The run in

[StriderHiryu]

4 hours ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

We’re lucky the Premier League is so poor otherwise we’d be in more danger than what we are 

This is true but I’d also say that by giving young players a chance we are making the most of the poor league, which I think is a clever strategy.

 

Everton have changed managers 4 times in 5 years, spent a ton of money and are below us. We are building a team that is improving all the time. Chilwell is England's first choice left back and Harvey Barnes today in just his second ever start was probably man of the match.

 

 

Edited 3 February 2019 by StriderHiryu

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Tuna said:

Spurs A

Crystal Palace H

Brighton H

Watford A

Fulham H

Burnley A

Bournemouth H

Huddersfield A

Newcastle H

West Ham A

Arsenal H

Man City A

Chelsea H

 

Thoughts...?

19 points.

 

And a massive jump forward for the youth movement.

 

2 hours ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

We’re lucky the Premier League is so poor otherwise we’d be in more danger than what we are 

Always find this a strange comment. So we're lucky to be better than many other teams in our division and therefore in no danger of relegation.

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

8 minutes ago, FIF said:

19 points.

 

And a massive jump forward for the youth movement.

 

Always find this a strange comment. So we're lucky to be better than many other teams in our division and therefore in no danger of relegation.

Better than many other teams in a poor League, we’re lucky it’s so poor and not of the quality of a few years ago, otherwise we’d be struggling. It’s not so strange a comment.

[Guest]

Just now, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

Better than many other teams in a poor League, we’re lucky it’s so poor and not of the quality of a few years ago, otherwise we’d be struggling. It’s not so strange a comment.

I don't really think it's any poorer than a few years ago. I think we are better so that makes it appear to be a poorer league. It's simply poorer in comparison to us. I think the evidence for my argument is that the promoted teams this season are battling for survival at the bottom along with other recently promoted teams and the top half of the table is moreorless the same as it always is. Maybe this season the top 6 is a little stronger than the rest of us but haven't the top 4 or 5 always been generally better than the rest of us?

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

4 minutes ago, FIF said:

I don't really think it's any poorer than a few years ago. I think we are better so that makes it appear to be a poorer league. It's simply poorer in comparison to us. I think the evidence for my argument is that the promoted teams this season are battling for survival at the bottom along with other recently promoted teams and the top half of the table is moreorless the same as it always is. Maybe this season the top 6 is a little stronger than the rest of us but haven't the top 4 or 5 always been generally better than the rest of us?

Yes they have but as mentioned in another thread the stockpiling of players by the top 6 (chiefly Man City and Chelsea)had made the league weaker as a whole, I don’t think we are better than a few years ago, but it’s all down to personal opinions, yes Fulham will go, probably Cardiff, but Wolves are doing well and none of the promoted teams from the previous season were relegated last season. Time will tell, let’s see how we fare for the rest of the season.

[Hammo]

Thoughts?

 

Only two issues of importance remain:

 

Eight more points are needed to keep us in this division.

 

The outcome of the next five home games will decide Puel's future.

 

 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

2 minutes ago, Hammo said:

Thoughts?

 

Only two issues of importance remain:

 

Eight more points are needed to keep us in this division.

 

The outcome of the next five home games will decide Puel's future.

 

 

I doubt we'll need that many. The bottom three have been tracking at well under a point per game for the whole season. 5/6 points should do it, but obviously I wouldn't want us to cut it that fine.

[RowlattsFox]

Next weekend is a bit of a free hit, as long as don’t get battered but the Palace/Brighton game will be crucial to see where we are. Need win both of them to get fans on side. Fail to do so and I can’t see Puel surviving any longer than the summer. 

 

Got some decent fixtures on paper so 7th isn’t finished yet but need to show something different. 

[AjcW]

4 hours ago, Tuna said:

Spurs A (0)

Crystal Palace H (1)

Brighton H (1)

Watford A (0)

Fulham H (3)

Burnley A (3)

Bournemouth H (0)

Huddersfield A (3)

Newcastle H (3)

West Ham A (0)

Arsenal H (0)

Man City A (0)

Chelsea H (1)

 

Thoughts...?

Got us down for 15pt there. Think that's being quite reserved as well so should be fine.

The problem is look at my predictions for the home games... that's not going to keep anyone happy!

[Farrington fox]

BHA. Huddersfield. Newcastle. Fulham have to be wins. 

[Mike Oxlong]

A lot may depend on what impact Tielemans has. 

 

[KrefelderFox666]

I am going for another 20 points. 6 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. Finish on 52 points in 9th.

[Ric Flair]

17 points

[kingston_fox]

Get the spurs game out they way and we'll scrape points before we get back to the top sides. Only thing to be mindful of is the bottom teams start to put in performances as they get desperate for points but that should suit us as they won't sit back so much

[elvisfmcfly]

3 hours ago, Analysethis said:

Bit daft that mate and typical of the half glass empty brigade around here.

