1-6 was a wake up call - yeah yeah yeah

[brite blu sky]

The Toon game said it all in terms of the argument that the rags are punching above their weight. They were set up with a slightly stronger midfield too, yet Toon getting stuck in resulted in them slightly the better team 1st half. I rekon the Barcodes played nearly the level they did v City, yet v the rags they had loads of the ball and didn't have to shrink back. They held a high line and looked comfortable. They tried that with us but couldn't hold it as they got outpassed in midfield.
In short there is the difference in quality between City and the rags perfectly illustrated by another team's performances v both.

It is difficult to gauge quite what level the rags are at, I'd say worse than Spurs in general.. probably about the level of Newcastle.. but with more firepower and more experience.

From what I have heard rags fans are expecting Cleverly to come back and save them. Imo it is still other teams that will save them by not believing they can stand up to them.

[Ted Hughes]

Looked very average against toon, and toon were nothing special either... They just went out and tried to play their game and put pressure on the rags. One of the first teams I've seen in a long time to actually close down the rags, an it worked well. I would have pulled off Gutierrez at HT, he was having a mare, though he did save that goal.

Newcastle didn't do anything special, krul did have a very good game, but he is a good keeper.

If you go at this rag team without fear, they can be broken down, they can fall apart. You can argue against that with stats if you like ... But stats can be made to say whatever you want, actual observable data is much preferable.

To me it's obvious that Ted & others are right, the people arguing against them are coming off as scum apologists, and it stinks.

My 2c

Depends on the question:

Are the rags worse now than they were a few years ago? Undoubtedly and I'm sure all the tags would agree as well

Will the rags still finish in the top three?
Undoubtedly and probably in the top two at worst. The reasons for that are varied, but I still believe if we finish above them, we'll win the league.

You can say they're shit if you want, and at times they definitely look it, but the only real way to judge is at the end of the season. If they win the league and we're second, who was the better side? The one who scored the most goals, looked the most exciting, had the best players or the one who won the league? I know which one I'd take right now.

If City are the 'most goals, exciting & better players' team & it comes 2nd, I'll take that thank you very much. Then win the league next season by being exciting & scoring goals & having better players, whilst they try to patch up more holes made by Ferdinand & Giggs. No way would I swap our squad for theirs.

[brite blu sky]

Depends on the question:

Are the rags worse now than they were a few years ago? Undoubtedly and I'm sure all the tags would agree as well

Will the rags still finish in the top three?
Undoubtedly and probably in the top two at worst. The reasons for that are varied, but I still believe if we finish above them, we'll win the league.

You can say they're shit if you want, and at times they definitely look it, but the only real way to judge is at the end of the season. If they win the league and we're second, who was the better side? The one who scored the most goals, looked the most exciting, had the best players or the one who won the league? I know which one I'd take right now.

If the Arse and Chelsea were not so poor and other teams stop respecting the rags I would say they would struggle this season to stay in the top 3.

[Ted Hughes]

Depends on the question:

Are the rags worse now than they were a few years ago? Undoubtedly and I'm sure all the tags would agree as well

Will the rags still finish in the top three?
Undoubtedly and probably in the top two at worst. The reasons for that are varied, but I still believe if we finish above them, we'll win the league.

You can say they're shit if you want, and at times they definitely look it, but the only real way to judge is at the end of the season. If they win the league and we're second, who was the better side? The one who scored the most goals, looked the most exciting, had the best players or the one who won the league? I know which one I'd take right now.

If the Arse and Chelsea were not so poor and other teams stop respecting the rags I would say they would struggle this season to stay in the top 3.

If they crack under pressure like they seem to be doing after the Newcastle game, they will end up in a battle for top 4. I said last year that Arsenal were in danger as they've never had the pressure of missing out. That would apply to the rags if the other teams in the pack catch them. They can't afford to miss the CL. It's more essential to their club than winning the league. Their pressure is always associated with trying to win, not trying to avoid catastrophe. It's a different feeling & much worse, as we know only too well.

