[Archived] Remaining Fixtures

[Balwer]

Hughesy to be fair many people were talking about 8th-10th at the start of the season, I remember mentioning that with everyone else spending money and the Trust giving us nothing as usual I'd have taken 10th once more. I will try to find the thread, but I would be surprised if anyone had us lower than 12th.

[steverovers]

I have us staying up on the last day of the season with 38 points - by goal difference only!

Time to worry!

[Miker]

Couple of stats to throw in there

* People moan about Newcastle but its worth noting that away from home they have gained 15 pts, which is more than anyone outside the top 5 (except Blackpool 17pts)

* At home - Rovers have the best defence outside the top 5 - with only Stoke scoring more than 1 at Ewood under Kean (2)

* Of those teams below us - only 1 has won more away games (Blackpool - and they seem to be on a downward spiral)

* Of our remaining 6 away games - only 1 is from a team inside the top 11 teams

The way I see it is that its still well within our own hands and we have more than enough winnable games to play. Out of our remaining 11 games there is only 1 game where I do not think a point will be possible - Arsenal away.

Ironically, in Sam's 17 games in charge this season, we only failed to score in 2 games, with a total goal record of 22. This is compared to Kean's 10 games in charge, with us failing to score in 5, and a goal record of 12.

On the other side of the stats, Kean's only kept 2 clean sheets and conceded 15 goals in 10 games, while Sam has 4 clean sheets but conceded 27 in 17 games.

Interesting stats because most would feel that we have improved in attack and regressed in defence, but overall stats show that we've actually regressed in attack and defence has remained more or less the same.

[Steve Moss]

Exactly, trueblue. I wouldn't like to forecast ANY wins at the moment, very worried...

I think we'll beat Blackpool. We might even get something from Villa, though I doubt it. Here's the security blanket of my [wannabe bookie] reasoning:

Blackburn:

Current overall form 12th (7/18 points)- which is decent and would normally reassure me, except for the fact that his wins are on the wrong side of the form table.

Points home 8/18

Points away 3/18 (only result was a WBA win)

Notes- Recent injuries should be resolved, especially Givet (LB) and P. Jones (who should be available as of the Blackpool match, but maybe not Villa or Fulham) can be paired with J. Jones) which should improve our defense and strengthen our attack as Olssen will be available as a left sided midfielder. We might have Rochina and Formica available to further strengthen our attack, which I would normally think unlikely due to conditioning and other reasons but they're with the first team in Dubai so who knows. Steve Kean will also have time to fully develope his tactical vision and work out any kinks.

Aston Villa: Away

Current overall form 8th (9/18 points)

Points home 7/18

Points away 6/18

Notes- Will be coming off the same two week break we'll have enjoyed. Considering our poor away form I'd normally expect to lose this one, but every now and then we stick a finger in AV's eye, so maybe we'll pull out a [lucky] draw or [very unlikely] win. This will be one of Kean's 'realistic' chances (having p!s!@ed away more likely chances) that he can take us to not only safety but a secure mid-table finish.

Fulham: Away

Current overall form 7th (9/18 points)

Points home 11/18

Points away 5/18

Notes- Mark Hughes will know the strength and weaknesses of most of our squad which coupled with their strong home form (they should have beaten Chelsea at home today), I can't realistically see us getting anything from this one.

Blackpool: Home

Current overall form 20th (1/18)

Points home 4/18

Points away 7/18

Notes- Blackpool's recent away form is almost as good as our recent home form. But they have a very tough run of games before they meet us: Spurs at home; Wolves away (who have taken 12/18 at home); and, Chelsea at home. Considering they've only had 1/18 in their last 6 matches, I fully expect that they will suffer 3 more defeats before our next encounter. So they'll either be thoroughly demoralized or desperate or both. We'll be desperate at this point, so should offset their energy. And as Kean will have another 2 weeks between Fulham and this match to work out his system, I think we should thrash them.