5 Points Off Relegation. Who's Worried?

[south stand corner terrace 0]

After Barnsley winning today at Luton we are now 5 points off relegation. Is anyone concerned? Yes we have a game in hand, but as the old addage goes its always better to have points in the bag, and we have to win at Burnley.

We have had the luck that teams below haven''t really been doing anything.  Is this now going to happen?

Comments please...................

[nutty nigel 7,536]

Luton for sure!

 

[Smudger 0]

Yes am very concerned...

A postponement today was the best result we could of hoped for however (hopefully now we will get a few more players in and they will sell Lafferty before we have to go to Turf Moor).

Give it another couple of weeks and Barnsley and Co will be within striking distance of us!!!

[Baldyboy 0]

been saying this for months, we should be worried, because now earny is injured do we have anyone capable of scoring regularly? we are in a relegation scrap and the next two league games are vital as they are both at home and one is against a team below us.

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

Very very worried - with Earnie injured we are going to struggle now even to squeak lucky 1-0 wins!

[blacko 0]

It is amazing how it can creep up on you, we do need to replace Earnie to make sure we at least have some goals otherwise I fear we will be in the mire to the bitter end

[7rew 0]

Given that luton and burnley played each other, and this is the only result that didn''t go in our favour today (we wanted a draw here), we didn''t go too badly. The postponement gives us time to strengthen our team (as earnie now staying, if out for season) and we arn''t likely to get any worse due to transfers, but may improve. Burnley on the other hand could well get worse, with the likes of lafferty under demand from other clubs.

[Branston Pickle 3,659]

I''m not worried at all.  Some people will glory in the fact we are only 5pts off and predict that we will lose every game left this season, but why should that happen?  The sides beneath us are there because they have been worse than us, not better, so why assume they will all win their games?  I suppose at the end of the day it depends how negative you want to be.

IMO the postponement has come at a good time: the next time we play in the league we should have everyone we are signing/losing in the Transfer window either here or sorted out.  This can only be of help to us. 

[Dicky 0]

[quote user="Branston Pickle"]

I''m not worried at all.  Some people will glory in the fact we are only 5pts off and predict that we will lose every game left this season, but why should that happen?  The sides beneath us are there because they have been worse than us, not better, so why assume they will all win their games?  I suppose at the end of the day it depends how negative you want to be.

IMO the postponement has come at a good time: the next time we play in the league we should have everyone we are signing/losing in the Transfer window either here or sorted out.  This can only be of help to us. 

[/quote]

Steady on Branston, you should know by now that postive and non-hysterical posts are not allowed. Think before you post next time, will you?

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,759]

I don''t think it was too bad a day results wise for us, of the teams below us, Leeds, Southend and Q.P.R lost, Hull drew and o.k Barnsley beat Luton, but Luton fans will be fearing relegation more than us tonight after that result.

 We would probably have lost that game today, let''s save this fixture and see how seriously we need the points when it''s re-scheduled !!

[djc 0]

Am not worried just yet, but at least the postponement does give players like Dublin a much needed break, and allows Shackell some more resting time on the ankle injury that has been mentioned by Grant.

Interesting though, the pools panel awarded the result as a "home win".

[Time to go Delia 0]

You should all be worried this Norwich side is worse than pathetic and hasnt got one single ounce of fight in it , sit back and watch Blackpool roll them over 3-0 next week .

[7rew 0]

The pools pannel mostly give wins don''t they. (draws cost them more)If you had to pick a winner with the home side higher in the league than the away side (even with no form guide) it must be such a hard decision.

[Regime Change 0]

Relegation is a realistic threat, but, there are about eight other clubs around us in a similar position.  Unless they have a drastic imporvement in results it looks as though Southend and Leeds are going to be two of the three teams to go down.  We still have to play Leeds, Luton, Hull and Barnsley again so our fate is still firmly in our own hands. 

If Grant is able to secure the signing of Hayter and bring in another attacking midfielder well have a pretty decent squad and I''m sure we will start to move away from the bottom of the table.

[Chunky Canary 0]

Considering the rubbish dealt up this season, Earnie’s injury, an inexperienced manager, a non-ambitious board and under performing players, I’m very, very worried.

