Just watched it again on MOTD. It was Cathcart, not Kiko. And I can’t really see it had any meaningful impact on Hughes, who had the ball but just got way too casual in his plan to play it out. With hindsight I’m sure he boots it into the stand.
If we lose to Villa we can prepare for the championship and if we win we can sign a Lukaku-lookalike from the Danish league COYHs
It isn't about "milk and honey", it's about getting more points than the fellow strugglers around us. You seem to be assuming that all the other clubs around us dont have similar problems. They all have problem areas, all suffer inconsistency, and most havn't demonstrated that they can finish mid-table with more or less the same players as last season. There are other teams just above the relegation places worrying about a poor run or slump. I think there are still at least 7 clubs having a poor time and fearing relagation. And I reckon that most of them will be looking at a better organised Watford under a new but experienced coaching team, as one of the more likely teams to get a run of decent results together and a deficit of 6 points isn't that many when there is still half a season and 57 points to play for.
Foster was superb. Kiko looks a new player at left back. Kabasele was much better than Cathcart today. Sarr looked dangerous & we lost all our attacking threat when he went off, hopefully he's okay for Saturday. We were second best, but in games like that it's vital not to lose. A point on the road to a team in the top half is never a bad result. Massive game Saturday, get 3 points and we're still in with a chance.
This is exactly my point. They dont have the same problems. Norwich aside, they all have more points than us. They need only to match us to finish above us. We need to better them. By quite a margin in some cases. Averaging a point per game is not enough anymore.
im not sure some of them (success as an example ) are even championship standards , it’s a lot more physical down there I can imagine a lot of our players getting battered to ****
Sure we didn't play well yesterday especially in the second half in the absence of Sarr. But is your view on whether we'll survive or not like the weather then? Changes with every match? Since Pearson took over we've gained four points from three matches, two away. Against Liverpool, Manure and the team in fifth place (on merit). Continuing with that would take us to 38 points which may be enough or perhaps not so we might have to do just a bit better. Each batch of three of incoming fixtures will be likely to be easier on paper than the three just gone. Everybody is agreed that Gino Pozzo with his side-kick Giraldi have taken their eye off the ball with regard to recruitment in central defence, full back and striker over a protracted period. Well maybe not full back so much because a couple of prospects there haven't quite delivered as expected yet. But, if nothing else, they've allowed the squad to 'grow old'. The real wake-up call to that was how we started this season, not how we finished the last one which could be put down to cupfinalitis. And since the full scale of the problem dawned they've been able to do damn all about it. Next month they can though and Pedro (whose services they did secure in advance) will be available which should at least bring the average age down a bit and could prove a revelation. On the managerial front they've been able to act and did so twice. With hindsight, the first call was a disaster (many did say so at the time) and pretty much everyone thought it was 'a bit weird' as a minimum. Then they made an appointment from left-field on which the consensus is that it's an excellent one and there have been plenty of signs so far to back that up. So well done Pozzo. Apart from the general mood shift around the place and Pearson's character shining through (he won't be taking any crap from anybody (including Gino and Giraldi)) he's said two things that stick with me: 1. We need to make the Vic. a fortress. Next episode tomorrow. The latest in a series of must-win matches which is, in reality, the first genuine one. 2. There will be set-backs. We won't win every match. It will be attritional. So deal with it in Kipling fashion then. There are no 'doe-eyed happy clappers' and there is no 'land of milk and honey' approaching anytime soon. The first is a figment of your (and a few others') imaginations whereas the second isn't a fantasy of the realists at all. As said, it will be attritional.
I hope you didn't think I was suggesting purchasing him! I was merely wondering whether the Holmesdale End tolerate him even though he doesn't score anymore.
Exactly. We've had a little spurt and won and drawn our last 2 but every team in the 7 places above us have won at least one of their last 5, 3 have won 2 and Soton have won 3. There aren't 3 Huddersfield Towns for us to crawl past.
There is no 'magic wand'. We need to win tomorrow. Should we do so that will be seven points from four matches under Pearson and continuing that form would see us over the line with plenty to spare. In fact, it would take us to 47/48 points! The trick will be in maintaining it. There may not be any 'Huddersfields' this season but of those seven teams above us, a number (maybe even all of them) will foul up relative to seven points from four games from here on in. The 'Pearson effect' is in our favour and the January window is approaching. B.t.w. I presume Ecuador was excellent. One of my favourite countries. Tanager central!
