Newcastle 2 Everton 1 (Rodwell)

4 pints of Guinness at the Saracens Head in Scarisbrick, didn't dent the pain.

Yankthattoffee wrote:4 pints of Guinness at the Saracens Head in Scarisbrick, didn't dent the pain.

Ah, thanks. You had one for me , muchas gracias. Spent all day reffing rugby sevens in the sun. Burnt to a crisp and hungry & thirsty as ferk. Might go and buy some cans of Gwinish before the offie closes....

mindyerho? wrote:

Yankthattoffee wrote:4 pints of Guinness at the Saracens Head in Scarisbrick, didn't dent the pain.

Ah, thanks. You had one for me , muchas gracias. Spent all day reffing rugby sevens in the sun. Burnt to a crisp and hungry & thirsty as ferk. Might go and buy some cans of Gwinish before the offie closes....

My heart bleeds

Tonteau wrote:Also,when Moyes threw his arms in the air after McFadden crossed out of play, I shouted "That's your fucking fault that is." at the telly.

Seriously, wish we'd brought on Vellios. At least he can score a fucking goal.

Vellios hurt himself before the game and was not available.

Final dig from my next door neighbour (Barcode fan). "Gosling repaid his transfer fee, eh?" [murderous thoughts]

Knight of Thorgothshire wrote:

Tonteau wrote:Also,when Moyes threw his arms in the air after McFadden crossed out of play, I shouted "That's your fucking fault that is." at the telly.

Seriously, wish we'd brought on Vellios. At least he can score a fucking goal.

Vellios hurt himself before the game and was not available.

Yeah, think paul said so. Doesn't bode well for straq that faddy's geting on ahead of him when we need a goal.

Knight of Thorgothshire wrote:10 games played, 10 points. And we were very fortunate to beat Blackburn away as well as Fulham away. Wigan at home has been the only derserved three points this season. Utter shite.

Alternatively - we have lost to the best three teams in the Premiership plus the RS (after having a player wrongly sent off) and a team, playing at home, who have had, for them, and unbelievable start and are riding on the crest of a wave.

Apart from that we have taken 10 points from 5 games against the crap teams.

I would be more concerned if we are only averaging a goal a game by Christmas.

Statman wrote:

Knight of Thorgothshire wrote:10 games played, 10 points. And we were very fortunate to beat Blackburn away as well as Fulham away. Wigan at home has been the only derserved three points this season. Utter shite.

Alternatively - we have lost to the best three teams in the Premiership plus the RS (after having a player wrongly sent off) and a team, playing at home, who have had, for them, and unbelievable start and are riding on the crest of a wave.

Apart from that we have taken 10 points from 5 games against the crap teams.

I would be more concerned if we are only averaging a goal a game by Christmas.

Should have beaten Aston Villa and got something yesterday. We need to tighten up at the back, though. We've conceded more sloppy (preventable) goals than I can remember for a long time.

Tonteau wrote:

Statman wrote:

Knight of Thorgothshire wrote:10 games played, 10 points. And we were very fortunate to beat Blackburn away as well as Fulham away. Wigan at home has been the only derserved three points this season. Utter shite.

Alternatively - we have lost to the best three teams in the Premiership plus the RS (after having a player wrongly sent off) and a team, playing at home, who have had, for them, and unbelievable start and are riding on the crest of a wave.

Apart from that we have taken 10 points from 5 games against the crap teams.

I would be more concerned if we are only averaging a goal a game by Christmas.

Should have beaten Aston Villa and got something yesterday. We need to tighten up at the back, though. We've conceded more sloppy (preventable) goals than I can remember for a long time.

True, yet I feel the defence is our best unit. It seems like some of the goals are down to the midfield not doing their job. Like Drenthe, and maybe less so Pip, for the Taylor goal where Drenthe didn't even attempt to close Taylor down and he in essence ended up having a free pop at goal - which he scored on.

