Wolfcastle Posted October 3, 2022 Share Posted October 3, 2022 3 hours ago, AyeDubbleYoo said: I'm kind of enjoying this period of still being a relatively normal football club. I think in a weird way, the time when we're a behemoth packed with superstar signings will be a bit harder to adjust to 'sometimes its better to travel in hope than arrive' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
80 Posted October 3, 2022 Share Posted October 3, 2022 22 minutes ago, STM said: While I agree with your sentiment, finishing 9th means 2 sides from below us finish above us. Liverpool, ok that's understandable but which other side finishing above us, at this stage, wouldn't you disappointed with? That's it for me, it's not to do with being annoyed about league position per say, it's annoyed about sides I deem worse than us, finishing above us, if that makes sense. Definitely see where you're coming from, but I'm sure some of them e.g. West Ham will be hoping to copy our last season's turnaround and significantly outperform their first half of the season. Meanwhile, to look at it glass half empty, we've had a fairly soft start to the season - only wins against newly promoted teams and not having yet played most of the typical top 8 (Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Man United, Leicester and West Ham still to come). Some of them have had poor starts, sure, but maybe it's a shame we've not already faced them before they hit their stride? Time will tell. Re: them having worse teams than us, I can maybe go along with that, but we shouldn't forget that we have a worse club than them at the moment - great work is being done off the pitch, but we're still literally years behind on the sports science, infrastructure and culture building side of things. That's not the fault of anyone now at the club, but it's a challenge the likes of Brighton aren't having to face. I don't want to make excuses, but I wouldn't be surprised if we're picking up injuries on many of our players right now because of the previous years of deconditioning they experienced. Particularly considering the January transfer window, I think this could turn out to be a great season for us - even bettering 7th. But Bruno breaking a leg could also see it go pear shaped pretty quickly. So we're operating on fine margins, and it seems we'd be setting ourselves up to be underwhelmed if not outright disappointed if we judge 7th as the acceptable league finish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54 Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 (edited) We need at home 9 more wins & no more draws (27 points to go) We need away from home 6 more wins & 1 more draw (19 points to go) 2 points off the pace. Nottingham Forest (H)- 3 points required - 3 points won (On track for 60 points) Brighton (A) - 0 points required - 1 point won (On track for 61 points) Manchester City (H) - 0 points required - 1 point won (On track for 62 points) Wolves (A) - 0 points required - 1 point won (On track for 62 points) Liverpool (A) - 0 points required - 0 points won (On track for 62 points) Crystal Palace (H) - 3 points required - 1 point won (On track for 60 points) Bournemouth (H) - 3 points required - 1 point won (On track for 58 points) Fulham (A) - 3 points required - 3 points won (On track for 58 points) Brentford (H) - 3 points required - 3 points won (On track for 58 points) Manchester United (A) - 0 points required Everton (H) - 3 points required Spurs (A) - 0 points required Aston Villa (H) - 3 points required Southampton (A) - 3 points required Chelsea (H) - 0 points required Leicester (A) - 0 points required Leeds (H) - 3 points required Arsenal (A) - 0 points required Fulham (H) - 3 points required Crystal Palace (A) - 0 points required (originally 1 point required) West Ham (H) - 3 points required (originally 1 point) Bournemouth (A) - 3 points required Liverpool (H) - 0 points required Brighton (H) - 3 points required Man City (A) - 0 points required Wolves (H) - 3 points required Nottingham Forest (A) - 3 points required Manchester United (H) - 0 points required (originally 1 point required) Brentford (A) - 1 point required Aston Villa (A) - 3 points required Spurs (H) - 0 points required Everton (A) - 3 points required Southampton (H) - 3 points required Arsenal (H) - 0 points required Leeds (A) - 3 points required Leicester (H) - 3 points required (was 1 point) Chelsea (A) - 0 points required West Ham (A) - 0 points required Edited October 8, 2022 by Optimistic Nut Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54 Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 We have a +8 goal difference, can't imagine when the last time we had something that high Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 Should be 4th because of the Palace debacle as well, but considering the injuries it's been excellent so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaus Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 I was cautious with my prediction of 8th. Anything higher than this is still a huge bonus for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzza Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 I am still well up for seventh. We havent really clicked so far I reckon. would love to save a big trouncing for Manu (really annoy me) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 Three good tests coming up. Away to two of the big six and Everton, who will turn up and play a low block, which we've struggled against. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 4 points would be good. Even 3 would be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
