7th-ometer

[wormy]

I'll still simply be happy with a confident top 10 finish but I have started wondering what the club's reaction would be in the transfer market if we managed a European spot this year.

 

Hope in Newcastle United. What a time to be alive. 

[GideonShandy]

3 minutes ago, Holloway said:

567 are up for grabs, and our conference/ belief is big. A food injury freeish run could see us challenging on the early side

Food injuries are the worst.

 

Pulled ham string.  Badly braised leg.

[Mattoon]

Strange season so far with the likes of MU and Liverpool struggling early on, things can turn quickly but at the moment anything from 3rd down is up for grabs if a team can string some results together. The ideal is to get to January and be in and around the top 3rd of the table, could see us making some serious moves to cement a good finish.

[NWMag]

If you look at the pre season contenders for that 7th spot it would look like

 

Us

Brighton

Wolves

Leicester

West Ham

Villa

 

Aside from Brighton the rest have had poor starts. I think it will be between us and Brighton for 7th. If we are in contention come January we will spend to make it happen IMO

[bowlingcrofty]

1 hour ago, GideonShandy said:

Food injuries are the worst.

 

Pulled ham string.  Badly braised leg.

A broken fetatarsel would leave you massively cheesed off.

[Wallsendmag]

1 hour ago, NWMag said:

If you look at the pre season contenders for that 7th spot it would look like

 

Us

Brighton

Wolves

Leicester

West Ham

Villa

 

Aside from Brighton the rest have had poor starts. I think it will be between us and Brighton for 7th. If we are in contention come January we will spend to make it happen IMO

 

I think if we are top 7 by January I could quite easily see them dropping £90m on Maddison and Diaby which would more or less guarantee us European qualification.

[Ikon]

Diaby has 1 assist in the league this season in 8 games. Not saying he is a bad player or anything. For the money he would cost I think I’d rather see us trying for Nico Williams. He might be more difficult to get though, not sure how realistic.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by Ikon

[RodneyCisse]

3 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

I think if we are top 7 by January I could quite easily see them dropping £90m on Maddison and Diaby which would more or less guarantee us European qualification.

Given where leverkusen are in the league they’ll be looking to get a payout plus he’ll want European football the season after.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, midds said:

Pretty sure I'm a bit out of touch with this tbh. I get why 7th is seen as a huge achievement for us as it represents major progress but I don't see it as the be all and end all. I'm going to be really really patient with this whole thing and I know it'll take a few wobbly years to overhaul the squad so we aren't playing substandard players and we can deal with a few injuries to key players, it'll take more than 2 or 3 windows and I'm more than happy to wait and enjoy the process. 

 

We're playing good football, creating chances, look solid defensively, look fit and enthusiastic and have a good set of lads. I'm proud to have Howe in the dugout and we seem to be getting our shit in a pile off the park too. It'll take time and I'm more than happy to give them all as much as they need. 

 

This WILL happen. Enjoy it and try not to dwell on any bumps in the road gentlemen 

 

I get this, but I'd be disappointed if we didn't challenge to be 'best of the rest'. Brighton are the only stand out side so far and we're not far off them. We need European football fairly early on to keep the likes of Bruno happy to stay.

 

[Wallsendmag]

10 minutes ago, RodneyCisse said:

Given where leverkusen are in the league they’ll be looking to get a payout plus he’ll want European football the season after.

 

Aye I think he could be a pretty easy signing to do in January, same with Maddison.

[STM]

Those saying they would be happy with a 10th finish do realise that it would mean some of Wolves, Palace, Leicester, West Ham finishing above us right?

 

We have to be realistic and accept that for most nufc fans finishing 10th, and below a couple of those sides, would be a slight disappointment.

 

For all the "it's a transition year" stuff, it still wouldn't be any justification for being content at finishing behind any of those sides above. We have a better squad than all of them, a better manager, more momentum.

 

Yes, not being a relegation battle is a bless, given the hell of the MA era but "top 10" isn't a target, its a default fallback position for sides that can't reach Europe.

[ilikenewcastle]

2 hours ago, Optimistic Nut said:

 

I get this, but I'd be disappointed if we didn't challenge to be 'best of the rest'. Brighton are the only stand out side so far and we're not far off them. We need European football fairly early on to keep the likes of Bruno happy to stay.

 

Not gonna lie I'd be a bit disappointed if we did end up finishing behind Brighton - a side that regularly starts Welbeck in 2022. They have as many points as they did at this stage last season so hopefully won't be European contenders again this year.

[Superior Acuña]

I said 8th at the start of the season. I wobbled a bit after the Bournemouth draw, but now I do think we'll finish 7th. We're pretty decent and 7th does allow for underwhelming home draws and the like, we can strengthen in january and I'm just not sure who I'd bet on to pip us to 7th (before the season I'd have said Leicester).

 

9th or 10th wouldn't be a disaster, but agree it'd be a little disappointing and impact our ability to keep/attract players like Bruno.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by Inferior Acuña

[bowlingcrofty]

Before the season I’d have said West Ham were the big threat to top 7, but they’ve been pretty poor so far and will have a lot of travelling etc.

 

I think the biggest threat is Brighton, will be interesting to see how they go under their new manager. 

[STM]

West Ham were my biggest worry and still have the most comparative squad but I sense they will have teething problems all season.

[RiderJake]

10 hours ago, STM said:

Those saying they would be happy with a 10th finish do realise that it would mean some of Wolves, Palace, Leicester, West Ham finishing above us right?

