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Will we get dragged in to a Relegation Battle? *NO FIXTURE LISTS PLEASE*


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We are currently hovering above the relegation zone, but in most seasons there is one team that will normally fall spectacularly after Christmas into the bottom three and the way that we are playing at the moment it could be us.

 

Just as we knew coming into January that we were basically going to pick up just about fuck all in the league, this weekend's match against the smogs really is vital for a win - not just for the three points but to stop the rot and get some sort of confidence into the team.

I'm not blind to the possibility of relegation but would people be this negative if we hadn't played Arsenal in the FA Cup. Remove that and it would be a disappointing draw (but not a defeat) against Bolton after Keegan had been at the club 2 days and a totally predictable loss away to Arsenal.

 

It's a shame Allardyce wasn't sacked before he wasted our relatively easy run of games.

 

Hopefully the home crowd won't be as suicidal as people on this board and will actually cheer the team on to hopefully getting the points we need to stay up.

 

To be honest I'm not feeling negative nor suicidal or even kneejerktastic - just realistic.  I wasn't expecting to get much in the way of points, or even refereeing decisions, in the past month.

 

I've watched a lot of teams in the past drift down the league with the team and fans having an attitude which is the same as has been expressed on this board recently of there being a lot of shit below them and they're too good / big to go down, up to the point where they finally realise that they are right in the shit.  I just don't want to be this year's.  If we can get into a run of form that we did the back end of last season (no goals at home from February until the end of the season) then yes we could get dropped in it.

 

 

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It's very hard to get a run of form going when 5 of your last games included Man U away and Arsenal twice away.

 

I'm not saying we're too good to go down. We aren't very good but we do have 5 games against teams below us still to play. 4 of those games are at home. We also have Beye, Faye, Martins, Geremi and Emre to return.

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It's very hard to get a run of form going when 5 of your last games included Man U away and Arsenal twice away.

 

I'm not saying we're too good to go down. We aren't very good but we do have 5 games against teams below us still to play. 4 of those games are at home. We also have Beye, Faye, Martins, Geremi and Emre to return.

 

End of thread.

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I wouldn't yet say that I'm worried, I think quite a few of us are a little disappointed at the spectacular second half collapses against the Mancs and the Arse that seemed to show a lack of fight/guts, something that, given time, KK will be able to instill.

 

What I will say is that some fans are beginning to place unnecessary pressure on the team that will only affect performances on the pitch. Though I understand that this cannot be helped to a certain extent, people ought to realise that KK has been here 5 minutes and played one of the best sides in the business with a depleted squad.

 

Have faith and have patience, there have been some really positive moves behind the scenes and some real drive and progress is being shown. Hopefully we may even have a new face in by Thursday which will give us all a lift.

 

Come on the Toon!

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:suicide:

 

Listening to Paul Merson describing the Bolton/Fulham game tonight, I dont they have much to look forward to for the rest of the season. Thankfully we have that old cliche of points on the board. Couple of wins and all of a sudden we have some light again and the confidence is building again.

Lets not forget KK's first arrival - we only just saved ourselves on the last game... after that we all know what happened so we just have to stay +++ until the summer then watch KK's influence take root

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Guest Dr. Richard Kimble

Playing Arsenal twice in 24 hours away is lousy luck. This unlucky stretch will end sooner rather than later I think - even with Denis Wise in the picture.

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I think it is important everyone remains positive.  I think the bottom two will go down and the third will be from Wigan, Brum or Bolton.  It is important to get a good number of points from the next 2 games before Man U arrive.  Hopefully the return of Beye, Faye and Oba will have a positive impact on the stregth of the team. 

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We need 2 wins from our home games, and they are far from guarenteed.

 

 

Boro

Sunderland

Fulham

Reading

 

surely 6 points

 

Not the way this team is playing - heaven help us if they happen to lose on Sunday because heads will go down even further.

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At half time of our game, I took a look at some of the other matches, and same at the end of our game (since they kicked off 15 mins later).

 

Boro vs. Wigan - Middlesbrough were lucky to win from what I saw. I'm not going to say we should beat them, because if I do they'll no doubt beat us, but they weren't very good, and Wigan lost to them, so that tells you about Wigan.

 

Sunderland vs. Brum - Birmingham have matched it with the top sides, but it's going to mean SFA if they can't start getting points from teams around them. They have Derby on the weekend I think. There's still hope for Birmingham. Sunderland looked good, and sadly I think they might stay up.

 

Bolton vs. Fulham - Yawn, yawn, yawn, yawn, yawn. If we don't finish above both of these sides, I'll stop supporting Newcastle United (not really, but god they're bad).

 

Derby

Fulham

Wigan

Bolton

 

3 of the above 4 will go down. Probably the top 3.

 

We're too close for comfort, but it's very, very unlikely that we'll go down.

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I think it will be closer than people expect, but Fulham and Derby are certs already, making it easier to survive.  I think Bruce has enough about him to keep Wigan up, and I think Keane does as well at Sunderland.  Boro have some good players despite being shite overall, and Bolton have gotten a lift from Megson.  My 3rd pick for the drop is Birmingham, McCleish should have stayed in Scotland.  Despite a few players I rate (Kapo, Ridgewell), they just aren't good enough.  And Christ, I didn't realize that Reading were doing so poorly.  Surely they have enough about them to survive?

 

I think we'll be safe with 5-6 games to go, the way we were a few years ago under Souness.

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