Yes if we show 8th-10th form between now and the end of the season we will be fine. I just don't think we will. Galapagos and mainland Ecuador (amazon, then cloud forest) was amazing. Sitting here at work editing and sorting out my 5000 photos. Have you ever been to the Refugio de Las Paz for their half day C.ock-of-the-rock/antpitta/tanager guided tour ? Simply amazing. All the Galapagos finches look the bloody same to me though, a nightmare to sort out !!
This is an astonishingly generous 'well done'. Net, it is in reality at the very most a 'you might have gone some way to correcting one of your insane **** ups, which was possibly the least explicable decision of your period of ownership, which was itself compounding a growing mass of other very poor decisions Pozzo.' I think, again, people mostly aren't holding absolute views on whether we'll survive or not, and that's not necessarily the basis for discussion either. They are reacting to an individual game, and in observing the evidence of each of those games, coupled with how it fits in the wider context, determining likelihoods and what might have to change/whether it has changed, from game to game. When you say 'there will be setbacks', no one's expecting a 100% record between now and May, but we can in fact afford far fewer setbacks than the average team, and we've had quite a bloody lot already. The reality is that there is almost no room for setbacks, so when one occurs, it is hugely impactful when compared to most other seasons and teams. The point of no return is not far off, and we need to be performing right now. If we aren't, we can't just say 'have some faith, it'll click' because there is very finite amount of time for that to happen. That is the truth of our situation.
Based on the two games I’ve seen them play this season, Sheff U are a much more honest team than Burnley. I would be proud to be a fan of theirs at the moment, but I would be embarrassed to be one of Burnley’s.
Sheff Utd fans are very up themselves this season, because their team is doing well. I hate clubs with fans like this. Wolves are like this, and so will Leeds Utd fans be next season. They need putting in their place. Burnley fans seem to be far more humble and less gloating.
Yep. Spent two nights at RdLP. Personally, I don't think you can beat Blue-winged Mountain Tanager. Have yet to go Galapagos but surely beaks and specific island will help?
Yes, very attractive birds. Beak shape and island specific help but different island varieties and as usual nothing looking like it does in the book doesn't help. You find something that fits but the beak colour is wrong. Or the beak fits but the breast is plain rather than flecked. Snorkelling with penguins, giant pacific green turtles and inquisitive sea lions was amazing.
OK. You offer an alternative take in para. 1. But it seems a bit churlish to me to reserve your right to be critical around "insane **** ups" and then not to give credit where credit's due around the appointment of Pearson. So I'll remind you. During the week's hiatus when we were casting around for a new head coach the names in the frame were the usual suspects (BFS, Hughton and Hughes) plus another Quique geezer from Spain. Pearson, whose appointment came completely out of the blue, and whose arrival has so far been greeted with almost universal acclaim, was a potential masterstroke. The only pity is that he was probably available when QSF was appointed too. But better late than never though. I don't recognise a list of "insane **** ups" at all. I only see one compound one. That spotting previously unrecognised talent to sell on at a profit will be enough without giving due care and attention to the immediate needs of the PL squad. Not that the latter has been neglected entirely. It hasn't. But our excursions into that market have maybe not been the most impressive. That message has now come home to roost load and clear no doubt being reinforced by one N. Pearson as we speak.
Just like us last season then. No need to worry about Leeds though. They'll do their usual top place by March followed by a slump to put them in the play-offs only to lose in the semis to the team finishing sixth. They've done it the last ten years running.
What was up with the 10 minute delay at the start of the game? Did they ever say? We figured a VAR comms issue. Secondly with the disallowed goal first half, I'm fairly sure the ref blew the whistle meaning it cannot have been a goal, but then they checked with VAR anyway. Anyone else notice this?
They said ‘operational reasons’ at the time, but one of the papers has since said the police are investigating a hoax phone call.
Well he wasn't wrong was he? See the great escape thread where he called it correctly as a draw. Although he is unlikely to get every result correct or he will be a millionaire!
That's not the element of his post I was referring to - rather that he was livid after we drew with Sheffield Utd at home, calling them "beatable", and has stuck to his opinion despite the fact that Sheff Utd are still unbeaten away from home. However, he is now somehow pleased that we drew with Sheffield Utd away, even though we should have had a greater chance of beating them in this match given their home form is worse than their away form.
It’s fine. If he wants to start something, that’s his prerogative. He’s now angry I didn’t reply which is frustrating to him. It’s kinda fun to watch the meltdown.
If you think that statistically we had a greater chance of beating them away over home then you are fighting a small sample size against a century of data and it invalidates your argument.
Who would you play ahead of him that can challenge in the air and bring others into play? I know your hatred for him runs deep, but I'd love to know who you'd play in his place.
