Rudolph Hucker 0 Posted February 1, 2013 No side will get relegated because of February resultsbecause there will be eleven further games to change things but, whether youare a club hoping to climb or maintain the gap, it could make a hugedifference. This is what I think will happen and not what I hope will happen. QPR willultimately avoid relegation in my opinion. They are ‘in the mix’ only fourpoints from leaving the bottom three. They are playing well and with team spirit. They need a win to fire themand will target their home game against Norwich City as the game to achievethis. A win places huge pressure on rivals yet to play. They will have Lutonesque desire and passion for this onegame and Norwich City will need to go there with the same attitude to compete. QPRwill fancy a result at Swansea next game, before they play Man Utd at home, andthey have a good run in. But, they need the initial win, giving the game anadded dimension for Norwich. Aston Villa looksin a lot of trouble. The only game they might fancy winning in February is WestHam at home. February could begin to cutthem adrift. Wigan is aperennial survivor and when they get their act together they have qualitystrikers. Saturday’s game against Southampton is a real six pointer as will beReading away at the end of the month. They won’t expect anything in between atChelsea and have an FA Cup game. Wigan will have a big say in the shape ofthings and their last game is at home to Villa. A successful Wigan might begood for Norwich because in the final analysis they are likely to stay upanyway. Reading willtarget their home games, it is their best chance of survival and Norwich’s dourdraw there now looks a good result. They will look for a result againstSunderland this Saturday because February could otherwise be pointless as theygo away to Stoke and Man Utd. Southampton drewpraise from Ferguson last weekend and look well organised. They have a six pointer at Wigan on Saturdayand its Man City at St. Mary’s next before Newcastle in the Cup and a massivesix-pointer v QPR at the end of the month. This is a side at a crossroads butmost punters, I would expect, think they will have enough to stay up. A poorFebruary though will put pressure on them. Norwich City isprobably the highest placed team most pundits expect to be relegated. Februaryputs matters in their own hands. Thereis no cup game and Norwich need to wrap certain players in cotton wool, orelse! But, an improvement in goal-scoring will make a huge difference and thatis the dilemma of Norwich City’s season right from when they failed to managetheir striker department pre-season. The QPR game is huge, not just for Norwich to gain pointsbut more importantly to deny QPR both points and momentum. To follow are two home games against toughoutfits who will be difficult to beat and more so if they become ‘must win’ dueto defeat at QPR, so 30 points might be tough to achieve this month, but 30points would be a massive psychological lift going forwards. After their big run, Norwich has been kept aloft by the formand fixture clashes of sides below them. This time has passed. Norwich has torely on their own results in February to avoid a full-on relegation scraphowever promising the final home games. Newcastle isinteresting. They have brought in a number of new players they hope adaptquickly. They hover above the danger zone with two Europa cup games and onlytwo league games in February: Chelseathis weekend which looks ominous and a game they will look to for a win at theend of the month against Southampton. This month looks a tough one for them. My final side under pressure is West Ham. They have been doing poorly of late but have winnablegames coming up of Swansea at home then Aston Villa away before Spurs at home.Like Norwich it is very much in their hands to cement their position and if theydo not there is nowhere to hide. I anticipate poor months for Aston Villa, Newcastle andReading; frustrating months for Norwich, Southampton and West Ham and goodmonths for QPR and Wigan. This would make Wigan look safe to stay up and putQPR right in the mix, possibly out of the bottom three. But a Norwich win at QPR might see them go on to pick up 5 –7 points this month, a loss maybe 2 while QPR founder. Make no mistake, SKYknow how to pick games and QPR v Norwich is massive for both clubs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thenorthstand 0 Posted February 1, 2013 Newcastle will be absolutely fine, as will West Ham.The key thing is there are 3 worse teams than us, even though they are picking up a few scalps (which always happens).QPR have a huge job on their hands to stay up.Reading, Southampton and Wigan have worse squads than us and less points. I know Wigan have this reputation but I don''t think it means much, it wont save them this season.I don''t want to rely on teams being worse than us but I think it might be our saving grace. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
York Canary 28 Posted February 1, 2013 Sounds like you think a lot of QPR right now. I still think they''ll struggle and hope I''m proved right. Harry only works with big budgets. He''d never have touched QPR without that. They haven''t gone on any run since he took over and have continued to draw or lose on the whole. I agree that a win would be big for them (and for us in a negative way) but we have nothing to fear against them. They are a team that hasn''t had chance to settle and we need to get right in there against them and make them suffer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites