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Post by RipRoaringPotter on Jul 24, 2014 0:19:18 GMT
We were 22 and 19 points behind Everton and Spurs last year - that's a fucking light year in footballing terms.
Realistically we should look at 8th, which would involve Southampton slipping [entirely possible] and us improving more than or equally as much as teams around us.
There is still the danger of relegation for every team barring last seasons top seven. Until the Premiershit changes its structure, that will always be the case.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 5:58:51 GMT
Begovic, Shawcross, NZonzi and Arnautovic are good enough for any team in the league when playing at the top of their game.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 7:32:03 GMT
Just having a look for a comparison - not far off in my opinion !!!
Stoke Everton Spurs
GK - Begovic Howard Lloris
LB - Peiters Baines Rose
CB - Shawcross Distin Dawson CB - Huth Jagielka Vertonghen
RB - Bardsley Coleman Walker
Winger - Arnautovic Mirallas Lennon
DM - Nzonzi Barry Paulinho Whelan McCarthy Dembele
MF Ireland Barkley Eriksen Adam Osman Sigurdsen Krkic Pinnear Holtby Sidwell McGeady Townsend
FW Diouf Lukaku ? Adebayor Odenwinge Naismith Soldado Crouch Kone Kane
Obviously there are all the squad to choose from - but we know at Stoke there are not many players who will come in who actually weaken the team ... Begovic Coleman Shawcross Vertonghen Baines NZonzi Paulinho LAMELA Barkley Eriksen Lukaku* Steady team that.
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Post by nott1 on Jul 24, 2014 14:08:07 GMT
Huth shawcross and begovic are awesome. In many teams the ability to defend is a dieing art.what we will have up front is 4 potential goal scorers.n zonzi has improved at a tempting to score.sidwell tends to get a few goals per season.with versatility luck and commitment .we should be top 10 and with some of our usual wins against big teams.we shouuld never take a win for granted. We are already top 10 so bugger standing still. We now have the players to be up there with the best!
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Post by Pugsley on Jul 24, 2014 14:10:33 GMT
Just having a look for a comparison - not far off in my opinion !!!
Stoke Everton Spurs
GK - Begovic Howard Lloris
LB - Peiters Baines Rose
CB - Shawcross Distin Dawson CB - Huth Jagielka Vertonghen
RB - Bardsley Coleman Walker
Winger - Arnautovic Mirallas Lennon
DM - Nzonzi Barry Paulinho Whelan McCarthy Dembele
MF Ireland Barkley Eriksen Adam Osman Sigurdsen Krkic Pinnear Holtby Sidwell McGeady Townsend
FW Diouf Lukaku ? Adebayor Odenwinge Naismith Soldado Crouch Kone Kane
Obviously there are all the squad to choose from - but we know at Stoke there are not many players who will come in who actually weaken the team ... Begovic Coleman Shawcross Vertonghen Baines NZonzi Paulinho LAMELA Barkley Eriksen Lukaku* Steady team that.
Not sure Lukaku is all that. Flatters to deceive.
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Post by foxysgloves on Jul 24, 2014 14:44:35 GMT
Begovic Coleman Shawcross Vertonghen Baines NZonzi Paulinho LAMELA Barkley Eriksen Lukaku* Steady team that.
Not sure Lukaku is all that. Flatters to deceive.
Definitely. Bit like Benteke. Interesting to see how they both perform this season.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 14:54:00 GMT
Begovic, Shawcross, NZonzi and Arnautovic are good enough for any team in the league when playing at the top of their game. Begovic and Shawcross yes Arnie wouldn't get that move because of the lack of consistency of him playing at the top of his game N'Zonzi no...he's a class player for us (when he can be arsed) but even at his best he isn't good enough for the top 4
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 14:56:30 GMT
Begovic Coleman Shawcross Vertonghen Baines NZonzi Paulinho LAMELA Barkley Eriksen Lukaku* Steady team that.
Not sure Lukaku is all that. Flatters to deceive.
??? 17 goals for West Brom and the next season 15 goals for an everton side that relied almost solely on him for goals and for a large part of the season were challenging for a champs league spot??? would love to have someone here that can flatter to deceive like that to be honest
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Post by ruts66 on Jul 24, 2014 14:57:49 GMT
I'd take 10th and another trip to Wembley over 7th or 8th.
Even talking about 10th (with a number of new players to bed in) isn't negative.
Gotta watch those expectations folks...