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

[quote user="Branston Pickle"]

I''m not worried at all.  Some people will glory in the fact we are only 5pts off and predict that we will lose every game left this season, but why should that happen?  The sides beneath us are there because they have been worse than us, not better, so why assume they will all win their games?  I suppose at the end of the day it depends how negative you want to be.

[/quote] I certainly don''t glory in it - being so far down the table and seeing the amount of anger and unrest at the club saddens me greatly and I believe a lot of other posters on here feel the same. I am however very worried - I would love to be really positive and say ''yes we will get out of trouble'' but at the moment I have seen nothing to suggest that will be the case. With Earnie now injured and our form before the window getting progressively worse, what reason is there for us to suddenly start winning once the window shuts?? This league is also very open and while there are teams below us with less points, they are all capable of winning games as Southend showed against Cardiff and Barnsley showed against Luton yesterday. Anyway don''t you think it''s very worrying in itself that we are relying on teams below us to lose to get out of trouble??

If we can bring in someone to replace Earnie before the window closes and make a couple of other quality signings in midfield and defence then I will truly believe that we won''t go down. Until that point I will stay as positive as possible but for me relegation remains a real worry. I think that''s realism rather than negativity!

[Old Shuck 183]

I certainly don''t want any of the usual hype from any of the players about "getting a run together" and "aiming for a play off place" because that would be an insult to everyone.

It IS now about staying in this division for next season and a push from there. And next season might be the last realistic chance of getting promoted, as, after then, all of the relegated sides get £30 Million parachute money, so will just do a Chelsea and buy their respective ways back up again.

However, I think next season is too soon. Major surgery is needed at the club, from the very top to the bottom, and we aren''t going to go from the mess we''re in now to a promotion capable team in eighteen months. Look how long it took Derby to get it together, three, four, five seasons of mediocrity to finally get where they are now, they had a good late run last season so it was looking good for them, now they''re reaping the dividends of that-the question is, are we patient enough to accept our club might do the same?

Birmingham look a shoe-in for the title now. McSheffrey must be one of the best players in this division (he was Coventry''s version of Earnie, and look whats happened to them since McSheffrey left!), I reckon Southampton will get 2nd, Derby, WBA, Preston and, as theres always a late run from somewhere, Sunderland for the play off''s, in that order.

Derby vs Preston play off final, Billy Davis against his old club?

Southend and Leeds look finished already, think Luton will join them. Doesn''t surprise me-they''ve sold, what, four-five top players (look at how we all scoffed at the prospect of signing Howard, he''s got 12 for Derby now); Newell will probably pay the price and get the sack-but whats he meant to do after flogging off the likes of Howard, Nicholls, Vine, Edwards, and others?

So yes, we SHOULD be safe. But we''re looking at the lowest league finish for a long, long time, and it should mean that everyone has a good long look at themselves at our club in the Summer, a time when it will be crucial for Grant to get the go ahead and backing to start adding to the squad from June 1st, rather than our old routine of saying "nothing happens until August" which has repeatedly let us down and proved to be inaccurate.

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="Sherlock Holmes"]

Relegation is a realistic threat, but, there are about eight other clubs around us in a similar position.  Unless they have a drastic imporvement in results it looks as though Southend and Leeds are going to be two of the three teams to go down.  We still have to play Leeds, Luton, Hull and Barnsley again so our fate is still firmly in our own hands. 

If Grant is able to secure the signing of Hayter and bring in another attacking midfielder well have a pretty decent squad and I''m sure we will start to move away from the bottom of the table.

[/quote]

Southend''s results have improved (they were playing Derby who went top of the league with a 1-0 victory yesterday)....  Will agree that Leeds look in real trouble....  Luton, Hull and Barnsley we still need to play all 3 of them away from home.

For anybody to suggest that any City fan will glory in us being relegated (at la Branston Pickle I think is just ridiculous).

[The Great Drinkell 50]

Worried not just yet, concerned that Leeds have thrown alot of money at survival, We shouldn''t be anywhere near this position (on paper) Interested in seeing how the pressure affects our players.

[Salopian 1]

Very worried - the wrong injury or two and we would struggle to put out any sort of realistic team. The only position were we have cover, 4 for 2, is CM, and this is our weakest team element!Much depends on further signings. We must have at least two, both tol improve quality and to cover for injury. If we have no signings, and no further loans, then I fear.

