[Archived] The Next 8 Games

[Guest Kamy100]

I think some did a thread in November looking at the next 8-10 games and there was some good discussion.

We are now in the final furlong and thankfully out of the relegation zone, below are the next 8 games:

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City

Wed Mar 4 H Everton

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal

I personally believe that it is critical that we beat Bolton and get 4 points from the Middlesborough/Villa games, as after that 4 out of our next 5 games are away and pretty much all of them are very tough. This year with teams taking points of each other it is probably going to mean that to survive it is going to take more than 40 points, in previous seasons it has been less because there has been at least one team which has been cut off by this stage and have regularly lost matches. I think that Tottenham and Man City will move clear of trouble just because of the quality players that they are bringing in over January, that will leave Us, West Brom, Stoke, Middlesborough, Bolton, Sunderland, Newcastle, Portsmouth and Hull City (who are dropping like a stone) to fight it out.

The next 8 games are going to have a huge bearing on our Premiership future, IF we can win our three home games then we can really make things much easier for ourselves and takes some of the pressure off, IF we can win our next 2 games not only will we shoot up the league but will also drop Bolton and Middlesborough into deep trouble

Lots of If's, But's and Maybe's. It is going to be a roller coaster ride from now until the end of the season.

[thenodrog]

We are now in the final furlong and thankfully out of the relegation zone, below are the next 8 games:

Your glass is certainly half full Kamy! It's only on goal difference rem! A factor that I think might be absolutely crucial this season btw. Sams apparently concentrating on defending so if we get a chance to put somebody to the sword we need to take it.

[Mr Creosote]

I'd say 14 points out of those would be realistic and leave us just 5 shy of the magic 40.

[tony gale's mic]

We should get:

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers 3pts

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough 3pts

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa 1pt

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United 0pts

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City 3pts

Wed Mar 4 H Everton 1pt

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham 1pt

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal 0pts

I'd say 12 points from those 8 games is realistic. Even if we get 10 we should be fairly well placed to avoid the drop. Wins in the next two games are crucial, then whatever points we can pick up after that will be good.

[T4E]

Your glass is certainly half full Kamy! It's only on goal difference rem! A factor that I think might be absolutely crucial this season btw. Sams apparently concentrating on defending so if we get a chance to put somebody to the sword we need to take it.

The fact that Sam has improved our goal difference by +6 in 4 games makes me far more confident about relying on that than I was before.

It's a hell of a tough 3 week stint beginning with United on 21st Feb. Despite all the good work, I just hope we don't get to the end of the season and kick ourselves for the missed opportunities against Sunderland and Man City.

[gbax]

The fact that Sam has improved our goal difference by +6 in 4 games makes me far more confident about relying on that than I was before.

It's a hell of a tough 3 week stint beginning with United on 21st Feb. Despite all the good work, I just hope we don't get to the end of the season and kick ourselves for the missed opportunities against Sunderland and Man City.

It won't be for the missed opportunities aaginst Sunderland and Man City that we kick ourselves if we go down, it will be because of the majority of the 17 games prior to the Stoke game with Ince in charge!

[JAL]

I think some did a thread in November looking at the next 8-10 games and there was some good discussion.

We are now in the final furlong and thankfully out of the relegation zone, below are the next 8 games:

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City

Wed Mar 4 H Everton

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal

I personally believe that it is critical that we beat Bolton and get 4 points from the Middlesborough/Villa games, as after that 4 out of our next 5 games are away and pretty much all of them are very tough. This year with teams taking points of each other it is probably going to mean that to survive it is going to take more than 40 points, in previous seasons it has been less because there has been at least one team which has been cut off by this stage and have regularly lost matches. I think that Tottenham and Man City will move clear of trouble just because of the quality players that they are bringing in over January, that will leave Us, West Brom, Stoke, Middlesborough, Bolton, Sunderland, Newcastle, Portsmouth and Hull City (who are dropping like a stone) to fight it out.

The next 8 games are going to have a huge bearing on our Premiership future, IF we can win our three home games then we can really make things much easier for ourselves and takes some of the pressure off, IF we can win our next 2 games not only will we shoot up the league but will also drop Bolton and Middlesborough into deep trouble

Lots of If's, But's and Maybe's. It is going to be a roller coaster ride from now until the end of the season.

