Fully expecting United to beat West Ham now to cap off a horrific weekend. 

Thanks lads. Just have Arsenal and Newcastle next. No big deal. 

Reiss Nelson making his league appearance  for Arsenal has scored 2 goals & had 1 assist in 30 mins simply because Arteta isn’t complicating football for Arsenal.

16 hours ago, charierre said:

Newcastle are on a good run at present but will fall off. They basically have made one good signing of quality in Guarmires. City ,Gooners and ManU will possibly occupy top 3. 

Fall off ?

You do realise that they were 2nd in the league, if you take the last half (19 games) of last season ?

And now they've backed it up by rising quickly to 3rd, with nearly a third of this season gone ? This is no fluke sequence of results ... 

 

Unless Potter can do something we haven't seen so far, we are probably in a race for 4th against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool, rather than competing with Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle for Top 3.

10 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Fall off ?

You do realise that they were 2nd in the league, if you take the last half (19 games) of last season ?

And now they've backed it up by rising quickly to 3rd, with nearly a third of this season gone ? This is no fluke sequence of results ... 

 

Unless Potter can do something we haven't seen so far, we are probably in a race for 4th against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool, rather than competing with Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle for Top 3.

We will see, I honest don’t see them as a top four squad at present in comparison to the other squads.

18 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Fall off ?

You do realise that they were 2nd in the league, if you take the last half (19 games) of last season ?

And now they've backed it up by rising quickly to 3rd, with nearly a third of this season gone ? This is no fluke sequence of results ... 

 

Unless Potter can do something we haven't seen so far, we are probably in a race for 4th against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool, rather than competing with Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle for Top 3.

Unless we bring in massive reinforcements in January, it is looking likely we will be battling United, Liverpool, and Spurs for 4th. 

And I don't fancy our chances. 

16 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Unless Potter can do something we haven't seen so far, we are probably in a race for 4th against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool, rather than competing with Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle for Top 3.

Are we really in a top 4 race though? I'd say it's highly debatable given the performances so far. Sure we did okay in the CL matches but I don't see us progressing beyond R16 and our performances in the PL have been neither encouraging nor do I see any siginificant week-on-week improvement. I'd be happy to finish in the top 6 at the moment.

Not saying Potter is a bad coach by any means but it's quite clear that he's going to need time and maybe a couple more windows to get the right players in.

10 minutes ago, charierre said:

We will see, I honest don’t see them as a top four squad at present in comparison to the other squads.

I'm inclined to agree. They certainly don't have the depth of squad that others do. That said I am very impressed in how Howe has transformed them and got them playing the football they have been. When the money came, everyone was predicting a big name manager with lots of big name signings, yet Howe has quietly gone about his business and turned Newcastle into a very decent side. Looks like he did the right thing in taking time out and re-charging his batteries - also has to be one of the nicest blokes in football. So I would rather see them finish top 4 than Spurs, Liverpool, Man Utd or Arsenal, although right now they all look capable of finishing above us.

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by Nibs

Are we going to overhaul City? No. Can qe claw back 16 points on Arsenal? Yes there is enough games. Will we? Not a chance imo.

So if Arsenal do achieve that, it leaves 34d and 4th to play for but a potential gap of 9 points to Newcastle and 10 to Spurs....

5 minutes ago, Girish said:

Are we really in a top 4 race though? I'd say it's highly debatable given the performances so far. Sure we did okay in the CL matches but I don't see us progressing beyond R16 and our performances in the PL have been neither encouraging nor do I see any siginificant week-on-week improvement. I'd be happy to finish in the top 6 at the moment.

Not saying Potter is a bad coach by any means but it's quite clear that he's going to need time and maybe a couple more windows to get the right players in.

Potter genuinely has over a month of free time to analyse the team and players. 

I still stand by saying not getting Top 4 is a catastrophic failure. 

5 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I'm inclined to agree. They certainly don't have the depth of squad that others do. That said I am very impressed in how Howe has transformed them and got them playing the football they have been. When the money came, everyone was predicting a big name manager with lots of big name signings, yet Howe has quietly gone about his business and turned Newcastle into a very decent side. Looks like he did the right thing in taking time out and re-charging his batteries - also has to be one of the nicest blokes in football. So I would rather see them finish top 4 than Spurs, Liverpool, Man Utd or Arsenal, although right now they all look capable of finishing above us.

Howe has undoubtedly done a marvellous job in taking them up the table without spending on big names. I agree I’d sooner see them above the other ‘big’clubs. They’ve always had a good fan base and probably one of my favourite grounds I’ve visited being in the city centre, which also is a great night out.

 

 

10 minutes ago, Girish said:

Are we really in a top 4 race though? I'd say it's highly debatable given the performances so far. Sure we did okay in the CL matches but I don't see us progressing beyond R16 and our performances in the PL have been neither encouraging nor do I see any siginificant week-on-week improvement. I'd be happy to finish in the top 6 at the moment.

Not saying Potter is a bad coach by any means but it's quite clear that he's going to need time and maybe a couple more windows to get the right players in.

Disagree. We may be too flawed to challenge for the league but we have more than enough in the squad for top 4.

If we finish 5th or 6th then he should be reviewed (in other words another chance with it clear top 4 is minimum requirement without exception next time if the performances are largely encouraging but gone if not), 7th or below then he should go.

