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PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:01 pm
by zarababe
we'll finish in the top 3.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:04 pm
by mighty mo
i agree top 3 finish as well and definate  contenders next year

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:32 pm
by JBG
I'll just settle for taking each game as it comes.

God knows what will happen. I think we'll get a top 4 finish and there won't be a massive difference between 2nd place and 4th.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:40 pm
by A.B.
Top 3 finish eh? What happened to "Benitez is clueless" and "we won't finish in the top 4" ?

Fickleness.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:17 pm
by red37
well if rafa doesnt get manager of the month (not that that means jack) for november he never will............btw here is a list of our results post chelsea and apart from the carling cup debacle i think you could say we are in championship winning form. long may it continue...the critical time will be in japan.how much is that trip going to upset the balance? id like to say it wont. but it will. in many ways this is the worst time of all to fly halfway round the world for a bit more un-necessary kudos if you ask me. it may be difficult to hit the ground running again but not impossible, the thing that is not in doubt is the physical demands the squad will endure although mentally we seem focused. we aint done too bad at all have we!

15 Oct Blackburn Rovers 1-0
19 Oct Anderlecht 1-0
22 Oct Fulham 0-2
25 Oct Crystal Palace 1-2
29 Oct West Ham United 2-0
01 Nov Anderlecht 3-0
05 Nov Aston Villa 2-0
19 Nov Portsmouth 3-0
23 Nov Real Betis Champions 0-0
26 Nov Manchester City 1-0
30 Nov Sunderland 2-0
03 Dec Wigan Athletic 3-0

more of the same reds!!!  btw since chelsea (our worst league result) satdy saw us grab our best one. it would be great to see off boro next weekend before japan. not to mention boreinho and dogbreath et al. on tuesday :buttrock

so, the above results (though incomplete) produced a total to date, this is league only here, of, 21 points! ...thats 2 more wins off my (at the time) optimistic claim of at least 27 before new year...just 6 more points to acheive that, out of 4 matches. so its with confidence and with not one thought as to putting mockers on anything other than the opposition of course...that we all can leave behind those dark october days, im sure we can. and roll on next saturday!!!. its been a while since ive thought that too.   

crouch eh? youve got to feel good for the lad. over 24 hours between goals, finally exorcising the twittering media. well guess what footballing fraternity, i can tell you nothing about his NEXT goal, i can though tell you how long its been since we last let one IN....ready?

3,454,880 seconds
57,581 minutes
959.7 hours
39.99 days and
5.71 weeks since.  PRINT THAT  :buttrock
==============================================
i wrote this post at a time of great depression :D

Oct. 03 2005,17:03   

our premier league fixtures up until the next transfer window are:

15 Oct, 2005 Blackburn Rovers  H
22 Oct, 2005 Fulham  A
29 Oct, 2005 West Ham United  H
05 Nov, 2005 Aston Villa  A
19 Nov, 2005 Portsmouth  H
26 Nov, 2005 Manchester City  A
03 Dec, 2005 Wigan Athletic  H
10 Dec, 2005 Middlesbrough  H
17 Dec, 2005 Sunderland  A
26 Dec, 2005 Newcastle United  H
28 Dec, 2005 Everton  A
31 Dec, 2005 West Brom  H

===================================

not being funny but, can anyone see us NOT getting at least 27 points from that lot . december will be TOUGH. and with the business end of the CL group stages on top.. it will be a hard 'ask' thats for sure! i think its attainable though, along with progression to the CL knock-outs.. time will tell.


the cream is rising... :D

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:34 pm
by A.B.
So we play the following teams until the January:

Boro H
Newcastle H
Everton A
West Brom H

3 of 4 are at home, but let's take it one game at a time. We'll see how we play after the World Championship.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:36 pm
by JBG
A.B. wrote:So we play the following teams until the January:

Boro H
Newcastle H
Everton A
West Brom H

3 of 4 are at home, but let's take it one game at a time. We'll see how we play after the World Championship.

The first three games there will be difficult and I can definitely see us dropping points.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:45 pm
by A.B.
We'll see whether you're right or wrong. I don't necesseraly agree with that comment entirely, the Everton game has always been difficult.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:48 pm
by Ciggy
Plus weve got the F.A. Cup tie after the Newcastle, Everton games  :O
Not @rsed if we field the reserves for that TBH.
Glad we are out the Carling Cup though.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:51 pm
by A.B.
Boro have a decent record on the road, and they play much better than they do at home so we shouldn't underestimate them despite being so inconsistant. Newcastle, if Owen doesn't play then they won't play as good as they would and their back four is in sixes and sevens. [especially Boumsong,glad that we didn't sign him].

But they do have players who can make a difference for them[Parker,Shearer,N'gzobia,Given].

PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:53 pm
by Cool Hand Luke
I can see the league roughly shaping up like this come the end of the season, with estimates for points:

Chelsea - 90/95+
Man Utd - 75/80
Arsenal - 75/80
Liverpool - 65/70
Tottenham - 55/60
Bolton - 55/60

I think Chelsea will win the league quiet comfortably, and there isn’t too much between Man Utd and Arsenal, I still think that we will fall 10 points or so short of them 2, but will have a reasonable amount of distance from whoever finishes in 5th spot. I think that would represent good progress for us. At the beginning of the season I wanted us to end up in the top 4, surpass 70 points and get to the knockout stages of the Champions League, 1 has been achieved and the other 2 are well within our grasps.

I still think that Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal are better than us by a reasonable distance, but the gap has closed and that is what we all realistically wanted. I’m not going to get ahead f myself, steady progress is the name of the game.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:07 am
by A.B.
Arsenal are there for the taking. Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing them off but they have a lot of problems in the team. Their back four are unbalanced due to the injuries of Cole and Clichey and because of that Cygan is playing as a left-back. He's shit as a CB let alone a fullback.

Campbell is also past his best, and injuries haven't helped him or Arsenal. So they have lost some of the backbone at the back. In the center of the park they are missing Vieira's pressence. Fabregas is a young talented player but he's no Vieira and Gilberto isn't playing like he did when he had Vieira alongside him.

Then there's Ljungberg whose been plagued with injuries. Up front they don't have problems but when Henry is not playing, they are vulnurable even more.

Where Arsenal struggle in the squad we exceed them[defence and midfield] but they have better forwards. I'm not going to get my hopes up as theres a lot of work to be done, however this is the time to go above Arsenal.

The Henry saga isn't helping them either. We all know how it was when there was speculation about Gerrard for most of the season, and thats the same with Henry and Arsenal. They are a shadow of the team they were 2 seasons ago.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:21 am
by Cool Hand Luke
Arsenal don’t have the team or squad they had 2 years ago but they are still a very strong outfit. Mainly they are lacking in central midfield. The haven’t coped with the losses of Viera and Edu. Cesc, who by the way I think is a tad overrated, is going to be a good player in 3 or 4 years but he is not at the level required to be first team at Arsenal.

Arsenal will definitely look to strengthen in January, at least in central midfield. In Henry Arsenal have the best player in the Premiership, a genuine consistent world class performer, Campbell isnt as quick and mobile as he used to be but he is still and excellent centre back who would make most teams. Personally I think Wenger has gone over the top in this transitional period, relying to heavily on younger players to fill the boots of more experienced players.

But I think that they will finish 2nd or 3rd and then add a couple of quality players in the summer. The quality is there but they haven’t quiet got the squad to cope with injury problems and sustain a title challenge.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:24 am
by A.B.
I doubt that they will finish 2nd again. Like I said, the injuries at the back have caused them dearely. I've seen them play as of late, and when they defend they're terrible. And I'm not taking up about the back four, but the team as a whole.

They are still a strong outfit but not strong enough to be 10-12 points ahead of us. Their away record is p1ss poor and that will cost them points that they would usually pick up.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:06 am
by darwisigila
anything is possible right now. ferguson also think chelski can be caught.just keep winning the next game and we will see what can happen...chelski still need to meet manure, gooners. hope chelski drop points along the way.