Ongoing Thoughts

well... having royally fucked up against burnley... this weekend brings on the next round of "how fupping piss poor are we?"

the next two games will be critical (aren't they all these days) so let's see how things should... and/or might go:


Here's the relegation candidates: (my money's on three out of these five to go down)

West Ham
Watford
Bournemouth
Aston Villa
Norwich

How do the next two games look?

West Ham -- away to Norwich then home to Watford.

If that doesn't bring us 6 points then we should seriously consider shutting up shop and going delivering vegetables for a living - you know... like M*yes does.

Watford -- home to Newcastle then away to West Ham

That should being in zero or the famous Eurovision 'nil point' (you do the accent). But they might well sneak a draw at home to the Toon, who aren't as good as they think they are.

Bournemouth -- home to Leicester then away at Man City

If that doesn't guarantee zero points then no one knows anything about footie - but having said that... the Cherries were incredibly unlucky to not have gotten all three points against Spuds... so I can see them getting a draw against Leicester... 1 point from 4.

Aston Villa -- home to Palace and away at Everton

Those games would look like as easy a run as you could get... but villa are dire and can't win against anyone apparently, so no one will be surprised to see them get nothing from these two.

Norwich -- home to West Ham then away at Chelsea

No one would be surprised to see them turn us over like a Delia Smith flapjack... but chelsea's current form should prevent them achieving 6 points.. and they're already down so whatever they pick up is pretty much irrelevant.

So... that leaves the table looking like:

Today:	Two Games From Now:
West Ham -- 31pts Watford -- 31pts Bournemouth -- 28pts Aston Villa -- 27pts Norwich -- 21pts	West Ham -- 34pts Watford -- 32pts Bournemouth -- 29pts Aston Villa -- 27pts Norwich -- 24pts

so we'd all be exactly where we are now...

I mean... all we have to do is match the results of the teams below us and nothing changes... could it be any easier for us????

If we can get all 3 points on Saturday against Norwich then with 3 games remaining that should hopefully see us over the line when you look at Watford`s,Bournemoth`s and Villa`s fixtures that they all have left.

I just hope it does`t go down to the final day as I fear we`d buckle under the pressure but to be honest as gutting as relegation would be it`d probaley be the best thing for the club in the short term.

Saturday 20:21 hours GMT.

Very happy.

Very happy with that result. But we mustn't let it go to our heads. It was, afterall, a very poor Norwich. A Norwich that has been relegated and has looked like relegation fodder all season, (except for the win against Citeh).

Watford will be a totally different kettle of fish. Much more physical, much harder to breakdown, fall over in the box easier. A Nigel Pearson team, hard to beat when in the mood. 

We'll need a totally different approach to this game. In my opinion, it's not a game for Noble to start. I'd also give Cresswell a rest, he's too slow and will get skinned every time. Fornals, bless him, what to do about Fornals. Again, in my opinion, hasn't yet quite switched on to the pace and intensity of the Premier League. He still thinks he has time to think about what to do when he gets there, he hasn't. So, not a game for Fornals either. 

I would play:-

Fabianski

Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Johnson

Wilshere, Rice, Soucek

Bowen, Haller, Antonio.

Not a fantastic start to today's proceedings.

sets up and intriguing run-in.... which is exactly what we didn't want because we have no mettle, no stamina, no determination, no fighting spirit.

in the time it took me to write that... Bournemouth went form being a goal down to Leicester to leading 2-1... should we really have gotten rid of Stanislas?

our final three we now play Villa and Bournemouth who are like... 4 and 3 points behind us... and both pulled off spectacular (so long as Bournemouth don't fupp things up) victories against opposition they should have lost to...

so we'll need to make sure we're on our game for both of these or we're in trouble...

our goal difference will be a big help - we're up 11 and 12 on them... so it'll be points that count...


if only we had a manager that inspired faith - or a performance from the players...

Bournemouth's run-in of Man City, Soton and Everton is suddenly looking like 6 or even 7 points... which means we need a big result on friday to make sure that whatever happens, we finish above Watford.

It's all still in our own hands... if we beat Watford and Villa then we're good - if we don't... the time of the bum gets noticeably more squeaky...

Sunday 12th thought.

Not a good day for West Ham.

If we beat Watford then I do think we`re be Safe even we don`t beat United after. I can`t see Villa being a must win game to be honest I think it`ll be sorted before that game personally.

