CanadaSaint

The "stugglers table" approach shows how volatile it all is. We are currently 3.25 points behind Villa (they are -4.50 vs Target and we are -7.75). If we lose at Villa Park the gap increase to 4.00 points. If we draw it shrinks to 1.00 points. If we win, we move ahead of them by 2.00 points. And there are loads of similar situations ahead for all the potential relegation candidates, which now number at least 9 teams IMO. Damn near half of the division.

I agree with all of that but I think the mountain might be too big for them to climb. The good thing is that there's no shortage of relegation candidates this year, and Newcastle are about to move solidly into the mix, especially if/when they lose Ba. I've already restructured the "strugglers table" twice and probably need to do it again.

I'm with Joe Kirkup - and would still have been even if we hadn't scored it.

Benitez is such a c*ck. Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle. "Too smart for his own good" is dead right and always has been. And some people wanted him here.

Over the last two games we've shown a depth of character that I've wondered whether we possessed. In some ways, Guly (of all people) has personified that; he's had a habit of drifting but he's been 100% committed in both games. When you start on the second half of the season in the bottom five, character ends up being as important as skill, and I think we have both.

Seldom have I approached the FA Cup with the kind of "whatever" attitude I have right now. Anything that even "might" cost us key players or, god forbid, our PL place is way the hell down on my priority list I'm afraid. Even if it "might" help us to become a better team.

Yoshida is arguably one of the players we can least afford to lose because that would reunite the problematic Fonte/Jos partnership. Either Jos or Font with Yoshida would work but not, I suspect, Fonte and Jos without Yoshida. And Fonte was superb again today. His game has improved night and day since he was paired with Yoshida.

I think we have little choice but to take a "ballsy" approach from now on because we are well inside the bottom three based on who we've already played. But Stoke (away) and Arsenal (home) were examples of how that can - and will - bring us the "unexpected" points we need. That wasn't a relegation team out there today, not even close, but that's because we refused to be overawed by a powerful opponent, and didn't make any costly individuals errors.

Not quite sure what to make of this, other than severe misuse of a Christmas present. As good as Merson and Lawrenson, I guess, other than the bit about Sagna taking his braids out: http://gingers4limpar.com/?p=2635&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=diary-of-a-season-southampton-1-arsenal-1

His body language suggested to me that he lost it in the lights at the last minute; he did everything right until then. But then, a few minutes later, he came for a cross and caught it, but he took it at chest height rather than going for the high point. He won't get away with that very often at this highly-scouted level, especially now that he's done it once. As I said earlier, there's a laziness about his style that concerns me.

Happy New Year, hypo.

I don't usually whine about bad luck but I don't think we got one break, or even one bounce, the entire game. Even when Arsenal panicked at the back, which was quite often, everything seemed to fall their way.

Completely agree with the first part but I'm still not sure about Boruc. He has a very lazy style that causes him problems but he's also capable of big saves and dominating his box. He's an unabashed whacko, and I suspect that the fan affection will only last until he makes a few errors, which he's certainly capable of doing.

No, it's cretinously stupid to turn one of the most positive afternoons of the entire season into nothing more than a negative. Only you could do that. If you can't enjoy that performance for long enough to resist the urge to post utter sh*t within an hour of the final whistle, you should find another sport. Or another team. Or, better yet, another planet. You ask for all the abuse you get.

What would really, really help is if this also prevented the ignored individual from appearing in quotes as well.

Same for me, and now I've seen the qualities I had hoped we were getting when we signed Steve Davis. The back-heeled pass from Ramirez in the first half was pure genius. Kudos to Cork, Shaw and the wide midfielders for shutting out Arsenal down the flanks. Without Clyne and Lalllana I thought that's where we'd get done. I'm still stunned at Alpine's post, after everyone worked their nuts off to deny space to one of the most potent attacks in the PL. Cretinously stupid even for him, and that's saying something.

