STM Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 As soon as this cup final and couple of tough fixtures are out the way, we will see a different Newcastle. We can press the reset button, get players back and start our recovery. It will get worse before it gets better but it will get better results wise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I cannot believe this fucking shite Spurs team are about to enter the top 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paullow Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 6 minutes ago, The Prophet said: It usually guarantees a Europa League spot. Yeah, possibly, although while almost certainly will, and can't remember the last time a team finishing 6th wouldn't have had European football, 6th doesn't necessarily guarantee it. But even going back to the mid 90s, Everton beating Man Utd in the FA Cup final meant our 6th place finish wasn't enough for Europe, but that finish feels a lot better than the 7th place finish in the 00s (Bramble vs Chelsea) which did get us into Europe via the backdoor. Doesn't seem much difference to finishing 5th like we have twice in the PL to 6th, whereas 6th to 7th does. I'd often highlight our 8 PL top 6 finishes, even with one of them not getting Europe, whereas I wouldn't say 9 top 7 finishes if that makes sense. Also really surprising that with no Intertoto or Fair Play these days, there's sometimes less teams in Europe in 2023 than there was in the late 90's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997–98_FA_Premier_League Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 14 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said: I cannot believe this fucking shite Spurs team are about to enter the top 4 They're shocking, like. Kane, Kulusevski et al just dig them out the shit over and over. Bentancur will be a miss for them but I'll actually be a bit disappointed if they finish above us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormy Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 37 minutes ago, Paullow said: Does top 6 generally sound more significant to others, and if so, why do you think that is? Personally I don't see it as much more significant unless it gets Europe and 7th doesn't, but I can see why people may think it is for the the reasons already mentioned. Firstly, you may feel like you're cracking that 'big six' and not just being 'best of the rest'. Secondly, without looking back I can imagine European qualification drops to 6th more often than it doesn't, so still feels like a likely chance of Europe compared to 7th being much more uncertain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawalls Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 29 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said: They're shocking, like. Kane, Kulusevski et al just dig them out the shit over and over. Bentancur will be a miss for them but I'll actually be a bit disappointed if they finish above us. Blame us though - couldn’t beat Leeds, West Ham or a lot of other teams down there. 6th is a great season still and I feel that’s what we’re aiming for realistically. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paullow Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 18 minutes ago, wormy said: Personally I don't see it as much more significant unless it gets Europe and 7th doesn't, but I can see why people may think it is for the the reasons already mentioned. Firstly, you may feel like you're cracking that 'big six' and not just being 'best of the rest'. Secondly, without looking back I can imagine European qualification drops to 6th more often than it doesn't, so still feels like a likely chance of Europe compared to 7th being much more uncertain. There have been a lot more 'top 4' (obviously) and 'top 6' options on betting sites, whereas you'll rarely see the same for top 5 or top 7 odds. It's been like that for years, but whether the 'big 6' has influenced that market being present, I'm not sure. https://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/premier-league/top-6-finish On a less related note, I see Brighton are around 11/8 to finish top 6, whereas Fulham, despite that shock and smash and grab win yesterday, are still way out at 10/1. Maybe another thing, and perhaps more relevant to when we were both battling to stay in the league year on year prior to 2016, with minimal ambition and optimism, but Sunderland haven't finished in the top 6 of the top flight since 1954/55, almost 70 years, so when things were bleak, and the teams were more comparable, the fact they hadn't finished that high in most people's lives whearas we had a number of times, perhaps that possibly played a small part in it looking more significant as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heron Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Now 5th Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
et tu brute Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Just now, Heron said: Now 5th No surprise if you can't get wins in a spell of games against the likes of Leeds, Palace, Bournemouth and West Ham then you're going to struggle for teams to not move ahead in the table. Not a rant just a fact. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 We were always going to drop outside the top 4 given some teams play 3 times before we next play a team in the league that isn't Man City. Games in hand, and finally getting a fucking break with the international break coming up will be a godsend tbh ahead of a crucial run in, especially at home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUICE690 Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 (edited) We're still relying of players like Matt Ritchie. This was inevitable. Squad is paper thin. Full strength, we can beat anyone. Our bench options will be the reason we miss out on 4th. It was a crazy reach in such a trasitional season but I'm not sure we'll get an 'easier' chance with so many big sides underperforming. Not over yet though. Edited February 19, 2023 by JUICE690 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I’m not sure what happened to our pressing and the training ground free kicks that we had earlier in the season. Seems to be either nerves or fitness. I think this cup final has been the undoing of our league season to be honest, that and Bruno’s red card. