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Post by chad on Nov 23, 2014 15:55:20 GMT
Could av had 7 points from Villa, Leics and Burnley. Should av got a win at QPR. Would have been Third. Definitely been our own worst enemy this year
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Post by Northy on Nov 23, 2014 15:58:53 GMT
dont forget west ham
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Post by chad on Nov 23, 2014 16:03:12 GMT
Yeh we could have bin second !
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Post by desman2 on Nov 23, 2014 16:10:12 GMT
Careful writing this OP. Youll get the usual crowd here telling you you are talking bollocks like what i got pointing this out.
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Post by Gods on Nov 23, 2014 16:17:04 GMT
yep, I think a flirtation with the drop zone around the new year is now inevitable since we are only 5 points above it and our next 9 fixtures are probably the toughest run we have had in the history of the football club. After the victory at Spurs I did think if we followed up with a home win against hapless Burnley we might just avoid it but it wasn't to be. I am sure we can pull away from there as we did last season as the fixtures ease again in to February and beyond. But I don't think there is any escaping from the bald fact that we were gifted an easy start to the campaign by the fixtures computer and we've screwed it up. Whether it's down to sloppy play, bad luck or injuries (I happen to think a bit of all 3) is a matter of conjecture but we are not where we should be  |
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Post by liamo on Nov 23, 2014 16:24:37 GMT
yep, I think a flirtation with the drop zone around the new year is now inevitable since we are only 5 points above it and our next 9 fixtures are probably the toughest run we have had in the history of the football club. After the victory at Spurs I did think if we followed up with a home win against hapless Burnley we might just avoid it but it wasn't to be. I am sure we can pull away from there as we did last season as the fixtures ease again in to February and beyond. I don't think there is any escaping from the bald fact that we were gifted an easy start to the campaign and we've screwed it up I'm cautiously confident, some of our best performances so far have been against better teams than us and our worst have been against teams worse than us, Liverpool are not the force they were last season and both Arsenal and Man U are vulnerable at the back I'm not saying we're going to rip teams apart but the so called "bigger" teams don't summon as much fear as they used to |
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Post by mrcoke on Nov 23, 2014 16:33:48 GMT
I know how you feel; strange season with all the losses to "bottom" teams apart from Southampton. I look at Newcastle and think what if, surely Stoke are as good as them?
The only comfort is it's still only November and there is a long way to go for MH to fix what's wrong. He can't change the squad, but surely he can get them scoring from set pieces and defending better*? As pointed out above that would have yielded significantly more points. (* I accept they did defend brilliantly at ManC.)
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Post by nicholasjalcock on Nov 23, 2014 18:00:04 GMT
Dinda Dinda Dinda
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Post by adamsson on Nov 23, 2014 18:15:41 GMT
yep, I think a flirtation with the drop zone around the new year is now inevitable since we are only 5 points above it and our next 9 fixtures are probably the toughest run we have had in the history of the football club. After the victory at Spurs I did think if we followed up with a home win against hapless Burnley we might just avoid it but it wasn't to be. I am sure we can pull away from there as we did last season as the fixtures ease again in to February and beyond. But I don't think there is any escaping from the bald fact that we were gifted an easy start to the campaign by the fixtures computer and we've screwed it up. Whether it's down to sloppy play, bad luck or injuries (I happen to think a bit of all 3) is a matter of conjecture but we are not where we should be You either haven't been watching this season or you just aren't thinking The so called top teams aren't winning and Stoke have lost once to a team playing football and four times to teams trying to stop us playing football. Of the next few games only Palace will try 10 men behind the ball |
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on Nov 23, 2014 18:27:05 GMT
Adamson dream on palace won't put 10 behind the ball they will go for us as they did Liverpool and they may well be facing a team off e back of a vert tricky run underestimating palace burnley qpr Leicester villa sunderland is mindbogglingly arrogant and misguided on here
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Post by Batfink on Nov 23, 2014 18:27:29 GMT
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Post by luke45 on Nov 23, 2014 18:31:18 GMT
I have no concerns at all about relegation because I know we'll be safe with games to spare, my concern is whether we can achieve another top 10 finish and if possible better last season's 9th place finish. I wouldn't have expected us to have lost the home games that we have so far and we should be concerned about it, but I wouldn't have expected wins at Man City and Spurs either, 15 points isn't far off what I would've expected from our first 12 games when the fixtures were announced.