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Post by boskampsflaps on Jul 24, 2014 14:59:47 GMT
We're nowhere near either of those you've compared us with.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 15:01:18 GMT
I'd take 10th and another trip to Wembley over 7th or 8th. Even talking about 10th (with a number of new players to bed in) isn't negative. Gotta watch those expectations folks... i liked what Bowen said on talksport this morning...along the lines of it's good for the club and the fans that Hughes is happy to publically state he wants to push on and improve and finish higher etc. rather than just "manage expectations".....certainly sounded like a thinly veiled comparison directed towards our previous management
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 15:28:18 GMT
We are already top 10 so bugger standing still. We now have the players to be up there with the best! I hope we wont be standing still.Southampton (8th ) had 6 more points than us and man utd ( 7th ) 64 points.we cant expect to finish any higher than 8th.and maybe no lower than 12th.There are so many twists and turns to any season.Any teams that turns up at a game expecting to win,will from time to time get their arse kicked.Upwards and onwards . agree with this. to say we should be up with the best is daft. 8th is about maximum for a club like ours. i think people need to get a bit more realistic about our squad. yes, it's exciting but Tex will only be a bench player, Bardsley is a decent solid player but isn't really going to add much at all that we didn't have before. Sidwell could do well for us with a few goals but, again, last season only scored the same amount as Charlie so no real major, tangible pushing on in the sense of us suddenly becoming a top 6 side there. Diouf could do really well based on last season at Hannover but his record in the UK really isn't anything special at all so he's an exciting prospect but a complete unknow really and Bojan is the same. lots of people on here have been jizzing themselves based on the club he came from but all of what has been said in the media (never realised his potential at any club since his glory days years ago, flattered to deceive etc.) is actual real fact not just people slating him for the sake of it....again, he's potentially very exciting but that's purely based on hype from years ago and he's shown very very little since to justify that. yes, we've pushed on instead of standing still and some of the players are POTENTIALLY very exciting but at the moment that's all it is....potential! for all we know Diouf could just not fit into the english game (as he didn't with Man Utd. or Blackburn) and Bojan could be the same player that hasn't accomplished much for the last couple of years...nothing whatsoever to say that either will definitely be a success at all. if they aren't then are we really thinking we should be "Up with the best" purely based on Sidwell and Bardsley???? my excitement is coming from the fact that we have a manager who is showing (both in press conferences and tangibly with the transfers he's bringing in) that he WANTS to improve, push on and surpass our previous best rather than sit back and just go for 40 points Nige and we'll see what happens after. it shows ambition and a sign of intent to everyone out there and i'm loving that but we have a long, long way to go before we have the type of players in and the experience needed to challenge for top 6 or be up there with the best.
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Post by miggo on Jul 24, 2014 15:56:46 GMT
I hope we wont be standing still.Southampton (8th ) had 6 more points than us and man utd ( 7th ) 64 points.we cant expect to finish any higher than 8th.and maybe no lower than 12th.There are so many twists and turns to any season.Any teams that turns up at a game expecting to win,will from time to time get their arse kicked.Upwards and onwards . agree with this. to say we should be up with the best is daft. 8th is about maximum for a club like ours. i think people need to get a bit more realistic about our squad. yes, it's exciting but Tex will only be a bench player, Bardsley is a decent solid player but isn't really going to add much at all that we didn't have before. Sidwell could do well for us with a few goals but, again, last season only scored the same amount as Charlie so no real major, tangible pushing on in the sense of us suddenly becoming a top 6 side there. Diouf could do really well based on last season at Hannover but his record in the UK really isn't anything special at all so he's an exciting prospect but a complete unknow really and Bojan is the same. lots of people on here have been jizzing themselves based on the club he came from but all of what has been said in the media (never realised his potential at any club since his glory days years ago, flattered to deceive etc.) is actual real fact not just people slating him for the sake of it....again, he's potentially very exciting but that's purely based on hype from years ago and he's shown very very little since to justify that. yes, we've pushed on instead of standing still and some of the players are POTENTIALLY very exciting but at the moment that's all it is....potential! for all we know Diouf could just not fit into the english game (as he didn't with Man Utd. or Blackburn) and Bojan could be the same player that hasn't accomplished much for the last couple of years...nothing whatsoever to say that either will definitely be a success at all. if they aren't then are we really thinking we should be "Up with the best" purely based on Sidwell and Bardsley???? my excitement is coming from the fact that we have a manager who is showing (both in press conferences and tangibly with the transfers he's bringing in) that he WANTS to improve, push on and surpass our previous best rather than sit back and just go for 40 points Nige and we'll see what happens after. it shows ambition and a sign of intent to everyone out there and i'm loving that but we have a long, long way to go before we have