[Archived] We're Doing Better Than You Think

[Paul]

I can't really decide where to post this so decided to start a positive Christmas topic:

Last seaon on 17th December our stats were:

Position: 12th

Points: 21

Played: 17 W 6, D 3, L 8, Goals F 19, A 24

Today, twelve months on:

Position: 17th

Points: 19

Played: 17 W 5, D 4, L 8, Goals F 16, A 22

Had we won just one drawn game, the stats would be almost identical, we would be 13th with the same points total. Add to this 6 Euro games, in which we have won 4 and drawn 2. Couple this with the players we are missing through transfer or injury and I'd argue this year, to date, is more successful than last. It's the nature of some defeats which is really hurting.

Next week last year we went to Boro and got back to back, unexpected, 1-0 wins. This is what really kick started, an until then, average season as we won five on the bounce, winning 6 and drawing 2 out of eight. At the end of January we went out of both cups losing two in four days. We bounced back for the rest of the season: Februay W 3, L 2, March W 3, L 1, April (bad month) W 1, D 2, L2, May W 2

For those worried by the dreaded "R" word wait till after Christmas. We may have Roberts, Nelsen and Reid back, perhaps a couple of signings in January, probably out of the FA Cup leaving us to concentrate on the League and UEFA Cup.

Your glass can be half full or half empty, any objective view says, on a results basis, ours is more than half full, but some of the players seem to need a kick in the backside. Personally I'd book a hotel room in Glasgow, soon!!

[USABlue]

I can't really decide where to post this so decided to start a positive Christmas topic:

Last seaon on 17th December our stats were:

Position: 12th

Points: 21

Played: 17 W 6, D 3, L 8, Goals F 19, A 24

Today, twelve months on:

Position: 17th

Points: 19

Played: 17 W 5, D 4, L 8, Goals F 16, A 22

Had we won just one drawn game, the stats would be almost identical, we would be 13th with the same points total. Add to this 6 Euro games, in which we have won 4 and drawn 2. Couple this with the players we are missing through transfer or injury and I'd argue this year, to date, is more successful than last. It's the nature of some defeats which is really hurting.

Next week last year we went to Boro and got back to back, unexpected, 1-0 wins. This is what really kick started, an until then, average season as we won five on the bounce, winning 6 and drawing 2 out of eight. At the end of January we went out of both cups losing two in four days. We bounced back for the rest of the season: Februay W 3, L 2, March W 3, L 1, April (bad month) W 1, D 2, L2, May W 2

For those worried by the dreaded "R" word wait till after Christmas. We may have Roberts, Nelsen and Reid back, perhaps a couple of signings in January, probably out of the FA Cup leaving us to concentrate on the League and UEFA Cup.

Your glass can be half-full or half empty, any objective view says, on a results basis, ours is more than half full, but some of the players seem to need a kick in the backside. Personally I'd book a hotel room in Glasgow, soon!!

So a few of this seasons dubious calls go our way and we'd be doing better than last year. Thanks for that Paul makes me feel better. We can't have anymore showings like the first half today.

[Bobby G]

Its not about the dubious calls, its more about some of the very poor performances in matches and sometimes in first halves. Last year I seem to recall that putting the ball away was a problem especially when Bellamy was missing but this year creating chances has been a problem sometimes and thats worrying.

However with that said, its still early days and like you pointed out a run of few wins and we could be headed for a top half finish.

[Mr. E]

things can change big time, yes, but we can't keep relying on miracle turn arounds every season. We need to find consistency.

[Paul]

I agree we need more consistency but I'm less sure we are talking about a miracle turnaround. Most teams, in our position, have a bad patch and a purple patch at some point in a season. The fact is we have won more games than at the same point as last season if you combine all matches played. This is arguably with a smaller squad (longterm injuries) and less capable team, again due to the longterm injuries.

[USABlue]

Its not about the dubious calls, its more about some of the very poor performances in matches and sometimes in first halves. Last year I seem to recall that putting the ball away was a problem especially when Bellamy was missing but this year creating chances has been a problem sometimes and thats worrying.

However with that said, its still early days and like you pointed out a run of few wins and we could be headed for a top half finish.

Yes there are a few games we have played poorly, not all, some we lost and played well enough to deserve something from the game.

[joey_big_nose]

Excellent thread to inject some context into our situation.

[Eddie]

It doesn't look so bad when you put it like that, the problem is, is that it is a big ask to repeat the form of the second half of last season. Anything is possible (well, except winning the title), but these next two games will be very important in deciding how we feel going into the new year. My problem is that everytime the team has put us in a position where we start to look up the table they then tend to get a couple of results that make us look down again. With the fact that our next two games are Arsenal and Liverpool I can only hope that they surprise me.

[Jan]

Thank god for someone to show us a sense of perspective.

[frosty]

I can't really decide where to post this so decided to start a positive Christmas topic:

Last seaon on 17th December our stats were:

Position: 12th

Points: 21

Played: 17 W 6, D 3, L 8, Goals F 19, A 24

Today, twelve months on:

Position: 17th

Points: 19

Played: 17 W 5, D 4, L 8, Goals F 16, A 22

Had we won just one drawn game, the stats would be almost identical, we would be 13th with the same points total. Add to this 6 Euro games, in which we have won 4 and drawn 2. Couple this with the players we are missing through transfer or injury and I'd argue this year, to date, is more successful than last. It's the nature of some defeats which is really hurting.