The fact is after 12 games last season we were 14th in the league with 13 points on board and 12 goals scored, at this stage so far we are 10th in the league with 15 points and 13 goals scored. I'm not saying there's a drastic improvement there, but it's an improvement none the less. I can't say I'm convinced we are a better side than we were at this stage last season but I'm quite sure we aren't any worse. I expect this season to pan out very much like last season, we'll probably be flirting around the bottom half until late January to early February then I'm confident we'll kick on and end the season strongly.
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Post by Linx on Nov 23, 2014 18:42:14 GMT
We're a counter-attacking side and we are perfectly placed to get results against the big sides who, because they are still arrogant tossers, will continue to underestimate us, especially if they are playing at home. I honestly believe we can get something at Anfield, similar to last week at WHL, while Arsenal are always vulnerable at the Britannia. If we can sort out the back four in time, and get Glenn back in, we might even get a point against Chelsea.
Even so, it will take something very special to take away this sense of frustration and fatalism at us losing at home to chuffin' Burnley!
Oh, and while I'm at it, if Ryan manages to keep Costa in his pocket on 20th December, expect Woy to still maintain that he needs to show that he can defend 'week in, week out' against the top strikers in the world before he gets an England call up. That pathetic excuse by an obviously embarrassed Gareth Southgate on FF still rankles even now. After more than 200 Premier League games, leading one of the more consistently mean defences in that league, what more does Ryan have to do?
And tomorrow it's chuffin' Monday!!
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Post by stokiejoe on Nov 23, 2014 18:52:33 GMT
I still believe we are in a three year plan and this is only part way through the second year. We made an exceptional first year start and that raised expectations just as performance slowed. We will recover and improve our consistency, we know we can beat some of the best but sadly we can lose to lesser sides. We have the tactics and players to counter attack but not to break down packed defences. It will come as I am sure that if I can see the problem others with better knowledge who are better placed than me will address it. One thing at a time until we get it all right, a bit like learning to juggle where you start with one, then two then three etc until you can keep all the balls in the air.
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Post by Gods on Nov 23, 2014 20:47:04 GMT
yep, I think a flirtation with the drop zone around the new year is now inevitable since we are only 5 points above it and our next 9 fixtures are probably the toughest run we have had in the history of the football club. After the victory at Spurs I did think if we followed up with a home win against hapless Burnley we might just avoid it but it wasn't to be. I am sure we can pull away from there as we did last season as the fixtures ease again in to February and beyond. But I don't think there is any escaping from the bald fact that we were gifted an easy start to the campaign by the fixtures computer and we've screwed it up. Whether it's down to sloppy play, bad luck or injuries (I happen to think a bit of all 3) is a matter of conjecture but we are not where we should be You either haven't been watching this season or you just aren't thinking The so called top teams aren't winning and Stoke have lost once to a team playing football and four times to teams trying to stop us playing football. Of the next few games only Palace will try 10 men behind the ball You're not seriously suggesting that on average over the course of the season we will do better against the good teams than the bad ones? You'd have to be a fully paid up member of the Flat Earth Society to seriously believe that. |
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Post by Gods on Nov 23, 2014 20:49:37 GMT
I have no concerns at all about relegation because I know we'll be safe with games to spare, my concern is whether we can achieve another top 10 finish and if possible better last season's 9th place finish. I wouldn't have expected us to have lost the home games that we have so far and we should be concerned about it, but I wouldn't have expected wins at Man City and Spurs either, 15 points isn't far off what I would've expected from our first 12 games when the fixtures were announced. The fact is after 12 games last season we were 14th in the league with 13 points on board and 12 goals scored, at this stage so far we are 10th in the league with 15 points and 13 goals scored. I'm not saying there's a drastic improvement there, but it's an improvement none the less. I can't say I'm convinced we are a better side than we were at this stage last season but I'm quite sure we aren't any worse. I expect this season to pan out very much like last season, we'll probably be flirting around the bottom half until late January to early February then I'm confident we'll kick on and end the season strongly. I'm not sure it is a great idea to compare this season to last and take comfort if we are doing no worse. We were in the bottom 3 on February 1st of this year. |
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Post by 2004 on Nov 23, 2014 20:50:00 GMT
Could cost us if we want to be top 10 this season.
