10 points behind the leaders who have a game in hand. 16 games remaining. Is AVB right? Are we out of the title race? Yes or No?

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD PTS

Manchester City 21 16 3 2 57 16 +41 51

Manchester United 21 15 3 3 52 20 +32 48

Tottenham Hotspur 21 14 4 3 39 21 +18 46

Chelsea 22 12 5 5 40 25 +15 41

Arsenal 21 11 3 7 38 31 +7 36

If we only look at the table, I think when the 2 big games of tommorow ends both in a draw we still can get a chance.

But if we are realistic,not with this attitude,formation....We are sick at the moment and there are no good signals of recovery..

So I think we're out of the race )-:

Edited January 21, 201214 yr by Belgian_SW6_Lover

Most definitely unless something changes fast and Torres starts scoring, there is more slick passing and we keep more clean sheets. Also we must play Lukaku more that 20 odd minutes he had he looked a real handful for the Norwich defence after Torres being hot and cold yet again.

Edited January 21, 201214 yr by Nonro

Out of it? I don't think we've ever been in it.

Bar the Man City result it has just been one disappointing result after another and with the current short-comings in our squad, that pattern is not going to just suddenly improve.

Edited January 21, 201214 yr by Nibs

The fact that I would take 4th right now, and bite you hand off for that matter shows how little I am worrying about trying to catch the leaders!! I am not negative for the sake of it be we are not going to win the league this year, the best we can realistically expect is 3rd in my opinion but 4th is more likely and that will be an achievement itself as far as I'm concerned...

I dont understand

We had 3 hard fixtures in a row in the past : Valencia , Newcastle and City , and we got 9 points from which people expected us to get 0 from

and we have like easy fixtures right now atm , and we're struggling to get anywhere near the amount of points we should be securing

Oh the unpredictability , the betting must be going crazy.

I think we've been out of it for a while. 3rd or 4th is our target now.

We're well out of it,I am just praying for champions league qualification and buying some new, committed,and hungry players.

Yes and we've been out of it for a long time now. The teams in front is dropping points, but we're not stable enough to close the gap.

I won't say we're dead until it's mathematically impossible. But it's a longshot at best. Finishing top 4 and getting a deep as we can in the FA Cup and CL are the realistic goals.

And on that note, if United punk Arsenal again tomorrow, we actually EXPANDED our lead over our closest competition for 4th, despite the disappointing result for us. Not the end of the world.

Yes. I cannot see Spurs, Man utd and Man city all dropping enough points for us to win it, which would be a lot since we have been dropping quite a few ourselves.

Top 4 is what we must achieve, else next year will be even tougher without the extra money and the lure of CL football. Honestly, if we fail to get into the top 4, I can see someone like Real Madrid coming in and pinching Mata and we'd probably struggle to keep a few others. I'd love to say they would stay regardless because they want to play for the club, but we have to be realistic, that's just not the way a lot of players will be thinking.

realistically i think we have been out of the title race for a while, however that doesn't mean that this season can't still be a success. We tie up a CL spot whilst bringing youth into the team and changing our philosophy to suit AVB's long term master plan, maybe throw in a good CL run/ fa cup run then whilst it wont be a season we look back on in 20 years it will be a season that has served a purpose and put us in good stead for the future.

Yes. We're playing for 4th unless Spurs fall apart.

It's never over. We were 5 points worse off last season but game within a win at OT of pinching it again.

Never throw the towel in lads.

Never throw the towel in lads.

Exactly. Last year we were further behind and nearly took first place in May.

But as far as expectation, we shouldnt be expecting anything spectacular at this point. We would need to get much better. And everyone around us would need to fall apart. I don't think both those things are going to happen.

I never thought we'd win it to begin with...had a brief run of form after utd i think which made me think we might challenge, but what's happened over last few months hasn't surprised me...the only thing that has is just how mediocre we have become and the fact neither the manager or players say the words that refllect this...they just come across as deluded when they keep saying they're still in it particulary when they show little sign of that hunger/desire in the matches themselves

Edited January 22, 201214 yr by The Brit

Exactly. Last year we were further behind and nearly took first place in May.

there is a big difference...the teams at the top are better this year than last...utd were very poor last season and just were less sh*t than everyone else...they are better this year, although not outstanding and city have a great squad...even the north london outfit are better

Is the Pope a catholic?

As someone kind of said earlier, it's likely we were never in it. For me we've gone from pushing City to scraping with Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and maybe even Newcastle for 3rd and 4th spots.

espn classic currently showing our battle for fourth decider against liverscum in 2003...I fear we may have a similar end of season nail biter in May...our last game is at home to blackburn...a week before that though is liverscum away!!

espn classic currently showing our battle for fourth decider against liverscum in 2003...I fear we may have a similar end of season nail biter in May...our last game is at home to blackburn...a week before that though is liverscum away!!

Magic moments!

What about desailly's header..!

I know we've got fans here from ALL over, but Jesus I'm glad some of you weren't around during the blitz. This unconditionally defeatist attitude is really ridiculous. I'm not saying die until we're out of it.

Same as every year, until its mathematically impossible for us to win it then I will continue to believe.