[Albion] The Fag End Of The Season

[el punal]

Four games to go and for the first time in years we haven’t been fighting for promotion or against relegation. The prize of course is to get our highest ever points tally in the PL and our highest position in the top tier. Realistically 9th would be wonderful and 13th disappointing after a promising season.

Sod it, I’m going positive - I reckon we’ll break our home win hoodoo, two victories at the Amex, two draws away. That would take us to 49 points and possible 9th place. Mid-table mediocrity? Pah!

 

[Bombardier]

Another incentive would be to finish above Palarse and in fairness to them that has not been the case for quite some time.

 

[JBizzle]

Four games to go and for the first time in years we haven’t been fighting for promotion or against relegation. The prize of course is to get our highest ever points tally in the PL and our highest position in the top tier. Realistically 9th would be wonderful and 13th disappointing after a promising season.

Sod it, I’m going positive - I reckon we’ll break our home win hoodoo, two victories at the Amex, two draws away. That would take us to 49 points and possible 9th place. Mid-table mediocrity? Pah!

Why not? I'm going positive too.

Wolves (A) 1-1 - A player sent off for us, a disallowed Maupay goal and a Welbz late equaliser
Man United (H) 1-0 - We batter them, score in about the 60th minute, then backs to the ball until we concede a late penalty, Fernandes misses
Leeds (A) 2-1 - Loads of possession, go 1-0 down, then Bissouma to finally keep a shot down and Dunk from a corner
West Ham (H) 2-2 - Fun home atmosphere, sunny, couple of beers and an entertaining game to end between two teams with nothing to play for

49 points too and a lovely end to another season of progression.

 

[Machiavelli]

Four games to go and for the first time in years we haven’t been fighting for promotion or against relegation. The prize of course is to get our highest ever points tally in the PL and our highest position in the top tier. Realistically 9th would be wonderful and 13th disappointing after a promising season.

Sod it, I’m going positive - I reckon we’ll break our home win hoodoo, two victories at the Amex, two draws away. That would take us to 49 points and possible 9th place. Mid-table mediocrity? Pah!

I'll take 13th now, and would not be disappointed with it. Given it would be the club's highest finish, why would you?

 

[GT49er]

Another incentive would be to finish above Palarse and in fairness to them that has not been the case for quite some time.

Above Palace, of course, and also above Southampton, to be Kings of the South Coast!

 

[m@goo]

Point at Wolves.
Win at home to Man U.
Win at Leeds.
Point at home to W.Ham.

And a finish above Palace will be lovely jubbly.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Another incentive would be to finish above Palarse and in fairness to them that has not been the case for quite some time.

Yep.

Another thought that occurred to me looking at the table this morning was how close we are to Brentford. I'm sure TB would LOVE to finish above Mathew Benham. Make it so lads!

(I can see a dull draw tomorrow, a real chance of beating Man U and Leeds before we peter out tamely against Wet Sham. 45 - 48 points!)

 

[WATFORD zero]

Yep.

Another thought that occurred to me looking at the table this morning was how close we are to Brentford. I'm sure TB would LOVE to finish above Mathew Benham. Make it so lads!

(I can see a dull draw tomorrow, a real chance of beating Man U and Leeds before we peter out tamely against Wet Sham. 45 - 48 points!)

This

I don't normally go with your football predictions, but I guess everyone is lucky occasionally

This relaxed end to the season is very strange but I'm actually enjoying it (as long as we finish above them).

 

[Swansman]

I like optimism but I really dont think it will go all that well.

Not saying the boys are "on the beach" because they wont be, Brighton has finished the last couple of seasons in a good manner despite not too much to play for in the final few games.

But having something to play for inevitably give teams some extra energy and hunger. In addition, West Ham and Wolves both had better seasons than Brighton, and despite all their flaws United are still in the top 6 and no easy opponent (just "easier" than they "should" be).

These teams are all fighting for a spot in Europa League, and perhaps more importantly to avoid the Europe-less 8th place. In the case of Leeds, with their difficult fixtures, they are quite likely to go into the game desperately fighting against relegation.

I think 3-4 points is much more likely than grabbing 6-7 but I'd love to be wrong about this.

What would be really nice is a final win to finally break the 9-win curse.

 

[Lenny Rider]

12 points 4 wins out of 4.

