It still feels like just yesterday we were all saying this for last season! Where has the time gone?!!!! 4 games, 3 wins and a draw versus promotion rivals and from 3-1 down is a great start to the season! Once again it looks like the defence will be the worry not the attack, if anything we look more dangerous than last year! Still have a lot to improve on too IMO and that is scary that we are probably in 2nd/3rd gear at the moment. Where do you see us by gameweek 10? Nottm Forest Blackpool Charlton Doncaster Barnsley Wigan Blackburn all up next.
The next 2 look tough, but after that the fixture list looks like easing up on us. I agree about the 10 game mark. GT didn't use to look at the table until 10 matches and I think that does give a good gauge as to where you are as a team. Before the Reading match I predicted we'd drop some points over the next 3 games, but after that there is no reason we can't win 4 or even all of the next 5. We should certainly be in the top two after 10 games.
Dave Bassett always looked at the table after 10 games but that was because he'd run out of fingers to check how many games had been played
Top of the table by then. Just a little concerned by the injuries at the back. Otherwise it is only going to be an upward curve as the new boys get up to speed, learn their team mates idiosyncrasies on the pitch and improve their match fitness. I expect some will as per usual trot out the old cliche that the foreign contingent will find the winter passage difficult but modern pitches are carpets now even at this stage of the season and the climate nonsense was just that. Will have signed a third choice keeper, central midfielder and striker by then. And may need to sign a defender on loan if Ekkie is unfortunately ruled out for a period of time.
Nottm Forest - Draw Blackpool - Win Charlton - Win Doncaster - Win Barnsley - Win Wigan - Draw Blackburn - Win I can see us still being unbeaten after 10 games.
I reckon Billy Davies and his merry band of men will be sent packing to Sherwood Forest with their collective tails between their legs on Sunday afternoon by the Sheriff of Watford ..... Having seen some of the other sides playing in this division we really should have no one to fear. It really is the other way around as Adkins demonstrated in his after match talk. Blackpool from a passing side have evolved or perhaps devolved into John Beck's Cambridge.......
We'll lose to Charlton, typical Watford FML. Never know the September international break may not be very kind to us. Assuming Belkalem gets called up that's delaying his integration even further so I can see us getting another CB in on loan temporarily.
Personally I am growing more and more confident about this squad as it stands, ability to win the championship - My concern when we went over to the training camp in Italy and watched the wfc beat wfc 3-1 was that the players wouldn't be quite ready for the last 15 minutes of matches and would drop points early season - my fear was that the frogs pulled out of a match that i believed to be a very important training session and would hinder the fitness of matchday - but all seems well and wfc look pretty strong at the tail end of games. I also think the defence won't be as bad as people fear -I was expecting Reading to score a few goals yesterday and wfc to score more.close to the 3-4 prediction. If you were a fan of Forest and the other teams with high hopes, I think you would be glancing over at wfc thinking wtf, 2-0, 3-1 3-3 away at a relegated club - hmmm dangerous... Not sure how deep Forest squad goes, qpr, wigan, lcfc, bolton, blackburn, leeds -but seriously i consider wfc to be the strongest and possibly this season the most capable. It all depends on GZ and how he has learned and devolped his knowledge of the championship tactics and learns from the things that he could have done different last season...and wfc do not drop the silly points they did last season. There is no reason to fear this division as wfc are capable of beating any team home and away... they wont of course as showed yesterday but that was a massive point to gain, sort of opposite tot he three points lost at Cardiff away last season when wfc really deserved to win that game and were 1-0 up before the sending off's. If wfc do not go up, it will be because three teams at the end of the season were better or not as the case may be..
Once we have Forest out of the way, where I would settle for a point, we have a relatively simple few weeks. Blackpool shouldn't be trouble, they're really not very good value for their league position. It's a miracle they've clung onto points for 3 weeks. I still expect them to be down there by the end of the season, and look forward to us dragging Ince back down to earth.
After Forest we have 4 very winnable games So hoping we give Blackpool a real tonking. Have a real loathing for Ince Snr & Jnr.
