Saints match

[The Great Drinkell 50]

After our last few results and the pending saints v Pompey result. Is next Saturdays game a must win or a must not loose game?

[ZLF 284]

I remain of the view that this is a must not lose game - with Brum at home to follow a draw keeps us ahead of soton with palace and the baggies facing some tough games...

OTBC

[shropshire canary 0]

Must not lose - 5 points could be enough (1,3,1 from last 3 games) and this looks realistically achievable.

A win would bury Southampton leaving them even more demoralised when they visit Palace the next saturday - a match we really want a draw from or even a saints win if they haven''t beaten us.

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

IMO Birmingham at home will be harder than some people think.  A win would obviously be ideal but we can''t afford to lose.  Palace and WBA have tough game too so a point might be enough

[allways travelling 0]

please worthy dont go to saints for a draw got to go for a win and if we end up with a draw it might work out to be ok depending on other results.i feel our main strengths over our last four games has been forwards and midfield so no sitting back deep on sat.plus i feel there defence is worst in prem speciaaly after the mauling in there local derby surealy the confidence is going to be the lowest its been this season so get amongst um worthy otbc 

[Bird Table 0]

[quote]IMO Birmingham at home will be harder than some people think. A win would obviously be ideal but we can''t afford to lose. Palace and WBA have tough game too so a point might be enough[/quote]

Good call, I''ve got images of the Brum coming back to haunt us. They''ve done well at Everton and Chelsea recently. But first, let''s beat the Saints! And I think we can, their defence looked all over the place yesterday.

[ZLF 284]

[quote]please worthy dont go to saints for a draw got to go for a win and if we end up with a draw it might work out to be ok depending on other results.i feel our main strengths over our last four games has...[/quote]

I agree that we have to go and play as we have done recently, gone for the win and kept to our game plan regardsless.  If we get a draw then so be it, just make sure we dont lose! 

May the luck be with us.

OTBC

[Francesco Volpe<P><BR><EM><FONT size=3><STRONG>A<STRONG><FONT>wesome<STRONG><FONT size=3>S<FONT><STRONG>ublime<STRONG><FONT size=3>H<FONT><STRONG>onest pro<EM><EM><FONT size=3><STRONG>T<STRONG><FONT>alented<STRONG><FONT size 0]

Yes i agree that the birmingham game will be tough, but if we play to our strengths we can win. A win at southampton would be absolutely fantastic. IMO a win v brum and 2 draws away from home will be enough, and i honestly believe that if we beat soton then we stay up. 

[mat gore 0]

I really wish I shared your confidence.

I can seriously see us winning all 3 remaining games and still going down.  I think all 3 of palace''s remaining games look like wins to them.  Newcastle are in freefall with nothing to play for, ditto charlton and saints are a) useless away b) in freefall c) may already be down.

Fulham will pick up enough points to mean that we would go down on goal differrence to that cheating diver.

Still a few games ago I was seriously worried we might not pick up any more points .......

[Tumbleweed 106]

I don''t think Palace will get much at Charlton and I think Souness will have Newcastle fired up for that game in front of 50,000 fans. They did OK yesterday at Man U and Rooney''s goal came right out of the blue. They also did OK against us and that result could have been different had Shearer got that 4 yarder off Greeno''s chest.

Saints is a must not lose game, but as said before we must approach it as we have the last four and go out to win. But at 1-1 in last 10 mins? I''d easily take the point rather than risking a Crouchy last minute winner.

What gives me most hope is that they MUST win it- they may overcommit which could give Darren, Leon, Deano, Damo and Bents good opportunities up front against a shaky defence.

[Being Jan Kristiansen... 0]

Saturday is going to be tough as it will be the Saints last stand and our away form has not been great.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,423]

Hmmm we have not won away- and 2 of our games are away- thats the nagging worry!!

The first goal v Soton will be massive- If we can get an early one -they could cave. If they do we could!!!

I can''t remember a game this big- but it is the away thing that worries me

[Tufnell Park Canary 0]

I''m afraid I agree with Mat Gore. We have to rely as much on other teams losing as we do city winning. We could easily get some great results and still go down. We have to bank on palace mis-firing... we should have beaten them when we had the chance!

[Alan George 0]

The Soton game is a must win. I think that we need seven points from the next three games at least. Even then palace could quite easily beat us to 17th. five points will just not be good enough. i think it really is 50/50 between us and palace at the moment, we jsut really need newcastle to give them a good drubbing.

i think that the game against soton is definately winnable and i do have confidence, but we must not get complacent after our mini-comeback, we are only half way there.

all three games are must wins really, perhaps 7 points might do it but i doubt it.

fingers crossed though

[We need a Manager 0]

Surely the result of Tuesdays game at the Hawthorns will decide if we need the win at Southampton or if a draw will do. A win for West Brom would put them on 32pts and even if they fall to Arsenal and Man Utd you can see them winning at home on the last day against Pompey giving them 35pts and leaving us needing 36. So a win for the baggies Tuesday and we are almost certainly going to need that first away win.

[westoncanary. 0]

Matt,  I disagree with you on Palace''s games because a)Newcastle will be hurting & Souness will get them fired up, the have PRIDE to play for.    b) Charlto is a local derby, remember the ground sharing?  c)Southampton, they will either need to win or be down and playing with no pressure.

Also remember that each position in the league is worth more than the one below, so all to play for, game on!!

[Canary Poirot 1]

I just wanted to add my tuppence worth. The Southampton game is a MUST win game. Simply as. In fact, every game is must win. If we go there with the attitude, we must not lose, then I know - we will lose. To beat Southampton, I think we will need to play a really high tempo game for the first 20 mins, close them down all over the pitch, put pressure on their defence. Get an early goal, their crowd will be lost, their confidence will be shot, and hopefully they will cave in....Although I was thinking of the scenario, we are 2-0 up at half time, they pull one back out of the blue in the 70th min...We all start worrying...Worthy panics and sends Holt on for last 15 mins...We are all on edge of our seats as they throw the kitchen sink at as...Don''t know if I could take those last 15 mins if that happens!

On a side note, I think WBA can only get 35 pts, so we will have to win at least two of our last three games, Southampton for me are gone, as I reckon Palace will beat them at Selhurst Park, regardless of thier result against us, as Man Utd will beat them.... As for Palace, don''t forget, their away form is shocking as well, and they lost away to an indifferent Blackburn team (but then so did we!), so why not Newcastle, who will have Dyer back, hopefully Jenas, and with 50,000 fans cheering them on, they should win. Come on - 7 pts minimum, 9 pts and guaranteed safety!

 

[The Great Drinkell 50]

3 days and 2 games have passed since I posted this, the results haven''t been bad for us. So let''s make hay whilst the sun shines. Southampton must beat us imo to have any chance. So they will pump the ball forward to Crouch and feed off him. If shackle and Flem can handle this I see no reason to doubt the ability of our strikers to score past the saints defence.

I have changed my mind now from this being a must not loose to a must win. then another home win and maybe we could enjoy a worry free last game folled by a huge celebration at FCR for Alex Notmans benefit game.