Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Phil from the upper holte on February 10, 2014, 10:50:21 AM
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Cardiff A
Newcastle A
Norwich H
Man City A
Chelsea H
Stoke H
Man U A
How many points?
I'm going for 2
Draw with Norwich & Stoke
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5 or 6 points at a push...
We will win one of Cardiff, Norwich, Stoke... if we don't we deserve to go down.
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Bloody hell - 2 is pessiimistic, I will say 5 - win against Norwich , 2 draws and 4 defeats , leaving us in deep trouble.
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A nice nine.
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10.
Beat Cardiff, Norwich and Stoke, with a draw against Newcastle.
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5 from next 3 and then 0 from following 4 with 2 very heavy pastings thrown in for good measure
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Anything less than 5 and it's really squeaky.
At least we are starting from a higher base this year. I think we had 24 points at this stage last year and then lost to Arsenal and Man City which left us quite squeaky. At least we have a chance this year to reach the psychologically satisfying 30 points a bit earlier.
Of course the annoying thing this year is the bottom three's ability to get good wins/draws. Could be 41+ needed for safety?
But look, we have only ourselves to blame. We should already be on 30+ points as far as I am concerned. Losing to Fulham, Stoke, Palace and West Ham is absolutely pathetic.
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Cardiff A 3
Newcastle A 0
Norwich H 3
Man City A 0
Chelsea H 0
Stoke H 3
Man U A 0
I have a strange feeling we're going to turn our home form on it's head. Absolutely no logical reason other than we can't be this shit forever.
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Win at Cardiff, win at home to Norwich. Draw with Newcastle and Stoke. 8 points.
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Four points. Point against the toon and beat Norwich.
Think we'll lose 4 on the spin from Man City onwards.
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There should be an option, with Vlaar without Vlar.
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Cardiff A - 1
Newcastle A - 3
Norwich H - 1
Man City A - 0
Chelsea H - 0
Stoke H - 3
Man U A - 0
I think we can get 8 points out of that set of fixtures, leaving us pretty close to safety if we manage it.
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Cardiff, Newcastle and Norwich are all very winnable. As is Stoke and even Man United. I won't get my hopes up about the Citeh or Chelsea games. 8 points.
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Ten.
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0.
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Cardiff A - Draw
Newcastle A - Lose
Norwich H - Win
Man City A - Lose
Chelsea H - Lose
Stoke H - Draw
Man U A - Lose
5 points
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0.
Tad optimistic there I reckon. We'll play so badly that the FA will decide to deduct us points for crimes against football. ;)
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11
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Fuck knows with us. The way we are we'll probably beat Chavski and Manure, and lose the rest.
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Cardiff A 0
Newcastle A 0
Norwich H 1
Man City A 0
Chelsea H 1
Stoke H 1
Man Utd A 1
4 and 18th in the table
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Cardiff A
Newcastle A
Norwich H
Man City A
Chelsea H
Stoke H
Man U A
How many points?
I'm going for 2
Draw with Norwich & Stoke
4.
Win v Norwich, draw v Cardiff
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Cardiff A - 0
Newcastle A - 0
Norwich H - 1
Man City A - 0
Chelsea H - 0
Stoke H - 1
Man U A - 1
3
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I reckon 7. Not terrific but not awful either. But what I'm really hoping for from those games is some indication that Lambert gets what the problems are and knows how to solve them.
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Cardiff A
Newcastle A
Norwich H
Man City A
Chelsea H
Stoke H
Man U A
How many points?
I'm going for 2
Draw with Norwich & Stoke
Absolutely crazy. Points at home?? No chance
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Cardiff A 3-1 villa
Newcastle A loss 2-1
Norwich H win 1-0
Man City A loss 5-0
Chelsea H loss 0-3
Stoke H loss 0-1
Man U A loss 4-0
6 points
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Lambert has good record against Norwich . If he cant get a result on that day , he needs his P45
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I don't think there's any more depressing time to lose a game than Sunday evening, it makes the Monday blues so much worse. Therefore wins against Norwich and Stoke are crucial for my sanity if nothing else.
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There should be an option, with Vlaar without Vlar.
