The run-in

[django]

I did the predictor on BBC for what its worth (absolutely nothing) and had us going down.

I am amazed that so many people on here think that our short/young/physically weak side will get 3 points against Stoke rather than being bullied into oblivion. Or that we will get anything from the game against Sunderland, a side on an opposite trajectory to ourselves.

I really hope i'm wrong and we get something from our next game because if we have to go all gung ho (no i cant imagine it either) against Stoke and Sunderland i fear they will pick us off. The pressure that would put our inexperienced kids under going into some tough games doesn't bear thinking about.

I think it all hinges on the game against Bolton, win it and we're ok. Draw it and we may need to go into the Norwich game needing something, lose and we might need to win that game.

[Monty]

I did the predictor on BBC for what its worth (absolutely nothing) and had us going down.

I am amazed that so many people on here think that our short/young/physically weak side will get 3 points against Stoke rather than being bullied into oblivion.

Last I checked football was a game played with a ball, not a tug-of-war.

If we go down it won't be because of being too physically weak. It will be, if anything, because of just that kind of thinking which over-values the physical side of football ahead of the technical.

[Nev]

Easter is always pivitol, if we loose both games, I think we will go down.

[Rigadon]

What was the game in which Marcus Alback scored in towards the end of the last season we were relegation threatened?  Was that Bolton as well?

[Nev]

What was the game in which Marcus Alback scored in towards the end of the last season we were relegation threatened?  Was that Bolton as well?

Sunderland.

[django]

I did the predictor on BBC for what its worth (absolutely nothing) and had us going down.

I am amazed that so many people on here think that our short/young/physically weak side will get 3 points against Stoke rather than being bullied into oblivion.

Last I checked football was a game played with a ball, not a tug-of-war.

If we go down it won't be because of being too physically weak. It will be, if anything, because of just that kind of thinking which over-values the physical side of football ahead of the technical.

Maybe, but as an example, Arsenal have struggled at times over the years as despite having good footballers they have been overwhelmed by the physical side of the premiership. They have come to terms with that a lot better now and are asserting themselves more and are able to dictate the play through their football ability but that has been arrived at through experience.

If you are feeling under pressure in one of your first senior starts it might be harder to keep calm and pick out a pass with a lumbering centre back raking his studs down the back of your leg and elbowing you in the throat, is all i meant.

I absolutely agree with you that over a season you live and die by your football ability rather than being able to mix it with the likes of Stoke. It's another reason why i think the young players should have been used more in the earlier part of the season rather than being thrown in now when we don't have any options. I think it's better to introduce young players when the pressures off rather than bearing down on them. The physical side of the game is just another thing for them to contend with and i'm not convinced that it would be a walk in the park against stoke anyway.

[Monty]

I think it's all about how you use the players. McLeish is a physically-minded manager, the type who thinks of football as a war-like struggle. For that reason, he is a) fundamentally unsuited to our group of players, as his style encourages the worst and discourages the best, and b) just unsuited to top level football in general.

[django]

Absolutely, i think there is no reason why our players shouldn't be able to beat Stoke in a game of football, although the team isn't at full strength at the moment so it would be a tough game. Sadly the way McLeish is likely to send them out is for the tug-of-war you mentioned earlier which is why i think we'll lose.

We need to try and play round them but i suspect we'll try and play them at their own game and lose.

I sincerely hope i'm wrong because its a vital game in our run in.

[Monty]

Absolutely, i think there is no reason why our players shouldn't be able to beat Stoke in a game of football, although the team isn't at full strength at the moment so it would be a tough game. Sadly the way McLeish is likely to send them out is for the tug-of-war you mentioned earlier which is why i think we'll lose.

We need to try and play round them but i suspect we'll try and play them at their own game and lose.

I sincerely hope i'm wrong because its a vital game in our run in.

Agreed on that, though I think Stoke's sheer bluntness when faced with a massed defence may well mean a 0-0. Either way, it'll be the ugliest game since the away fixture in December.

[Rigadon]

What was the game in which Marcus Alback scored in towards the end of the last season we were relegation threatened?  Was that Bolton as well?

Sunderland.

Ah yes.  Cheers, Nev.

We have the same kind of feel to us this time out too. 

[*shellac*]

Liverpool (A) L
Stoke City (H) D
Man Utd (A) L
Sunderland (H) W
Bolton (H) W
West Brom (A) L
Spurs (H) L
Norwich (A) D

8 points.

[villajk]

In the taxi club before the game I predicted that we'd get two more points this season.  Draws against Bolton and Norwich.  Also predicted all the other relegation contenders and had us staying up on my 35 points.  Today's point can only be an added bonus.

[Dave Cooper please]

Well, that's a point more than most of you jibbering pessimists predicted!
We'll be fine.

[SoccerHQ]

We will.

Blackburn have hit a slump again so I think they'll struggle to get more than 33 points.

Wigan and QPR will also find it a major struggle to get to 35 points.

And that means we'd have to lose every single game left in the season when one surprising stat of the season is the most games we've lost in a row in the league only stands at two.

[nodge]

We will.

Blackburn have hit a slump again so I think they'll struggle to get more than 33 points.

Wigan and QPR will also find it a major struggle to get to 35 points.

And that means we'd have to lose every single game left in the season when one surprising stat of the season is the most games we've lost in a row in the league only stands at two.

Blimey, it felt like we'd lost 3 in about 2 and a half hours when we lost to Liverpool , Man U and Arse in December.