I don’t see my glass as half empty I see it half full of Sh!t 

[nepa fox]

Wow. What bit of pessimism this thread has. We are young and inconsistent but not a horrible squad. We could just as easily take 18-20 points, as the 10 or 13 people on here are saying. Its about positivity people.

[LinekersLugs]

6 hours ago, Tuna said:

Spurs A GET 1pt

Crystal Palace H GET 3pts 

Brighton H GET 1pt 

Watford A O 

Fulham H GET 3pts 

Burnley A 0

Bournemouth H get 1pt 

Huddersfield A get 1pt 

Newcastle H get 1pt 

West Ham A 0 

Arsenal H 0 

Man City A 0 

Chelsea H 0

 

Thoughts...?

11pts is my take 

[LCFC hub]

6 hours ago, Tuna said:

Spurs A - D

Crystal Palace H - D

Brighton H - W

Watford A - D

Fulham H - L

Burnley A - L

Bournemouth H - D

Huddersfield A - W

Newcastle H - D

West Ham A - W

Arsenal H - W

Man City A - D

Chelsea H - L

 

Thoughts...?

18 realistic points..? 

 

I don't know with this team.. 

[Dames]

We need a slump buster and fast.

 

I can see Spurs and Palace beating us but we should pick something up from the Brighton and Fulham games, Watford sandwiched in between could go either way, we’ve always done well against them since they beat us in the play offs.

[LestaAl]

7th place anf Puel in .....seems like a distant memory...now we are figuring how close to relegation we will be.

...man u was another example of a home loss and not what season ticket holders want but are getting used to.

i accept it was expected but we had a few chances and we buggered it it up and the manager is responsible.

[Foxboy]

6 hours ago, Tuna said:

Spurs A - L

Crystal Palace H - W

Brighton H - W

Watford A - L

Fulham H - W

Burnley A - L

Bournemouth H - D

Huddersfield A - W

Newcastle H - W

West Ham A - L

Arsenal H - D

Man City A - L

Chelsea H - W

 

Thoughts...?

Think we will start to pick it up a little bit now. We had a tough run over Christmas/January. In our last 10 games we’ve faced 5 of the big 6 and now have spurs up next. We’ve given it our all against those sides and have struggled against the lesser teams. However, against united today we played a lot better attacking football and managed to create 17 chances. I know a lot of people will say “yeah but Man U are shit this year” but they are a compeltely rejuvenated side under Solskjær and are on top form. We’ve shown that we can defend solidly in other games aswell and hold onto a lead when we have one, we just need to sort out the first 15 mins. Shambles atm.

[Anglodanglo]

6 hours ago, Tuna said:

Spurs A

Crystal Palace H

Brighton H

Watford A

Fulham H

Burnley A

Bournemouth H

Huddersfield A

Newcastle H

West Ham A

Arsenal H

Man City A

Chelsea H

 

Thoughts...?

If I was a noodle and decided to eat myself, would it ever end?

[HybridFox]

It's a bizarre one. Let's say we do manage to finish in the top half, say 9th/10th...have we actually made progress on last season?

 

Football went stale last season as well and we fell well behind Burnley in the Europa league chase. But picked up a bit of form towards the end.

 

We've now offloaded a few and are bringing in youth. Having Chilwell, Maddison, Barnes, Choudhury etc in and around the first team can only be a good thing. 

 

But if we aren't making progress on our standing on the football front and not getting the best out of these players, are we going forwards or is it a false pretence?

 

Having some of the bigger teams towards the end could be a good thing for us looking at the points we've picked up. But I'm worried between Palace and West Ham 

[Leeds Fox]

We were unlucky not to take anything from the Man Utd game. With Evans looking like a permanent fixture in the starting 11 and the creativity of Tielemens (hopefully), we’ll be harder to beat and should be better going forward. 

 

Conceding early is a massive issue that needs addressing. We made it easy for Man Utd but it was a piece of brilliance from Rashford that beat us. Barring that we looked solid. Same for the Liverpool game. 

 

Let’s not worry about relegation just yet.

[desertfox2]

7 minutes ago, TK95 said:

It's a bizarre one. Let's say we do manage to finish in the top half, say 9th/10th...have we actually made progress on last season?

 

Football went stale last season as well and we fell well behind Burnley in the Europa league chase. But picked up a bit of form towards the end.

 

We've now offloaded a few and are bringing in youth. Having Chilwell, Maddison, Barnes, Choudhury etc in and around the first team can only be a good thing. 

 

But if we aren't making progress on our standing on the football front and not getting the best out of these players, are we going forwards or is it a false pretence?

 

Having some of the bigger teams towards the end could be a good thing for us looking at the points we've picked up. But I'm worried between Palace and West Ham 

It's a tough one to call. We lost Mahrez and yet in a reasonable position. We have a very young side. We seem to have a vision which is good. At times from an entertainment perspective we have looked awful as much as it pains me to say it. And that's probably why Puel divides more than any manager I can remember. There are positives and perhaps we have been spoilt in recent years by being a very entertaining side but sometimes it's hard to watch