Obviously without Vlaar is 0
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I don't think there's any more depressing time to lose a game than Sunday evening, it makes the Monday blues so much worse. Therefore wins against Norwich and Stoke are crucial for my sanity if nothing else.
I think Stoke will beat us. They'll frustrate us, bully us and ultimately will just have a dash of quality and nous with the likes of Adam to beat us.
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Cardiff A - 1
Newcastle A - 1
Norwich H - 3
Man City A - 0
Chelsea H - 0
Stoke H - 1
Man U A - 0.
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0.
Bloomin heck mate, I thought I was downbeat
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0.
PFE
Yellow card.
Love, Cresswell.
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21.
We are going to beat them all!!!!
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My post was not entirely serious...
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21.
We are going to beat them all!!!!
Oh danny boy , you really must lay off the spirits this early in the day ;)
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WDDLLDD
7 points.
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21.
We are going to beat them all!!!!
Oh danny boy , you really must lay off the spirits this early in the day ;)
I know mate. They force me to talk complete shite. ;)
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WDWLLDL - 8 points.
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Three, possibly four and then deep in the mire again.
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Of course the annoying thing this year is the bottom three's ability to get good wins/draws. Could be 41+ needed for safety?
I doubt it. There are still 6 teams in the division that are averaging a point or less per game. If you work out the points per game needed for 41, the bottom 8 don't have it. I see no real reason why 8 teams who've struggled to get those sorts of results in the last 25 games will suddenly start doing more than that for the next 13.
If you assume Baggies, in the final relegation spot, continued their form for the season thus far, they reach 34 points. 3 wins out of our next 13 games will put us above that.
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Cardiff A. 3 points
Newcastle A. 1
Norwich H. 3
Man City A. 0
Chelsea H. 0
Stoke H. 1
Man U A. 0
8 points I'm going for
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6
1 win, 3 draws
33pts with 5 games to go.
Mucho squeaky bum time, just like last year.
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Cardiff A. 3 points
Newcastle A. 1
Norwich H. 3
Man City A. 0
Chelsea H. 0
Stoke H. 1
Man U A. 0
8 points I'm going for
That's pretty much where I am.
I think we'll do OK away to Cardiff and Newcastle, get nothing from Man Utd, Chelsea or Man City and really need to sort the home form against Norwich and Stoke.
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Think we had 21 points from 25 games last year but I dont think we'll go on as good a run as we did last year especially if Vlaar has his 2 month winter break again. We might throw in an unexpected win out of that lot so it's a 10 from Len!
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My gut feeling is that we'll beat Cardiff, Norwich and maybe Stoke and get a draw against Newcastle, although with our inconsistency we could win or lose any of them (except City, we'll ship 4 or 5 goals there).
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The goal difference could take a bit of a twatting in the next 7 games, particularly the latter 4. That could be a major worry. We have to hope Vlaar stays as fit as possible but at the moment it seems like consecutive games are getting beyond him. Our right fullback position is troublesome too. Lowton has been dreadful and Bacuna does okay sometimes, but can't defend to safe his life in others, but in fairness to Leandro, he's filling in.
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W
W
W
L
L
W
L
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Cardiff A - Defeat
Newcastle A - Draw
Norwich H - Defeat
Man City A - Lose
Chelsea H - Draw
Stoke H - Win
Man U A - Draw
6 points
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Cardiff A - lose
Newcastle A - draw
Norwich H - draw
Man City A - lose
Chelsea H - draw
Stoke H - draw
Man U A - win
Seven points.
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W
L
W
L
L
W
D
10 points.
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10.
Beat Cardiff, Norwich and Stoke, with a draw against Newcastle.
this for me aswell. Think we may get a point out either Chelsea or Man U too, but don't want to jinx it..
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Of course the annoying thing this year is the bottom three's ability to get good wins/draws. Could be 41+ needed for safety?
I doubt it. There are still 6 teams in the division that are averaging a point or less per game. If you work out the points per game needed for 41, the bottom 8 don't have it. I see no real reason why 8 teams who've struggled to get those sorts of results in the last 25 games will suddenly start doing more than that for the next 13.