samptime29 Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 6 games before break what you happy with? 10-11 points? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing Brave Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 I'm still struggling to believe we aren't in a relegation battle this season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stottie Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 All going to plan. Just to treat this as a stats analysis thread, our record in the first half of games is eight goals for and just two (Man City and Wolves) against. xG is 10.5 for, 3.5 against. Teams are adjusting and coming back at us second half, where it's nine goals for and seven against. xG is 10.5 for, 8.7 against. In the league as a whole, there have been 103 goals in the first half and 143 in the second. a 43/57% split. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoSelecta Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Need to recalibrate my brain for the other league fixtures. So used to scrapping for our lives my automatic thought is ‘I hope Man Utd get something at Everton’. Or to put it more broadly hoping the ‘top half teams’ beat the bottom half. We’re now just as likely to be competing with Man Utd come the end of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamPS Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Yeah the teams to focus on has shifted massively. the good news for 7th is Leicester, West Ham and Villa haven’t had the best starts, but NUFC aren’t many points above. I think these 3 are the ones most likely to make up the top half by May I'm still hoping Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal win every game against mid table teams as doubt they’ll be close to NUFC by the end of the season. Would be nice to have to revise that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfcastle Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Having the closest we've had to a full squad available (since we felt there'd be business before the window shut) puts a slightly different slant on things. But for the relative thinness of the squad it would be a real possibility. Know were going to get problems though so will stick with 9th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 On a target of 1.5 points per game, which would see us with the average points haul for a side aiming to finish 7th. We are currently on 1.55, which is encouraging. Plenty of highs an lows to go but we are currently on for 7th place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormy Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Saw it mentioned elsewhere on the forum but that goal difference really is a sight to behold. When was the last time we were in to such positive figures? Even when we've finished in 'respectable' league positions I seem to recall our goal difference either being decidedly average or looking completely out of place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tisd09 Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 It doesn’t seem real that we are as high as we are especially when we feel we are a couple of points short of where we wanted to be with the fixtures. It’s great not looking at the points of the bottom 8 but I’m not really looking at the top 8 either, almost took me by surprise that we were high as 5th. Man imagine what it could be if ASM stays fit and Isak comes back strong with Joey to come back in. Crazy potential. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfella Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 11 minutes ago, wormy said: Saw it mentioned elsewhere on the forum but that goal difference really is a sight to behold. When was the last time we were in to such positive figures? Even when we've finished in 'respectable' league positions I seem to recall our goal difference either being decidedly average or looking completely out of place. Yep. In Pardew's fifth placed season, our goal difference was only +5, which told a tale in itself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 We have the equal best defence in the league, along with City and Brighton. That stat has blown my mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormy Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Just now, STM said: We have the equal best defence in the league, along with City and Brighton. That stat has blown my mind. Imagine how good it'd be if we had a manager that knew how to defend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menace Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Feels like I need to pinch myself at times Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 (edited) As long as we beat Everton in these 3 games, we're on track. Should be looking at 9 points on total before the World Cup, anything above that means a result against Man U, Spurs or Chelsea which would be brilliant. Edited October 10, 2022 by Optimistic Nut Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoSelecta Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 13 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said: As long as we beat Everton in these 3 games, we're on track. Should be looking at 9 points on total before the World Cup, anything above that means a result against Man U, Spurs or Chelsea which would be brilliant. Quite a tough run in, hoping we get something off Chelsea as I’ll be there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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