Norwich, Sunderland, Villa and Wigan.

[cityislife 0]

could well be 12 points clear tomorrow....

[Aggy 755]

If you''re going to put us in that list, then I can see no reason not to put Newcastle, West Ham, Fulham and even Stoke into the list as well.

Yes, we could still go down, but the only way that is going to happen is if we have a worse run than 8 other teams, and a much worse run than 4 of those 8 who are currently behind us. We haven''t been in great form of late, but then we are still 14th, so one would assume the others haven''t exactly been in amazing form either. Should be safe.

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="RUDOLPH HUCKER"]We would stay up in spite of him but would go down because of him and his negativity.[/quote]Seriously now, please shut up with your nonsense.[/quote]

Agreed, this is entering the realm of stupidity.

[nutty nigel 7,534]

I think you should all nail your colours to the mast for next season. Do you want Hughton to get us playing direct football when we have the ball or a passing game? And do you want him to get us being solid and difficult to break down when we don''t have the ball or would you rather a more kamikaze style just in case we win the ball back? I believe it''s Hughton''s game plan when we don''t have the ball that frustrates many people. A lot of Prem clubs play the same way. Intrerestingly Southampton managed to net three against "all hail the messiah" Rogers yesterday.

 

 

[Ha ya got a loight boy? 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

I think you should all nail your colours to the mast for next season. Do you want Hughton to get us playing direct football when we have the ball or a passing game? And do you want him to get us being solid and difficult to break down when we don''t have the ball or would you rather a more kamikaze style just in case we win the ball back? I believe it''s Hughton''s game plan when we don''t have the ball that frustrates many people. A lot of Prem clubs play the same way. Intrerestingly Southampton managed to net three against "all hail the messiah" Rogers yesterday.[/quote]

The football we have played this season has deteriorated beyond what is acceptable to the paying massses.   If we stay up this season we will need to see an improvement to the football, to a mixture of passing football and direct football.   Hughton''s teams in the past have all been capable of this balanced kind of play which has meant solidity throughout the team.   We are only half way there. The defence is on its way to being sorted, next season has to see an improvement in the rest of the team.  

Kamikaze football is for Blackpool and other wannabe clubs.   Hughton, as some of us still think, is the real deal and will sort it out.   His job depends on it.

 

[chicken 0]

Like I have said, the next three fixtures could be season defining (not including todays) for the five or six teams down there.

The emphasis at the moment really isn''t on us. Wigan have a game in hand but also have an additional game in the FA Cup - possibly more.

In terms of form, Liverpool couldn''t keep a clean sheet against the same Southampton side we played and got a draw with. Perhaps that suggests more form than people give credit for. Plus, take away our loss to Man Utd and we don''t exactly have poor form.

I really don''t see many of the teams down there making up the 10 points on us that they will need just to overhaul us. We have to loose four games on the trot for that to happen. Not to mention every team from 11th - 17th to also pick up wins or points that we don''t.

That is one hell of an ask. Especially when really you are talking 10th - 17th. Should any of the host of clubs on 33pts win today they also go within touching distance of Swansea, who on 40 points should be safe.

Like I said in my watching the results thread - you really need to look at the remaining fixtures, home fixtures especially - normally a ''comfort zone''. Most of the teams towards the bottom have two top six teams left to play. We have Man City on the last day of the season - which I personally feel will be done and dusted for both teams by then, if not before.

As for Villa having form - like the rest of the season it has been incredibly patchy. Playing the leagues bottom team you would expect them to have a better day, they have a solid manager (no matter what you think of him) and a reasonable squad of players. QPR are a mish mash of mercenaries and players who have proven they are not up to it.

Like I have said elsewhere, for me, unless QPR and Reading somehow get 6-9 points out of their next three games they are gone. That leaves 18th, who you''d have to say at this point in time is being fought over by Villa, Sunderland, Wigan and Southampton.

When compared to a lot of the other teams around us we have consistency, we are hard to beat. And at the moment we are showing signs of improving in front of goal.

And we are getting to that point now, where draws are really no good for the bottom three-five clubs. They need wins.

[Zak Van Burger 0]

[quote user="chicken"]

As for Villa having form - like the rest of the season it has been incredibly patchy. Playing the leagues bottom team you would expect them to have a better day[/quote]Villas "form" comprises of scraping a single goal victory over each of the two teams the league table tells us are the worst in the division. I watched the entire QPR game yesterday and tbh QPR were mugged for the three points, with Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea still to play along with a tricky away game to Stoke and a final day away to Wigan, they are left with two home games to Fulham and Sunderland and an away trip to us as their most likely games to pick up points. A good dicking over by a Liverpool team seeking revenge next time out and Villa might be very worried where the 7 or 8 points they probably need will come from.I don''t get all the Villa are safe thing either, they are a very poor two man team with one of the more tricky run ins.

[Carra Rud 17]

Based on what I''ve seen this season, I have to admit I don''t see where any goals and thus wins will come from. That said I don''t think we''ll go down but could end up 17th, though 15th is my prediction.

[Icecream Snow 761]

Looking at Sunderland''s last eight games, that could be in trouble, given that they''ve got Man United at home next, following by Chelsea and Newcastle away, then Everton at home. Difficult to see them getting anything from that lot.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

For much of the season i thought 36 points would be good enough, i think we may need a few more say 38/39 to be sure but 1 win  and 2 draws away

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

Interesting that on Radio 5 yesterday after the Wigan win, they were talking about Villa, Southampton, Sunderland being caught up in the relegation scrap and "even" West Ham and Newcastle not out of trouble yet.

 

Guess which team they didn''t mention though... Yes, no mention of City which I think shows neutrals are probably better able to judge this risk than we are.  For example, several posters on the "we''ll lose at Sunderland" thread were quite happy to predict we will lose our next 4, despite the fact that  we''ve only been beaten by Man U in our last 6 games. 

 

Yes it is a concern that if we lose at Wigan, we''d only be 4 points off the drop zone, but I don''t think we''ll lost at Wigan and overall I''m still confident we''ll get enough points to stay mid-table to the end of the season.

[chicken 0]

And it is what most football pundits are saying. We are consistently picking up points, hard to break down and in many ways have had little luck go for us. Were it not for the keeper going the right way for Holt''s penalty and a blatant penalty not given yesterday we could have been 4 points better off now.

People don''t miss those things in the wider media. Our play yesterday was vastly superior - even when down a man. As it has been against a lot of teams this season. I think it would be very harsh for us to go down, we are not one of the worse 5-6 teams let alone bottom three.

In addition, 7 points is as good as 9 when you look at the teams below us. They will still need three wins to overhaul us. As others have said, Sunderland have four very tough fixtures to follow. Never wright off an O''Neil team but the bottom five or six need to be winning now. Draws won''t do.

I''ll put my head out there but I think if QPR fail to win in their next two games and the gap grows for them, I think they will be dead and buried. Same for Reading.

Next three games are huge for Wigan, Sunderland and Villa. Wigan have that game in hand plus the FA cup semi.