If you assume Baggies, in the final relegation spot, continued their form for the season thus far, they reach 34 points. 3 wins out of our next 13 games will put us above that.
Good point well made. While our form pisses me off I honestly don't know why everyone's so worried about the teams below us. They're even shitter than us, that's why they're down there. Where are these good wins they supposedly get? The Baggies have only won 4 all season.
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Four away wins and three home defeats.
12 points.
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Of course the annoying thing this year is the bottom three's ability to get good wins/draws. Could be 41+ needed for safety?
I doubt it. There are still 6 teams in the division that are averaging a point or less per game. If you work out the points per game needed for 41, the bottom 8 don't have it. I see no real reason why 8 teams who've struggled to get those sorts of results in the last 25 games will suddenly start doing more than that for the next 13.
If you assume Baggies, in the final relegation spot, continued their form for the season thus far, they reach 34 points. 3 wins out of our next 13 games will put us above that.
Good point well made. While our form pisses me off I honestly don't know why everyone's so worried about the teams below us. They're even shitter than us, that's why they're down there. Where are these good wins they supposedly get? The Baggies have only won 4 all season.
You would have to say that three of the six teams averaging a point or less a game will go down. A couple of them will probably improve and have a decent run but it is unlikely four or more of them will.
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Cardiff A - draw
Newcastle A - lose
Norwich H - win
Man City A - lose by a cricket score
Chelsea H - lose
Stoke H - draw
Man U A - lose
5 points and well into the now annual relegation scrap. Maybe we'll go down with the Boggies, and with Wolves likely to get promoted and Bloose likely to avoid relegation, we can have our own Midlands mini league in the Championship
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Four, maybe five points at best and being dragged into a battle at the bottom with our goal difference taking a hammering as well, especially if Vlaar is missing a few of these games.
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A win tonight would ease so much pressure.
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I've no idea. If Lambert allows us to play like we did at Anfield, we could win a few. If not we could lose the lot. Anyone's guess.
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I think it was Liverpool who allowed us to play like we did at Anfield more then Lambo.
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Cardiff A - draw
Newcastle A - lose
Norwich H - win
Man City A - lose by a cricket score
Chelsea H - lose
Stoke H - draw
Man U A - lose
5 points and well into the now annual relegation scrap. Maybe we'll go down with the Boggies, and with Wolves likely to get promoted and Bloose likely to avoid relegation, we can have our own Midlands mini league in the Championship
Much more likely than many would care to admit.
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Cardiff A - draw
Newcastle A - lose
Norwich H - win
Man City A - lose by a cricket score
Chelsea H - lose
Stoke H - draw
Man U A - lose
5 points and well into the now annual relegation scrap. Maybe we'll go down with the Boggies, and with Wolves likely to get promoted and Bloose likely to avoid relegation, we can have our own Midlands mini league in the Championship
Much more likely than many would care to admit.
Its highly unlikely that both us and Albion will finish in the bottom 3. One of us, maybe. And even then far more likely to be them than us.
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Cardiff A - draw
Newcastle A - lose
Norwich H - win
Man City A - lose by a cricket score
Chelsea H - lose
Stoke H - draw
Man U A - lose
5 points and well into the now annual relegation scrap. Maybe we'll go down with the Boggies, and with Wolves likely to get promoted and Bloose likely to avoid relegation, we can have our own Midlands mini league in the Championship
Much more likely than many would care to admit.
Its highly unlikely that both us and Albion will finish in the bottom 3. One of us, maybe. And even then far more likely to be them than us.
No way we're going down. Also I fancy Wolves to blow it then lose in the play-offs. Everything crossed for 10 point deduction before season end for Blues. Everything will be as it should be come May - ie us top of the Midlands pile
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Cardiff A - draw
Newcastle A - win
Norwich H - draw
Man City A - draw
Chelsea H - lose
Stoke H - win
Man U A - lose
9 points. me thinks
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Cardiff A - draw
Newcastle A - win
Norwich H - draw
Man City A - draw
Chelsea H - lose
Stoke H - win
Man U A - lose
9 points. me thinks
A four game unbeaten run, including a point at the Etihad?! I'll have some of whatever you're on!!!! ;)
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22 points from seven games.........Europe here we come!
