Pliskin

I work with Leeds and Forest fans, both are equally as overly confident as one another. The Leeds fans I work with are supremely confident that they’re going to beat us and eventually win the league. He’s even talking about them breaking the points record. Forest fans are something else all together they’re so deluded it’s unreal, the way they talk about them, you’d think they had, had the success we’ve had over the last decade. And they’re all supremely confident they have a valid mitigation with their FFP breaches, because in Johnson…. Somehow the rules don’t apply to them because they’re Forest. Twats…..

**** it.

Spencer would have other things to say!

Come on, I’ve predicted one or two wins!

Hull are a surprise. I think we will lose to Leeds, Hull and West Brom, which will then pave the way for Leeds to eventually overtake us. I just don’t feel comfortable about us, and it sound insane considering our current position, but I just have this feeling we will drop off over the next few games and will end up scrapping for second. I hope I’m wrong, I really do but I can’t see us having the fight in us if it comes down to a slog. Southampton losing was huge, because if we beat them then that could mean they’re confined to the playoffs.

It’s a fair comment. It’s a season defining period and we can find out a lot about the team. Doesn’t matter if you’re a glass half full or empty person, these next cluster of games will decide our date ultimately.

It’s not weak and defeatist, it’s a genuine concern…. It’s down to Enzo and the lads to prove those doubters wrong.

I think the fear is the head to head with Leeds and Southampton. We’ve got to get out of this “we will be fine” mentality, because we’re all in as good as form as each other, and one blip in form and they could take advantage. I think it’s a simple case of we beat Leeds and Southampton, we will comfortably win the league, lose, and there’s still a chance we could be caught by them. It depends how we approach the game, no one can deny we’re still a bit soft, and this is easily taken advantage of by the better teams. I just fear that Friday will be an intense atmosphere and Leeds will likely approach the game with an aggressive press from the off, and we will end up shitting ourselves and cave in. All ifs and buts, but it was worrying to see how the heads dropped after Boro’s second goal, and we’re supposed to be top. I’ve concerns about the teams mentality and this game will really test it. I want us to go there and beat them so badly!

Leeds is a huge game for this reason, more to prove that we are the best, remove any doubt at all!

He won’t no, but one thing that’s been clear in defeat is we lack leadership. Winksy is the only player who really fills that role, heads dropped after Boro’s second goal, and you could just tell we’d lost a percentage of fight. That’s what concerns me.

Because it will be another situation of dropped points against the league “better” teams. Plus, some of us are fearful of our bottle, and a bad result against you guys not only opens the door slightly for you to make a push for the title but it’s a sucker punch for us. Im just fearful you’ll end up battering us, and shatter our confidence, which after Saturday looks a bit vulnerable at present. It all sounds ridiculous considering we’re top of the league, but at times it’s not been all that convincing and we’ve blown many good positions in recent history, it’s a fragility I don’t think Enzo has had time to work totally out of the squad. It’s fair to say it’s a big, big game. And a win for you could be huge come the end of the season.

Need to start leaning on Coady’s leadership skills.

He went into the hairdressers with an already shit hair cut, and came out with an even shitter haircut……

It is, I read an interesting article talking about this. Eventually, I think it will just end up being the same teams going down and coming up. The gap is getting bigger and bigger largely thanks to FFP.

What the **** has Davies got on his head?

Which was my point, wholesale changes would be needed.

I’ve looked at the remaining fixtures for us Leeds and Southampton, and I’d say we’ve got the most problematic run, in Sunderland, Hull and Southampton could be a series of games we slip up in…… I’ve totted up the points and I’ve been quite harsh with us throwing in more defeats than Leeds and Southampton, and have still amassed 101 points, which should be enough to clinch an automatic place. Leeds I think will just edge it, by a point or so, as their run in, is more favourable I’d say. Southampton to settle for the playoffs. There won’t be much in it I don’t think but I think the gap will be closed over the next few games. Essentially, even mediocre form should see us promoted, we would have to hit relegation form to completely fall away, which I can’t see happening. Due to how tight it could be, I think the winner of us V Leeds wins the league eventually.

