Let's all just imagine for one moment...

[Loopzilla 5]

...that De Laet''s challenge vs. Wigan resulted in a free kick right on the edge of the box, from which no goal is conceded, and we hold on and take the three points....that Barnett''s tangle with Walters vs. Stoke is seen as a harmless coming together, the ball runs out of play, and Barnett stays on the field. We contain Stoke for the remainder of the game and pick up another 3 points....that Torres is shown a 2nd yellow card for tripping Johnson, Chelsea are reduced to 10 men, change formation, the penalty/red card incident then never happens, and we see out a draw....right at the death, Vaughan is awarded a penalty vs. WBA for a blatant elbow in the face. We score, and gain ourselves another point.Right...now, how would you feel with City sitting pretty in the top half of the table with 8 points on the board? I''d be feeling pretty bloody smug myself! As us supporters are inclined to, we''d now be confidently predicting a top half finish no doubt.My point is...and yes, I know, if yer Auntie had b@llocks she''d be yer Uncle and all that...my point is that all of those scenarios were perfectly possible, if not probable given some NCFC "friendly" decisions. The fact is of course they didn''t, but that doesn''t actually mean, having had a couple of days to reflect on it, that we should now start panicking. With a few tweaks, a few less simple errors, and a few decisions going "our way", we can grind out enough results over the course of the full season to ensure safety.I honestly expected a win against WBA, and I was bitterly disappointed how the game eventually panned out. It was the first time this season I started to doubt our teams ability, but on reflection, are we all that far away? What''s changed in one game? We had some poor games last season after all, we''ve got to expect them regularly this season, given the opposition. Why should I just expect us to beat WBA, an established Premier team?Having had a couple of days to think about it, I can imagine us picking up points when not expected, I can imagine winning when we really don''t deserve to, I can imagine being on the positive end of dubious refereeing decisons even...but equally there is also going to be a lot of disappointment.There''s a long way to go, we should start to get a better idea after 10 games or so, even then nothing is set in stone by that stage, so let''s try to stay positive (and I''m telling myself here also), have faith in Lambert and the players.After all, how many of us imagined us actually being here in the Prem at all two years ago?

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

As you say, the picture could have been a lot rosier at the moment with a little bit of luck and a lot more fairness from refs. The trouble is, the longer we go without that vital first win, the greater the likelihood of relegation as everybody''s confidence drains away, from the players to the fans and back to the players again. Confidence breeds confidence.

[Power Hamster 0]

The O P''s scenario is indeed entirely plausible and things could easily have turned out that way.However, the conclusion should be the same whether we picked up 8 points or 2 points - that there is still a long way to go, and the position after 4 games is not necessarily an indication of what  it will be in May.[:D]

[Shack Attack 0]

Equally. What if....

 

...Ritchie De Laet did not mess around with the ball in his own half against Wigan and give the ball away to Di Santo?

...Paul Lambert had have made more of an effort to shore up the midfield and defence when reduced to ten men against Stoke?

...Grant Holt (x2), Chris Martin and Steve Morison had have buried the chances they had presented to them against Chelsea?

...we had cynically tripped Ramires around the halfway line against Chelsea?

...Paul Lambert had have utilised our more creative player more often that he has to date?

...Ritchie De Laet had headed the ball out wide when being chased by Peter Odemwingie?

 

We''ve had some awful decisions given against us but we have to also acknowledge our own mistakes. We''ve made a bright start performance wise but there are also some worrying signs that we could be in for a long season. You''ve got to believe that Lambert will work things out and turn some of these decent performances into wins but it is going to be tough.

[birchfest 401]

An interesting post and alot to bear it mind.Might I add an observation of my own, at no point so far (including against Chelsea) have we looked out of our depth or incapable of matching our opposition. We have been unlucky and suffered from our own mistakes rather than a superior skill of the opposition. That gives me hope as I know that we can iron out the mistakes and work on getting the goals in train, but what you cant work on in training is week in week out being played off the pitch, which so far hasnt happened. Personally Im hoping we start to pick up the wins soon, but look at Hull and Blackpool as teams who started well and then really suffered when faced with a rough patch and ultimately cost them saftey. I think that if we can start to get the points this little patch at the beggining could actually be benifical in teaching the players the self belief to bounce back from defeats in the top flight.

[BarclayCanary (Former HDDH) 0]

I am sure once we have our first win a lot of people will keep there heads up.

It is only a matter of time, I would rather be losing now and have the bleep now and learn sooner rather then later.

You make some very valid comments, sometimes when I read peoples posts it makes me think that they thought we were going to win games one after the other and be in the top half all season.

Let''s keep faith, I am sure we will be fine :)

OTBC!!!!!

[Ernie 0]

My biggest concern other than whats already been mentioned ie: giving away penalties, individual mistakes etc is the lack of a real cutting edge up top, if we were creating and taking more chances as well as actually working the keeper then there wouldnt be so much debating of poor ref decisions correct though they may be.  We have only scored 3 goals, 2 were goalkeeping mistakes and the other was a header scored by a defender.  However we have played well in parts and although we have only 2 points from a possible 12 and have yet to win I wont be making any bold predications until we have played a few more games as to how I see the season turning out.

[curly_whirly_tipz 0]

So nice to see someone has made a highly possible, sensible and optimistic post! We are good enough for this league! Beleive it :D