[Football] Anyone left on here who still thinks

[Rugrat]

It depends if hughton is changing the way he wants to play the game....i am not sure getting any out and out attackers will be rewarded in the slow, defensive style we have.

I am not convinced hughton thinks we are doing that badly that he will want to change our style, so for that reason on getting new players in, I am out!

I'm afraid I'm coming round to this thinking. Stevens and Propper sit so deep that whoever we have up front is going to be isolated and hugely outnumbered. That said we are going to need fresh blood if only for next season and beyond. I am In!

So you might be thinking about a change of manager? I am of the opinion that CH is good enough but he is managing in a very very difficult set of circumstances. I think he is fecked without a decent striker or two and have done since the window closed. I don’t want us to get shot of him though as I think he may have played us very differently if we had found a striker. We have done brilliantly under the circumstances but the wheels do appear to be coming off recently.

They were always going to be difficult, and regardless of points scored we appear to be in decline rather than make (even slow) progress. One even two players isn't going to radically change us. I'm not sure he'll change our style with the addition of a new striker but I hope I'm wrong

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

I do, but that's only if Stoke, Newcastle and Swansea fail to improve their squads.

We need to match any improvements they make.

 

[Giraffe]

I very much look through life with blue and white tinted glasses but I really think unless we change things up front we have no hope. 2 or 3 additions to the attack and a hange has in game plan is need from Hughton.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

It'll be a fight to the end to stay up, but that fight needs to start sharpish!

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[crabface]

Held off coming on here over the weekend as i was so disapointed with the performance against West Brom.

Unfortunatly ive come to the realisation that we are going down, Newcastle and West Brom were both there for the taking away from home but we have gone out so negativly. We are looking for the point, when to survive we really need the 3.

Getting fed up with being told that I shouldnt be disapointed as we have come such a long way. Yes we have, but we dont have the guts and determination to go and beat the teams around us which means unfortunatly i can only see us going one way.

 

[neilbard]

A slight improvement on the point a game average will see us safe.

 

[bhawoddy]

I very much look through life with blue and white tinted glasses but I really think unless we change things up front we have no hope. 2 or 3 additions to the attack and a hange has in game plan is need from Hughton.

Could it be said that Izquierdo and Baldock would be like new addtions IF they were to be played as a focal point or pair??

 

[bhawoddy]

Held off coming on here over the weekend as i was so disapointed with the performance against West Brom.

Unfortunatly ive come to the realisation that we are going down, Newcastle and West Brom were both there for the taking away from home but we have gone out so negativly. We are looking for the point, when to survive we really need the 3.

Getting fed up with being told that I shouldnt be disapointed as we have come such a long way. Yes we have, but we dont have the guts and determination to go and beat the teams around us which means unfortunatly i can only see us going one way.

Agree, going down fighting or at least try to win games would be much more digestable.

 

[Weststander]

Held off coming on here over the weekend as i was so disapointed with the performance against West Brom.

Unfortunatly ive come to the realisation that we are going down, Newcastle and West Brom were both there for the taking away from home but we have gone out so negativly. We are looking for the point, when to survive we really need the 3.

Getting fed up with being told that I shouldnt be disapointed as we have come such a long way. Yes we have, but we dont have the guts and determination to go and beat the teams around us which means unfortunatly i can only see us going one way.

The weak squad, lacking pace and goals, is the cause.

The final couple of months of fixtures pair us with PL powerhouses, with teams far superior to ours. We needed a large points cushion to prevent a drop.

 

[Rugrat]

A slight improvement on the point a game average will see us safe.

Last 11 games we've averaged 0.6 ppg and our fixtures are getting harder

 

[GT49er]

I think we'll stay up, but I think we also have many more games of dross to endure and will probably survive last day by the skin of our teeth, and I don't think the views of those on here are likely to change much before May, which is understandable for the majority that aren't getting their knickers in a twist.

Exactly. It will be difficult, and it isn't by any means certain, but yes, I think we'll just make it.

So is that a yes reading between the slightly snide remark?

Nothing snide about it.

Is a reference to those starting Hughton/Board out threads.[/QUOTE}
Exactly.

The squad got us to 23 points so far so it's not impossible. A couple of new faces would be very welcome though.

Yes, we can survive; getting a couple of good signings in January would obviously improve the chances.

Yeah i do, the squad got us this far. However i would obviously like to see a couple of new players come it, but wouldn't be devastated if they don't. Can they keep us up? IMO yes... will they? No idea... Gonna be fun finding out though.

Exactly this.

N.B. Just to make this absolutely clear - I am/we are NOT advocating not signing anyone as a policy. We need to do some business in January, and we should be working hard to do so - but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't automatically follow that we'll definitely be relegated.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

I have always thought that we would need 3 teams to have nightmares for us to stay-up - on just a footballing front we (alongside Huddersfield) were likely to struggle with the quality at our disposal compared to others. The early part of the season saw us get results against those sides who were having the nightmares - e.g. West Ham, West Brom. The only disappointment for me have been the home games where we failed to secure wins when it felt that we should have done. So whilst strengthening our squad in January would be good, I am not convinced that it could ever get away from the fact that we still need the likes of Swansea, Stoke, Newcastle to be the nightmare teams. Watford, Southampton could still also be those to have nightmare finishes as they are unlikely to change their managers any time soon.. Palace need strengthening in numbers too - if that doesn't happen still think they will be involved. So, we have a chance IMHO, but only if it doesn't rely purely on the quality of the squads. ( I am assuming of course that our squad doesn't start to implode under the pressure!)

