CanadaSaint

Mine too. All I was trying to say was that the team(s) that got one more point than the team in 18th place didn't go down. Anyway, screw it - those are the historical last-relegation-place points totals.

Delldays asked how many points it would take to stay up. I posted the points totals for the teams that have finished in 18th place (the last relegation place) since 1995/96. In response to CB Fry being argumentative again, all I said was that it took one more point than the 18th place team - "adding a point to what the 18th team had", not giving them another point. That seems pretty obvious, so what am I missing?

No, if you're talking about points total to stay up, you add a point to what the team in 18th place had (see post 8 ). That puts you above them. Does that help? Jesus Murphy, it's not worth a barney.

What a sad, argumentative little person you are. All mouth and nothing else.

Yes, I think we need a keeper as a top priority but the good ones aren't available or are coveted by much bigger clubs than us, and the others are available for a reason. Friedel's going nowhere. Butland has more 'attractive' choices. Robinson is 20 pounds too heavy. Given isn't match fit and won't be sold to a relegation rival. Gomes is a scary enigma - brilliant one minute, laughable the next; we're already trying that. The most realistic bet, shorter term, might be Cudicini, but even he has baggage. It wouldn't surprise me if we end up just settling for what we've got, unless they've been scouring the continent.

To all of our lot who went today, well done on upstaging the loudest fans in the PL for much of the game. In a game like that, support can make all the difference between buckling down and caving in.

Which is why I said add a point to the 18th team. Unless they've changed the rules, that keeps you one point clear of relegation. Now I thought that was "pretty simple really."

Perhaps I am a moron but I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Delldays was asking how many points we might need to stay up this year, and those numbers provide a guide based on history. Not a guarantee but a guide.

You could always try adding a point to what the 18th team had.

I hope we don't lose sight of one of the big lessons from today - without sacrificing our patient, skilled build-up, it's worth getting the ball into the box really early every so often.

From http://blog.osirra.com/2011/05/15/premier-league-points-needed-to-avoid-relegationwin-the-league/

I'm not a big fan of Kelvin (as a keeper) but I'm not going to rag on him today. There's a lot of people posting who have absolutely zero idea of what it's like to be a keeper when you have four big guys piling into your six-yard box trying to get on the end of a high ball, as well as a bunch of your own guys trying to get back there as well. Stoke are excellent deliverers, whether it's by foot or throw, and they're great at hitting the "soft spot" between the keeper and the back four. Yes, we need a quality keeper but let's not just keep whacking Davis just because he's an easy target for abuse.

Jeez, there are some pillocks on here. That was an excellent point, however it came about, with our team showing a level of character I wasn't sure they had. Many teams capitulate at Stoke - lose before they've even started - but we didn't. Pulis paid us the respect of saying that he thought we'd be their toughest test of the Christmas period, and he was right. It seems he rates us more than some of our own 'fans' do. Sure Stoke had line-up disruptions but so did we. Our starting line-up, about which I had serious misgivings, was brilliantly conceived. And all some of you can do is b*tch about Adkins.

I don't think we're going to get many calls from here.

They're going to be two-down for a minute.

Indeed. The first 15 minutes of this half will be huge.

Yep. If we could mix that in with our skilled and patient build-up, so that we're actually doing both, we'd be looking at a mid-table or even better.

If Pulis is anything he's a great motivator. They're plugging his hairdryers in right now. But we've got to keep up the effort we're putting into double-marking virtually everyone.

Noisiest fans in the PL? If our lot weren't there it's be a library.

It looks like their central D changes are going to be something to keep exploiting.

Hey, even though I'm an optimistic kind of guy, I wasn't expecting any points from this fixture because our rather lightweight kind of game wouldn't count for much up there, so nothing has really changed. I just hope that, if we don't get anything, there's not a lot of Adkins-out criticism about the line-up, because some of it was forced and there's a good chance we would have done worse with the Fulham starters.

One thing's for sure. Stoke's match preparation did not contemplate playing against anything like this kind of line up.

Yep, this is not a Ramirez type of game and he's the sort of player they'd clatter hard and early.

I hope you're right, but I think we do have a chance of getting at the middle of their back row with that line-up.

Absolutely, and if he's right I'll be as pleased as anyone. It's a "ballsy" concept and I hope it works but I have my doubts going in.