Should we be worried about relegation

[Klaus Katt]

It worries me that the youthfulness of the squad is both a liability and a lifeline.

[rutski]

Had a feeling some sort of posting regarding this would come up because some people just have not got a clue. Look at the injuries. Look at how, at times, we've played in these games. Sooner or later the results will come with some of the good play we have shown we are capable of.

hmm, with the injuries to come back, reo coker petrov and heskey, a rookie in the shape of albrighton and you think we have not got a clue?? I tell you now, we aint v good and there is no shape to us at the moment! The manager that has been appointed needs to be backed seriously in january if we arent to sink like a stone!

[pmarachi]

I am not worried about relegation.

I remember two years ago, with the first match of the season being a loss to Stoke and people were acting like the sky was falling.

It didn't.

(well, not until January at least)

[SoccerHQ]

Yes but we can't get any gameplan going, our whole week of changing was probably based around Gabby leading the line today as he did magnificently against Manure so him being ill overnight throws that into turmoil and we get Carew inflicted upon us.

Albrighton was MOM against Manure so playing so well in such a big game would I'd imagine herald a Bale like run of form from him, instead we lose him for 3 weeks.

We can't get any momentum going as we can't even get a consistant 11 out at the minute.

When we can do that for say 5-10 games in a row then I'll judge Houllier properly.

[rutski]

Yes but we can't get any gameplan going, our whole week of changing was probably based around Gabby leading the line today as he did magnificently against Manure so him being ill overnight throws that into turmoil and we get Carew inflicted upon us.

Albrighton was MOM against Manure so playing so well in such a big game would I'd imagine herald a Bale like run of form from him, instead we lose him for 3 weeks.

We can't get any momentum going as we can't even get a consistant 11 out at the minute.

When we can do that for say 5-10 games in a row then I'll judge Houllier properly.

we cant just bitch about players being out or injured! We are in a bit of shit i think!

[SoccerHQ]

Yes but I'm trying to analyse the reasons why "we are in a bit of shit" instead of just scaremongering.

I expect a minimum of 25 points by the new year (worst case a draw v WBA, beat Sunderland and Wigan and lose all the others) in which case we only need 5 more wins which we will easily manage with the fixture list we have at VP.

[Legion]

Our run-in at the end of the season looks pretty winnable in general.

[lovejoy]

Had a feeling some sort of posting regarding this would come up because some people just have not got a clue. Look at the injuries. Look at how, at times, we've played in these games. Sooner or later the results will come with some of the good play we have shown we are capable of.

To be fair I started the thread to see if the views were mixed, and they are. I am in the "transitional season but there are worse teams than us" camp. I think your post is a little narrow minded. Yes in spell against man U and West Ham we've played well but look at Newcastle, first half today etc we've been crap. The table doesn't lie mate.

[SoccerHQ]

I missed the Everton and West Ham games so I've seen the grand total of one win this season live and I really haven't been impressed with a lot of our play home and away bar an exceptional twenty minutes against Manure and a battling display against Chelsea.

We seem to have gone back to the spell of our last but one unmentionable previous manager when we couldn't dominate games even at home. That and we're too easy to score against, with a weakened central midfield.

[dave.woodhall]

There are a lot of people here I wouldn't want to rely on in a crisis.

[TheTimVilla]

We lost to Arsenal, it's not the end of the world. We'll be alright, especially when the transfer window is open in Jan.

[lovejoy]

So you're saying its a crisis?!!

[The Situation]

We're not actually playing 'badly' though, today and Newcastle are the only games where you can say we did not play well. The players are trying, the team is trying - the effort is there, loss of concentration, sloppy defending, conceding late goals and lots of players injured is the reason why we're 15th in the league. When we get our players back, get our act together and not making the same silly mistakes - we'll be fine.

I know it looks a but shit at the moment and yes it's annoying to look back on the Fulham game conceding with litterally the last kick of the game and throwing away that 2-goal lead against United after playing so well, knowing that even if we just drawed one of those games we'd be about 7th right now. Those mistakes are examples now to the players not to do the same thing - it's a harsh punishment but hopefully it pays off in the long term.

[Legion]

I take my hat off to you. This is what you and I talked about earlier.

[dave.woodhall]

So you're saying its a crisis?!!

No, I'm saying we've had a unique situation where almost everything that could go wrong, hs, for the past three and a bit months. In such circumstances you can either rally round, or come out with panic-stricken idiocy.