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Psychological boost to be chasing, instead of being chased ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 5 minutes ago, et tu brute said: No surprise if you can't get wins in a spell of games against the likes of Leeds, Palace, Bournemouth and West Ham then you're going to struggle for teams to not move ahead in the table. Not a rant just a fact. The opposition is rather irrelevant. One win in six will generally see you drop down the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Wouldn't mind if it wasn't fucking Spurs and their shite football going ahead of us. Chelsea and Brighton have ended up being the only good results for us in what has otherwise been an awful weekend of FA Premier League football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pubteam Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Oh well was fun while it lasted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
et tu brute Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 2 minutes ago, The Prophet said: The opposition is rather irrelevant. One win in six will generally see you drop down the league. It's not irrelevant when it's games you should be winning if you want to maintain 4th place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDT Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 10 minutes ago, JUICE690 said: We're still relying of players like Matt Ritchie. This was inevitable. Squad is paper thin. Full strength, we can beat anyone. Our bench options will be the reason we miss out on 4th. It was a crazy reach in such a trasitional season but I'm not sure we'll get an 'easier' chance with so many big sides underperforming. Not over yet though. Ritchie has to played about 30 minutes all season in the league, absolutely no way are we relying on him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 There is still a chance our form turns and we finish top four like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUICE690 Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 (edited) 3 minutes ago, KDT said: Ritchie has to played about 30 minutes all season in the league, absolutely no way are we relying on him. Just an example of the strength of our bench. And if he comes on, we are still relying on him, no matter the minutes. Edited February 19, 2023 by JUICE690 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paullow Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 (edited) Home Arsenal Man Utd Tottenham Brighton Leicester Wolves Southampton Away Man City Chelsea Villa Brentford Everton Forest West Ham Leeds I haven't checked the order and that will become a bit more significant if we play some teams when they have nothing to play, or maybe have a cup QF / SF / final on their mind, like what we have, and it's more of an 'on paper' order of difficulty, but there do look some very difficult fixtures there. The likes of Forest are very good at home, unbeaten in 8 now, Goodison was a bit of a fortress late last season, Dyche has won 2 out of 2 at home, there is always a bit of needle in the fixture, and the Gordon factor won't help. There's honestly not many there that I look at and think that should be 3 points. Maybe Wolves and Southampton at home, and possibly one or two of the bottom 6 (on the list, not table) away matches, and of course we will pick up some wins / results in matches we weren't necessarily expecting, but we have passed up a lot of winnable fixtures in 2022, a lot more favourable looking than a lot of those remaining. Edited February 19, 2023 by Paullow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 1 minute ago, Paullow said: Home Arsenal Man Utd Tottenham Brighton Leicester Wolves Southampton Away Man City Chelsea Villa Brentford Everton Forest West Ham Leeds I haven't checked the order and that will become a bit more significant if we play some teams when they have nothing to play, or maybe have a cup QF / SF / final on their mind, like what we have, and it's more of an 'on paper' order of difficulty, but there do look some very difficult fixtures there. The likes of Forest are very good at home, unbeaten in 8 now, Goodison was a bit of a fortress late last season, Dyche has won 2 out of 2 at home, there is always a bit of needle in the fixture, and the Gordon factor won't help. There's honestly not many there that I look at and think that should be 3 points. Maybe Wolves and Southampton at home, and possibly one or two of the bottom 6 away matches, and of course we will pick up some results in matches we weren't expecting, but we have passed up a lot of winnable fixtures in 2022, a lot more favourable looking than a lot of those remaining. It's always the way when your form's poor and everything looks winnable when you're in good form. I'm just hoping that after the final, regardless of what happens we turn a corner and our form improves. My main cause for optimism is that I think it's solely down to poor finishing. I'd be really worried if we were playing badly or creating nothing, but that's not the case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CM1961 Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Spurs 2 - West Ham 0 (3pts) Arsenal 3 - West Ham 1 (3pts) Chelsea 2 - West Ham 1 (3pts) Liverpool 1 - West Ham 0 (3pts) Man U 1 - West Ham 0 (3pts) NUFC 1 - West Ham 1 (1pt) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paullow Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said: It's always the way when your form's poor and everything looks winnable when you're in good form. I'm just hoping that after the final, regardless of what happens we turn a corner and our form improves. My main cause for optimism is that I think it's solely down to poor finishing. I'd be really worried if we were playing badly or creating nothing, but that's not the case. That is a fair point mind, if you had won back to back games then e.g. Leeds away will look more favourable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holloway Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Some tough away games there,apart from Chelsea Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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