[Albion] Is Saturday our first “Must win” game of the season?

[Weststander]

All ye of feint heart keep the faith the bookies think that we will finish 5th bottom. I think it will be 6th

I look forward to the Victory Parade should we make 14th. Heady times to follow the Albion.

 

[Exile]

Totally agree. Do you trust Hughton on what has been brought in previously judging by where we are this season?

Is CH responsible for identifying, scouting and signing the new players, then?

 

[Arkwright]

In short to the OP, yes!

If we were to lose it would be a huge dent in confidence both on and off the field.

 

[blue-shifted]

It's not a must win. If we lose we don't go down. Probably we'll still be odds on to stay up.

It will be alarming and distressing for the fans. It will have a huge effect on confidence. It would be a good idea for your sanity to go for a nice walk and don't even consider looking at an online messageboard.

But there's a decent chance that even if we lose, the lack or resurgence from Fulham and Cardiff, means we won't even have to play an actual must win this season

 

[Spencer Vignes]

It's always been the way, even pre-Premier League, that in order to avoid relegation, you have to beat the sides around you at the bottom in order to survive. That in mind, the next three home games are crucial, with IMO seven points out of nine being necessary (especially considering our dire away record).

I always used to think it strange that we went down in 1982/83 despite taking four points off Manchester United and defeating Spurs, Arsenal and West Ham (who were top of the table at the time) at home. That was until I had a conversation with Gary Stevens, a member of that side, who reminded me how lowly Notts County, Luton and Stoke all did the double over us that season, with Manchester City, WBA and Everton collecting four points at our expense. Those were the games that ultimately did for us.

The Cardiff fixture in particular fills me with dread. If City win that, then you can only imagine the boost it'll give them & the damage it'll do to our morale.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It's not a must win but things could turn very ugly if we don't win.

 

[Tooting Gull]

I think it is must-win to stay up. We have already lost to Fulham and Cardiff, two very poor sides, both after leading.

It has been a truly terrible run when there was for a brief moment a glimmer of a chance that this season would not be a really desperate relegation battle.

The big stuff has been going against us - results. And all the contributory stuff - poor defending, bad finishing, outstanding goalkeeping, untimely injuries, suspensions and loss of form. And then some smaller random stuff - Palace get Leicester at their lowest ebb, we get them four days later awash with the feelgood factor and still should have won the game; Huddersfield will arrive just after a first win in decades etc etc

So when everything is going against you, you have to dig incredibly deep, even deeper than usual, and show massive character. And I have to be honest, I saw that last night. The team played very well and took it to Leicester, let down only (again) by the defensive errors and the Murray misses. If it hadn't have been for everyone just focusing on Brendan Rodgers, there might have been more acknowledgement from the media that Leicester were actually very lucky to win.

I am confident that if we play like that on Saturday we will win, but it's going to be very tense.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I think a loss, or even a draw, will psychologically break us and send us into a relegation spiral.

*Must win* - and then use it as a springboard to better things.

 

[Weststander]

It's not a must win but things could turn very ugly if we don't win.

The 7,000 left in the Amex will be dualling tartan rugs vs topless Pepsi bottles.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The 7,000 left in the Amex will be dualling tartan rugs vs topless Pepsi bottles.

But enough about going 2-0 down in the first ten minutes

 

[Honky Tonx]

Is CH responsible for identifying, scouting and signing the new players, then?

One would hope that he should have a major part to play in this. At least if a player is recommended, Hughton should have a look before that player is signed.

 

[Diablo]

We must have on paper the easiest March games in the League. There are now only four teams below us in the league and we have three of them at home in March,Huddersfield, Cardiff and Southampton. Coupled with Palace away. A possible 12 points. Surely we must win three of these ? Then we are safe ? However losses to Burnley and Fulham make me less convinced !

 

[scouse23]

Cant see Cardiff picking up anymore than 3 points with their run in.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Cant see Cardiff picking up anymore than 3 points with their run in.

At the Amex ?

 

[Brovion]

I don't normally buy into this sort of statement. But yes I think it probably is.

Yeah, I don't usually go in for this 'must win' stuff. These matches even themselves out over the course of a season and it's all about our points total at the end rather than how it's achieved..

However I'd say it IS 'must win' simply because if we can't beat Hudds at home - who the hell can we beat?

 

[djentist]

It isn't must win as such, as we do have other favourable home games coming up against teams far likelier to overtake us in the table than Huddersfield, so our fate would still very much be in our hands. What we do need however is a positive approach and a good/consistent level of performance in the match, regardless of the result, to show that we have enough about us to pull something out of the bag in difficult circumstances.

If we end up struggling against statistically one of the worst PL sides of all time after 27 games, even if we were to win, I fear for our status in this league in the medium term, perhaps not for this season as the teams currently in the bottom 3 all look desperate for various reasons between them. But for next season, as I feel that unless significant changes are made to our regular starting 11 (maybe not necessarily through buying a load of new players, as some of our summer acquisitions have been in and out of the picture) and our tactical approach to certain games, the best we will be able to hope for is being in a similar position again this time next season, which is dangerous to hope for given other clubs around us will strengthen and the "teams worse than us" this season may not necessarily be replaced by other teams worse than us from the Championship.

Some big calls to be made in the close season, but ones that Hughton should be with us to make and likely will be with us to make

 

[Wardy's twin]

this on paper is our most 'winnable' game if we don't win this what chance do we have with any other result going our way.

 

[Wardy's twin]

We must have on paper the easiest March games in the League. There are now only four teams below us in the league and we have three of them at home in March,Huddersfield, Cardiff and Southampton. Coupled with Palace away. A possible 12 points. Surely we must win three of these ? Then we are safe ? However losses to Burnley and Fulham make me less convinced !

Cardiff has been postponed and it is not clear when it will be....

 

[AZ Gull]

Is CH responsible for identifying, scouting and signing the new players, then?

Are you suggesting players are being signed without Hughton's consent?

Surely it is Hughton (and Hughton alone) who decides which players to sign?

 

[Wardy's twin]

It's not a must win but things could turn very ugly if we don't win.

I think that second part of your sentence makes it a 'must win'