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22 points from seven games.........Europe here we come!
That would be something of a surprise!
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22 points from seven games.........Europe here we come!
That would be something of a surprise!
were in Wales tonight . Already there
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Cardiff A - Lose
Newcastle A - Lose
Norwich H - Draw
Man City A - Lose
Chelsea H - Lose
Stoke H - Draw
Man U A - lose
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22 points from seven games.........Europe here we come!
That would be something of a surprise!
were in Wales tonight . Already there
I meant getting 22 points from 7 games. As unlikely as 7 wins is from us, I doubt the premier league would chuck us an extra point if we managed it.
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4-6 points for me, I just don't see us getting anymore.
Also man city, tear, new and arsehole come to mind.
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Cardiff A - WIN
Newcastle A - Draw
Norwich H - Win
Man City A - Lose
Chelsea H - Draw
Stoke H - WIN
Man U A - Lose
11 points. Job done.
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There are about six who have called the draw tonight correctly. Who will go the furthest?
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Cardiff A - draw
Newcastle A - win
Norwich H - draw
Man City A - draw
Chelsea H - lose
Stoke H - win
Man U A - lose
9 points. me thinks
A four game unbeaten run, including a point at the Etihad?! I'll have some of whatever you're on!!!! ;)
If I remember rightly MONCABA was shit hot at this last year, got about 6 out of 6 I think
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Cardiff A - draw
Newcastle A - win
Norwich H - draw
Man City A - draw
Chelsea H - lose
Stoke H - win
Man U A - lose
9 points. me thinks
A four game unbeaten run, including a point at the Etihad?! I'll have some of whatever you're on!!!! ;)
If I remember rightly MONCABA was shit hot at this last year, got about 6 out of 6 I think
I'd be delighted if he did it again!
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Don't like how Norwich is increasingly looking like a must win game for us. "Must win" and "home game" don't really go together for us.
I think we'll get something at Newcastle although probably a draw. It's important we beat Norwich as I can see them going down tbh but especially as we have Chelsea, Man. City and Man. United all coming up soon after and also Stoke who have been a bogey team for us since promotion.
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Don't like how Norwich is increasingly looking like a must win game for us. "Must win" and "home game" don't really go together for us.
I think we'll get something at Newcastle although probably a draw. It's important we beat Norwich as I can see them going down tbh but especially as we have Chelsea, Man. City and Man. United all coming up soon after and also Stoke who have been a bogey team for us since promotion.
The only thing that might favour us against Norwich is that we've a good record against them under Lambert. I'd also love us to rub their noses in it after the Hoolahoop fiasco. Holt scoring a 90th minute winner would be fantastic.
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I can only sum it up with I am very worried.
Newcastle A - Lose
Norwich H - Draw
Man City A - Lose
Chelsea H - Lose
Stoke H - Draw
Man U A - Lose
2 pts leaving us on 30 from 32 games.
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Don't like how Norwich is increasingly looking like a must win game for us. "Must win" and "home game" don't really go together for us.
I think we'll get something at Newcastle although probably a draw. It's important we beat Norwich as I can see them going down tbh but especially as we have Chelsea, Man. City and Man. United all coming up soon after and also Stoke who have been a bogey team for us since promotion.
The only thing that might favour us against Norwich is that we've a good record against them under Lambert. I'd also love us to rub their noses in it after the Hoolahoop fiasco. Holt scoring a 90th minute winner would be fantastic.
The fact Norwich are utter shite is also in our favour. Stat I just looked up for another thread. 1 win in 11. Haven't scored more than 1 goal in a league game for 3 months.
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Don't like how Norwich is increasingly looking like a must win game for us. "Must win" and "home game" don't really go together for us.
I think we'll get something at Newcastle although probably a draw. It's important we beat Norwich as I can see them going down tbh but especially as we have Chelsea, Man. City and Man. United all coming up soon after and also Stoke who have been a bogey team for us since promotion.
The only thing that might favour us against Norwich is that we've a good record against them under Lambert. I'd also love us to rub their noses in it after the Hoolahoop fiasco. Holt scoring a 90th minute winner would be fantastic.
