This is the season...

[Legion]

Just looked at our Predictions site. We will know for sure by the end of January.

[footyskillz]

I see it as the next 9 matches up to end of January that define league season. Picking up points in these matches are crucial especially as we are only playing Newcastle who are amungst us.

We only get to play Newcastle once in those 9 games.

Agreed. We will all know if we truly have hope or not by 3/1/16

It's also the case for other clubs up and down the league .
The only good thing is we would still need to play fellow strugglers but getting a few wins in this 9 match  period will make survival easier than scrapping against rivals and hoping they don't pick up points against others . it's a case of doing for ourselves and win against anyone

[Phil from the upper holte]

Thing that's pushing me to the edge are all the pictures on facebook and twitter from nob ead Albion and blues fans. It's not Christmas ffs

[Richard E]

Thing that's pushing me to the edge are all the pictures on facebook and twitter from nob ead Albion and blues fans. It's not Christmas ffs

F**k 'em. They are not worthy of your ire.

[Phil from the upper holte]

It is annoying and there ain't really a lot to say either

[old man villa fan]

Yes, this is the season unless we can sort out the defence in the next couple of weeks.  I would start with the 2 fullbacks and stop relying on them to give the team width.  No end product is coming from them and I would think we would be better served with two more defensive players.  I would also drop Guzan as his confidence is shot and I do not believe the defence has any confidence in him.

[Des Little]

I really admire some folks' optimism on here but can we really expect this mob to suddenly start turning in a win every 2/3 games? We are leaking goals alarmingly and don't have a decent attacking option in the squad. I sincerely hope that I'm wrong but I just cannot see any conclusion other than relegation. The whole place reeks of it.

[mike]

The only way of staying up I can see is a vast amount of money spent (unlikely) on the right players (very unlikely) in the January window, which usually offers limited options at inflated prices, not many of whom are likely to see us as a good bet unless we offer them a mad contract (very, very unlikely). So in answer to the thread's question, almost certainly this is the season. Odd to think that Swansea, a small town in Wales where PE teachers have been known to burst any footballs brought into their schools, will have a decent team in the English Premiership next year and the biggest club in England's second City will be in division 2. Their club management's excellence is inversely proportionate to ours incompetence.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

I really admire some folks' optimism on here but can we really expect this mob to suddenly start turning in a win every 2/3 games? We are leaking goals alarmingly and don't have a decent attacking option in the squad. I sincerely hope that I'm wrong but I just cannot see any conclusion other than relegation. The whole place reeks of it.

thats how i feel, its a bit like running the 100 metres in 15 seconds the last ten times but thinking the next time you will do it in 10 seconds because you just will

3 home wins in a year and the worst combined points total in 5 seasons across all four divisions but hey we will be fine

this time next year rodney

[Hillbilly]

Can we lock this thread now? The answer has become pretty apparent.

[Clampy]

Can we lock this thread now? The answer has become pretty apparent.

You might think we're down but some of us still have hope.

[Hillbilly]

I still hope. But it's hope against hope.

[andyh]

I really admire some folks' optimism on here but can we really expect this mob to suddenly start turning in a win every 2/3 games? We are leaking goals alarmingly and don't have a decent attacking option in the squad. I sincerely hope that I'm wrong but I just cannot see any conclusion other than relegation. The whole place reeks of it.

Very true.
Look at last season as a perfect example.
Once we got rid of TSM 2, and went 'on a run' to get us out of the shit, that run only consisted of 5 wins and a few draws between him going and the end of the season.
AND, it included a bang on form Benteke.

[Billy Walker]

Every team will have its dodgy patch, its moments of fortune and moments of bad luck.  There's five/six months yet to play and so much can change and happen in football in that time it's untrue - who knows which teams will hit bad runs at the turn of the year, which teams will be hit by a spate of injuries and sink? 
Let the fans of lesser clubs mock and, even better, let them think we are finished.  My approach is to take it on the chin whilst  ignoring the temptation to respond.  Deep down, though, their mocking and desperation for us to fall makes my belief that we can turn it around all the stronger.   

[Ads]

Something dramatic would need to happen between now and the window opening. That's Southampton, Arsenal, Newcastle, West Ham, Norwich and Sunderland.

It looks forlorn at present, with us being incapable of beating a side as poor as Watford at home, but you'd need to be on at least 15 points by the end of the Sunderland game to be within striking distance that a centre half and a centre forward can make a difference for the remaining 21-23 points from the last 18.

Given how bad the defence is, I'm not sure what Garde can do. Hutton is a poor player, Clark is never going to improve and his mistakes routinely cost us. Okore looks to have something about him, but he's made of glass. If he's fit, I'd bring him back in and put Richards at right back, as I think then at least 50% of your back four would be decent.

Would we be better off playing Bacuna out of position at left back or bringing a youth player up to give it a whack? Lescott looks a beaten man, so Clark will likely have to be persevered with until the window opens.

I'm not letting Guzan off the hook either, he's garbage too.

Its a real mess back there and it makes an absolute mockery out of the nonsense that is spouted in the media about Premier League experience when the back 5 must have a 1000 games between them and they're easily the worst part of the side.

As I said before, I think Saturday's result would make it very unlikely that we'd stop up, with the chances diminishing yet further if we took less than 10 points from the next six.

I will predict that we will beat Southampton. We'll all sit up and start thinking, hang on, could it be? Before getting whacked by Arsenal and going on a 5 match losing streak. Its only been 180 minutes after all since our last glimmer of hope.