri Home Wigan Athletic FA Cup 20:00
06 Tue Home Burnley Carling Cup 20:00
11 Sun Away Wigan Athletic Barclays Premier League 13:30
18 Sun Home Portsmouth Barclays Premier League 16:00
21 Wed Away Burnley Carling Cup 19:45
27 Tue Home Stoke City Barclays Premier League 20:00
31 Sat Away Bolton Barclays Premier League 15:00

Now seems like a good time to do just that....

We could/should actually win all of them games.

 

[Marty]

Got to admit I'm expecting 12-15 out of 18 points from that lot. Anything less than 12 will be very concerning imo.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

We're in trouble

You cant play Thudd-Zokora in CM
You cant play Bentley - Lennon in the same side
Ledley (and now Woody) are injury headaches every week
JJ is injured but when he returns he needs a good CM partner
And Harry said
You cant play 4-4-2 with Luca!!

Our 1stXI is not too bad but with a few injureries we're pretty poor and have no chance of getting in the top half, let alone Europe.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

We should be aiming to win our next 3 home games and avoid defeat in the away games but Bolton, West Brom, and Wigan away will be very difficult.

 

[VegasII]

We need January so we can fix (albeit temporarily) some of this problems. Good thing we have cash, an attractive club & a manager that players want to play for.

I'd probably say we'll pick a slightly mundane & premiership clutch of Finnan, Bullard, Defoe + a keeper & another mid. Maybe another CB.

 

[Destroyer]

Weve been in the cart since we won the Carling Cup last seaon tbh - & even more so since the first game of this season. Its going to be a long season battling it out, but i think in the end we'll have just about enough. Its the tightest relegation battle ever, thank god we had that run when we did otherwise we were definitely going down.

Nice to see you back Harrowspurs btw ;-)

 

[ripley]

:up: Just trying to make you feel better, pal.

My point with regard to West Brom and Blackburn is more about the bottom half of the table in general in that none of them are doing very well. We're in for a fight, no doubt and we'll have to scrap for points, but there are other teams who are far worse off than we are. Blackburn and West Brom are two of them, but Portsmouth seem to be going into freefall, and Man City are struggling too. West Ham are poor this season and they are in far more danger than we are, what with the state of their finances.

As for Big Sam in Blackburn's case, I doubt he'll be able to do much for them. There is nothing in Allardyce's history that suggests to me that he's that great a manager. When he was appointed as Newcastle manager my brother and I both agreed that even with Newcastle's resources, he wouldn't be able to do much and we were both proven right. He may be able to save them from relegation but I don't see them challenging for much under Allardyce in the long term.

The way things are looking the teams in trouble for me are: Blackburn, West Brom, West Ham, and Sunderland. They're the ones who I see fighting to save their skins. I don't see us being there at the end of the season.

I agree and might be inclined to add Man City in that list if they turf Mark Hughes.
The teams that change managers this season will all struggle...and i include us in there too.
Usual m/o with a manager change is improvement over the short term with an emotional uplift that is followed by the return to form that preceded the manager change.
We've been a mixed bag since Harry took over and we are going to need more consistency and better displays if we expect to climb the table in '09.
I'm hoping that some teams that have over reached so far this season begin to drop down the table.

 

[belsunz]

6 points needed from the next two games. Clearly. Losing at home against Fulham is a horrible worst case scenario. If we can get 6 points and then let Harry do some deals in the transfer window, we'll be fine. But 2 massive games coming up.

 

[theaman]

We could/should actually win all of them games.

But as it's Spurs, we probably won't....

Doubt we'll beat Wigan, WBA or Bolton away.

Expect three home wins from those games....and three draws in those away games...

 

[DC_Boy]

After 8 games I thought we were going down. I reckoned that we needed to have 20 points by the new year and even then that we are in a fight that will probably last until the final couple of games of the season.

I don't think thats changed although i'm more confident about our chances than I was before. A run of three or four wins would be nice.......:razz:

Hi A & C - the question was for Harrow but ambiguity on my part -

still - interesting to hear your view

I rembering thinking before the departure of JR that the Bolton game was a must win otherwise we'd go -

when HR came in tho I thought even if we didn't win it we might have a chance with the 'new mmanager bounce'

as it happened we did win it - the bounce was better than I could have hoped for

we now have a fighting chance for safety

it would be so god for the home fans to see us win at the Lane on Boxing Day - it's been a while since a home win - and three points would be nice too

 

[DC_Boy]

I'd take 10 points from the next six games no problem - that'd see us well on the way to safety -

we'd only need 4 from the next four after that so as to hit the 14 from 10 safety formula - and still we'd be carrying three points forward from Harry's good first ten

 

[striebs]

We're in trouble

You cant play Thudd-Zokora in CM
You cant play Bentley - Lennon in the same side
Ledley (and now Woody) are injury headaches every week
JJ is injured but when he returns he needs a good CM partner
And Harry said
You cant play 4-4-2 with Luca!!

Our 1stXI is not too bad but with a few injureries we're pretty poor and have no chance of getting in the top half, let alone Europe.

Agree about the injuries . Even West Brom are not a dead cert to go down .

I've been out of the country for 2 weeks but managed to see our last 3 matches on TV .


When you say you "You cant play a 4-4-2 with Luca" is that because he doesn't provide sufficient discipline and defensive qualities ?

Would you build your team around Luca ?
If so how would you do it and what personel would be needed ?