The first three games of Deano's tenure were Man City (A), a resurgent Wolves (H) and desperate Leeds (A). Realistically, if you had offered coming out of those three with 4 points and a -1 GD I suspect most of us would have had your hand off given the way we had been performing up to then.
The bottom of the table with remaining fixtures is as follows, (not including Palace, Wolves and Bournemouth who are nearing safety):-
West Ham P32 Pts 34 GD -9 Palace (A), Man City (A), Man Utd (H), Brentford (A), Leeds (H), Leicester (A)
Leeds P33 Pts 30 GD -21 Bournemouth (A), Man City (A), Newcastle (H), West H (A), Spurs (H)
Forest P33 Pts 30 GD -31 Brentford (A), Southampton (H), Chelsea (A), Arsenal (H), Palace (A)
Leicester P33 Pts 29 GD -13 Everton (H), Fulham (A), Liverpool (H), Newcastle (A), West Ham (H)
Everton P33 Pts 28 GD -25 Leicester (A), Brighton (A), Man City (H), Wolves (A), Bournemouth (H)
Southampton P33 Pts 24 GD -30 Newcastle (A), Forest (A), Fulham (H), Brighton (A), Liverpool (H)
Although we are still in the relegation zone, the results from the last couple of games have done better than just keeping us in touch with the rest of the strugglers, we've overtaken Everton, gone further away from Southampton, and made up ground on the others. We've also got the best GD (bar the Hammers) if it comes down to that to decide the club's fate.
Looking at those fixture lists we've still got some hope, as they all have some tough games and there are points to be dropped when teams play each other. We have more home fixtures than most others. West Ham now have a European semi-final distraction in their mix.
If there is some balance to be had here against the above glimmer of hope, the injury to Ian could prove to be fatal to our chances of survival. I suppose at least Madders is playing well and Vards looks a bit sharper.
We need to win on Monday against Everton, at the very least not lose. A win against Fulham would then put us in an improved situation before facing Liverpool and Newcastle.
It is irritating to think that this team has shown sufficient capability at times this season for us to be nowhere near relegation, more decisive action earlier by Top and the management would probably have had us comfortably mid-table by now. Not least we'd have been able to make use of the new top-quality CB we seem to have unearthed. Incidentally here, although Soyuncu and Faes are both good defensively, am I the only one who is a bit nervous that Souttar seems to have fallen by the wayside given the aerial power he gives us at the back compared with those two?
I still want to try and keep as positive as I can whilst there is still a chance of avoiding the drop, I'm slightly more optimistic, although I still think we'll have the option of a Tuesday night out in Stoke next year!
Thoughts?
Great Escape Part II? - update #1
posted on 29/4/23
Whatever happens on Monday, Forest go into the bottom three. We win, we go above them. We lose, Everton go above them. We draw, we go above them.
They're bang in trouble after that fluke win in the week and I still think Saint and Forest are down and then it's between us, Leeds and Everton.
posted on 29/4/23
comment by True Blue ( Wake up Boo ) (U9486)
posted 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
Leeds was definitely a missed chance we couldn’t afford, Two points lost over 1 point gained.
Too many ‘weak’ players still getting selected hampering our chances, if they choke agin against Everton it is all over.
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Wow! I thought I was trying to avoid being negative but you've wholeheartedly embraced that philosophy. Presumably you think the change has been made too late?
posted on 29/4/23
comment by See The Stars (U21395)
posted 43 minutes ago
Whatever happens on Monday, Forest go into the bottom three. We win, we go above them. We lose, Everton go above them. We draw, we go above them.
They're bang in trouble after that fluke win in the week and I still think Saint and Forest are down and then it's between us, Leeds and Everton.
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That's a good point. I'm feeling slightly happier now. I wasn't in a good place when I heard that Forest were winning. Feeling much better when Brentford went ahead in 94th minute.
posted on 29/4/23
comment by Nuneaton_fox (U7936)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by True Blue ( Wake up Boo ) (U9486)
posted 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
Leeds was definitely a missed chance we couldn’t afford, Two points lost over 1 point gained.
Too many ‘weak’ players still getting selected hampering our chances, if they choke agin against Everton it is all over.
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Wow! I thought I was trying to avoid being negative but you've wholeheartedly embraced that philosophy. Presumably you think the change has been made too late?
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No, I think the change needs to Be embraced, at the moment it just seems like Groundhog Day.
posted on 29/4/23
comment by True Blue ( Wake up Boo ) (U9486)
posted 16 seconds ago
comment by Nuneaton_fox (U7936)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by True Blue ( Wake up Boo ) (U9486)
posted 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
Leeds was definitely a missed chance we couldn’t afford, Two points lost over 1 point gained.
Too many ‘weak’ players still getting selected hampering our chances, if they choke agin against Everton it is all over.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow! I thought I was trying to avoid being negative but you've wholeheartedly embraced that philosophy. Presumably you think the change has been made too late?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No, I think the change needs to Be embraced, at the moment it just seems like Groundhog Day.
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I don't agree. A tolerable result against Man City, together with a win against Wolves and not losing away to Leeds is a reasonable outcome for Dean's first 3 games - it's not a repeat of the previous matches. Monday night is massive however.
posted on 30/4/23
I can’t help but feel we’re going to draw tomorrow which will prolong the agony for both us and Everton.
I really hope I’m wrong but I agree in part with TB that we can’t carry any players that aren’t up for the fight. If Tielemans isn’t showing the aggression needed in training I wouldn’t play him.
We need to be solid against an organised but struggling Everton team and we can afford anyone at 95% never mind the 70% Tielemans we’ve seen since his injury.
Let’s just win. Any win any how. Any way.
posted on 30/4/23
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 51 minutes ago
I can’t help but feel we’re going to draw tomorrow which will prolong the agony for both us and Everton.
I really hope I’m wrong but I agree in part with TB that we can’t carry any players that aren’t up for the fight. If Tielemans isn’t showing the aggression needed in training I wouldn’t play him.
We need to be solid against an organised but struggling Everton team and we can afford anyone at 95% never mind the 70% Tielemans we’ve seen since his injury.
Let’s just win. Any win any how. Any way.
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70% since his Injury?
Was that the one in 2021?
It’s not just Tielemans although that is always like playing with Ten men but also Tete, Barnes and to an extent Maddison.
posted on 30/4/23
Results gone for us this afternoon. Must capitalise tomorrow night now.
It's going to be the team who are the least sh 1te who stay up.
posted on 1/5/23
In the end it won't matter what others do unless we deliver. Starting tonight.
posted on 1/5/23
Groundhog Day again, whichever League we end up next Season we need a Real Manager bringing in, in the Summer.
Another Two points dropped. 5 points out of 9 not good enough against the Team we've just played.