I agree that the championship is shite. There’s a lot of crap in this league and it’s one thing brushing them aside, but we’ve struggled when coming up against the better of those teams. People need to forget next season, we might even still be here, it’s not a full gone conclusion that we’re up, a couple of more defeats will leave us in a perilous position. But, there will be undoubtedly wholesale changes if we do go up.

I agree with this. To be fair we just need to get this match out of the way, people will sit belly laughing when I say this, but I think you’ve summed our current position up perfectly, we look tired and vulnerable…… and there’s been a lot of talk about us pasting someone, but I think it’s looking more likely we get a pasting in all honesty from one of the better sides in this league. We need to get past this one, and then really regroup to make one final push to keep Leeds and Southampton at arms length and scrapping between themselves.. We’re so close, to let it slip now would be criminal, but none can criticise any of us for being pessimistic, considering we’ve pissed away any good opportunities we’ve had over the last few years, excluding the FA cup. A draw would be a cracking result on Friday if we could get one.

It’s your pace and power that concerns me. We struggled when Ipswich pressed us, and you’ll likely do it better. No we haven’t lost badly this season, but the majority of the league is fairly poor. We managed to remain consistent when you have had dips in form, but now you’re bang on form, confident, at home and will be well up for this. I just think you’ll want it more than us, and will want to prove a point in doing so. There’s still an element of softness about us, that may come back to bite us.

I think he’s better than Kompany. There is only one way of playing, and theoretically over the course of a whole season it will win you more than you loser usually because the lesser teams won’t have the answers to the questions being asked of the style. But, as Man City find from time to time, get it wrong, and you can get battered. It just means that you won’t change, regardless, and the thing with Leeds is they’ve got so much pace and power upfront, that it will cause us a lot of problems. How often has our defence actually been tested? Not really all that much, there’s no doubt that with the pace Leeds have, they will cause us no end of problems. But this is where like you suggest, the manager needs to think, he needs to out think Farke, not try to out play.

Thing is, if we did this, I’d be more confident. However, we know how we will play, so will Leeds…. Which is all well and good when you’re Man City, but we aren’t. I just fear we will walk straight into Leeds arms wide open, and they will just pick us off with ease. It’s a real test, if we win, I’ll be stunned and happily say we will comfortably finish top, lose, and the door opens a bit more for Leeds and Southampton.

Nothing pointed to us being relegated after a decade of ticking the balls of the premier league big boys….. were the most ridiculous club in history, I would not be stunned if we managed to stack it from this position.

It’s definitely blown the title race open. It’s incredible, last week we were 12 points clear, but a poor defeat to an average team, and a tricky run of games. What we have done so far doesn’t really show what this team is made of, as it’s not been too taxing, but my concern is, when it’s got tough, we’ve wobbled a bit. The points gap could be slashed further next week, and I think the fear for me is a heavy loss could derail us. It’s up in the air really, we’ve all got opinions, but I’ve got the same painful hope I had last season in the pit of my stomach. It’s probably best for us to just sit back and see what unfolds….. but, as insane as it sounds, and this is probably because I’ve still got a small Brendan Rodgers sat in my ear saying “The beauty is, it’s in our own hands”, but I just feel Southampton and Leeds are poised to finish in the top two from this position. Down to the lads to get it done.

I’m not saying we’re shite, we’re soft. We don’t do well with aggressive football, which is exactly what Leeds will do. They had us fairly comfortably at our place and we’re going to their gaff where they haven’t lost all season. Being top of the league is an easy argument to throw at those who doubt, but for me the evidence is on the pitch. We’ve won a lot of games without being convincing. We’re better than 90% of the league, and when we come up against poor teams we tend to win. (Boro aside for some bizarre reason)…. It’s not a criticism, this team is still carrying scars from last season, Enzo has done a remarkable job, a better job than some think, but… there have been warning signs at stages that this team is capable of wobbling, this defeat will be a huge psychological blow, and as I’ve said pound for pound over 90 minutes at home, Leeds will just have far too much for us to cope with. What we need to do, is just hope that we can muster enough points to keep them and Southampton at arms length. Thanks to our good start we’ve got a cushion, but we’ve got some really tough games coming up next month that will test our metal, the question remains can we deal with it?