 

We have to be realistic and accept that for most nufc fans finishing 10th, and below a couple of those sides, would be a slight disappointment.

 

For all the "it's a transition year" stuff, it still wouldn't be any justification for being content at finishing behind any of those sides above. We have a better squad than all of them, a better manager, more momentum.

 

Yes, not being a relegation battle is a bless, given the hell of the MA era but "top 10" isn't a target, its a default fallback position for sides that can't reach Europe.

Of course, I wouldn't want to fight at the bottom of the table. And this year Newcastle shows a good defensive game, as I expected. But to have only 2 wins out of 8 games is not enough, and we need points to be in 5th place in the table.
If the trend continues, top 10 is the max for this year. Without wins, we won't be ranked high, will we?

[STM]

1 minute ago, RiderJake said:

Of course, I wouldn't want to fight at the bottom of the table. And this year Newcastle shows a good defensive game, as I expected. But to have only 2 wins out of 8 games is not enough, and we need points to be in 5th place in the table.
If the trend continues, top 10 is the max for this year. Without wins, we won't be ranked high, will we?

 

How can you say if the trend continues we will be 10th, when we are 7th?

 

The "2 wins" thing is only telling part of the story. 1 loss would be equally as telling.

 

Don't get me wrong, our clear issue is going to be breaking down teams in tight games. However, the difference is that we will always be in games to begin with.

 

The only issue, as far as I can see, is keeping enough of our potent players fit for long enough of the season. We can deal with one of Maxi, Bruno, Wilson, Trippier etc missing. When it becomes 2 or 3, we have issues.

[Groundhog63]

3 minutes ago, STM said:

The only issue, as far as I can see, is keeping enough of our potent players fit for long enough of the season. We can deal with one of Maxi, Bruno, Wilson, Trippier etc missing. When it becomes 2 or 3, we have issues.

My old Nana used to say "If ifs & buts were pots & pans there'd be no need for tinkers" 

Having said that ? I can't help but look at the table and think "if we hadn't been shafted v Palace, beaten AFCB, we'd be 4th"

 

Im happy so far. Been decent and competing in every game. 

 

The injury thing might balance out in relation to the teams having to compete in Europe that we aspire to compete with. 

The "best of the rest", as it were, are in the same boat as us, squad depth wise. 

[Karjala]

Find it a bit hard to believe people would really be happy with a 10th place finish. 

 

Bare minimum for me at the start of the season was 8th, anything less and it would be an underachievement. Given that most of our main contenders for 7th and 8th have started very poorly, i'd be even more disappointed if we were 10th at the end of the season.

[Wallsendmag]

11 hours ago, Ikon said:

Diaby has 1 assist in the league this season in 8 games. Not saying he is a bad player or anything. For the money he would cost I think I’d rather see us trying for Nico Williams. He might be more difficult to get though, not sure how realistic.

 

 

 

 

He's playing in a very poor team who've had their worst start to a season in over 40 years. I'd look beyond this season and concentrate more on what he's done in the past when judging him tbh.

 

I've actually attended a Leverkusen home game this season in August. They lost 3-0 at home against Hoffenheim and were beyond dreadful. Admittedly Diaby was pretty anonymous that afternoon but we got talking to a few Leverkusen fans and I was asking about him with us being linked with him and every one of them said the same. Absolutely brilliant and they'll be devastated when he inevitably leaves.

[Ikon]

10 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

He's playing in a very poor team who've had their worst start to a season in over 40 years. I'd look beyond this season and concentrate more on what he's done in the past when judging him tbh.

 

I've actually attended a Leverkusen home game this season in August. They lost 3-0 at home against Hoffenheim and were beyond dreadful. Admittedly Diaby was pretty anonymous that afternoon but we got talking to a few Leverkusen fans and I was asking about him with us being linked with him and every one of them said the same. Absolutely brilliant and they'll be devastated when he inevitably leaves.

 

 

Fair enough. I'm still a bit cautious about him for the prices quoted before at least. From the games i've seen i have found that he is pretty raw. Not sure how he would do in a possession based team if the oppostion is defending very deep. I can see teams doing this against us, especially the lesser teams and at home. Obviously wouldn't mind him, just thinking that maybe a more natural flair player would be better for us.

[80]

Always shocked at how easily people get ahead of themselves. I think 7th is achievable, but the idea of 9th being underachievement is silly to me. People pull their hair out with the state of our bench, so unless they're massively overreacting, we have a weak squad even if we have a fine first eleven.

[Kid Icarus]

3 minutes ago, 80 said:

Always shocked at how easily people get ahead of themselves. I think 7th is achievable, but the idea of 9th being underachievement is silly to me. People pull their hair out with the state of our bench, so unless they're massively overreacting, we have a weak squad even if we have a fine first eleven.

N-O is bipolar depending on our last result like. We've done really well so far, but 7th means us staying injury free for a decent amount of time, which so far we haven't.

[Groundhog63]

2 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

N-O is bipolar depending on our last result like. We've done really well so far, but 7th means us staying injury free for a decent amount of time, which so far we haven't.

We're 7th now

[54]

Personally of the opinion that this season is a bit of a free hit, we're very unlikely to be in a relegation battle for the first time in 14 years, and we don't have an overall squad yet where it is expected of us to be competing for European places, so just taking it game at a time, and trying to enjoy a stress free season.