 

[Weststander]

Last 11 games we've averaged 0.6 ppg and our fixtures are getting harder

0.6 is the equivalent of LLLLWLLLLW = Sunderland and Boro form last season.

 

[MattBackHome]

that we have enough to stay up without any additions to the squad

Seemed to be a few not so long ago. Do you still think like this?

Yes I am one.

 

[Simster]

I still think we probably will actually survive even without reinforcements. Obviously we're on a bad run, but this weekend's results have certainly amplified our fears on here.

Ideally we want a striker, and that has always been the case. But there are a couple of things worth saying:

1) we could buy one of the 5 or 6 strikers linked on here for £20m or whatever, but if they turn out to be a dud, we'd be properly screwed - if he doesn't score enough by May, not only will our club have just written off half of his transfer fee in about 4 months but also we'd have no money for reinforcements next season. On balance, I'd rather the club got it right or played it safe as opposed to gambling £20m on a player who might come good. We don't want to end up like QPR.

2) It really won't matter who we get in, if we don't start defending corners properly, we're going down anyway. WTF has happened to our defence? They were the reason we had climbed to 8th barely 2 months ago.

 

[drew]

I'm afraid I'm coming round to this thinking. Stevens and Propper sit so deep that whoever we have up front is going to be isolated and hugely outnumbered. That said we are going to need fresh blood if only for next season and beyond. I am In!



They were always going to be difficult, and regardless of points scored we appear to be in decline rather than make (even slow) progress. One even two players isn't going to radically change us. I'm not sure he'll change our style with the addition of a new striker but I hope I'm wrong

We have the players we have and the system we play isn't working. Common sense suggest you try a different system unless we get the quality players in That said, our big problem seems to be an inability to create good chances for our front men, which, when you consider we keep playing two wingers, is worrying.

Tend to agree with Rugrat although I'm resigned to the fact that we are far more likely to be relegated than not. Out of our last 10 fixtures, at the moment I only see us getting points against Huddersfield at home. That puts pressure on the next 5 games. If we do well in those we might have some momentum to carry through for those last 10. Trouble is, we aren't beating the teams around us and we are getting sucked into the zone.

It will be disappointing to go down but I've seen it all before, just hope it's not another 34 years before we're back because if it is, not sure I'll be around to see it!

 

[neilbard]

Last 11 games we've averaged 0.6 ppg and our fixtures are getting harder

A slight improvement on the point a game average will see us safe.

0.6 is the equivalent of LLLLWLLLLW = Sunderland and Boro form last season.

6 of the 11 were away games, 3 of those 6 were against top 6 sides, the 5 home fixtures included tough games against Liverpool, Burnley, Palace and plucky Bournemouth who turned over Arsenal.

The table doesn't lie we have averaged a point a game, every game is tough at this level.

A slight improvement on this will see us safe.

 

[Rugrat]

0.6 is the equivalent of LLLLWLLLLW = Sunderland and Boro form last season.

I've also got us to carry on at 0.6ppg ending up on 32. I've got Swansea, WBA and Stoke finishing on 24, 29 and 30 respectively but hoping all 3 of them continue with their dire performances is likely to be expecting just too much

 

[Martlet]

We are currently 16th - Stay here and we are fine!

Yes - but we all know that's not the point. We've not looked like climbing back up the table for a while, and the sides that struggled (even including Swansea) are all getting their acts together. In Stoke we trust...

I'm still with Hughton. I think he deserves a crack at this, and we still have time to get it right. But we do need some more adventure, earlier changes if necessary and risks in our approach.

Witness the difference in approach: when Bournemouth went 2-1 down against us, they changed three players and their playing style immediately. They could have gone 3-1 down straight after if Jose had buried his chance, but instead clawed it back and sneaked a draw, and nearly won it.
When we went 2-0 down against West Brom, we took another 11 minutes to bring Baldock on, and another 10 after that to bring Kayal - all like for like changes - and never looked like getting anything back.

Leaders on the pitch also important. I like Bruno as the club captain, but don't see him rallying the team when against the ropes. Dunky's a cracking young defender but doesn't yet look like a Prem captain. Last year we has Stockdale, Kayal and Sidwell also pushing the team forward - and got a few good results by failing to give in (Brentford, Sheff Weds etc). Gross and Propper excellent players but maybe need rotating a little more?

 

[crabface]

Could it be said that Izquierdo and Baldock would be like new addtions IF they were to be played as a focal point or pair??

I dont know why we havent tried Izquierdo down the center. He looked like our most positive threat on Saturday.