Next week last year we went to Boro and got back to back, unexpected, 1-0 wins. This is what really kick started, an until then, average season as we won five on the bounce, winning 6 and drawing 2 out of eight. At the end of January we went out of both cups losing two in four days. We bounced back for the rest of the season: Februay W 3, L 2, March W 3, L 1, April (bad month) W 1, D 2, L2, May W 2

For those worried by the dreaded "R" word wait till after Christmas. We may have Roberts, Nelsen and Reid back, perhaps a couple of signings in January, probably out of the FA Cup leaving us to concentrate on the League and UEFA Cup.

Your glass can be half full or half empty, any objective view says, on a results basis, ours is more than half full, but some of the players seem to need a kick in the backside. Personally I'd book a hotel room in Glasgow, soon!!

We are 16th now aren't we, with Boro in 17th?

[bellamy11]

I don't want to be the bringer of misery and doom, but by this time last season hadn't we been to Highbury, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge AND Anfield? It's just I distinctly remember thinking that we'd struggle with those games early on and hopefully pick up afterwards. At this point we've only been to Anfield so far. I agree it's encouraging that the stats aren't too different, but I don't think that tells the full story.

[RevidgeBlue]

Any comparisons with last year Paul are completely irrelevant as the stunning form in the second half of last season was built almost exclusively on the back of Bellamy's efforts, who had hardly featured prior to Christmas.

There's no Bellamy to come in this time, so I reckon it's more likely to be a long slow grind to safety than another lofty finish.

A mediocre League finish and UEFA CUp win would be more than acceptable though!

[Jordan]

Any comparisons with last year Paul are completely irrelevant as the stunning form in the second half of last season was built almost exclusively on the back of Bellamy's efforts, who had hardly featured prior to Christmas.

There's no Bellamy to come in this time, so I reckon it's more likely to be a long slow grind to safety than another lofty finish.

A mediocre League finish and UEFA CUp win would be more than acceptable though!

We could however bring in new faces in the transfer window who will inject that bit of pace which we are missing since Bellamys departure.

Nice thread Paul, after reading that I am feeling slightly happier about my hangover which was brought on by David Bently yesterday.

[philipl]

No Bellamy but there are Roberts, Jeffers, Reid, Zurab and Nelsen to come back.

And I'd argue that Nelsen is worth as many points on his own as Bellamy was.

[joey_big_nose]

No Bellamy but there are Roberts, Jeffers, Reid, Zurab and Nelsen to come back.

And I'd argue that Nelsen is worth as many points on his own as Bellamy was.

Add Emerton to that list.

I would say the loss of both Reid and Nelsen is massive for us, just as bad as not having Bellamy. And while we definately do have harder fixtures in 2007 than we did in 2006 the point is not so much that we will equal our sixth position but rather talk of relegation is so premature.

[philipl]

Sorry, I forgot Emo.

Makes the point even stronger. It will be a tough challenge but if we get our injured players back and have an only average second half of the season for injuries and suspensions, the existing squad is capable of making it back to the UEFA through league position.

The club will strengthen in the transfer window if the right players are available. Neill will only go if the club have covered fully for him. However, the ignorant simpleton boo boys must be complicating that particular calculation.

[RevidgeBlue]

Let's see if we're still two only points behind last season's equivalent tally after the next two games.

Then, Paul's point really will have some force.

Not completely out of the question either if it's the Blackburn Rovers side that turned up in the second half at Reading.

If it's the team that turned up in the first half, it'll be a sorry looking nineteen points from nineteen games at the halfway stage.

[T4E]

And I'd argue that Nelsen is worth as many points on his own as Bellamy was.

Go on then.

You'll need to be really convincing though.

[colin]

I can't really decide where to post this so decided to start a positive Christmas topic:

Last seaon on 17th December our stats were:

Position: 12th

Points: 21

Played: 17 W 6, D 3, L 8, Goals F 19, A 24

Today, twelve months on:

Position: 17th

Points: 19

Played: 17 W 5, D 4, L 8, Goals F 16, A 22

Good try at the "positive" bit, but the points don't count, it's the position in the table. There's no great glory in being relegated with the highest number of points, nor a disgrace to win the thing with the lowest.

Last season we were on 21 points with

Boro 19

Villa 17

Everton 17

Fulham 16

West Brom 16

Brum 12

Portsmouth 10

Sunderland 5

Sunderland, even by that early stage, were doomed with 5 from a possible 51 so there was really only two relegation places to aim for.

This season is tighter than a duck's chuff

We are on 19

Boro 17

West Ham 17

Charlton 12

Watford 11

OK, a couple of wins will take us up the table (other results going our way) but conversely a couple of bad results & Boro & Charlton will overtake us.

Let's not forget that if we had lost to Reading we would be in the relegation zone instead of The Hammers.

Glass half empty here.

[joeh8]

This makes us feel alot better the only problem being that last year we also had bellamy who had missed most of our games by far our best player last year. This year we have injury problems aswell but are they as bad as last year?

[bellamy11]

This makes us feel alot better the only problem being that last year we also had bellamy who had missed most of our games by far our best player last year. This year we have injury problems aswell but are they as bad as last year?

What were our big injury problems last year apart from Bellamy?

[Jan]

We didn't have any significant ones. As far as I remember we had a pretty settled team.

[gazsimm]

we did miss Matteo for a couple of games i seem to remember

[Shevchenko]

we did miss Matteo for a couple of games i seem to remember

And we just missed out on the champions league spot. Gutted.

[USABlue]

And I'd argue that Nelsen is worth as many points on his own as Bellamy was.

I'd tend to agree somewhat.