Makes you wonder what Moyes is thinking of Straq - he's yet to feature in a league game.

Been having a think about this and looking at the table. Newcastle are 15 points ahead of us and have played one game more. However, they've not played United, City, Chelsea or Liverpool (I know, they're shite). So essentially, they've been stuffing the average to shite teams and getting the odd lucky results against the likes of Wolves, Wigan and possibly us. They've got some good players but this isn't a magic formula up there. They've played the same back 4 for all their games and their midfield has been pretty consistent, too. This helps. They've two strong, fit strikers who work hard and cause problems but they're not exactly barcelona.

Basically, if we can sort out our silly mistakes and take a goalscoring chance every now and then we have the definite possibility of finishing above them. Forget taking points of the big teams, it's beating the also-rans which is what we've really struggled with the past few seasons. Get that right and we'll do alright. There's many more average teams then there are top ones.

Tonteau wrote:Been having a think about this and looking at the table. Newcastle are 15 points ahead of us and have played one game more. However, they've not played United, City, Chelsea or Liverpool (I know, they're shite). So essentially, they've been stuffing the average to shite teams and getting the odd lucky results against the likes of Wolves, Wigan and possibly us. They've got some good players but this isn't a magic formula up there. They've played the same back 4 for all their games and their midfield has been pretty consistent, too. This helps. They've two strong, fit strikers who work hard and cause problems but they're not exactly barcelona.

Basically, if we can sort out our silly mistakes and take a goalscoring chance every now and then we have the definite possibility of finishing above them. Forget taking points of the big teams, it's beating the also-rans which is what we've really struggled with the past few seasons. Get that right and we'll do alright. There's many more average teams then there are top ones.

Absolutely. The difference between the Top 6 and the rest is absolutely massive. The difference between the teams from 7 downwards is minute. We've done well in recent seasons by having a decent squad, a smart manager, and a very good work ethic from every player. Newcastle could do the same this year, but then again so could we. That's also why I'm slightly doubtful about Drenthe. The difference between us and the rest in recent years might have simply been that even our weakest links always tackled and tracked back conscientiously. Drenthe could end up losing us more points than he gains us, and that could mean finishing 12th rather than 7th.

But, overall, take out the money clubs and this is an incredibly open league.

hairy cataract wrote:

Tonteau wrote:Been having a think about this and looking at the table. Newcastle are 15 points ahead of us and have played one game more. However, they've not played United, City, Chelsea or Liverpool (I know, they're shite). So essentially, they've been stuffing the average to shite teams and getting the odd lucky results against the likes of Wolves, Wigan and possibly us. They've got some good players but this isn't a magic formula up there. They've played the same back 4 for all their games and their midfield has been pretty consistent, too. This helps. They've two strong, fit strikers who work hard and cause problems but they're not exactly barcelona.

Basically, if we can sort out our silly mistakes and take a goalscoring chance every now and then we have the definite possibility of finishing above them. Forget taking points of the big teams, it's beating the also-rans which is what we've really struggled with the past few seasons. Get that right and we'll do alright. There's many more average teams then there are top ones.

Absolutely. The difference between the Top 6 and the rest is absolutely massive. The difference between the teams from 7 downwards is minute. We've done well in recent seasons by having a decent squad, a smart manager, and a very good work ethic from every player. Newcastle could do the same this year, but then again so could we. That's also why I'm slightly doubtful about Drenthe. The difference between us and the rest in recent years might have simply been that even our weakest links always tackled and tracked back conscientiously. Drenthe could end up losing us more points than he gains us, and that could mean finishing 12th rather than 7th.
But, overall, take out the money clubs and this is an incredibly open league.

I know what you mean, the lack of pressure on Taylor for that goal was worrying. But when the other option is Billy, I don't think we have much of a choice. Drenthe has two goals and three or four assists this season. Maybe we have to be smart about how we use him, but he's certainly effective. The tracking back thing is surely just a matter of application and can be worked on.