Highest finish ever ️

 

[Guinness Boy]

This

I don't normally go with your football predictions, but I guess everyone is lucky occasionally

This relaxed end to the season is very strange but I'm actually enjoying it (as long as we finish above them).

Well, I do like to hedge my bets

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/content.php?892-Season-Preview-2021-22-Hedging-My-Bets

I wrote that before we signed Cucurella and with Caicedo on loan and said.

"Should the squad stay the same at the end of the transfer window I’ll go for 17th. What’s more, if that was achieved, Potter will have done a good job. The one thing that could change this and make it look foolish is a breakout season from a youngster of our own. At the time of writing, though, only Taylor Richards was given any significant time against Getafe, impressing in an eleven minute cameo. The likes of Alzate and Sanchez should now be considered full on squad members.

If, on the other hand, we bring in the players we need then I can see us comfortably exceeding last season’s finish and points. 14th may even be underachieving. The BBC table prediction I posted feels like a reasonable ambition if at least one more player comes in."

Well, we got the player and we've had some nice cameos at times from the youngsters so it does feel like 14th would be underachieving slightly, given we're 11th with four to play. But the fact we've not even been mentioned in the relegation fight at any time, even during that dreadful 7 game run, means this has been a truly successful and relaxing season (if somewhat dull at home games).

Can someone please pick Swansman up from off the floor?

 

[pasty]

Another incentive would be to finish above Palarse and in fairness to them that has not been the case for quite some time.

That's all I care about this season now. As you say, it's been some time.

 

[Mellotron]

But having something to play for inevitably give teams some extra energy and hunger. In addition, West Ham and Wolves both had better seasons than Brighton, and despite all their flaws United are still in the top 6 and no easy opponent (just "easier" than they "should" be).

Have you not noticed though, that nowadays we are consistently better in performance against better sides who go at us and leave gaps?

I'd be far more concerned if we were playing Norwich, Watford, Palace and Burnley.

We generally don't know how to break down teams that come and sit. We DO know how to get through teams who go at us.

 

[Justice]

Have you not noticed though, that nowadays we are consistently better in performance against better sides who go at us and leave gaps?

I'd be far more concerned if we were playing Norwich, Watford, Palace and Burnley.

We generally don't know how to break down teams that come and sit. We DO know how to get through teams who go at us.

We did the double over Watford, Palace don’t sit in anymore Burnley we won away

 

[Mellotron]

We did the double over Watford, Palace don’t sit in anymore Burnley we won away

I can also list plenty of points we've gained against better sides. My point is that West Ham and Wolves being "better" sides doesn't mean we'll get less from them, based on what our style of play works best against.

Palace I put in as a joke/dig at their LOWLY league position.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I can also list plenty of points we've gained against better sides. My point is that West Ham and Wolves being "better" sides doesn't mean we'll get less from them, based on what our style of play works best against.

Palace I put in as a joke/dig at their LOWLY league position.

Wolves "betterness" comes from defensive solidity and cynicism. Not normally the sort of team we break down, hence my prediction of a dull draw.

 

[Mellotron]

Wolves "betterness" comes from defensive solidity and cynicism. Not normally the sort of team we break down, hence my prediction of a dull draw.

Again, not disputing that...I,....*sigh*...

My point was simply refuting Swansman's suggestion that it would be better if we were playing sides lower down the table. Our form this season (and even more so last season I believe) doesn't particularly bear this out.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Wolves "betterness" comes from defensive solidity and cynicism.

That Wolves game at the Amex this season...

I'm surprised they didn't name their two physios in the starting line-up. They spent more minutes on the pitch than most of their players.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Again, not disputing that...I,....*sigh*...

My point was simply refuting Swansman's suggestion that it would be better if we were playing sides lower down the table. Our form this season (and even more so last season I believe) doesn't particularly bear this out.

Sorry, that bit I understand and agree with. Last season I even took it as far as to commit NSC heresy and dispute the Giraffe tracker because we were picking up all the points where we shouldn't and losing them where we should have gained.

Wolves I see as an outlier on the whole thing, because of their reliance on defence. S'all.

 

[Mellotron]

Sorry, that bit I understand and agree with. Last season I even took it as far as to commit NSC heresy and dispute the Giraffe tracker because we were picking up all the points where we shouldn't and losing them where we should have gained.

Wolves I see as an outlier on the whole thing, because of their reliance on defence. S'all.

Agreed on Wolves. Probably the most similar club to us in the Prem, alongside Southampton (in other ways).