Arran wrote:If we beat Watford then I do think we`re be Safe even we don`t beat United after. I can`t see Villa being a must win game to be honest I think it`ll be sorted before that game personally.

Arran, this is in our own teams hands to win both home games and pull themselves out of the fire.
I hope they do for the fans sake but I'm too old now and have been here before.

Personally I think we`re more likely to win against United then we are against Watford as that`s West Ham all over...Wednesday and Thursday are going to be Important with regards to Bournemouth and Villa`s results before we play Watford Friday night.

Basically all we did was strike another matchday off the calendar.

Thursday 16th thought.

After the Villa draw 3 pts against Watford tomorrow should see us safe.

Been here before.

We are safe.

And Millwall stays down.

Charlie Ham wrote:We are safe.

Not yet we're not. Another point and we're safe. 

While there is still a mathematical possibility of us going down, I'll continue to worry. This is West Ham afterall.

Bournemouth are now out of the conversation.

Arse showing up at all on Tuesday seals it.

Cochese wrote:Bournemouth are now out of the conversation.

Arse showing up at all on Tuesday seals it.

all it will take is Villa and Utd to beat us by a combined +15 goals and Villa to win both of their final two games...

all we need now is M*yes to be sacked like Pearson at Watford and it'll be job done... seems so bizarre to sack Pearson with there still being a fairly decent chance Watford will stay up... although who even knows if he's been sacked? Social media is playing it as a done deal but the BBC article frames it with the words 'set to be'... is reality so hard to figure out these days?

Looks like Arsenal will decide the relegation spots this week as they play both Villa and Watford...

Bournemouth have only one game to save themselves, which makes them less than favorable especially since it's against Everton... but Watford's games are Arsenal and Man City, so it's hard to see them picking up any points if they play like they did against us... but then they did turn over Liverpool 3-0... so it'll be exciting whatever happens.

Watford can still go down. If they lose their last 2 games and.........

Bournemouth win their last fixture and they have a better Goal Difference, (they are only 4 behind Watford).

Villa get 4 points or match Bournemouth and win one & over turn the Goal Difference, (again, they're only 4 behind Watford). 

All Watford have to do is get a point and they're safe. No easy task for them. They don't usually do well without Deeney and his knee is pretty much fucked.

Blakey wrote:Watford can still go down. If they lose their last 2 games and.........

Bournemouth win their last fixture and they have a better Goal Difference, (they are only 4 behind Watford).

Villa get 4 points or match Bournemouth and win one & over turn the Goal Difference, (again, they're only 4 behind Watford). 

All Watford have to do is get a point and they're safe. No easy task for them. They don't usually do well without Deeney and his knee is pretty much fucked.

Serves him right, just because I can't stand him 

If Villa draw or lose tonight then we are automaticaly Safe for another Season at least .
It`d be nice to go in to the final two games with freedom knowing that we won`t be going down regardless of the results and then Moyes might give a run out to players that haven`t played much such as Ajeti,Cardosa etc.

Arran wrote:If Villa draw or lose tonight then we are automaticaly Safe for another Season at least .
It`d be nice to go in to the final two games with freedom knowing that we won`t be going down regardless of the results and then Moyes might give a run out to players that haven`t played much such as Ajeti,Cardosa etc.

I don't know if you noticed but the reason Ajeti hasn't had a run out is because he's shit.

How epic would an Arse goal in the 95th minute to square it up be?

Blakey wrote:

Arran wrote:If Villa draw or lose tonight then we are automaticaly Safe for another Season at least .
It`d be nice to go in to the final two games with freedom knowing that we won`t be going down regardless of the results and then Moyes might give a run out to players that haven`t played much such as Ajeti,Cardosa etc.

I don't know if you noticed but the reason Ajeti hasn't had a run out is because he's shit.

I do and I don`t agree with you on that Point.
I don`t think he`s really been given a fair crack at cementing his place in the team certainly not under Moyes but at the same time he hasn`t really shown much promise when he has played although he`s young and moved to a complety different country and league where the football styles are different but I don`t think he`ll be at West Ham next season.

Things are going to be interesting on Sunday no matter what.

Cochese wrote:How epic would an Arse goal in the 95th minute to square it up be?

I'll take it earlier, though. Like right now.