Half way......

[lake district canary 4,878]

So here we are half way through the season and coming up to the  new year.     One win off 11th place and competitive in nearly all our matches.   Setbacks we''ve had but we''re still in there fighting.   Room for improvement - as there always will be - but half way through the season, everything to play for - and we are where want to be - challenging the top clubs in the country in the toughest league in the world.   

Hughton looks assured and presents a consistent attitude despite all the nonsense that is spouted - the players are well up for the fight - and we have good players coming back after injury that can only make us stronger. 

So a Happy Clappy New Year and rest of the season from me. Onwards with the Canaries and out with the doom and gloom.  Nineteen games to go, 57 points available and everything to play for!    So I dare any miserabist out there  - try being optimistic......................go on, just try...........it won''t harm you..........and you might surprise yourselves! 

[Highland Canary 78]

But more than half way in terms of winnable matches! Happy Christmas LDC

[JF 694]

Comical Ali strikes again!

Seriously though if we can get the same return in the second half of the season as the first we will be fine.

[ricardo 8,109]

[quote user="Highland Canary"]But more than half way in terms of winnable matches! Happy Christmas LDC[/quote]Yet somehow I see that we now have to play again all those we''ve beaten. Also nobody knows what games are winnable, I will give you an example, Sunderland have won only 3 games Man City, Everton and Newcastle yet have only picked up 4 points in 10 games against the bottom 10 teams.Who''s to say whats winnable?

[The Big Bad Wolf 0]

[quote user="Highland Canary"]But more than half way in terms of winnable matches! Happy Christmas LDC[/quote]

I agree with this. Having looked at the fixture list I would say 19 points in the second half of the season would be very good going. My predictions are below - this would leave us on 36 points - probably not enough to survive. We really need to be safe before the final 4 games.

Palace (a) 1 point; Everton (a) 0

Hull (h) 3; New (h) 1

Card (a) 1;Man C (h) 0

WH (a) 1; Tott (h) 1

Villa (a) 1; Stoke (h) 3

Soton (a) 0; Sund (h) 1

Swan (a) 1; WBA (h) 3

Ful (a) 0; Live (h) 0

Man U (a) 0; Chel (a) 0

Ars (h) 0

Thankfully football can throw-up some very odd results which might help us - it''s going to be tough IMO.

[Highland Canary 78]

Of course all games are ''winnable'' but the likelihood of winning matches must differ. I assume the probability of beating West Ham at home would be higher than when we play Liverpool at home. And the probability of winning at home is higher than winning away.

[Samwam27 611]

Whilst the last four games look horrendous on paper, teams do go off the boil as places are normally already sorted.Who would have predicted us getting a 3-2 win away at Man C last year!But better to be safe than sorry, and hope we aren''t playing for survival come those games

[Rogue Baboon 0]

[quote user="lake district canary"]So here we are half way through the season and coming up to the  new year.     One win off 11th place and competitive in nearly all our matches. [/quote]

yet one defeat off being level on points with the bottom 3 - we seem to have had chances the last 4/5 games to get into the top 10 and we have seemed to stick in 14th and have seen a 7 point gap (was it 9 at one point) over the bottom 3 whittled down to just 3 points. Not trying to be negative, just realistic. And given that we have palace away next...i don''t think i can ever remember us winning there!

[littleyellowbirdie 3,148]

I think it will come down to whether we get a decent spell withoutinjuries to key players. We''ve been plagued by them this half of the season and I think it''s what''s needed to build some consistency.

[Rogue Baboon 0]

[quote user="littleyellowbirdie"]I think it will come down to whether we get a decent spell withoutinjuries to key players. We''ve been plagued by them this half of the season and I think it''s what''s needed to build some consistency. [/quote]

oh to have pilks back to give us an alternative to Redmond or snodgrass

[PurpleCanary 6,463]

The key half-way figures (having played each team once but bearing in mind that we have played one more game at home than away) are as follows:Points per game: 1.0 (compared with 1.157 overall last season).Goals scored per game: 0.842 (compared with 1.0789).Goals conceded per game: 1.684 (compared with 1.526).If these figures obtained for  the whole season we would finish on 38 points with a goal difference of -32, compared with a finish of 44 points and a GD of -17 last season.