the type of players in and the experience needed to challenge for top 6 or be up there with the best. I'd say that's a fair assessment, we can take nothing for granted. Expectations should always be mid table for me that's 8th-14 and a good cup run. But the gap between 10th and 20th closes every year and anyone is capable of having a good or bad year. The key for me is riding on the high spirits of last season's record breaking year and positive moves in the transfer market and taking that into next season where on paper we have a real good couple of months in fixtures. Let's get some new songs going (oh when the reds is getting very stale) and turn the place into the fierce pit of atmosphere it was in our first season and instead of getting behind a team of over achieving underdogs that will battle for their lives to pushing on a team that has huge potential to upset the usual top 8 contenders. I have a real positive feeling that next year could be our year to achieve something incredible Sent from my C6603 using proboards
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 16:07:34 GMT
agree with this. to say we should be up with the best is daft. 8th is about maximum for a club like ours. i think people need to get a bit more realistic about our squad. yes, it's exciting but Tex will only be a bench player, Bardsley is a decent solid player but isn't really going to add much at all that we didn't have before. Sidwell could do well for us with a few goals but, again, last season only scored the same amount as Charlie so no real major, tangible pushing on in the sense of us suddenly becoming a top 6 side there. Diouf could do really well based on last season at Hannover but his record in the UK really isn't anything special at all so he's an exciting prospect but a complete unknow really and Bojan is the same. lots of people on here have been jizzing themselves based on the club he came from but all of what has been said in the media (never realised his potential at any club since his glory days years ago, flattered to deceive etc.) is actual real fact not just people slating him for the sake of it....again, he's potentially very exciting but that's purely based on hype from years ago and he's shown very very little since to justify that. yes, we've pushed on instead of standing still and some of the players are POTENTIALLY very exciting but at the moment that's all it is....potential! for all we know Diouf could just not fit into the english game (as he didn't with Man Utd. or Blackburn) and Bojan could be the same player that hasn't accomplished much for the last couple of years...nothing whatsoever to say that either will definitely be a success at all. if they aren't then are we really thinking we should be "Up with the best" purely based on Sidwell and Bardsley???? my excitement is coming from the fact that we have a manager who is showing (both in press conferences and tangibly with the transfers he's bringing in) that he WANTS to improve, push on and surpass our previous best rather than sit back and just go for 40 points Nige and we'll see what happens after. it shows ambition and a sign of intent to everyone out there and i'm loving that but we have a long, long way to go before we have the type of players in and the experience needed to challenge for top 6 or be up there with the best. I'd say that's a fair assessment, we can take nothing for granted. Expectations should always be mid table for me that's 8th-14 and a good cup run. But the gap between 10th and 20th closes every year and anyone is capable of having a good or bad year. The key for me is riding on the high spirits of last season's record breaking year and positive moves in the transfer market and taking that into next season where on paper we have a real good couple of months in fixtures. Let's get some new songs going (oh when the reds is getting very stale) and turn the place into the fierce pit of atmosphere it was in our first season and instead of getting behind a team of over achieving underdogs that will battle for their lives to pushing on a team that has huge potential to upset the usual top 8 contenders. I have a real positive feeling that next year could be our year to achieve something incredible Sent from my C6603 using proboards agreed mate...think i've just had so much of the "Managing expectations" speech from TP over the years that i'm starting to do it myself
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Post by dozintheseventees on Jul 24, 2014 16:08:05 GMT
We were 22 and 19 points behind Everton and Spurs last year - that's a fucking light year in footballing terms. Realistically we should look at 8th, which would involve Southampton slipping [entirely possible] and us improving more than or equally as much as teams around us. There is still the danger of relegation for every team barring last seasons top seven. Until the Premiershit changes its structure, that will always be the case. Absolutely, and the fact that most seem to agree that maybe 2 or 3 of our players would get into their teams tells you that we have a very long way to go. I'm glad that our manager talks of improving and taking us forward as long as we all stay grounded and realistic.
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Post by The Drunken Communist on Jul 24, 2014 16:57:05 GMT
This entire forum is going to have a full-on '************** style meltdown' when we aren't on 38 points after our first seven games with both Bojan & Arnie already breaking the 20 goal barrier judging by most posts on this thread.
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Post by southcarolinastokie on Jul 24, 2014 17:22:55 GMT
I am very excited about this season which is scaring me. I am a pessimistic person by nature so this is new territory for me. We have real chance to get 8th this season. I don't think Everton will be that much ahead of us. I Lukaku doesn't go back there, they have a very small squad and European football too. A few injuries and they could be relying on kids.
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