RodneyTrottersFC

So... I found myself bored again..... So why not compare us to 8 other relegation "favorites": Points against top 9: Sunderland 14/33 42.42% West Brom 13/42 30.95% Stoke 10/39 25.64% West Ham 6/33 18.18% Hull 7/39 17.95% NORWICH 6/36 16.67% Cardiff 5/36 13.89% Palace 1/33 3.03% Fulham 1/39 2.56% Against fellow fodder: Palace 22/36 61.11% Hull 18/33 54.55% Fulham 16/30 53.33% NORWICH 18/36 50% Cardiff 13/30 43.33% West Ham 14/33 42.42% Stoke 12/30 40% West Brom 10/27 37.04% Sunderland 9/33 27.27% Notice how a lot of them swap ends? I interpret that to mean we''re consantly poor, as opposed to having better spells and diar spells... Personally I''d prefer the latter... Anyway... At first I was quite chuffed to not be in either bottom 3... And being 4th in the second one was a pleasant surprise.... However, we managed 1 from 9 against Fulham and Cardiff.... And Cardiff are the only team below us in both tables :-s I can''t wait for this season to be over.... Too much worry.... Here''s to hoping for survival and starting afresh with a new manager next season

Also, I too remember it being Sunderland and Palace and yes, it is so tight it could all change around in a matter of games... But you have to remember... It was far too early too seriously write them off... If I remember correctly it was before christmas (?) and not yet even half way... So for Cardiff and Fulham to have stayed above Sunderland and Palace, the run they had mustered in the timefrime would have to have been better than their good run now... In much simpler words: it''s their form over a 26 game run that is why I write off Fulham and Cardiff at presant

Lol.. It''s almost as if you didn''t even see my other comment :-)

That''s what tends to happen when you put heavy focus on recent form ;-)

Ok... So I can be verbose. This is a discussion forum... So how about a discussional thread? We can all make predictions... The PUPs thrive of it... So here''s mine... Feel free to put your penniesworth in on what I say... Preferably with your own too.... Us v Spurs Original prediction (a whole other story) : defeat. Now: still fear the same.... 1-3 No doubt I''ll get some mud thrown my way for it... But just like I was gladly proved wrong with the Man City game: I always maintain anything can happen and live in hope... It''s just my faith in NCFC under Hughton is depleated. Man C v Stoke OP: Man C win Now: Stoke steal the draw 2-2 just to throw a spanner in the mix... I''d love to see Arsenal or Chelsea win it... But look at Man City''s failed to win record... Other than Chelsea, they''re all against bottom 13 sides! And I gave Stoke less credit in my predicts... They''ve just beaten Man U, then drew with Southampton and then drew with Swansea.... Not long til they play us too... Man U v Palace OP: Man U win. Now: 3-0 united... Perhaps it''s wishful thinking but we need teams around us to drop points to top teams... And thinks look bad at United, I just feel this could be the game for Moyes to build a bit of momentum... They have WBA then Chelsea next. Arsenal v Sunderland OP: Gunners win. Now: still ... Lets go 4-1 I just do. Chelsea v Everton OP: Chelsea win. Now: still... Say 1-0 Chelsea were looking good before slipping up to WBA... Everton had a break but had lost their derby... Tight game, maybe? Liverpool v Swansea OP: Liverpool win. Now: actually a draw... 2-2 Just because it''s nearing the end of the season... And it''s Liverpool. But seriously, Swansea did what we couldn''t by beating Cardiff... Lets give em a vote of confidence (knowing how our luck''s generally been regarding other results, it could happen). Southampton v West Ham OP: Draw. Now: 3-2 to Hammers. Southampton are on an impressive DWDW but West Ham are on an even better DWWW (both teams'' last 3 fixtures against bottom 11 teams)... I can see this being a goodun and West Ham just getting the better of it. Newcastle v Villa OP: Toon win. Now: hmm... Draw... Punt at 1-1 Newcastle have gone longer since the win and are on a run of 3 massive defeats... But Villa aint looking too sharp now at WLLD... Dunno... Just smell draw. WBA v Fulham OP: Fulham win. Now: WBA win it.... 1-0 Massive game for them and us... While I''d love to call a draw, I just think that WBA look slightly better than Fulham at the minute.... Granted Fulham have had the tougher run, they''re on LLDL ... But WBA''s LDLD, their draws were against Liverpool and Chelsea. Cardiff v Hull OP: draw. Now: Hull win 2-0 Long story short: Cardiff (along with Fulham) is one of the teams I think are going down this year.

