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I was confident of winning the league up until yesterday where my confidence has been shaken after that painful loss to Chelsea. Last year we lost 6 all season and finished 2nd, the season before we won it on goal difference after losing only 5. I know there is still a long way to go but how many games can we lose to still have a chance of winning it? My thoughts are 6. That won't leave us much margin for error considering theres 29 games left and we have already lost 3 of 9. If we put a winning run together and not lose again this calendar year then we will win it. That is a big if though.

We cant afford many more that's for sure.

1 Arsenal 9 11 22
2 Chelsea 9 10 20
3 Liverpool 9 9 20
4 Tottenham 9 4 19
5 Southampton 9 7 18
6 Everton 9 4 18
7 Man City 9 10 16

We've had and continue to have a tough run of games all away from home with lots of travelling and all that Jazz if we can beat the geordies in the cup and get a win on Saturday at home (yes we do have a home ground,directions for people are available)then it wont have been the worst run ever.
November offers us a fair bit of home comforts but December is stacking up to be another bitch and i feel that will be the make or break time with us playing both Arsenal and Liverpool and some tricky away games we cant afford to lose either of those games and we need points away.

In fairness Chelsea an united are marginally either side of us t the moment so it's not like a big lead has been built. Liverpool and arsenal have created a bit of a gap, but to expect them to end up with a point total similar to what it has taken to win the league the last two seasons is silly,

Also one thing in our favour is the count hopefully won't play for too many draws, which is really what killed us last season.

We need to not lose for the rest of this year. And win the big games like Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool.

We will piss it.

In a strange way, this season is reminding me a little of the 1967/68 title winning campaign.

I know it seems as though I'm recalling something from the ancient past (which I am) but, in that now long ago season, we played some terrific attacking football and had some fine wins which were regularly punctuated by some frustrating defeats. In those days we didn't have the tightest of defences, partly as a result of our progressive style, but I can't recall us making as many out and out mistakes costing us points, as at the moment.

Under our current manager, I don't think we'll ever have the meanest of defensive records but if we can cut out some of the basic, schoolboy type errors that we're making, the potency of our attacking play must give us a chance.

If we're not too far adrift by Christmas and we can, possibly, strengthen in January, it's not beyond our capabilities to go on a run and finish the season strongly so, on that basis, there's still everything to play for. We just need to stop throwing points away by the type of gifts we are giving the opposition at the moment.

I think we can.

Even though we have lost 3 games, it is not because we have been collectively shit.In fact in those games we have played very well as a team. Our away performances have been much better, and there is reason for much optimism.

The 3 defeats have come about only from diabolical goal keeping. We need to drop the goal keeper. I don't care he is England's number 1,he isn't our number 1 and he is costing us big time.

Take out Harts errors and we would be sitting pretty at the top off the League.

that is exactly what we need to do. We rectify the situation by stop hemorrhaging points from goal keeping errors. It wont be a popular decision, but the right thing to do is often the hardest.

We give Pantimillion and extended run in the team between now and January and then review the situation, we then decide do we persevere with Pantimillion because those errors have been eradicated and he has proved his worth, or do we give Hart another chance because Pantimillion is not the answer. Or do we simply buy a new keeper.

Not taking action is not an option. Failure to act will not only jeopardize our campaign for the title, it could jeopardize our top 4 place. Joe has been given enough chances.

If we do nothing but hope that Joe comes good again after being in decline for the last 18 months, then our season will be effectively over.

This season is over for me in terms of winning the league and worried we wont even be top 4. Pellegrini is clueless tactically, his subs are like for like and too late in games to change when we are losing, he shows no leadership from the sidelines walking round with his hands in his pocket, not one fan has sung his name yet as we can all see where he is going wrong and just don't have the same love for him we had for Bob, I can see the Mancini song returning very soon even though most of us accept why he was shown the door

Of course we can still win the league we are playing some real quality football at the moment.It's just stupid schoolboy errors costing us points.Yesterday for instance we really played well 2nd half and it was only Joe's brainfart that cost us.Cut out the errors and we are almost unbeatable.

I think December will go a long way to deciding it. There are 9 games (7 league) so not a lot of recovery time in between. This is when our squad should do the business.

No

sweenyuk wrote:This season is over for me in terms of winning the league and worried we wont even be top 4. Pellegrini is clueless tactically, his subs are like for like and too late in games to change when we are losing, he shows no leadership from the sidelines walking round with his hands in his pocket, not one fan has sung his name yet as we can all see where he is going wrong and just don't have the same love for him we had for Bob, I can see the Mancini song returning very soon even though most of us accept why he was shown the door

Pretty difficult to fit that surname in one though eh?

branny wrote:I think December will go a long way to deciding it. There are 9 games (7 league) so not a lot of recovery time in between. This is when our squad should do the business.

I tend to agree with you on that.

Considering the squad we have is universally acknowledged to be the strongest, and the fixtures we have had in the first 9 games, ie not too taxing, its some achievement to have this team as low as 7th.

Quite frankly its a fookin embarrassment.

Mind you, we keep being told this managers a bloody genius so who's to blame for the shambolic away performances and defensive giveaways?

Manuel's main contribution so far has been to reinforce "Typical City" syndrome which is back with a vengeance.

Losing 3 out of the first 9 matches is terrible, but it doesn't rule us out of winning league just yet.

However, Pellegrini's inability to see the obvious problems in our side is a massive concern. Our defensive was shite throughout pre-season, and it has continued up until today. He hasn't made any attempt to rectify the issues and that is extremely worrying.

Another concern is that we're fucking off good players for players of lower ability. Barry and Lescott have been treated unfairly, and Milner is being completely mismanaged. There might be a lack of quality English players around these days but we have some of the better ones. All 3 of those should be in our first team at the moment and we would show massive improvement. Instead he is favouring talentless players such as Garcia and Nastasic.

Finishing in the top 4 is my main target now as I do have serious reservations on Pellegrini's ability to sort the defence out. If the defence had been shite for only a couple of games then I would be more relaxed, but it's been over 3 months now and nothing seems to be changing.

Iron out the mistakes and we all saw we are the best team by a mile, with a potty keeper.

Hazy2 wrote:Iron out the mistakes and we all saw we are the best team by a mile, with a potty keeper.

We proved that yesterday.

The stats show a comfortable away victory until you look at the scoreline. Sort the back 5 & we can beat everone in this league home & away.

Bayern however, are a different problem entirely & will need much more work.

Ted Hughes wrote:

Hazy2 wrote:Iron out the mistakes and we all saw we are the best team by a mile, with a potty keeper.

We proved that yesterday.

The stats show a comfortable away victory until you look at the scoreline. Sort the back 5 & we can beat everone in this league home & away.

Bayern however, are a different problem entirely & will need much more work.

But can Pelli sort out the defence..?? He has done nothing so far to steady the boat

sweenyuk wrote:But can Pelli sort out the defence..?? He has done nothing so far to steady the boat

I don't think he will, were going to have to outscore people. Or rely on our world class goalkeeper, no wait a minute.......

If we get our head out of arse and stop making stupid mistakes like yesterday we're in with a shout - came close to getting a point of "mourinhos Chelsea" yesterday - if luck was on our side we could have had all 3