If but's and maybe's but its should be made possible by keeping Cruz and bringing A Quality midfield player to compliment the ones we've already got.

After saturdays game its definitley game on, though Rovers are walking the tight rope with the amount of journeymen and kids in the squad.

[philipl]

The great thing is we will be going into every game set up to compete for the three points. With the Previous Incumbent, he would have given up on the Man U and Arsenal games already.

Thankfully we are catching Bolton and Boro when they are both having their worst runs of the season.

Villa will be a massive tussle- could be an absolute classic of a match.

One thing to watch will be the bearing the FA Cup has on the season. I know I have forecast a decisive result at Sunderland but a draw up there then extra time and penalties in the replay could change the way those league fixtures look.

At least the squad is looking to have some real depth to it now that the injuries are clearing and Sam is bringing players in. Givet brings the central defender figure back up to the 5 which is essential at this level plus additional flexibility across the back line. Let's hope Calve and Gruyere have us all with cheesy smiles on our faces.

[JAL]

The great thing is we will be going into every game set up to compete for the three points. With the Previous Incumbent, he would have given up on the Man U and Arsenal games already.

Thankfully we are catching Bolton and Boro when they are both having their worst runs of the season.

Villa will be a massive tussle- could be an absolute classic of a match.

One thing to watch will be the bearing the FA Cup has on the season. I know I have forecast a decisive result at Sunderland but a draw up there then extra time and penalties in the replay could change the way those league fixtures look.

Forget the past Philipl, its all about NOW and the future, by putting the men in place to do a job and deliver the desired outcome. All of a sudden top eight is within reach but Rovers have to recruit a few more men to streghten their hand to gain a satisfactory outcome.

The frailties of certain key players undermines everything and what with a transfer window now open surely this offers Rovers a great opportunity to strengthen. I'm only suggesting two or maybe three players at most but the recruitment has to be bang on correct with some of the fringe players offloaded in the process.

[alexanders]

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers - 3 pts

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough - 3 pts

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa - 3 pts

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United - 0 pts

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City - 3 pts

Wed Mar 4 H Everton - 1 pts

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham - 1 pts

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal - 0 pts

I see us taking 14 pts - It is nice to be optimistic again !

[67splitscreen]

Read somewhere yesterday, one of the Prem managers saying it may take 43 points to stay up this season.

1.29 points a game from here on in, sounds easier that way.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Before Saturday's result - looking at the games we had left and not being over optimistic I had us down to to get 27 points.

This should be sufficient just - but its all conjecture at the moment anyway.

[67splitscreen]

If we gain another 24 points I'll be Rover the moon, and buy everyone a pint on this thread.

My local of course.

[Karembeu]

How about 21 point for the next 8 games? Lol. We lost too much for the first half of the season. I do hope luck would be at our side nowadays.

Go rover go!

[RoversSG]

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers - 3 pts

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough - 3 pts

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa - 0 pts

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United - 0 pts

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City - 3 pts

Wed Mar 4 H Everton - 1 pts

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham - 0 pts

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal - 0 pts

I can see us getting only 10 pts or 11 at most if we can get a draw at fulham or villa which i think is unlikely considering fulham's home form and villa overall form. It is really crucial we get 3 pts from the games against bolton, boro and hull; these are the 6 pointers we need to win.

[neekoy]

We should get:

TGM seriously? We certainly won't get any points out of Everton and Villa, Bolton is difficult opposition and winning away at Fulham is not a certainty -

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers 1pts

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough 3pts

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa 0pt

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United 0pts

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City 1pts

Wed Mar 4 H Everton 0pt

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham 0pt

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal 0pts

I don't see anymore then five points out of the next 8 games

[Roost]

TGM seriously? We certainly won't get any points out of Everton and Villa, Bolton is difficult opposition and winning away at Fulham is not a certainty -

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers 1pts

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough 3pts

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa 0pt

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United 0pts

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City 1pts

Wed Mar 4 H Everton 0pt

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham 0pt

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal 0pts

I don't see anymore then five points out of the next 8 games

You think so?

We won at Everton earlier in the season - maybe a draw

Villa is a potential cracker - again a draw

Bolton - on the slide - a banker 3 pointer - BFS victorious again against an old side.

As Philipl said somewhere, we are now set up to win games and have the players available to change formations if needed.

5 points from these 3 games would do me fine!