[Bill 1,788]

So here we are half way through the season and coming up to the new

year.     One win above relegation and not competitive in nearly all our

matches. Setbacks have become routine but we''re still in there fighting.   Room for

improvement - as there always will be - but half way through the season,

everything to play for - however we are not where want to be - mid table mediocrity. Hughton looks as clueless an ever and presents an embarrassing attitude where respect for the opposition is more important than talking about his own team - and players only have to complain to the press to be put into the side.So for the Happy Clappies the New Year and rest of the season for them is ok as long as the experience is being delivered. Onwards with

the Canaries and out with an expectation of success or ambition.  Nineteen games to go, 57

points available and everything to play for!    So I dare any realist

out there  - try being unambitious, accept things however bad, go on, just

try...........it won''t harm you..........and you might surprise

yourselves! 

[im spartacus canary 0]

Morning Mr pompous quick question ? do you actually write your posts out or copy and paste paragraphs from mein kampf ? [:D]

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

If we repeat the points tally we will be ok by the odd point. This has been a bad season so far well below hopes and expectations. 6 points less than lass season and a much worse gd. We have gone backwards when looking at the squad it looks far better than a year ago and certainly 2 years ago. We are bumbling along but we should be getting another 20% out of our squad in terms of performances and points

[*** 0]

If, as I expect, Palace do us Wednesday, what excuse will LDC come up with then?

 

The mind boggels.

[City 2nd 193]

lake district canary wrote the following post at 2013-12-29 11:47 PM:

So here we are half way through the season and coming up to the new year. One win off 11th place and competitive in nearly all our matches. Setbacks we''ve had but we''re still in there fighting. Room for improvement - as there always will be - but half way through the season, everything to play for - and we are where want to be - challenging the top clubs in the country in the toughest league in the world.

Errrrr, challenging the TOP clubs in the country - yeah, right, you believe that statement eh? Seriously?

[lake district canary 4,878]

There are no excuses offered in my post.  It is about accepting the situation and building from there.Once you can accept where you are at any particular moment you can build from there.  The trouble with the likes of City 1st and Wiz, they can''t accept things as they are.     Well you can put a downward slur on the situation if you like,  but the facts remain.   We are competitive, we''re in a fight for survival along with half the division but if we pick up and take the positives from recent performances, get our best team out there when fit, we could finish comfortably mid table.  

[Chippy Minton 10]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/10541791/Premier-League-report-Telegraph-Sport-experts-give-their-verdict-at-the-halfway-stage-of-the-season.htmlSeems to sum up a lot of the points being made on here.

[Bury Yellow 2]

Funny that LDC I thought City1st was urging YOU to accept things how they are.

Seasons Greetings to you old chap

[Jacko 0]

We''re doing ok at the halfway point - nothing more and nothing less. The Premiership has long since divided into it''s 2 respective leagues The top 8 is no real surprise given the level of investment from those clubs. I include Newcastle in that because they do have an excellent squad and have invested heavily in previous windows despite being very quiet this summer.

Southampton I would class as the runaway leaders of our section. They''ve been brilliantly managed but they have also had the luxury of being able to pay £11 million for Ramirez, £11 for Wanyama and £15 million for Osvaldo in previous windows. While the impact of Ramirez and Osvaldo has been limited it shows they are operating in a very different market to us as they have absolutely obliterated our transfer record on 3 separate occasions.

Unsurprisingly after that there is very little to choose between the teams in about 11th - 20th, given that they are clubs of very similar stature and wage budgets. People will point to the level of investment this summer but in many ways we''re simply playing catch up given our relatively modest spending in previous windows.

I am under no illusions. We''re going to sail very close to the wind with relegation this season. But I do genuinely believe we''ve recruited well and crucially the players, management and board don''t seem to have a self destruct button compared to the likes of Sunderland, West Brom and Cardiff who all seem intent on doing stupid things. If we hold our nerve as supporters and a team, then I think we''ll be smiling come May time.

[*** 0]

Chippy was right.......oh dear:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/10541791/Premier-League-report-Telegraph-Sport-experts-give-their-verdict-at-the-halfway-stage-of-the-season.html

[Highland Canary 78]

More a 3/10 than 4/10. Presumably, some on here will argue that Palace away too is a ''bogey ground'' so presumably it''s OK to discount defeat there too.

[Jacko 0]

So Ryan Bennett, the man who has made 6 starts from a possible 19 this season is described as a "defensive stalwart." I think that tells you all you need to know about how much Oliver Brown appears to have watched us.