Alexandar Mitrovic

[Meenzer 15526]

My brother is a bit like Fish. He's the only person I know who could start an argument with himself.

 

No he's not

[The Fish 10857]

The argument you have seemed to put forward recently was that bringing a striker in might halt Mitrovic's progress and as such could be a bad thing. My point of view is that while ideally I would like to see Mitrovic given more time, our position is not one where we can afford this. IMO we need more goals. This opinion is shared by Alex and others and seems to be shared by the club as they appear to be trying to sign a striker. If they don't (and they haven't yet) do that there is reason to be increasingly pessemistic about our chances of survial.

 

Whilse no one was saying we were suddenly safe after the weekend, there was definitely a much increased level of optimism on here on Monday. A lot of people seemed to forget how quickly we could be back in the bottom 3. That happened straight away on Monday night and a lot of people got more pessemistic about the situation as soon as we dropped a place (not just on here, I had mates text me as soon as Swansea scored that we were back in the bottom 3). My position never changed. We had a good result at the weekend and it's a start but unless we continue the good start we're not any better off.

 

I don't mind signing a striker if that striker was a prolific striker. If we'd signed Austin, I would have been fine with that, the man has regularly scored double figures in the English league. But we're chasing after Berahino who isn't prolific and has big question marks over his attitude. I wasn't saying don't sign a striker, I was saying sign the right striker, otherwise we've stymied the potential of Mitrovic to accommodate a knobhead.

 

As it stands I've confidence in the squad we have now, to find the goals to get us out of the relegation zone. Gini, Perez, Sissoko, Mitrovic should all be able to chip in with enough goals to make a difference. That confidence would only have increased had we signed Austin, or convinced Lacazette.

[Dr Gloom 21922]

Course they won't, because it's safer to make vague statements like "we're in trouble" or "we're in a desperate situation" so when we survive or get out of it they don't look as stupid and when we go down they can glumly say "I told you so".

 

It is a realistic possibility, as is survival. but if people were 50/50 wouldn't we see more people talking about survival than we do relegation? People are definitely more confident we're going down than staying up. Even though we're 3pts of 15th. Even though the pack from which 3 will be relegated are all struggling and only really Villa are properly adrift. Even despite all of this, nobody talks about how fucked the mackems are, how self-destructive Swansea look, how shockingly bad Norwich's defense look or how we're still suffering from a very difficult start to the league.

 

 

fwiw, I did get worried, I think it was the last 2 games, when the situation looked desperate.

 

the situation looked troubling with more than a few games to go last season, to be fair. there was the points on the board argument but we were playing such filth, we had signed no fucker in january, the players had all but given up and at the helm was the worst nufc coach in living memory.

 

this time around i'm more confident we'll stay up, despite our perilous points tally. but it's far from a certainty. shelvey looks a great addition, but we need to get the next two or three transfers right too. the squad is still thin, and we're only two or three injuries away from a pretty rank looking side.

[Dr Gloom 21922]

 

No he's not

 

i don't actually know fish, only his online persona. maybe it's a big charade and he's really sat there giggling at his computer.

 

actually, i'm pretty sure that's the case with CT

Edited January 21, 2016 by Dr Gloom

[trophyshy 7083]

Fish trying to get everyone on board..

 

​

[Alex 35079]

 

i don't actually know fish, only he's online persona. maybe it's a big charade and he's really sat there giggling at his computer.

 

actually, i'm pretty sure that's the case with CT

Too much credit being given here

[David Kelly 1245]

I don't mind signing a striker if that striker was a prolific striker. If we'd signed Austin, I would have been fine with that, the man has regularly scored double figures in the English league. But we're chasing after Berahino who isn't prolific and has big question marks over his attitude. I wasn't saying don't sign a striker, I was saying sign the right striker, otherwise we've stymied the potential of Mitrovic to accommodate a knobhead.

 

As it stands I've confidence in the squad we have now, to find the goals to get us out of the relegation zone. Gini, Perez, Sissoko, Mitrovic should all be able to chip in with enough goals to make a difference. That confidence would only have increased had we signed Austin, or convinced Lacazette.

I agree about signing Austin. That would have had me much more positive about staying up. But we didn't and Southampton (a team who I thought might have had a chance of getting sucked into the relegation battle) did.

 

Lacazette has only managed double figures twice so far, in a weaker league, and is two years older than Berahino. Obviously there's question marks about Berahino's attitude but I see him as less of a risk.

 

I just don't see the evidence that there's enough goals in Sissoko or even Perez and that has me concerned. As it stands I admit I think we're more likely to go down than stay up. I'm not convinced we have enough goals and I'm not convinced Shelvey will regularly play as well has he did on his debut. That doesn't mean I hysterically think we're completely doomed or that I won't be delighted to admit I'm wrong.

 

The Telegraph are reporting we're moving on from both Townsend and Berahino by the way. Which is exactly what I was advocating earlier if we aren't making progress. I do worry about where we will go next though.

[The Fish 10857]

Fish trying to get everyone on board..

 

​

 

[Dr Gloom 21922]

The Telegraph are reporting we're moving on from both Townsend and Berahino by the way. Which is exactly what I was advocating earlier if we aren't making progress. I do worry about where we will go next though.

 

[David Kelly 1245]

Gomis would be my more realistic concern. I could see him being not much more sucessful than Kuqi though.

[Howmanheyman 33197]

It was common at fictional public schools in the 50s

[Howmanheyman 33197]

Exhausting thread this last few pages. Glad I was sitting down when I read it.