Just now, charierre said:

Howe has undoubtedly done a marvellous job in taking them up the table without spending on big names. I agree I’d sooner see them above the other ‘big’clubs. They’ve always had a good fan base and probably one of my favourite grounds I’ve visited being in the city centre, which also is a great night out.

 

 

Amazing that around this time last year people were genuinely claiming Bruce was harshly sacked.

What a disaster yesterday, couldn't even enjoy Liverpool's loss and even Spurs had to ruin a bit of laughter in the end

1 hour ago, azpi28 said:

Saka gone off injured

Saka always comes off injured and then recovers in time for the next match.

Unless there’s something about it tomorrow about it I wouldn’t take it seriously.

 

22 minutes ago, Girish said:

Are we really in a top 4 race though?

Not a chance.

We have loads of tough games yet.

Also if Potter needs time (understandable) then having the WC smack bang in the middle of the season will do him no favours at all.

I would not be surprised if we have a proper slump in the winter. 

Without Silva we would be mid table today.

13 minutes ago, Argo said:

Disagree. We may be too flawed to challenge for the league but we have more than enough in the squad for top 4.

If we finish 5th or 6th then he should be reviewed (in other words another chance with it clear top 4 is minimum requirement without exception next time if the performances are largely encouraging but gone if not), 7th or below then he should go.

This. Obviously context will need to be in play, but failure to finish top 4 is a failure. 

Potter has over a month to analyze the team and players. Not to mention the very high likelihood he will be backed in January. 

4 minutes ago, coco said:

Not a chance.

We have loads of tough games yet.

Also if Potter needs time (understandable) then having the WC smack bang in the middle of the season will do him no favours at all.

I would not be surprised if we have a proper slump in the winter. 

Without Silva we would be mid table today.

I really do hope the deals for Gvardiol and Nkunku are already done and dusted. If they're not, then there is no chance they join us if we don't finish 4th.

19 minutes ago, Argo said:

Disagree. We may be too flawed to challenge for the league but we have more than enough in the squad for top 4.

If we finish 5th or 6th then he should be reviewed (in other words another chance with it clear top 4 is minimum requirement without exception next time if the performances are largely encouraging but gone if not), 7th or below then he should go.

 

Disagree.

We can't just go on finishing position. We could have a stinker from now to Feb with tough fixtures,injuries, bad form, etc and dip down to 10th-12-14th place, but then start to pick it up as Potter gets to grips and we go on a mad run and finish 8th, but you would sack him.

2 minutes ago, coco said:

 

Disagree.

We can't just go on finishing position. We could have a stinker from now to Feb with tough fixtures,injuries, bad form, etc and dip down to 10th-12-14th place, but then start to pick it up as Potter gets to grips and we go on a mad run and finish 8th, but you would sack him.

Given our depth compared to Arsenal, Spurs, and United. Potter not being able to implement some consistency whereas the likes of Arteta, ten Hag, and Conte can with their inferiior squads, isn't a promising look. 

11 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I really do hope the deals for Gvardiol and Nkunku are already done and dusted. If they're not, then there is no chance they join us if we don't finish 4th.

With a few exceptions I don't think that's the deal breaker it's made out.

Without UCL we convinced Kante, Luiz, Kova and Jorginho to come (from UCL clubs), Conte to manage us (Mou's return from Real was also settled with UCL football far from secure). If we look elsewhere there's examples of Suarez, Casemiro, Di Maria, Falcao, Auba, Ronaldinho (both at Barca and Milan), Pogba, Ibra, Ribery. 

It becomes a problem if you do it consistently but as a one off I feel most players will give the benefit of the doubt.

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by Argo

Just now, Sconnie Blue said:

Given our depth compared to Arsenal, Spurs, and United. Potter not being able to implement some consistency whereas the likes of Arteta, ten Hag, and Conte can with their inferiior squads, isn't a promising look. 

But that's just where we maybe going wrong, thinking other teams players are inferior to ours, lets not forget this sport is a team game, its the best teams that do well, we could have better players without having a better team.

13 minutes ago, Argo said:

With a few exceptions I don't think that's the deal breaker it's made out.

Without UCL we convinced Kante, Luiz, Kova and Jorginho to come (from UCL clubs), Conte to manage us (Mou's return from Real was also settled with UCL football far from secure). If we look elsewhere there's examples of Suarez, Casemiro, Di Maria, Falcao, Auba, Ronaldinho (both at Barca and Milan), Pogba, Ibra, Ribery. 

It becomes a problem if you do it consistently but as a one off I feel most players will give the benefit of the doubt.

It's not a deal breaker, but I think it would depend on who else would be interested in them. If City show any interest in Gvardiol, I am certain he will go there over us. Nkunku just looks better and better the more he plays, he has potential to be one of the best players in the world over the next few years.

Arsenal and Pool have swapped roles this season. As we and United. Though I think we finish lower than they did last season.

48 minutes ago, coco said:

But that's just where we maybe going wrong, thinking other teams players are inferior to ours, lets not forget this sport is a team game, its the best teams that do well, we could have better players without having a better team.

I don't even think we have better players than our rivals. Other than James, Silva, and a couple of our defenders there really isn't anyone on our team I'm confident will start on other teams given their current form. 

People are forgetting the world cup. It actually could turn out a god send for us. When teams/players return, we could see a change in fortune. Kante, James, Fofana will return by then. Then there will only be a 2-3 weeks until the winter window opens and we can try to reinforce. 

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by enigma