IMO we have just played the second best team in the div, at theirs and in the end we were slightly unfortunate not to win even though we started off pretty erratically. A confident Forest next but something tells me their 'wonderful' defenders are about to get a massive shock because we are bound to be more organised and aggressive from the off this time especially if we start 3-4-3 as I want us to, I think we have the players for it..
i consider simple to be more troublesome than difficult.. doesn't mean wfc won't smash them all to bits - but simple is writing off the other team -if the other team were no good they would be playing the minnows up the M1.
I think we ll be top after 10 and possibly unbeaten. The main problem that needs to be tackled is the organisation and communication in defence
According to the stats I have just looked at we have played blackpool 10 times and only ever won once! But then you know what they say about stats!:]]
We have the ability to win any game in this league and win very well but the is league a reputation of throwing up surprises. I do think we are better suited this year to beating teams who set out to defend deep and we may find out about that over the next 7 games. I think there will be a defeat in amongst the next 7 but also five wins we should keep us top or second at worst. Know idea who we will lost to though!
The ones that I'd really like to give a good rodgering to are those moaning, grizzling Charlton Pathetic types. The way they got on Fessi's back last season, calling him all sorts of foolish names, really annoyed me. They just wish they had a player with half his class. So I'd like to see us do them by 6 or 7 clear goals at least, with FF getting at least a hat trick and running the full length of their fans giving it the continental 'peace' hand sign a la Vydra!
I know its probably not going to happen but could we, maybe, possibly go unbeaten in the league this year? WATFORD, THE INVINCIBLES. Doubt it but a lovely thought.
Forest have got a great squad now but I'd be gutted if we can't give the poison dwarf a pasting next week. I dislike him more than Holloway. in any case, we should always be looking to get 3 points at home against our promotion rivals.
Paddy - I'm in the wilds of Wales & you have brought the sun out, metaphorically and literally ) bring on the Forest
I would like to be a bit contiversial and say id like to get our first loss out of the way! Use it as a way to bed the players in and set the standard thats needed. Having said that i want to beat forrest well!
Surely if we aren't losing then that standard is good enough? Why lose then say ''you must be better than that to win'' I fail to see any logic in wanting to lose, I for one and happy with the way things are going.
No I see where the logic is. It's threefold: 1) The old addage - you learn more from a defeat than a victory 2) The longer you go unbeaten, the harder the opposition tries 3) It releases the pressure a little and keeps expectations realistic
Still smarting that our chances of a 100% winning season is now over. Have to accept the lesser achievement of an unbeaten season.
Exactly this- under taylor and boothroyd we started campaigns on fire weere unbeaten for a long time then it totally unravelled after the first defeat (yes i know there other factors in both collapses). At some stage we will lose a game maybe its best to do it sooner and bounce back before a long run has a put a monkey on our back. Im not rooting for us to lose a game but looking forward to Where we will be next may
I am afraid I have followed Watford too long to have fully left behind my natural 'expect the worst & hope to be pleasantly surprised' attitude. That said, I do find myself in an unnatural state of confidence during matches now, even when we go behind, which is a weird feeling. It's strange to be thinking 'we can score again' in the 89th minute, instead of thinking 'they can score again & almost certainly will'. Despite this, however good a squad we have, I do think we'll be beaten & possibly on Saturday (although I have let my heart rule my head & predicted a 2-1 victory). Still, the new optimist in me still thinks top 2 after 10 games.
Haha - yep, wishful thinking there (the match being on Saturday, not the possible loss) - had organised my daughter's birthday party for Sunday, when the original fixture list came out, so I could go :rant:
If we're going to losa a game I would rather it isn't against a side that maybe up there come the end of the season. Having said that that, despite their start, I don't think they will be anywhere near the top 2 come May. Play Offs possibly
You most certainly can judge before 10 games have been played. GT used to say that as rhetoric to take the pressure off the players if initial results weren't favorable and the team hadn't settled too smoothly into the new season. Waiting until ten games has passed is too late. The season has started, and therefore every player, squad, team, formations, etc. are being judged. By everyone. If GZ can sort out our defensive inconsistencies, which is probably due to a combination of new players and concentration, quickly and effectively, there is no fixture we should fear. Forest on Sunday should be interesting and could set the tone for the rest of the season. We score lots of goals, Forest have kept 3 clean sheets. We have defensive concerns, Forest counter-attack swiftly and quickly. If we win and go top, I think we will stay there. LBH