The fact Norwich are utter shite is also in our favour. Stat I just looked up for another thread. 1 win in 11. Haven't scored more than 1 goal in a league game for 3 months.
Welcome to Villa Park.
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I have a strangei feeling we'll win up at Newcastle.
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Newcastle on terrible run currently so think it is a winnable game.
Man U away is another we could pick up points
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Actually fancy us to get something at Newcastle. Norwich should be very winnable only caveat being I suspect they'll have a new manager by then so they might get a bit of an uplift in form as a result.
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Newcastle have sold their best player and if they fail to beat Spurs tonight it wouldn't take much for the crowd to turn on them in our game with them. Norwich look the worst team in the league at the moment.
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Norwich and Stoke are the games most teams would be looking at to pick up wins. Given our home form Newcastle and Man U are more likely for us.
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Actually fancy us to get something at Newcastle. Norwich should be very winnable only caveat being I suspect they'll have a new manager by then so they might get a bit of an uplift in form as a result.
Problem is I think we need to win both games now. It might sound silly to say with 12 games to go, but we're running out of time to pick up points. Last night was another 2 points squandered. Even if we end up being safe, it's very disappointing that we don't appear to have pushed on much at all.
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I think we've regressed.
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Back to the future same place different year, looking at teams below us to praying that they are playing the top six all the way to the end of the season (i know the math doesn't work out) the one saving grace is that as shitty as we are there are at least three or four that are even shitier. This is where we are at as a club, normally i would be supporting a lower club against one of the giants but every loss they have makes Villa safer. Isn't it absolutely pathetic.
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2 games without scoring is worrying (on top of the Everton game where we scored from our only chance). Benteke hasn't really looked close. We had 2 gilt edge chances last night but in both cases I never felt confident the ball would end up in the net. Gabby looks well off the boil at the moment. Perhaps not 100%, but as the ball came to him I knew he'd fluff his lines.
There's a few games coming up which I can see us getting a point here and there, but none, besides Norwich, that I fancy us winning. Likewise, if Vlaar is out, then staying solid and tight at the back will be a problem.
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I got my first prediction wrong, hopefully it will continue
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I think we've regressed.
I felt that way that last November. We were labouring through games against Sunderland at home, West Ham away and the lest said about December the better.
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After games during last christmas break, i remember calling my brother on the way home from a terrible performance and result and said "we are gone, i just dont know where we are going to get the results from". And then we ended up playing well enough to stay up, and certainly some exciting games. last season we were closer to the bottom, so its not all doom and gloom just yet. That there are more teams with fewer points, poorer goal difference and in effect worse than us, does not actually mean we have progressed, but other teams have worsened, giving us an artificial lift. The really frustrating part is just how well we can play at times, second half last night, Liverpool away etc. That is what will keep us up, a couple of blitzes in some of the upcoming games, and im not clever enough to say who they will be against. I still think we will get ten from the seven games, which will keep us safe. Too many teams below, some who will take points off each other, or will have to play games against a very good top seven teams in the league.
I think stagnation rather than regression is the term. Cmon lads, give us something to cheer
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I think we've regressed.
I felt that way that last November. We were labouring through games against Sunderland at home, West Ham away and the lest said about December the better.
I'm just confused by us. Resultswise, we haven't regressed if you recall the first 2/3 of last season but we've not kicked on at all from the final 1/3.
Football wise we have certainly gone backwards which is a massive concern.
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I think we've regressed.
I felt that way that last November. We were labouring through games against Sunderland at home, West Ham away and the lest said about December the better.
I'm just confused by us. Resultswise, we haven't regressed if you recall the first 2/3 of last season but we've not kicked on at all from the final 1/3.
Football wise we have certainly gone backwards which is a massive concern.
Yep our football and creativity is frankly awful a lot of the time.
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our goalless 1 point 'haul' from the last two games v West Ham & Cardiff hardly breeds confidence. We'll beat Norwich and sneak a couple of points out of the other fixtures looming leaving our sphincters twitching come May.
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We'll have no sphincter twitchers here!