[ewerk 30610]

[The Fish 10857]

I agree about signing Austin. That would have had me much more positive about staying up. But we didn't and Southampton (a team who I thought might have had a chance of getting sucked into the relegation battle) did.

 

Lacazette has only managed double figures twice so far, in a weaker league, and is two years older than Berahino. Obviously there's question marks about Berahino's attitude but I see him as less of a risk.

 

I just don't see the evidence that there's enough goals in Sissoko or even Perez and that has me concerned. As it stands I admit I think we're more likely to go down than stay up. I'm not convinced we have enough goals and I'm not convinced Shelvey will regularly play as well has he did on his debut. That doesn't mean I hysterically think we're completely doomed or that I won't be delighted to admit I'm wrong.

 

The Telegraph are reporting we're moving on from both Townsend and Berahino by the way. Which is exactly what I was advocating earlier if we aren't making progress. I do worry about where we will go next though.

 

Perez already has 5 this year. Not bad for a player that hasn't been in great form playing in a team that's struggled up front thus far.

 

Even if Shelvey plays half as well as he did on his debut he'll make us a lot better as a unit. We've been crying out for a playmaking midfielder since Cabay left and while I don't think Shelvey is the player that Cabaye was, the difference he makes to us cannot be overstated.

 

To get the magic 40pts we'd need 19pts from a possible 48pts, or 1.2pts per game. Mind you, I don't think 40 is actually the magic number any more.

 

 

 

≥40 points has only been the safety mark on three occasions in the past 20 seasons, so I'm not sure why people keep saying that's the target? So anyway, it's likely we'd need something like 36-37 points. Which is definitely doable. 36 is doable with less PpG than were on at the minute (0.94).

 

 

and if we do revert to the mean, we'll end up with over 40pts anyway.

Edited January 21, 2016 by The Fish

[strawb 4251]

I agree with Fish, we will survive this season quite comfortably. I think that will be the case if we buy anymore players or not as well.

[TheGingerQuiff 2412]

Crying out for a playmaking midfielder? I'm sure I read on here something about water carriers and diluting Cabayes creativity being the way forward

[The Fish 10857]

I agree with Fish, we will survive this season quite comfortably. I think that will be the case if we buy anymore players or not as well.

Never said "comfortably" mind.

[strawb 4251]

I said quite comfortably, by which I mean 14/15th

[ChezGiven 0]

Exhausting thread this last few pages. Glad I was sitting down when I read it.

One-handed wiping? Risky.

[The Fish 10857]

I said quite comfortably, by which I mean 14/15th

Aye, I reckon 15th or so.

[David Kelly 1245]

Perez already has 5 this year. Not bad for a player that hasn't been in great form playing in a team that's struggled up front thus far.

 

Even if Shelvey plays half as well as he did on his debut he'll make us a lot better as a unit. We've been crying out for a playmaking midfielder since Cabay left and while I don't think Shelvey is the player that Cabaye was, the difference he makes to us cannot be overstated.

 

To get the magic 40pts we'd need 19pts from a possible 48pts, or 1.2pts per game. Mind you, I don't think 40 is actually the magic number any more.

 

 

 

≥40 points has only been the safety mark on three occasions in the past 20 seasons, so I'm not sure why people keep saying that's the target? So anyway, it's likely we'd need something like 36-37 points. Which is definitely doable. 36 is doable with less PpG than were on at the minute (0.94).

 

 

and if we do revert to the mean, we'll end up with over 40pts anyway.

I'm sure the Mackems, Swansea, Villa and West Brom could also look at it the same way though.

 

I hope Shelvey does improve us, I certainly could see that he did on Saturday. And maybe he doesn't need to play all that well to do that. Maybe we have a lot of the other ingredients needed already. But then again maybe he gets injured and we're back to Anita and Colback. I think we have a realistic chance of moving up the table but the fact is for well over a year we've been utter shite. That doesn't give me confidence and I'm going to need to see more evidence before I'll be confident.

[The Fish 10857]

Guess I just think our shite isn't as shite as the 3 other teams' shite.

 

We've definitely been playing better football than Swansea, Norwich, mackems, Villa.

[David Kelly 1245]

Guess I just think our shite isn't as shite as the 3 other teams' shite.

 

We've definitely been playing better football than Swansea, Norwich, mackems, Villa.

I've thought for years that we've had better players than a lot of the teams above us but it hasn't translated to us finishing above them. That's where my lack of confidence comes from.

[StoneColdStephenIreland 74]

I think we'll stay up tbh! I'm more confident now than I was at this stage last season even though we were mid table then.

 

We've got enough about us and more quality players than teams around us.

[The Fish 10857]

I've thought for years that we've had better players than a lot of the teams above us but it hasn't translated to us finishing above them. That's where my lack of confidence comes from.

It's the football we're playing, not the lads we have playing it. McClaren isn't an innovative coach, and we don't have the best side I've seen, even under Ashley's reign. However, we're playing much better football than we were under Pardew, imo. I'm confident that will translate to points sooner rather than later, certainly now that we've a player who means the game won't be as compact as it was without him.

 

Previously we've been hampered by shit management/bad dressing room/poor balance to the side. fwiw that's why Chelsea are where they are; not through a lack of talent on the field. It's similar with Ranieri, he isn't doing anything magic with Leicester, they're just getting the most out of their limited players by quickly getting the ball to Albrighton/Mahrez and looking to hit teams on the counter. They're finding it harder now because people are staying deep and they aren't treating them like the bottom half side they were last year.