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I'd definitely rather Birmingham win than Villa. Despite their current positions, I think there's more chance of Villa being up with us at the end of the season than Birmingham. Although they both have a decent chance of top six.

Agreed but, as you say, it was a poor run after that. We basically need 15 points from next 8 games to have two points a game at halfway point. That would represent an improvement on last year and with three consecutive losses following last season.

Not so much today obviously but we didn't so I don't really understand the point

Good goal from Birmingham. They've deserved it. Created the better chances

The difference is that we were sorting ourselves out then. Duffy was new and was getting to know the rest of the defence. Also, Norwich would have three more points and only be a point behind us (and much closer on goal difference).

I think that first half season was a bit of a write off. We did okay until Baldock and March got injured and we had to rely on uninterested loan wingers. The irony is some on here wanted Hughton sacked that summer. I wonder where we'd be now if they'd got their way.

Yes, and I think Villa and Cardiff are probably better than their positions suggest so will be tougher. However, as compared to last season, we still had third, fourth, fifth and sixth to play so tough games to come.

Newcastle aren't guaranteed first but they are very likely to be top two (and probably come top). In terms of Norwich, they should still be up there but they desperately need to sort their defence out. Even before yesterday they had conceded more than double the goals we had. If they don't sort...

Agree re Villa. Next two games will be really tough. If we can come out of Bristol City and Villa games with four points, I would be delighted. Even two wouldn't be the end of the world after the win yesterday. We've got to move on from yesterday. Very few teams will defend as poorly as Norwich...

Looking at that top six, I think Hull are the only one we'd played at this stage last season. On the other hand, this season we've played the other four teams in the top five (plus the team in seventh).

Also depends what you regard as an assist. It doesn't count but, as an example, I would give him an assist for Murray's third goal as he relentlessly chased the defence and keeper and forced the error. It doesn't count as an assist but it was selfless running that gave Murray the chance

Always an interesting game. As often happens with a derby, it's been scrappy so far with a very well taken goal. Villa will be a tough test in three weeks. Think they will end up top six with Bruce in charge, despite their poor start, and second is not impossible (although unlikely)

And now level on points to this time last year (and a significantly better goal difference).

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showthread.php?344563-Player-ratings-vs-Norwich&highlight=player+ratings

Complete rubbish. We've covered this already. People are remembering March for five or six games last season. Not the poor start he had to the season when LuaLua was destroying teams. Frankly if a player has three assists in a match, I don't care if he doesn't do much else. He does run with the...

As I said earlier in the thread, if Skalak was as good at tackling and taking players on (although he's not as bad at either as some people think), he wouldn't be playing for us. I genuinely don't understand what people expect from a Championship player.

Interesting. I've not seen a replay but I thought Skalak got there first and Olsson fouled him. As the referee gave a foul, I was surprised he didn't book Olsson again.

Must have been late February before we had a +14 goal difference last season. I know we're only level on points now with what we had at this stage but it feels so different this season. We'd started brilliantly with a fully fit squad but had started drawing a lot as injuries hit and hadn't won...

History suggests they don't look at games played but more points won. If so, Benitez wins it. To be honest, I am happy with that. Always a bit of a curse. Couple of options for player of the month. Knockaert, Baldock, Duffy, Dunk and Murray could all be put forward.

Absolutely. There are plenty of examples. Brighton 1 Bristol City 4 in the play off season springs to mind. However, there are examples where games like this are key e.g. the Middlesbrough home match last season. Nobody is saying it is anything other than a great day but what a day it was.