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Post by Gods on Nov 23, 2014 20:51:28 GMT
I still believe we are in a three year plan and this is only part way through the second year. We made an exceptional first year start and that raised expectations just as performance slowed. We will recover and improve our consistency, we know we can beat some of the best but sadly we can lose to lesser sides. We have the tactics and players to counter attack but not to break down packed defences. It will come as I am sure that if I can see the problem others with better knowledge who are better placed than me will address it. One thing at a time until we get it all right, a bit like learning to juggle where you start with one, then two then three etc until you can keep all the balls in the air. I'm not being funny but that is the first I have heard of a 3 year plan. I wonder what is in it? |
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Post by stokiejoe on Nov 23, 2014 21:16:13 GMT
I still believe we are in a three year plan and this is only part way through the second year. We made an exceptional first year start and that raised expectations just as performance slowed. We will recover and improve our consistency, we know we can beat some of the best but sadly we can lose to lesser sides. We have the tactics and players to counter attack but not to break down packed defences. It will come as I am sure that if I can see the problem others with better knowledge who are better placed than me will address it. One thing at a time until we get it all right, a bit like learning to juggle where you start with one, then two then three etc until you can keep all the balls in the air. I'm not being funny but that is the first I have heard of a 3 year plan. I wonder what is in it? Perhaps its me misunderstanding based on the three year appointment of Hughes and the requirement not to make the mistakes that were made at QPR by making changes too soon. |
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Post by Gods on Nov 23, 2014 21:23:26 GMT
I'm not being funny but that is the first I have heard of a 3 year plan. I wonder what is in it? Perhaps its me misunderstanding based on the three year appointment of Hughes and the requirement not to make the mistakes that were made at QPR by making changes too soon. My mistake, I didn't realise Hughes was hired on a 3 year contract, I thought it was one of those rolling contracts, but I checked and you are correct, safe to say there must be a 3 year plan then. Has given me an idea for another thread! |
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Post by davethebass on Nov 23, 2014 23:26:47 GMT
"You got cudda, shouda, woulda in one hand, 10cents in the other. Hell, you can buy a donut." (forget what film that was in  |
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Post by JoeinOz on Nov 24, 2014 2:55:37 GMT
Points down the shithole....QPR was probably worst as those two were in the cupboard ready to have some custard poured on them and enjoyed. Instead we let them get stolen. The cat had the custard and we watched telly without a sweet treat.
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Post by bathstoke on Nov 24, 2014 7:02:43 GMT
Is the custard for the donuts, I'm confussed...
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Post by lawrieleslie on Nov 24, 2014 7:18:28 GMT
I still believe we are in a three year plan and this is only part way through the second year. We made an exceptional first year start and that raised expectations just as performance slowed. We will recover and improve our consistency, we know we can beat some of the best but sadly we can lose to lesser sides. We have the tactics and players to counter attack but not to break down packed defences. It will come as I am sure that if I can see the problem others with better knowledge who are better placed than me will address it. One thing at a time until we get it all right, a bit like learning to juggle where you start with one, then two then three etc until you can keep all the balls in the air. I'm not being funny but that is the first I have heard of a 3 year plan. I wonder what is in it? Gods it's actually a rolling 3 year plan that we have had since promotion.  |
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