The way I see it, is if you're playing a team that has something to play for (or City) you will have a competitive match. If you're playing a side like Everton, Palace, Newcastle etc, you'll face a bit of resistance initially but in the end the greater need to win should give you a big advantage. So in that shakedown, the only side we'll face without anything to play for and who are not City, is Arsenal away. Bournemouth have Everton away and Southampton home, Villa have Everton away, Arsenal at home and West Ham at away (who maybe on the beach by then). Home and away seems to make a difference, as more teams are winning home games. So it looks like we now have the harder run, but still have a 1 win advantage over the nearest challenger. It's very finely balanced right now. Even if Villa and Bournemouth lose their next games, the dynamic is still the same. If either side gets an unexpected good result in their next game, then I'd say that would be a big swing against us. We can do ourselves a big favour by beating West Ham of course. That would put us 6 clear of Bournemouth most likely, with just two to play and 7 clear of Villa if they lose at Everton, so we'd be safe from them. If we lose to West Ham, then they will be safe, because their GD is superior to anyone else down there. Then it really will be 2 from 3, although if Brighton don't win another game, they could also be at risk I suppose. After back-to-back wins I thought that would be enough, but I think the way it stands right now, we do need one more win from somewhere. EDIT - I just checked on Brighton, and their last three are Southampton away, Newcastle home and Burnley away. I think they'll be ok, as Newcastle should be the one they get something from.
Southampton could have the unique chance to be the one to relegate their rivals. That could hopefully be a added incentive for them - not sure how that will be with no fans on the ground to spur them on to do that though.
I was speaking to a Southampton fan this morning and really that rivalry is mostly on the Bournemouth side and created by them. He was telling me that really Southampton couldn’t give a flying feck about the rivalry, although he did concede he would enjoy them going down. My father and brother in laws both support Southampton too and they are of the same opinion. Additionally my Soton supporting friend also informed me that the Bournemouth game is the last game in a run of 3 games in 7 days. Starting with Utd later and then BHA. In my opinion this bodes well for Bournemouth.
This is laughable from Leicester. Agreed. Southampton hate Pompey. Southampton and Bournemouth is a rivalry for Bournemouth fans plus the media talking about a "South Coast Derby".
After feeling glum last night, I'm feeling a bit better today. Really one win should do it for us (providing we don't get another 8-0 against city). I think Arsenal is a winnable game if we need to win and they're on the beach. West Ham is winnable, but i'm not confident about that one. I think realistically, Bournemouth will probably get 4 points, and Villa will probably get 4 points which would mean one draw is probably enough. You have to say though as bad as we've been, the Pozzo's should go on the offensive if we go down on GD or by a point - 3 VAR **** ups which have cost us massively.
I don't think you have to say that at all. Insipid performances against Palace, Southampton and Burnley, stupid OG v Brighton, late late defeats against Everton and Villa... that's just off the top of my head.
In a nutshell this is what this week holds. I expect Muff to lose to Man City and so prior to Friday it all depends upon what Villa do, looking at the following scenarios: Column 1 is the points total of West Ham, us, Muff & Villa, the first group is if Villa lose, second if they draw and third if they win. Column 2 is the points after our match if it's a draw Column 3 is if there's a winner. Pre Draw Win 34 35 37 34 35 34 31 31 31 30 30 30 34 35 37 34 35 34 31 31 31 31 31 31 34 35 37 34 35 34 33 33 33 31 31 31 Obviously a Villa defeat is the best we can hope for but looking at the final column a Villa win and us losing doesn't even bear thing about as West Ham may well be safe going in to the final day when they face each other.
There have been a lot of things that have conspired against us. Some of it our own fault, some of it has been out of our hands. The Ali clear use of an arm before his equaliser, and the blatant foul on Geri in the same game and no penalty awarded. That directly cost us 2 points, from the incompetence of officials. The clear handball missed at Newcastle, again costing us 2 points. The handball against Southampton, which gave them an equaliser and changed the momentum of the match which we end up losing. That probably cost us 3 points. The push on Cathcart and handball missed for Yerry Mina's first goal in the Everton comeback. Had that been chalked off, we'd have probably gone on to win. That's another 3 points. Then there's our screw ups. Allowing Villa to score the winner 27 seconds over the allotted injury time, although why the referee added another 30 seconds is anyone's guess. That's another point dropped, but more importantly 2 extra points to Villa. That crazy goal by Mapps at Brighton, where we were winning and in no danger of conceding. 2 more points dropped and an extra point to a rival. There has been so many incidents like this. Very few things have gone our way in return. The penalty against Chelsea is the only thing I can think of that was a generous decision in our favour. Had we had the correct call on every occasion, we'd have been most likely 10 points better off. Add to the crazy mess-ups from us, which probably adds an extra 3 points, we are probably 13 points down on where we should be. That's insane, but 47 points is probably where we should be, so I can believe this. We have been badly let down by officials, there's no doubt about it. 4 handball goals scored against us, all missed. That's just ridiculous and could cost us our Premier League status. It's unforgivable when they have VAR technology to rely on.
