7th-ometer

[The Butcher]

If we don't get CL in two years time Bruno will be off. Europa League won't be enough for him to stay imo. 

[Yorkie]

6 hours ago, Ronaldo said:

I don’t think people realise the implications of us finishing in basically the same position as last season. We won’t hold on to our top players if we don’t show progression and 10th absolutely isn’t progression. We were 3 points off 8th last season despite our campaign only really starting in November. 

 

I agree with you, I just can't see us sustaining a European push if we're relying on a handful of goals from Maxi, a handful from Bruno, and the odd one from the other midfielders and defenders. If we sign an upgrade to Wood or a goalscorer in a different position (a la Maddison) I'll change my prediction. 

[Collage]

Voted 8th. Still think Leicester and Man U will finish ahead of us. Different story if we sign Maddison. Our squad is still a bit thin, in case of injuries to Bruno and Wilson for example.

[HaydnNUFC]

8 hours ago, Yorkie said:

 

I agree with you, I just can't see us sustaining a European push if we're relying on a handful of goals from Maxi, a handful from Bruno, and the odd one from the other midfielders and defenders. If we sign an upgrade to Wood or a goalscorer in a different position (a la Maddison) I'll change my prediction. 

 

Agree and agree with Ronaldo too, hence why I'm holding back from or editing predictions until and when the transfer window closes.

[BonesJones]

I've gone 8th. Feel like the chances of us not losing an important player or two at some stage are close to impossible, so not much chance of anything higher unless the other teams (man utd/Leicester/west ham) have bad seasons. We just lack the depth it's so obvious when you look at other teams squads that we hope to surpass.

 

First XI fit for 35 games with a new right RW and possibly attacking CM, who knows what we could manage. 6th if things worked in our favour. I'd love us to be the one to knock Man U out of the top 6. Maybe next season!

[duo]

15 hours ago, The Butcher said:

If we don't get CL in two years time Bruno will be off. Europa League won't be enough for him to stay imo. 

Get Paqueta plus a striker and we'll get it this year 

[samptime29]

12 minutes ago, duo said:

Get Paqueta plus a striker and we'll get it this year 

 

That's the spirit 😆 

[Coffee_Johnny]

7 hours ago, samptime29 said:

 

That's the spirit 😆 

😂 for some reason that reminded me of the Man City ‘greeter’:

”That’s the ticket! Shoulders-back chin-up, you’re a hunk of Geordie manliness!” 

[toon25]

I can see Manure imploding this year tbh.

 

The top 2/3 will be Spurs, Liverpool City. Chelsea, Arsenal will make up top 5. West Ham 6th. Challengers for 7-8th will be us (I hope), Wolves, Villa (if they bin Gerrard) and Leicester.

[Coffee_Johnny]

8 minutes ago, toon25 said:

I can see Manure imploding this year tbh.

 

The top 2/3 will be Spurs, Liverpool City. Chelsea, Arsenal will make up top 5. West Ham 6th. Challengers for 7-8th will be us (I hope), Wolves, Villa (if they bin Gerrard) and Leicester.

I think we already have a really good chance of finishing above Man Utd this year. I doubt the NUFC leadership  will be getting as carried away as us supporters (well me, at least) but with a couple of ‘stretch ourselves now’ kind of signings I genuinely believe we could elbow our way into the mix this year. 

[Stal]

3rd

[McCormick]

2 hours ago, toon25 said:

I can see Manure imploding this year tbh.

 

The top 2/3 will be Spurs, Liverpool City. Chelsea, Arsenal will make up top 5. West Ham 6th. Challengers for 7-8th will be us (I hope), Wolves, Villa (if they bin Gerrard) and Leicester.

My hot-take prediction is that Palace will finish above Wolves and Gerard’s Villa.

[STM]

On 08/08/2022 at 16:17, STM said:

58.5 points is the average you need for 7th, over the last 4 years.

 

That's 1.5 points per game.

 

We finished on 49 points last year, so in theory we need to find 10 points this year.