HALT Read what you just writ. Tell me that''s not you projecting your own viewpoint on to people? Find me one example of someone saying anything remotely like "aww man, we''re doomed... With just Cardiff and Fulham below us, there''s no way we can catch up with the remaining 9 teams!" ....seriously.... This whole putting words or "imagery" into people''s mouths ... I can only speak for myself but would put a hefty bet on others agreeing with me: A) yes the table''s tight and any of us 11 could face the drop B) what harm is there in sticking your neck out and making predictions? 3) There is no C

In your defense: it is a discussion forum... Only rule being it''s at least slightly NCFC related... If ya had your wits about ya you coulda said "what good does whining about me whining offer?" ;-)

[quote user="Surfer"]IMO the three to go down is between us, Fulham, Cardiff, Sunderland, West Brom, Palace, Stoke, Hull, Villa, West Ham and Swansea.[/quote] no sh1t lol... Want a cussion for that fencepost? ;-)

Having just read the whole thread: just one specific thing I want to say LDC: the ability to adapt and change view points is a great thing.... But going from "recent form is all that matters" to "what about his earlier achievements?" is extremely conflicting.... Truth is, both matter... If only you had said that outright... As for the topic: surely, being twice my age, you know how the world works? I wish from the bottom of my heart that those with an inability to debate maturely just kept shtum... But it aint gonna happen is it? What point is there in posting a whinge about it? I''m not implying "if ya can''t beat ''em, join ''em" ... Merely "if you can hold your head up high while everyone around you loses theirs, then you''ll be a man, my son". As a footnote: personally... The underlying feel to your original post came across as "hughton outers should do one" to me too... And really.... That irks me more than mud slingers

Meh... I agree that too many claim to be TOO sure of our relegation... But... It does look scarily likely.... And besides, how boring would life be if you couldn''t talk about things while it''s happening and had to wait for something to finish before saying "I knew they''d go down" for example? I reckon Cardiff and Fulham are as good as gone... Then it''s between us, Stoke, West Brom and West Ham for 18th

Lol true

Oh come on grandpa... Even I''m not that verbose... I reckon I could cover "it''s raining" in 1,400 words! Besides.... I doubt I''d have any opposition trying to tell me it''s not raining ;-)

Haha :-) To summerize: everything points to NCFC under Hughton declining toward England''s second tier

The table is so tight... If we don''t improve our attacking threat relegation looks worryingly likely... Last time we got relegated from top flight we had a better goal threat despite diabolical defense hence lack of wins.... This time we''re scraping wins and still looking like relegation fodder

:-) I always appreciate predictions forcasting our survival.... Especially when effort''s been put into it :-) One huge concerning omen for me is this: Hull, Newcastle, Sunderland, Cardiff, Fulham and WBA are the 6 teams to appear below us in current form and/or league position.... From these teams we''ve took 9 points from 27... So that''s 2 wins from 9 meetings....

Feel free to have a read.... Or if you like: not read it and still tell me to stop worrying, Hughton will defo keep us up. I''d love for someone to read it and tell me things I overlooked or stats that shine a positive light or articulate why they disagree with some of my points made.... One can dream

Must you be so self-contradicting? Going on about personal insults when pretty much every one of your posts has a personal insult.... It really doesn''t help the happy clapper fixation of tarring us all with the same brush. For me: gambling is a fool''s game. To bet £100 on something it would have to be a certainty.... Making the bet pointless. But us being relegated is not a certainty just like our survival isn''t.... So.... If you are certain of either (fool) then bet away....

Tbf.... I can understand people getting hysterical.... The fall of form does make for scary reading... For many, I imagine the sheer bewilderment at Hughton still being the man given the task to keep us up adds to the hysteria... Sometimes I wanna go out in the streets and yell "how the hell has he still got a job?!?!"

I appreciate that faith in survival is subjective... To get a balanced view on the matter, you have to consider many things like stats, form, performances and omens etc.... Nothing so far has installed belief in surviving comfortably... Before the Cardiff game I was 70% sure we''d survive... After: 70% sure we''re going down... I can''t for the life of me fathom how people can claim not to be at all worried

So you offer up a prediction, and it gets considered for the final selection? I notice no one has gone for an EPL game? Chelsea v Everton is the only game that''s exclusively top 9 teams... So plenty of chances for high odds... I''d go with West Ham beating Southampton.... Both teams have played 3 consecutive games against bottom 11 and West Ham have won all 3.... Them getting the win here would be a good steal... Having writ all that... I realise this is for this weekend... I''m a week to early aren''t I? Lol oh well.... Anyway... If I had the Norwich bet... I''d split it £2 on something confidant (likely to be high odds lol), £2 on something pessimistic... And £1 on a little punt with high odds... So for Spurs Game: £2 on Norwich to score more than once, £2 on Spurs winning with Adabayor to score and £1 on Tge Wolf to score in 2nd half

Just a bit harsh lol

Wow you''re now depressed or wow you feel sorry for me? :-)

[quote user="Bury Green"]Interesting reading, thanks for taking the time to set that out. ''Keeping the Faith'' implies some sort of belief in the supernatural, luck, chance, good fortune, whatever else and that somehow if we just keep our fingers crossed it''ll all be ok. When you look at the numbers in detail as you''ve done here it kicks ''Faith'' in the knackers so to speak. Yours it the mandate for change, or at least it should have been two months ago, it''s too bloody late I fear.[/quote] cheers man... I know exactly what you mean. Just noticed I got 2 out of 3 Swansea results right too...

Villa, Chelsea and Fulham: I''m right on form having got 1 result correct... Hull I''m right on form despite not getting a single result of theirs right haha Newcastle are my most accurate team predictions having predicted 2 of their 3 defeats

It''s a sad sorry state of affairs for at least 2 of us to give West Sham the win :-(