Where will we finish in the league?

[themanwhofellasleep]

Before the start of the season, having beaten Roma 5-0, some Spurs fans were optimistic that we might crack the top 4. A month later and things aren't looking so rosy.

So, where do you think we'll finish? Be realistic. After all, we're not going to lose EVERY game at home...

 

[hughy]

6th.

 

[themanwhofellasleep]

I'd say that's very, very optimistic. But maybe we need a dose of optimism.

 

[hughy]

As far as I'm concerned, we've only lost 3 games, and drawn 1 this season.








*Take another swig...*

 

[thebenjamin]

12-14th.

 

[puppa_toni]

At this point i'd be really happy with top 8 and a cup.

 

[scat1620]

Anywhere between 12th to 8th for me.

 

[Crow]

13th

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

11th.

 

[joey55]

I still think the squad is too strong for us not to finish in the top 6. So far we haven't had much luck, but haven't deserved any either really. But sooner or later we'll get the rub of the green and go on a decent run, the player confidence will rise and I'm sure we'll fly up the table. I think with our squad we should be pushing for a place in the top 4, but the way things are at the club currently, I can't see that happening. Other than the top 4, I'm sure every other coach in the Prem would swa his squad of players for ours.

 

[Real_madyidd]

top 4. Fuck it, everyone else has been an idiot today.

 

[snake1]

Beginning of the season I was thinking 6th or 7th. We can still get there, but if we continue the way we are playing, and Ramos keeps putting players out of position, I think 9th or 10th is the best we can hope for.

 

[fazza]

top 4. Fuck it, everyone else has been an idiot today.

12th

 

[Damian99]

Assuming we perform as our ability and talent suggest, top six is possible. Assuming we under perform and play like a set of useless wankers, as they have in 3 out of the four games so far, then bottom 6 is also very possible.

 

[Greavesy]

I went for top half. Unless we can go on some serious winning runs 6th is a pipe dream. Luckily our next few fixtures (apart from Pompey away) mean we might just do that.

 

[Bobbins]

I still think the squad is too strong for us not to finish in the top 6. So far we haven't had much luck, but haven't deserved any either really. But sooner or later we'll get the rub of the green and go on a decent run, the player confidence will rise and I'm sure we'll fly up the table. I think with our squad we should be pushing for a place in the top 4, but the way things are at the club currently, I can't see that happening. Other than the top 4, I'm sure every other coach in the Prem would swa his squad of players for ours.

Some dangerous thinking there Joey, unusual for you. Given the types of players we have, not just the overall level of talent, I was backing us for a top half finish this season. I would be surprised if we made that now. Villa have a far superior squad and manager to ours but I would by no means say we had a better set of players than Pompey or Man City, and there are a great number of much better 'teams' out there. We can have all the good players in the world, but we currently have no team.

We may only be 4 games in but discounting Chelsea, we would've been hoping for a good 5-7 points from the other three ties. We gone 0. Not just that, but we have looked utterly inept in those three defeats. No system, no formation, no drive, no aggression, and no direction. Just there knocking the ball around until we lose possession again, at which point we look there for the taking. Even against Chelsea, we put in a gutsy defensive performance, but they were well below par in that game for some reason, just as they were in the League Cup final. We created almost nothing against them and got our goal through a piece of supreme luck. Even Reading got a 0-0 draw at Old trafford last season, it's really not that hard when you put 10 men behind the ball, so I read very little into that away point.

It seems that after losing the two strikers who had kept us afloat last season, and being so used to playing to/for/towards and around the pair of them, the team suddenly has no idea how to play the basics of football anymore. Keane and Berba did so much work which is usually meant to be done by the midfield that it's as though our players have forgotten that they're supposed to do things like pass forwards, make runs off the ball, and put in decent crosses.

The squad and the team just look a mess to me, and I'm not convinced the management team has any answers. All those slagging off Jol for his 'sit down arms folded and look grim' method of crisis management look a bit silly now we have Juande 'stand up arms folded and look grim, oh and remember, don't say anything, ever' Ramos. I've absolutely no idea how to sort this situation out though, as changing managers is clearly insane. My one over-riding concern is when people say 'It's only 4 games! Ramos needs to time adjust!', they seem to be forgetting the third of a season he had to try things out and get used to the Premier League. He has one of the worst league records in our management history, with more defeats than wins, and I worry that he may follow be a good example of the stereotype that Spanish managers don't travel well. The team selection last night looked, as soon as I saw it, like a tacit admission that we were going to lose and that it was probably better to save some players for Thursday night, in the hope that it might kick-start our season with a good win. That was truly worrying, as is the constant insistence on playing players out of position. Isn't this what we always used to moan about with past managers? Isn't that the kind of thing (team selection, tactics) that Ramos was supposed to be able to do as his bread and butter?