We shall not be moved
Just like a bowel
As solid as a Concrete Ron
We shall not be moved
We shall overcome some day
Oh deep in my arse
I do believe
That We shall overcome some day
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We need to get back to a settled side. The end to last season was played with virtually the same 11 each week.
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Look on the bright side: at least that bastard BBC predictor is no more.
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It's a pity Newcastle are so far ahead of the bottom half. They are really struggling now. Pity they can't be sucked into the battle at the bottom.
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It's a pity Newcastle are so far ahead of the bottom half. They are really struggling now. Pity they can't be sucked into the battle at the bottom.
On the plus side they've got nothing to play for and we still have to play them.
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It's a pity Newcastle are so far ahead of the bottom half. They are really struggling now. Pity they can't be sucked into the battle at the bottom.
On the plus side they've got nothing to play for and we still have to play them.
True.
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Don't like how Norwich is increasingly looking like a must win game for us. "Must win" and "home game" don't really go together for us.
I think we'll get something at Newcastle although probably a draw. It's important we beat Norwich as I can see them going down tbh but especially as we have Chelsea, Man. City and Man. United all coming up soon after and also Stoke who have been a bogey team for us since promotion.
The only thing that might favour us against Norwich is that we've a good record against them under Lambert. I'd also love us to rub their noses in it after the Hoolahoop fiasco. Holt scoring a 90th minute winner would be fantastic.
The fact Norwich are utter shite is also in our favour. Stat I just looked up for another thread. 1 win in 11. Haven't scored more than 1 goal in a league game for 3 months.
They kept a clean sheet against Sheikhy. Respect yo.
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Defence bitch!
(http://www.metro.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/WEK_JesseBreakingBad_0808.jpg)
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Don't like how Norwich is increasingly looking like a must win game for us. "Must win" and "home game" don't really go together for us.
I think we'll get something at Newcastle although probably a draw. It's important we beat Norwich as I can see them going down tbh but especially as we have Chelsea, Man. City and Man. United all coming up soon after and also Stoke who have been a bogey team for us since promotion.
The only thing that might favour us against Norwich is that we've a good record against them under Lambert. I'd also love us to rub their noses in it after the Hoolahoop fiasco. Holt scoring a 90th minute winner would be fantastic.
The fact Norwich are utter shite is also in our favour. Stat I just looked up for another thread. 1 win in 11. Haven't scored more than 1 goal in a league game for 3 months.
They kept a clean sheet against Sheikhy. Respect yo.
Chris Hughton refuses to win away games really, they get the vast majority of points at Carrow Road. Be interesting to see if he changes that approach at VP or just plays for the Point.
Norwich is looking must win to me given what Is to come in March after that game. A point at Newcastle shouldn't be beyond us either.
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I don't think we're in a relegation battle, nor will we be in the shit. Most teams below us need to win two games just to overhaul us, then our GD is worth a point against quite a few teams down there. Another point is, with so many teams involved the points required to stay up will be much less than the usual 40 as so many teams will take points off each other. I reckon 37 will be enough and if we can't muster the 10 points needed to exceed that then I'd be surprised. I reckon there should be around 3 wins at least between now and the end plus a few draws for good measure and that will be more than enough. Stop worrying about something that won't happen.
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The fact there are so many games between the teams at the bottom is a big thing for me as well. As we saw with the Stoke v Swansea game last night, there will be plenty of draws between teams who are equally as crap as each other. And every time there's a draw a point disappears out of the equation (ie only 2 points issued rather than 3) so I genuinely feel we could lose every game from now and it would still probably take 6 weeks before we found ourselves in the relegation zone.
We're not safe by any stretch but we don't need to be booking hotels for Brighton and Leyton Orient yet either.
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2 games without scoring is worrying (on top of the Everton game where we scored from our only chance). Benteke hasn't really looked close. We had 2 gilt edge chances last night but in both cases I never felt confident the ball would end up in the net. Gabby looks well off the boil at the moment. Perhaps not 100%, but as the ball came to him I knew he'd fluff his lines.
There's a few games coming up which I can see us getting a point here and there, but none, besides Norwich, that I fancy us winning. Likewise, if Vlaar is out, then staying solid and tight at the back will be a problem.