 

That sounds easy when you consider the 14 games at the start of last season but you also have to assume that we won't go on top 4 form like we did at the back end of the season.

 

I'd also be interested to see what scope there was for transfers in January. Especially if we get a key injury, like ASM/Wilson/ Targett where we have zero depth.

 

Just an update 2 games in:

 

Newcastle: 4 points after 2 games, an average of 2 PPG above the target of 1.5 PPG. Of course this will reduce after we play city. 

 

Other potential rivals after 2 games:

Brighton: 4 points

Villa: 3 points

Leicester: 1 point

Wolves: 1 point

Man Utd: 0 points

Palace: 0 points Play on Monday against Liverpool

West Ham: 0 points

 

Other sides not included because I either don't believe they are strong enough or are the "top 5" teams.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by STM

[gazza ladra]

BHA should spend some of that Bissouma and Cucurella money and buy a goal scorer or two. They’re in the race as much as anyone.  
 

Probably first choice for loan. If I’m top 6, and I have a prospect to send out on loan.. 

[The Prophet]

Brighton tend to have an annual nose dive in the final third of the season. I have no idea why, but it's like clockwork.

[PlymouthGeordie]

Personally i think yesterday should temper expectations a bit.

 

Brighton are a very good footballing side but the second half wasn't too dissimilar to how Forest were against us.

 

I'd have taken a point beforehand, but didn't expect us to be penned in our own half and clinging on for almost the entirety of the second half.

 

Admittedly Bruno, who makes us tick, had an off day but I expected us to offer more as an attacking threat vs Brighton.

 

Without further signings I'd say 7th will be beyond us but top 10 is definitely achievable with the cutting squad.

[Klaus]

I think the optimism was based largely on the assumption that we would be much more active in the transfer window. Yesterday's performance was a big wake up call. If key players like Wilson and Bruno have an off day (or when we inevitably pick up injuries) we will struggle. We have no strength in depth coming off the bench.

 

8th based on our current squad imo 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Klaus

[Pata]

32 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Brighton tend to have an annual nose dive in the final third of the season. I have no idea why, but it's like clockwork.

Was earlier last season and they finished strong but they always seem to have that terrible spell at some point. 15-20 goal striker could really transform them. They have the money now so really no excuse to not sign one.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Pata

[Gallowgate Toon]

6 minutes ago, Klaus said:

I think the optimism was based largely on the assumption that we would be much more active in the transfer window. Yesterday's performance was a big wake up call. If key players like Wilson and Bruno have an off day (or when we inevitably pick up injuries) we will struggle. We have no strength in depth coming off the bench.

 

8th based on our current squad imo 

 

 

 

The performance wasn't a wake up call at all at this point. We didn't have Wilson or Bruno for games last season and still won. It's the second match of the season, plenty of teams put in inconsistent performances in the opening ~6 games are so. We've played better against better.

 

You could easily say that 15/16 teams in the league would be much worse off if their star players aren't performing/available.

[jack j]

West ham at home to Brighton. Only the 3rd game but quite important for West ham after their start....

[RodneyCisse]

Think we can do 7th, over Man U and West Ham.

[AJ9]

We would need to recruit better now and in January to hit Europe. No way we’re doing it with the current squad. 

[Paullow]

[Paullow]

That will likely be based on the assumption we bring in a couple of players, as well as anticipated money, and covering losses, and odds are just a number etc. but we are currently more favoured for a top 6 finish than Man Utd at SkyBet. It's actually such a good opportunity to push on, and hopefully not look back. Fingers crossed we can get a little bit extra quality in the side before the end of September.

 

[midds]

Finishing 6th could be a bit of a poisoned chalice tbh. We'd be playing an extra 10-12 games a season, Thursday/Sunday for long periods of the season. That would mean more games, more players, bigger wage bill. Given we're already looking at being reined in by FFP then adding all of that into the equation would suggest it would fall flat on it's face, we don't currently have the academy to pad the squad out in enough games. 

 

Slowly slowly, next 2 or 3 years. Let's build it first before we go big. It'll start with getting the sponsorship deals in first, then we can have a proper go.