 

[worcestersauce]

At the start I said 5th, 6th or 7th as we weren't ready to break the top four and I have seen nothing to change my mind.

 

[themanwhofellasleep]

Some dangerous thinking there Joey, unusual for you. Given the types of players we have, not just the overall level of talent, I was backing us for a top half finish this season. I would be surprised if we made that now. Villa have a far superior squad and manager to ours but I would by no means say we had a better set of players than Pompey or Man City, and there are a great number of much better 'teams' out there. We can have all the good players in the world, but we currently have no team.

We may only be 4 games in but discounting Chelsea, we would've been hoping for a good 5-7 points from the other three ties. We gone 0. Not just that, but we have looked utterly inept in those three defeats. No system, no formation, no drive, no aggression, and no direction. Just there knocking the ball around until we lose possession again, at which point we look there for the taking. Even against Chelsea, we put in a gutsy defensive performance, but they were well below par in that game for some reason, just as they were in the League Cup final. We created almost nothing against them and got our goal through a piece of supreme luck. Even Reading got a 0-0 draw at Old trafford last season, it's really not that hard when you put 10 men behind the ball, so I read very little into that away point.

It seems that after losing the two strikers who had kept us afloat last season, and being so used to playing to/for/towards and around the pair of them, the team suddenly has no idea how to play the basics of football anymore. Keane and Berba did so much work which is usually meant to be done by the midfield that it's as though our players have forgotten that they're supposed to do things like pass forwards, make runs off the ball, and put in decent crosses.

The squad and the team just look a mess to me, and I'm not convinced the management team has any answers. All those slagging off Jol for his 'sit down arms folded and look grim' method of crisis management look a bit silly now we have Juande 'stand up arms folded and look grim, oh and remember, don't say anything, ever' Ramos. I've absolutely no idea how to sort this situation out though, as changing managers is clearly insane. My one over-riding concern is when people say 'It's only 4 games! Ramos needs to time adjust!', they seem to be forgetting the third of a season he had to try things out and get used to the Premier League. He has one of the worst league records in our management history, with more defeats than wins, and I worry that he may follow be a good example of the stereotype that Spanish managers don't travel well. The team selection last night looked, as soon as I saw it, like a tacit admission that we were going to lose and that it was probably better to save some players for Thursday night, in the hope that it might kick-start our season with a good win. That was truly worrying, as is the constant insistence on playing players out of position. Isn't this what we always used to moan about with past managers? Isn't that the kind of thing (team selection, tactics) that Ramos was supposed to be able to do as his bread and butter?

Fantastic post. I totally agree.

I'm a bit puzzled when people talk about what a fantastic squad we have. Because it's just not true. Go back a couple of seasons and we had a fantastic squad, but right now we've got a fairly average squad with a lot of very talented midfielders.

Look at our central defence: It's King, Woodgate and Dawson. King rarely plays and Dawson is not good. There must be 10 or 11 teams with a better defence.

In midfield we have lots of attacking players but no natural DM. In terms of balance, we have not got a top six midfield. People keep falling into the trap of assuming that because we spent a lot of money on a players, they must be good.

Up front we have Darren Bent and two players who have never played in the premiership. I'd say there are at least 7-8 teams who have a better strikeforce than we do.

 

[Dougal]

I've no idea. Just like I'd no idea we'd be bottom after 4 games. It's a funny old game as a former Spurs Striker used to say.

 

[DC_Boy]

I'm going for 14th this season - it'd be interesing to go back and read some pre-season predictions - I bet quite a few won't look too prescient - kudos to those on here who went top 6 or 7 and are sticking by it

as I've been saying for years I wait till the window closes and then we play a game - because the way spurs carry on predicting them pre-season is a pretty futile task as we just change too many things

in the good ole days, ie pre-windows and with more settled teams/squads pre-season predictions were fun and you had a chance that roughly the side that lined up for the summer pics was the side you'd mainly see - ditto other clubs - not now not now