[7rew 0]

Alex,  worrying about relegation given our squad and league position is realism.  Claiming that it is a nailed on certainty is negativity, not even southend or leeds are nailed on certainties to go down.  These are the teams level or below us on points:Coventry - have sacked their manager in the middle of the transfer window, not reappointed yet - so no transfers to strenghen side.Leicester - have got Mandaric take over some time next week, but haven''t strengthened yet.Hull - have strengthened, and are on good form.Luton have just sold their best players (Vine and Edwards)[20 of 43 goals], have tried to replace them.QPR - haven''t strengthened yet, no sign of activity either.Barnsley - won yesterday, but against Luton, lost the 3 matches before that without scoring.Leeds - 10 points below usSouthend - 10 points below us, haven''t strengthened, still have Eastwood and Halford, but for how long?Any of them could easily be relegated with/instead of us.  Am most confident of Hull surviving, but we are in the top 4 to survive (imho), where depends on how quick Coventry get a manager (and who) and Leicester get mandarics money.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="Branston Pickle"]

I''m not worried at all.  Some people will glory in the fact we are only 5pts off and predict that we will lose every game left this season, but why should that happen?  The sides beneath us are there because they have been worse than us, not better, so why assume they will all win their games?  I suppose at the end of the day it depends how negative you want to be.

IMO the postponement has come at a good time: the next time we play in the league we should have everyone we are signing/losing in the Transfer window either here or sorted out.  This can only be of help to us. 

[/quote]

it does make me laugh sometimes.  Many fans were saying all it would take was a good run and we could be in the play-offs even when we were 10 points behind!!  Unyet 5 (Five) points above the relegation zone and there is nothing to worry about!

We have been awful this season and Ernie''s goals have kept us away from the relegation zone. Those goals are now gone.  Most worryingly we have a team full of bottlers.

I am worried - not too worried as yet, but if Chris Brown doesn''t score the goals I can see us getting dragged into it. Too good to go down?  Some decent sides have been relegated in the past -West Ham being a prime example.

[0peteddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue 0]

What exactly have you guys seen this season to confidently predict we can get enough points to aviod the drop, certainly there are others equally poor but we must hope they continue to be so poor, no sign of City picking up form or performance.

[huck tastic<IMG src="http:new.pinkun.comforumsimagesline.gif"><BR><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Bryan Hamilton could turn this around...<BR><FONT> 0]

I think its a realistic possibility, but Southend, Barnsley and Luton ought to be worse than us...

[ronbol ronbol 0]

We had an amazing result this weekend - we did not lose away ..........................well done lads this may just be the turning point!

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

[quote user="7rew"]Alex,  worrying about relegation given our squad and league position is realism.  Claiming that it is a nailed on certainty is negativity, not even southend or leeds are nailed on certainties to go down. 

[/quote] Agreed 7rew!! I''m not claiming it is a nailed on certainty because i don''t think it is but without changes it is a worrying prospect!

[ZLF 274]

Worried yes - but despite of everything I still think we will end up mid tablish, and safely out of reach of relegation.   But the risk is there. 

[Tumbleweed 106]

I am not worried, I am angry. My feeling is that despite all this prudence with ambition nonsense we see no meaningful investment in the team, a waste of premiership money, a waste of big crowds and a buzz around the City before games, a waste of record season ticket sales, a pathetic small club low achieving attitude and certain players who swan around knowing their BMW X5s and 5 bed luxury detached houses are safe regardless of what happens to us. Add to that the younger generation losing interest and the consistent failure of the so -called youth system.

How on earth did we get into this situation? 6 years on from NW''s appointment and we don''t seem to have moved forward at all.

Scrap this prudence with ambition c**p, its now utterly discredited and looks like a tired old mantra from a Board lacking imagination and drive.

Thinking about it I''m neither worried nor angry, I''m blooming furious.

[gazzathegreat 0]

Tumbleweed, you have summarised my thoughts 100%.  I am like you furious at the lack of ambition and especially the point concerning the academy.  Why bother with it, when we can hire in journey men on loans with no regard for the canary on their shirt.  As for having moved on, no on the pitch we haven''t.  But we have a half finished Holiday Inn.  Yipeee!!   (Pete and admin:  I cannot do paragraphs as am on a computer in the library, sorry about this, I apologise to everyone!).

[south stand corner terrace 0]

Thanks for your replys people, but i think it has left me still undecided, well at least I will know either  way in just over 3 months time