Lush Vlad Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I know we’ll lose Big Joe for a couple of games soon. But I feel like some of the options and competition for places will help us turn our form around. Targett, Willock and Bruno hopefully all coming back in the next game or two. With ASM now finding a bit of form and fitness and also Gordon pushing for a start. With hopefully Wilson staying fit and his minutes being managed so he can contribute. Suddenly the squad looks a bit better. It might be the spark that we need and also help us stop becoming too predictable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I think Liverpool might nip in a take 4th but that’s not at all me throwing the towel in. They just have a better squads and we’re relying on everyone staying fit. I do think win or lose we’ll re focus on the league. I think there’s an argument Targett coming back in to freshen our play up and an extended run in the team together for Bruno, Gordon, Isak could see us pick up again. Either way it’s still been a great season and I wouldn’t be crying if we finish 5th or 6th. Be disappointing to miss 4th but the league is 38 games not 19 and you have to maintain form right the way through. I think too many were possibly assuming we’d get 4th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CM1961 Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 This season has far exceeded my expectation. Just brillant. But I like to monitor our top 4 opposition in like-for-like fixtures to see where we are. If we only look at the points from those games we get : Man U +12 points on us Liverpool +3 Spurs -1 Chelsea -4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 1 minute ago, CM1961 said: This season has far exceeded my expectation. Just brillant. But I like to monitor our top 4 opposition in like-for-like fixtures to see where we are. If we only look at the points from those games we get : Man U +12 points on us Liverpool +3 Spurs -1 Chelsea -4 Does this include head to heads? If not it should and would be Man U +12 Liverpool +9 Spurs -4 Chelsea -7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CM1961 Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 (edited) Yep ... it already includes head to head matches. Man U +12 points on us Liverpool +3 Spurs -1 Chelsea -4 Liverpool (our nearest rivals for 4th ?) are away at Palace next. We drew 0-0 there. Edited February 19, 2023 by CM1961 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Liverpool looked absolutely shit tbh, they'll have to improve a lot to make the top 4 ahead of Brighton. We're still favourites imo, just nowhere near as much as we were a few games ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotus Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I’d like to get European football next season and I think we will. Probably as a result of Manu getting top 4 and beating us in the final. I think CL would be a step too far for everyone at this stage. I think a season or 2 with UEFA cup football as we mature into a side who can handle CL group games mid week coupled with high pressure PL games at the weekend will take a bit of time for everyone, players and coaches alike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 50 minutes ago, Lotus said: I’d like to get European football next season and I think we will. Probably as a result of Manu getting top 4 and beating us in the final. I think CL would be a step too far for everyone at this stage. I think a season or 2 with UEFA cup football as we mature into a side who can handle CL group games mid week coupled with high pressure PL games at the weekend will take a bit of time for everyone, players and coaches alike. It’s only the UEFA Conference qualifying round for winning the League Cup. Not even sure it transfers to the losing team. Should the winners already be in a better UEFA competition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paullow Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 (edited) As far as I can remember you've never got into Europe for losing the League Cup final, regardless of who beats you, and the FA Cup runners up haven't either for a good few years now. Basically: 5th get's Europa League FA Cup winners get Europa League League Cup winners get Europa Conference 6th guarantees you nothing (prior to the cups being sorted) If League Cup is won by a side who goes on to qualify for Europe in the league then 6th gets Europa Conference (if FA Cup is won by a side not in Europe) If FA Cup is also won by a side who goes on to qualify for Europe in the league then 6th would become Europa League, and 7th would be Europa Conference With Man Utd virtually assured of a top 6 finish, if we were to finish 6th (and lose the final) then that would definitely secure some form of European football - Europa if a top team wins the FA Cup, Conference League if a lesser side wins it. Complicated stuff, but two ways to (effectively) guarantee European football - win the League cup or finish in the top 6 (taking Man Utd's likely league finish into account), or if we finish 7th and lose the final, hope Man U, Man C, or Spurs win the FA Cup. Edited February 19, 2023 by Paullow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St1pe Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 We’ve maintained top four form since last January so I wouldn’t be surprised if we kept it going despite looking leggy in recent weeks. In past seasons that would have been a 5-0 demolition after what happened early on yet we continued to push them. Not going to bleat on about it because I’ve mentioned it a few times but always felt not investing in January was a missed opportunity given what we had in front of us. We could have skipped a couple of years development with Champions League money. We still might though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 (edited) 13 minutes ago, St1pe said: We’ve maintained top four form since last January so I wouldn’t be surprised if we kept it going despite looking leggy in recent weeks. In past seasons that would have been a 5-0 demolition after what happened early on yet we continued