We really must win this game. I see Naarch having 60% of the possession and us struggling to score. It's just one goal from Dawson and one own goal in the last 5 games now and very few near misses.
Norwich having a tonne of possession is no bad thing In fact, the easiest way to beat them is to allow them to impotently play lovely passing football high up the pitch, then pick them off on the counter
Not gonna “enjoy the game”. I always hated that over the tannoy. How could anyone enjoy this season. Im expecting it to be a nail biting horror show as usual. I can’t see us winning this playing like we have since the restart. So we need another Liverpool type performance with a huge piece of luck. Norwich will no way roll over. I guess it’s 5 points to stay up that is required. Surely not too much to ask for, is it?
I don't think 5 points will be enough with AV to play CP, and WHU who are poor and will be on the beach on the last day.
The 'bonus' since the restart (West Ham excluded, think they've done enough now) is nobody down the bottom has played well. If we were to drop into the bottom three again, we won't come back out of it, so tonight's game is without doubt the most important one since coming up five years ago, and there's only one result which will do. You'd like to think Villa and Bournemouth will both lose on Thursday night, but you can never tell which Man Utd/Spurs teams will turn up for those games. But a win for us tonight and a point against Newcastle on Sat (a win of course would be even better) would leave both Villa and Bournemouth needing to find two wins, and looking at remaining games (Villa - Utd h, Palace h, Everton a, Arsenal h, West Ham a; Bournemouth - Spurs h, Leicester h, Man C a, Southampton h, Everton a) I'd think they'd struggle to get them.
Who are the top 7? Since you haven't mentioned Everton, I assume you are including them but I think both Leicester and Wolves would be put out about that at the moment.
My concern tonight is that, while we are not being positive enough in trying to take the lead, Norwich will score and then the best we are able to do is scramble an equaliser when it's too late. I hope I'm wrong because the attitude to this game will be everything and it has to be the opposite of what we saw at Burnley.
Had a dream about this, must have been on my mind. Welbeck scored a 72nd minute scissor kick to make it 3-2, but i woke up immediately after so no idea if we held on or not!
Probably best to assume the game was abandoned due to the air ambulance having to land on the pitch to recover Welbeck's shattered body from the turf.
Because you don't want the shame of relegation despite the fact it would probably lead to the more entertaining season next year because you know know that if we do stay up Gino & Giraldi will have Cathcart, Dawson & Deeney all starting our first Premier League game of the 20 / 21 season. We can't win.
A question for @Clive_ofthe_Kremlin: is actively not supporting a son/daughter of the revolution in nay endeavour an anti-social act or even treason and likely to get you a couple of years in a re-education camp? It's about time we find out where your team party loyalties lie...
sadly this. The only commiseration is a I will be drinking a bottle from Delias Cellar over dinner as it happens
The problem with any permutation of results for the others in the bottom 4 is that to survive we need some points and we wont get any more this season
Just caught up with this thread - got slightly less dread than normal and a smidge more excitement for a big game that we actually COULD win. Welbeck must start 100%. No to Deeney and Gray starting - I don't 'hate' either of them, I just don't think they are playing well enough or are good enough. Norwich are an interesting one, I'd say 5 or 6 promising players I wouldn't mind us picking up. How would we feel about Cantwell as our number 10 next season? Or Pukki as our goal poacher? Either of the full backs as competition for those places? Of course it's irrelevant as I guess they'd all be outside of our transfer budget policy. Welbeck must start though (just a reminder final point in case Person takes his lead from us for this one)
I don't think it's even that, I've almostaalmost relegation and the hope of an away day at either Wycombe or Oxford. I just find the Premier League flat and soulless and have done for a couple of seasons. I think the novelty of it all has just worn off. I'm not averse to staying in the league it just feels like something needs to change.
I get that playing Gray is equivalent to playing with a man less, but officially I think he still counts as part of the 11.
I’d play a 442. Pedro and Sarr up front. Welbeck on the left. When we get the ball, get it out to the channels behind their full backs. Have doucoure and the other winger making driving runs to the opposition box, and Welbeck as an option for the overlap. Hughes on the other side tucking in with Femenia overlapping.
I said this after the Leicester game. Sadly, we will not gain another point all season and will go down with a whimper. 2-0 to Norwich tonight. I hope to be proved wrong. Bon chance.
I woke up today with a positive slant on this game. I am thinking, even if Deeney starts, that we will win the game somehow. Am I feeling alright, or should I take a paracetamol?
I'm torn over tonight. On one hand, if we lose, it'll be hilarious to see the usual suspects try to defend it. On the other, it'll be even more hilarious that the usual suspects declare 'crisis over' and try and revel in some sort of 'told you so' victory. Can't decide.
For a "must win" game it's all a bit "meh" isn't it. A win puts pressure on Villa and Muff to get something from two games but can our bunch actually get a win.
I'd probably feel that Cantwell will be both aiming for and attracting interest from bigger and more stable clubs than us at this point.
Being realistic I think it’s a extremely unlikely Pearson risks dropping Mr Watford for such an important game. We’ll be lumping if you to him, have zero movement and win 1-0 to fight another day. Doucoure will finally get a shot right.