[Beefymcfc]

What's telling for me is that the likes of Spurs an Chelsea, who have all had a mare at some stage, are within spitting distance of catching United even though they were beaten by them. For me, Spurs and Chelsea out-played the Rags and if they'd got their shit together up-front, would've beaten them convincingly.

There's still a long way to go but from what I've seen I think United will be fighting it out with Chelsea for 3rd.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

They have hardly impressed since their drubbing although a win at Scouse 2 is always a decent effort. Failed to beat two teams at home this week which they would have swatted away in the past. they are only an injury or two from disaster. I think they were so so lucky to play Arse and Spurs when they did. They are both playing better than the rags now.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Incidentally, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find Spurs very close to us or possibly even top by the time we play them in January. They have a pretty easy run of fixtures with only a home fixture with Chelsea to really trouble them, plus they play their home game in hand with Scouse 2 in that time.
From that point we will see what they are really made of, with a fixture list that goes City a) Wigan h) Scouse a) Newcastle h) Arsenal a) Filth h) Scouse2 a) Stoke h) Chelsea a)

[Esky]

Incidentally, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find Spurs very close to us or possibly even top by the time we play them in January. They have a pretty easy run of fixtures with only a home fixture with Chelsea to really trouble them, plus they play their home game in hand with Scouse 2 in that time.
From that point we will see what they are really made of, with a fixture list that goes City a) Wigan h) Scouse a) Newcastle h) Arsenal a) Filth h) Scouse2 a) Stoke h) Chelsea a)

They've had similar runs in the past two seasons and come through them reasonably well. That is really the worst series of games you could imagine though.

I still think the top three will be as they were last time. Spurs look the most impressive at the minute but 4th place could go anywhere.

[Ted Hughes]

I mentioned on another thread about Ratface's comments re City after yesterday's game; he recons the rags have got big problems if we manage to get a 7 point gap & that we don't look like a side who will lose that. He's saying that in November!

If he thinks that's the case, then you can bet your life that's how the rags are seeing it as he is still at the heart of rag central, so if we can win at the Bridge, we may just see the rags crack up in one of their games. Then, the hyenas will be biting at their legs.

[Alex Sapphire]

we can start making our "we're not struggling" banners now.
But PLEASE don't hang em at the Etihad until April
[youtube]rx2-JKwNjOM[/youtube]

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

we can start making our "we're not struggling" banners now.
But PLEASE don't hang em at the Etihad until April
[youtube]rx2-JKwNjOM[/youtube]

Ha ha What a twat! But very amusing.

[Patrick]

United 1-2 crystal fucling palace

[bluej]

That'll be another wake up call then.

[carl_feedthegoat]

And heres the rags comment of the month.

"Whilst being completely objective, and not selfish or spoilt, this month most of our performances have been poor, even if we have won.

That City beating has killed us".

[Beefymcfc]

That'll be another wake up call then.

I like a couple of wake up calls, gives you that extra 5 minutes, 3 in the space of a week though, that's classed as a Fire Alarm.

[Dameerto]

That'll be another wake up call then.

I like a couple of wake up calls, gives you that extra 5 minutes, 3 in the space of a week though, that's classed as a Fire Alarm.

There' s only so many times you can flood a corpse with voltage before you have to accept it's time to let it go though.

Time of death: Sunday October 23rd 2011 (approx 3.15pm)

[zuricity]

Can i get a wake up call today just after five o'clock well 5.59 to be precise , one before six. Or as the maths guys might scribble 1-6.

[Beefymcfc]

First the Wake Up call, now a team in transition. What'd ya think?

[bluej]

First the Wake Up call, now a team in transition. What'd ya think?

I think relegation will be the real wake up call ;-)

[bigblue]

First the Wake Up call, now a team in transition. What'd ya think?

think the phone's off the hook

How is Neville and Rednapp arguing that the rags have recovered from the 1-6 loss? A bunch of fortunate 1-0 wins and bing knocked out of two cups is not recovering.