Could be, especially against Man City, when our goal difference could take a hammering.
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It's ironic that Tekkers and Gabby have dried up in the last couple of games when Albrighton has finally started putting some good crosses in.
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It's ironic that Tekkers and Gabby have dried up in the last couple of games when Albrighton has finally started putting some good crosses in.
Benteke isn't getting in the box nearly enough for my liking. Albrighton has put in a lot of good balls when he's been in the side, but we don't have players in the box attacking the right areas. It's a constant frustration.
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2 games without scoring is worrying (on top of the Everton game where we scored from our only chance). Benteke hasn't really looked close. We had 2 gilt edge chances last night but in both cases I never felt confident the ball would end up in the net. Gabby looks well off the boil at the moment. Perhaps not 100%, but as the ball came to him I knew he'd fluff his lines.
There's a few games coming up which I can see us getting a point here and there, but none, besides Norwich, that I fancy us winning. Likewise, if Vlaar is out, then staying solid and tight at the back will be a problem.
Could be, especially against Man City, when our goal difference could take a hammering.
Hopefully having got through 90 minutes against Cardiff, and then having a 12 day break before the next game, with warm weather training, Concrete Ron will now be fit for the duration.
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It's ironic that Tekkers and Gabby have dried up in the last couple of games when Albrighton has finally started putting some good crosses in.
More by luck than judgment against Cardiff though.
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It's ironic that Tekkers and Gabby have dried up in the last couple of games when Albrighton has finally started putting some good crosses in.
Benteke isn't getting in the box nearly enough for my liking. Albrighton has put in a lot of good balls when he's been in the side, but we don't have players in the box attacking the right areas. It's a constant frustration.
I would say Benteke is getting into the box but it is the others that are not. Even when Gabby gets in there, where are the rest. We just do not seem to be able to get midfield players up quickly enough to support.
Perhaps I am old fashioned but when I hear commentators saying that x player has just put a good cross in and there is nobody near it, I think how can it be a good cross when it does not go near his own player. A great player will be aware of where his players are and a good player will look up to see where his players are. To me, a cross into an area where a player should be, is just a hit and hope. For me, Albrighton plays too many hit and hope crosses when we only have two players in the box. They might be more effective, however, if there were more players in there.
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It's ironic that Tekkers and Gabby have dried up in the last couple of games when Albrighton has finally started putting some good crosses in.
Benteke isn't getting in the box nearly enough for my liking. Albrighton has put in a lot of good balls when he's been in the side, but we don't have players in the box attacking the right areas. It's a constant frustration.
I would say Benteke is getting into the box but it is the others that are not. Even when Gabby gets in there, where are the rest. We just do not seem to be able to get midfield players up quickly enough to support.
Perhaps I am old fashioned but when I hear commentators saying that x player has just put a good cross in and there is nobody near it, I think how can it be a good cross when it does not go near his own player. A great player will be aware of where his players are and a good player will look up to see where his players are. To me, a cross into an area where a player should be, is just a hit and hope. For me, Albrighton plays too many hit and hope crosses when we only have two players in the box. They might be more effective, however, if there were more players in there.
It's a tough one. You'll often hear commentators, especially any ex midfielders/strikers on co-duty, who bemoan the lack of players attacking the right areas when someone like Albrighton whips a ball into good areas. It depends on what you define good wing play. Is it picking out players, or is it playing the ball into dangerous areas and leaving the onus on your attacking players to attack those areas and the ball. It's probably something in between.
As for the latter, we don't do that nearly enough. Alby puts in his fair share of very good crosses. He's very good at whipping them in between the 6 yard line and the pen spot, that area that keepers and defenders absolutely hate. On occasions like that we should have players absolutely busting a gut to hit the near or far posts, or get in the box, but all too often they don't, which is frustrating. It's particularly annoying when Benteke doesn't, because he'd naturally thrive on some of these balls. Ironically I think Bent would probably net a fair few from Albrightons delivery.
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Interesting to see how it panned out - minus the Man City game which has been moved...
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I wonder if Sunderland have a thread like this on their forum?