to push them. Not going to bleat on about it because I’ve mentioned it a few times but always felt not investing in January was a missed opportunity given what we had in front of us. We could have skipped a couple of years development with Champions League money. We still might though. I think the club were/are aware of the opportunity to finish 4th this season. Regarding January my guess is the players they wanted weren’t available or they were being quoted absurd prices. In an ideal world players other than Gordon would’ve come in but I imagine they’d have solid reasons why further signings didn’t happen. I don’t think they’ve just thought “let’s chance it”. FFP is an issue they have to be mindful of too. Edited February 19, 2023 by ExiledGeordie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Back to a full compliment with no cup distractions after next weekend. I think after City we'll kick on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Also, we're not playing next weekend and have City away the week after. I hope there's some appreciation we could find ourselves in 5th-6th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 13 hours ago, The Prophet said: Wilson's drop off is bizarre. Not seen him had a run like this in his time here, he just doesn't look confident in front of goal. I thought he looked good yesterday tbh, played the ball early when offering himself for a pass, and got in on goal when given an opportunity. Howe will play him 100% in the final next week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleBingo Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I can't believe the owners & Howe have been here just over a year, and we still haven't got a CL standard squad yet. Absolutely fucking outrageous if we don't finish top 4. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paullow Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 1 hour ago, The Prophet said: Also, we're not playing next weekend and have City away the week after. I hope there's some appreciation we could find ourselves in 5th-6th. Had a look at the PL fixtures next week saw there were only 8 matches and had to have a quick think of which other teams weren't playing, and took a good minute for me to realise Brighton and Brentford are the two teams with the weekend off, so I guess that does limit the chances of some teams closing in a bit, but aye, chances for others to put a bit of pressure on Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choppy Chop Chop Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 (edited) 8 minutes ago, UncleBingo said: I can't believe the owners & Howe have been here just over a year, and we still haven't got a CL standard squad yet. Absolutely fucking outrageous if we don't finish top 4. Your having a laugh, We should be at least 6 points clear of Arsenal and on course for a Cup double Edited February 19, 2023 by Choppy Chop Chop Spelling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisJbarnes Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 (edited) 23 games played, 15 to go. Only lost 2 league games. Best defence in the league. Goal difference of 20. Still 4th entirely on merit. It was never going to be plain sailing was it? It will always be tight to finish in the top 4 but with 15 games left and no distractions after the final next weekend, no European fixtures and FA cup to further exhaust our squad I fancy our chances as much as anyone else's (Tottenham and Liverpool being most likely challengers ) If our bumpy patch involved a few draws and then a loss to Liverpool whilst Bruno was suspended and we can start to pick up again then great. We've achieved all of the above despite Isak being injured for most of the season. Gordon ASM and Isak back now. Just needs a few of them to get back into full form and we have a crack. I won't be particularly gutted if we just miss out. Phenomenal season all things considered. Edited February 19, 2023 by ChrisJbarnes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Didn’t realise we’re out of the top four if Spurs win today ffs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Just now, Decky said: Didn’t realise we’re out of the top four if Spurs win today ffs. Was going to happen especially given the result yesterday tbf. Including today, Liverpool and Spurs play 3 times before we play a league game that isn't Man City (A). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Just now, HaydnNUFC said: Was going to happen especially given the result yesterday tbf. Including today, Liverpool and Spurs play 3 times before we play a league game that isn't Man City (A). Yeah, just gonna be shit to see us 5th and maybe 6th now if Liverpool keep winning in that scenario. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloGeordio Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Just now, Decky said: Yeah, just gonna be shit to see us 5th and maybe 6th now if Liverpool keep winning in that scenario. A year ago who’d have thunk we could even be thinking like this? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexf Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I think it's all about the final right now. Once that is out the way..win or lose...if we drop to 5th/6th it might actually suit us more to be chasing down 4th rather than trying to hang on to it. Hopefully more players coming back from injury, so can rotate the 11 more and with no other competitions to distract like some of the other teams, we can give it our all for the remaining games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzza Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 If you look at the top ten teams currently in the league, I reckon all are capable of beating anyone on their day, really strong league this year (second part at least). Top six would be a great achievement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
samptime29 Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Need to beat Wolves and Forest back to back and we can definitely get 4th. City a total free hit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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