This week will determine if Europe is a possibility for us.

[Lanolin]

Honestly i don't think anyone is capable of putting a substantial run of wins together apart from City, im looking at who we can catch rather then who can catch us. Leicester lost 2 of their biggest players yesterday and have a habit of running out of steam, Utd play City at the weekend and if all went to plan we could be within 2-3 points of them after the weekend.

It's not that I don't think we can catch those teams, but I agree with Mike that we need to just get a buffer from the teams below us and put ourselves in pole position for the top 7 and then look at what we can do from there. It would be really disappointing to end up 9th after all the promise of this season, but it's still very much a possibility looking at the table. 2 wins this week would make me pretty confident of holding teams off, and at that point i'd start looking at who we can catch. Top 4 would be a massive bonus this season, one I doubt the club had really considered. Finishing outside Europe would be a let down though, so it's pretty fine margins. I agree that this is a massive week; I think anything less than 6 points would be pretty disappointing, anything less than 4 and I'd think we're seriously faltering.

 

[JMT]

I don't know anymore, that Fulham result knocked the stuffing out of me.

 

[Jim Hopper]

As long as we give it a good go and don’t roll over at home to lesser teams then I don’t see why we can’t give these last few games a proper push for CL.

I won’t be too fussed if we miss out on it, although I do think this is probably the best chance we will have for a while.

I do believe in time Carlo will build us up to get there. We are still a work in progress. Us getting there this season will cut at least 2/3 years of the project I believe. We need to just be patient though and not over expectant.

 

[Zatara]

I think we need 8 wins from 14 games.

The faster we get to that, the faster things become interesting...

 

[JLW]

It's not that I don't think we can catch those teams, but I agree with Mike that we need to just get a buffer from the teams below us and put ourselves in pole position for the top 7 and then look at what we can do from there. It would be really disappointing to end up 9th after all the promise of this season, but it's still very much a possibility looking at the table. 2 wins this week would make me pretty confident of holding teams off, and at that point i'd start looking at who we can catch. Top 4 would be a massive bonus this season, one I doubt the club had really considered. Finishing outside Europe would be a let down though, so it's pretty fine margins. I agree that this is a massive week; I think anything less than 6 points would be pretty disappointing, anything less than 4 and I'd think we're seriously faltering.

I believe we will get Europe but i also believe there is still 3 CL places to go for not just 4th place. In 2 weeks time or even 7 days the table could look a whole lot rosier for us.
Believe........

 

[Lanolin]

I believe we will get Europe but i also believe there is still 3 CL places to go for not just 4th place. In 2 weeks time or even 7 days the table could look a whole lot rosier for us.
Believe........

Yeah as I say, 6 points this week and there's a very good chance we'll be sat 4th with 12 games to go. At that point you have to seriously start thinking we can push on from there. 1 point and suddenly we look pretty ripe for the taking by Arsenal, Villa etc. That's why I agree that this is a massive week.

 

[JMT]

The problem for me is against lesser teams, I think Ancelotti tries to be too cute sometimes with the tactics/formation, I think a simple 433 (how it was at the start of the season) or 442 is enough, we're too passive and show way too much respect at times. It's not gonna work against all of them and results like Fulham and Newcastle x2 are bound to happen but we focus too much on the opposition than our own game against weaker sides.

 

[Jebus_lives]

I think we need 8 wins from 14 games.

The faster we get to that, the faster things become interesting...

We'll lose tonight, draw with West Brom.. All hope will be lost, then we'll beat Chelsea to convince ourselves we're 'just a few easy wins from the top 4'

 

[messymascot]

For what its worth I think we will need 72 points for 2nd, 67 for 4th and 60 for 7th which as long as City clean up should be the last Europa place. Would love to get the Villa game caught up. I think we need 9 from our next 4 scheduled games to be in with a chance of 2nd. 7 will leave us in the hunt for top 4. Any less than 4 and even Europa looks tricky.

 

[Bilko]

15 mins in , we're going to know. mentality is the key tonight, Blues have blown so many chances at home this season.
Let's be honest , none of us celebrated until the final whistle last week because we know this side is capable of anything.
Strong squad available,at home, week after a derby win , playing an out of form team. Set up for us isnt it.....

 

[alphabet]

Expecting the best, preparing for the worst.

 

[Paul Rideout]

Just win tonight. Worry about the next game tomorrow.

 

[Barnfred 55]

Two crunch games this week against opponents on paper that we should win. But, for some reason these type of games have been our achilles heel.

How refreshing this season to see us compete and win against the so called big six and even ending the hoodoo of actually winning at Anfield.

Home game against a Southampton team devoid of form and with our superb away form against a relegated looking team of West Brom should surely be 6 points in the bag???????

At certain points this season the hope has started to build to only be let down by poor displays ( Fulham and Newcastle spring to mind )

Win these games and Europe will be looking likely.

4 points would'nt be the end of the world but anything less will be detrimental to our European hopes.

Its make or break this week.

I think that's a fair point to be honest. As mad as it sounds, these games against teams we see as lesser opposition, especially at home, have undoubtedly been our achilles heel this season. It sounds daft but as the season has progressed I have become more confident going into games against the top 7/8.

A loss, or even a draw in either of the two games this week, will keep the mantra of our inconsistency going. 6 points however, leading into the Chelsea game, will go a long way to getting rid of the monkey off our back and instill an extra confidence in the players.

I wouldn't necessarily completely write off our European chances if things don't go as well as we hope this week, other teams inconsistencies will see to that. But I agree that a good week will certainly put us right in the mix for the European spots. It is a very important week for us.

 

[ChesterBlue]

I can’t lie, I’ll be fuming if we play like crap against Soton and Brom after how good that performance was against the RS. Given ourselves a big opportunity here and it’d be nice if for once we could perform with a bit of pressure on us

 

[Jim Hopper]

I think that's a fair point to be honest. As mad as it sounds, these games against teams we see as lesser opposition, especially at home, have undoubtedly been our achilles heel this season. It sounds daft but as the season has progressed I have become more confident going into games against the top 7/8.

A loss, or even a draw in either of the two games this week, will keep the mantra of our inconsistency going. 6 points however, leading into the Chelsea game, will go a long way to getting rid of the monkey off our back and instill an extra confidence in the players.

I wouldn't necessarily completely write off our European chances if things don't go as well as we hope this week, other teams inconsistencies will see to that. But I agree that a good week will certainly put us right in the mix for the European spots. It is a very important week for us.

Good point about the inconsistencies of other clubs. Truth be told without them we’d have fallen miles behind after the defeats to West Ham, Newcastle, Leeds & Fulham. Here’s hoping the trend for other clubs continues and we can iron out ours.