Sunderland Fixtures:-
Tottenham (a)
Everton (H)
Man City (a)
Chelsea (a)
Cardiff (H)
Man Utd (a)
West Brom (H)
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Our last 7 games:
Fulham H- L
Palace A- D
Southampton H- L
Swansea A- D
Hull H- W
Man City A- L
Tottenham A- D
40 points.
Dems my predictions and I'm sticking by them. Plenty of dull football, sloppy goals conceded, not many scored. Think Benteke will grab 3-4 more goals.
We'll start by obliging Fulham with a false dawn. Any time a side, or manager, really needs a win, we seem to deliver it to them (unless that manager is Lambert, or that side is Villa).
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WDLWDLL
42 Points
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I wonder if Sunderland have a thread like this on their forum?
Sunderland Fixtures:-
Tottenham (a)
Everton (H)
Man City (a)
Chelsea (a)
Cardiff (H)
Man Utd (a)
West Brom (H)
I hope they've got enough Vaseline.
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Fulham H - win
Palace A - lose
Southampton H - draw
Swansea A - win
Hull H - win
Man City A - lose
Tottenham A - lose
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Fulham H - win
Palace A - win
Southampton H - draw
Swansea A - draw
Hull H - win
Man City A - lose
Tottenham A - draw
46 points, as I said back in February.
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Fulham H - Win
Palace A - Draw (we never win at Selhurst)
Southampton H - Draw
Swansea A - Draw
Hull H - Win
Man City A - Lose
Tottenham A - Draw
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Fulham H - Draw
Palace A - Lose
Southampton H - Draw
Swansea A - Draw
Hull H - Draw
Man City A - Lose
Tottenham A - Lose
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Fulham H - Win (37)
Palace A - Lose (37)
Southampton H - Draw (38)
Swansea A - Draw (39)
Hull H - Lose (39)
Man City A - Lose (39)
Tottenham A - Draw (40)
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Fulham H - Win
Palace A - Lose
Southampton H - Lose
Swansea A - Draw
Hull H - Draw
Man City A - Lose
Tottenham A - Lose
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WDLDDLD
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Fulham H - W
Palace A - L
Southampton H - L
Swansea A - L
Hull H - D
Man City A - L
Tottenham A - L
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Last 7 ganes 7 points, 7 games before that 5 points, 7 games before that 8 points, talk of 1 or 2 points from last 7 fixtures is way off the mark, were bad but nowhere near that bad, you wait and see.
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Fulham H - W
....
I don't think we'll beat Fulham. I hope for a draw.
.. and I've always been a very opti opti.
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I think we will beat Fulham, Palace and Spurs.
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Fulham - D
Palace - L
Southampton - L
Swansea - D
Hull - W
Man City - L
Tottenham - L
Sorry but I have no faith in team or boss. Still should be enough points to stay up though.
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Fulham - L
Palace - L
Southampton - L
Swansea - W
Hull - L
Man City - L
Tottenham - D
Just 4 lousy points, but maybe also just 4 valuable points that keep us up. I really do think we are woeful. I'm not looking forward to Fulham- it's on the cards!
Lambert Out!
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Fulham - W
Palace - L
Southampton - L
Swansea - D
Hull - D
Man City - L
Tottenham - D
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Fulham H - win
Palace A - lose
Southampton H - lose
Swansea A - draw
Hull H - draw
Man City A - lose
Tottenham A - lose
5 pts safe
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Fulham H - Win
Palace A - Win
Southampton H - Win
Swansea A - Win
Hull H - Win
Man City A - Win
Tottenham A - Win
21 Points.........Get innn
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Fulham H - Win
Palace A - Draw
Southampton H - Lose
Swansea A - Draw
Hull H - Win
Man City A - Lose
Tottenham A - Lose
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Fulham H - 37
Palace A - 38
Southampton H - 39
Swansea A - 40
Hull H - 43
Man City A - 43
Tottenham A - 44
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Fulham H - Win
Palace A - Win
Southampton H - Win
Swansea A - Win
Hull H - Win
Man City A - Win
Tottenham A - Win
21 Points.........Get innn
Nurse!