[RoyRover]

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City

Wed Mar 4 H Everton

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal

I believe that we can win the next 3 games, which would push us up the table. We will lose at Old Trafford, can get a draw againt Hull, we should be able to beat Everton, get at least a point against Fulham and will get nothing from Arsenal. I think that we should be looking to get 14-16 points from these games which would take us within touching distance of 40 points.

[brfcs5359]

I think we need to just concentrate on the next game. There are 8 or 9 clubs at least poorer than us so if we just do the basics right we will stay up.

Runners and Riders

Portsmouth - Since drawing at Villa mid October they are on a horrible run which has been easy fixtures against teams in the bottom half plus Arsenal. The big teams are up next. Goal difference one of the worst. Club in financial crises and a manager who has only proved previoulsy he can go backwards. 2 wins in 13, Rovers home luckily and Sunderland away. Relegated

West Brom - Tightened up the defence and are turning territorial advantage in to goals. reinforcements up front should give them enough fire power to pick up points regularly at home and some surprise points n the road. Three consecutive home wins plus unlucky loses at Chelsea and Villa. Safe

Hull - have they enough points? No! 13 League games without a win and a terrible goal difference. An easy run of fixtures now for 2 months starting away to West Ham and home to West Brom. Relegated

Man City - Big signings and intermittent results. Stumble to safety well before the last game. Great goal difference. Safe

West Ham - In real trouble off the pitch. Can they hold onto players AND keep them fit. Hull next up then 5 exceedingly tough fixtures. 29 points already plus 4 wins should see them safe. Safe

Sunderland - Poor goal difference and a batch of really tough games with just Stoke in the middle of them right up to the end of March. Can't see many points and they are going to have dig deep to avoid falling into the bottom 3 in the coming weeks borderline

Spurs - Just 2 wins in 9, Carling and UEFA Cup fixtures piling up on a small depleted and uninterested squad. The next 9 fixtures are against 4 of the top 5 and 5 poor clubs. Those 5 fixtures as Arry said tonight will need Tottenham at their best or they are going down - Could be relegated

Newcastle - Ditto Spuds. Poor Goal Difference. Lack heart and battle. Off filed problems. Fans dragging them down. Big clubs and relegation clubs coming up for them over the next 10 games. No signings. Poor management. Could easily be relegated

Middlesbrough - 10 without a win losing to all their rivals. Easy fixture list with only Chelsea and Liverpool out of the top 7 before the end of April. Make or break. Could easily go down.

Stoke - 1 win in 11 - 8 without a win. Terrible goal difference. Just played all the top teams though. Virtually all the next 10 fixtures are against relegation rivals. lack of firepower. Give away to many goals. 50% of goals scored from Rory Delap. Probably go down

Bolton - sucked back in to it on 23 points (2 above safety) and a poor goal difference. I win 8 but of those 8, 5 were against the top 5 clubs. The fixture list easys up for them and they are into a run of consecutive relegation battles. Tough battling squad. Safe

Rovers - 5 without defeat, just 2 goals conceded against Man City sloppily. New faces and injuries clearing up under reinvigorated management. Top 7 team last year returning to form. Next 11 fixtures, 6 are against the top teams right at the top and 5 against weaker opposition. Not enough points on the board to carry a bad run. Should pull clear

[philipl]

In the spirit of the post above, Sky have done a pretty waffly review of the relegation battle.

Rovers hardly get a mention but keeping Roque is seen as important and I tend to agree.

[LeChuck]

That's a very tough looking fixture list, I think I'd be happy with 11 points from that lot.

[tonygreenbank]

What about the last 9 games.........?

West Ham (h).

Spurs (h).

Liverpool (a).

Stoke(a).

Wigan(h).

City(a).

Portsmouth(h).

Chelsea(a).

WBA (h).

My prediction is 11 points from the next 8;14 points from the last 9 = 46 points!!

If only football was that simple!

[sambo]

Wed Jan 28 H Bolton Wanderers - 3

Sat Jan 31 A Middlesbrough - 1

Sat Feb 7 H Aston Villa - 1

Sat Feb 21 A Manchester United - 0

Sat Feb 28 A Hull City - 3

Wed Mar 4 H Everton - 1

Wed Mar 11 A Fulham - 3

Sat Mar 14 A Arsenal - 0

That would be great, and the draws in two of the home games and Boro away are winnable.