Norwich and Watford are down. One from Aston Villa, West Ham or Bournemouth. We will get obliterated by Man City, West Ham will prove too strong and have the will to want to win. Arsenal will actually turn up on the day and bury us. I think Bournemouth and West Ham will survive.
Good idea. Do you have any idea what legal action we could take against the FA/PL around VAR? Do you think it might keep us up?
Not to mention the handball by Mings, who was already on a yellow, and we were 1-0 up at the time. Should’ve been a second yellow as it was clearly deliberate as his arm moved to stop Deulofeu going clear down the right.
Not too sure VAR can get involved with a yellow? However, it was a clear mistake by the ref! He gave the free-kick to us for deliberate handball! So surely if he’s seen it and he agrees it’s deliberate handball, Mings has to go!!
Adding to this, the Sakho goal yesterday. It's clear as day the ball has hit the back of his shoulder. Yet the Ali one where he moves his arm towards the ball and controls it with his bicep is not handball, but the back of a player's shoulder is handball. This is so infuriating, as both decisions are clearly a joke, but they are still being made. VAR has been around all season yet the officials still do not make the correct decision. This shows they really do not know what they are doing. VAR has proved that time and time again. There should be a massive clear out of the elite referees. I think if you make 3 bad VAR decisions, like the Sheff Utd goal, or the Sakho goal yesterday, you should be dismissed. I'm hoping Moss is sacked, but I doubt it, as for some reason he is rated highly, which is ridiculous in itself.
Does the city decision not just make Leicester’s decision to throw the game yesterday seem even more bizarre? It very much looks like they’ll miss out on CL now as Utd are in scintillating form, and even worse possibly end up with Europa league which nobody wants.
I agree. I don't buy this assertion that footballers will be tired due to too many games. It means they don't train as much to preserve themselves for matches. Athletes like competing, although watching RP this season does dent that assumption somewhat!
Are you aware that we are 4 points ahead of Aston Villa and 3 points above Bournemouth? Is there also not the possibility that Manchester City will obliterate Bournemouth in their next game? Then they have to beat Southampton who is one of the leagues most in-form teams and who have been fantastic away. Not to mention Bournemouths only quality defender went off on a stretcher yesterday, they never won because of their quality but because Leicester lost control. Villa have a winnable game against Everton, however, they are relying on Everton being on the beach, I don't think that will happen though, I am expecting a reaction from Everton as Carlo Ancelotti did not seem happy in his post-match interview, also Villa has the 2nd worst away record in the league, they then play Arsenal who may not be up for it but Aston Villa have not won against a team inside the top 10 all season. Oh, and Bournemouth have never won at Goodison either. I am not saying that it is certain that we will stay up but to say that we are down is ridiculous, we have 2 winnable games in my opinion and we are 3/4 points ahead with 3 games remaining. One game against a side that is currently on the same points and we could beat Arsenal in the last game.
I’ve been worrying for too long, after Newcastle watford won me back. So I’m joining the happy clapper group for the remainder of the season. The reality is Bournemouth and Villa would much rather be in our position than theirs. They are the ones relying on us to drop points to catch us. We are not relying on other teams to get us out of relegation. We’re 3 points clear, beat West Ham and we could even be 6 points clear. Even a point and we could be 4 points clear. It’s in our hands. I do believe that our boys will be well up for the game on Friday and I do believe we are going to get the victory. I’m not worried about relegation at this moment in time. We are in the better position, we just need to keep calm, keep our heads and see the season out as professional as possible. It’s important for the players not to panic and this is where I think Pearson is going to be the difference.
If only the Man city decision was made before the match yesterday, that would have spurred them on. Also looking at the table it looks like Arsenal may not be able to qualify for Europe by the time we play them, so they may be on the beach by then.
I also think that any extra “oomph” we might hope for from Southampton as the result of a match being any kind of derby is, unfortunately, nullified by the absence of fans. Fake derby or not, I’m sure that many Southampton fans would delight in sending Bournemouth down but I’m equally sure that most Southampton players don’t give a flying whatsit.
I'll save us. I'm going to invest some more money on us going down at 4/1. Then it certainly won't happen trust me.