He has a very laid-back approach that creates a dangerous laziness in his technique. He'll make mistakes with the simplest of things but he's always likely to make s stunning save.

That's how it goes at the bottom. The one at Stoke goes wide but that one goes in. Great free kick by Theo, though - right into the soft spot between keeper and back row.

I think some of it is down to the fact that almost everyone went for more attack-strengthening than defence-strengthening at the start of the season. It means that pretty much everyone can score goals and pretty much everyone can be vulnerable defensively - even the big boys.

I've not been convinced by Steven Davis yet. Works hard but always seems to be a crucial shade off the pace, and he tends to telegraph passes. Still, it was a choice between a seasoned midfielder and a very talented kid (JWP).

Maybe Merson has decided he doesn't like the area, after spending quite a lot of time at Marchwood.

Here's the year-end table. I've simplified it again - by cutting back to three groups and adjusting the PPG targets accordingly: vs Elite 4 - H 0.00/A 0.00; vs Middle 8 - H 2.00/A 0.25; vs Fellow Strugglers - H 2.75/A 0.50. TOTAL = 40.78 [TABLE=width: 500] [TR] [TD]Pos[/TD] [TD]Team[/TD] [TD]Target[/TD] [TD]Actual[/TD] [TD]+/-[/TD] [TD]GD[/TD] [TD]vs Likely Strugglers[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]P[/TD] [TD]W[/TD] [TD]D[/TD] [TD]L[/TD] [TD]PPG[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]West Ham[/TD] [TD]21.25[/TD] [TD]23[/TD] [TD]+1.75[/TD] [TD]-1[/TD] [TD]7[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]1.86[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]Sunderland[/TD] [TD]23.00[/TD] [TD]22[/TD] [TD]-1.00[/TD] [TD]-5[/TD] [TD]7[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]2.00[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]Wigan[/TD] [TD]21.25[/TD] [TD]18[/TD] [TD]-3.25[/TD] [TD]-13[/TD] [TD]7[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]1.86[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]Fulham[/TD] [TD]25.75[/TD] [TD]21[/TD] [TD]-4.75[/TD] [TD]-6[/TD] [TD]8[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]1.13[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]Aston Villa[/TD] [TD]23.25[/TD] [TD]18[/TD] [TD]-5.25[/TD] [TD]-24[/TD] [TD]7[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]1.00[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]6[/TD] [TD]Southampton[/TD] [TD]25.75[/TD] [TD]17[/TD] [TD]-8.75[/TD] [TD]-11[/TD] [TD]8[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]1.38[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]7[/TD] [TD]Reading[/TD] [TD]23.25[/TD] [TD]13[/TD] [TD]-10.25[/TD] [TD]-15[/TD] [TD]7[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]0.71[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]8[/TD] [TD]QPR[/TD] [TD]25.00[/TD] [TD]10[/TD] [TD]-15.00[/TD] [TD]-20[/TD] [TD]7[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]1.00[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Here are the games remaining: [TABLE=width: 500] [TR] [TD]Team[/TD] [TD]Total[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]vs Elite 4[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]vs Middle 8[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]vs Likely Strugglers[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Home[/TD] [TD]Away[/TD] [TD]Home[/TD] [TD]Away[/TD] [TD]Home[/TD] [TD]Away[/TD] [TD]Home[/TD] [TD]Away[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Aston Villa[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Fulham[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]6[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]QPR[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Reading[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Southampton[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]10[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Sunderland[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]West Ham[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]10[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Wigan[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Those away games at fellow strugglers are looking crucial. Please let me know of any errors. If someone could give me some time-saving advice on how to post an Excel spreadsheet I'd be grateful.

Thanks.

God I hope not - especially after watching Theo, AOC and Bale over the last few weeks. But we don't know the financial situation so it's hard to tell. The last news I saw on that front, we were taking out a loan.

After carefully studying that page, I was able to figure out that our chance of winning the league disappeared in September.