So does this season still count as a "title challenge"?

[The Acolyte]

If we win our remaining games we will get 88 points, if the mancs win their remaining games they will get 98 points.

 

I have said all the time we will need 85 points to win it so going by that we can only afford one more loss or one more draw to have a realistic chance.

 

For us to win it with 85 points we need the mancs to drop 14 points in their remaining 12 games, more than 1/3 of the remaining points possible.

 

Sadly it will never happen.

 

6 down 8 to go going by your point predictions.

They'll be missing three players and confidence low come the next PL game.

Next match against a Villa side desperate to stop the slide and reclaim 4th place especially since their manager pissed the UEFA cup up the wall!

Newcastle haven't challenged us since the days of Andy Cole so no worries there, they hate the Mancs more than us so will go all out against them as they'll be testing the trap door hinges by then. Same with Arsene and the Wenger Boys hating the Mancs more than us. They'd rather let us win than help the Mancs for the title especially if they secure 3rd place by then.

If they've secured 3rd by the time they play the Mancs and we're still in it just hear Bacon Face pop up with his conspiracey theories.

Mancs have a shit record agaisnt Middlesborough as well.

So they can still lose points.

Its the Blackburns of this world we have to put down and keep down.

[aws]

The mancs will lose it away to Hull on the last day. You heard it here first.

[The Acolyte]

The mancs will lose it away to Hull on the last day. You heard it here first.

 

But will we still be in with the chance to capitalise?

Thats the question!

Is it me or are they facing more relegation threatened/UEFA or CL place chasing teams than us in the run in?

Could make all the difference.

[Original202]

We're back in it and it demonstrates how quickly things can change. But it works both ways and if we fail at Fulham and Man Utd beat Villa it's all change again.

 

The time to judge properly is after 38 games.

[hamstrung]

We're back in it and it demonstrates how quickly things can change. But it works both ways and if we fail at Fulham and Man Utd beat Villa it's all change again.

 

The time to judge properly is after 38 games.

 

Where is the fun in that?

[GRADY]

I think 88 points would probably win the league and dropping points in one would give us a fighting chance. I think dropping points in any more than 1 game and we wont do it.

It is hard to say though because United are used to pressure but maybe not from Liverpool when they are looking to equal the 18 leagues!!

 

 

I do worry about the likes of west ham away though - I have to say though.

 

Hope we keep it up though till the end of the season as it would be very intersting then

[Vincent Vega]

The fact that I am comparing our fixtures against the Mancs fixtures going into April means we are definitely challenging this year (does the fact that they have five home matches left to play give them a big advantage?). I didn't think that would be the case 10 days ago.

 

If we achieve more than 80 points it's a good season regardless of what happens, it would be churlish to say otherwise.

[Guest TK-421]

We've got to beat Fulham and go top. That will put them lot under even more pressure to face Villa without Vidic, Scholes or Rooney.

[Royal Family]

Oi - it's my thread, I started it, and I - and only I - get to decide when it's officially a challenge again! :whistle:

[zigackly]

Yes we are definitely in a title challenge, and the way we are playing at the moment it's a strong challenge. If we can play like the last couple of games in the next eight then I think we have an excellent chance. I can't help dwelling on some of the points we've dropped, but I would have taken our current position before the season started without any hesitation.

[ATXRED]

I wrote us off after Middlesbrough, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I've once again learned that you never write us off.

[RedKnight]

I still have the nagging feeling that a fuck up is round the corner. I put this down to the last 19 years worth of league campaigns.

[Baz1969]

I dont know what has happened over the past couple of weeks but we're playing good football AND winning. I hope to God this good attacking play can continue even if we dont win the PL. I've said all along that we wont win the PL with Rafa mainly because his negative game plans/tactics - has he now suddenly changed his mindset/tactics?? Who knows but maybe he'll prove me wrong - I hope so. I'm not going to get too excited though yet..This is definitly a title challenging season.

[Little Sammy]

We're back in it and it demonstrates how quickly things can change. But it works both ways and if we fail at Fulham and Man Utd beat Villa it's all change again.

 

The time to judge properly is after 38 games.

 

Exactly.

 

Unlike most posters, I'm not one to get carried away when we win or to blast everyone under the sun when we lose. The truth is that we are still potentially four points behind the Mancs, and we are just coming into form whereas they've had a blip lately. Their suspensions could play a major part in the title race, but we'd still need to win every game and to be honest, I cannot see that happening, although we are in a much better position than in prior years.

[Little Sammy]

We're back in it and it demonstrates how quickly things can change. But it works both ways and if we fail at Fulham and Man Utd beat Villa it's all change again.

 

The time to judge properly is after 38 games.

 

Exactly.

 

Unlike most posters, I'm not one to get carried away when we win or to blast everyone under the sun when we lose. The truth is that we are still potentially four points behind the Mancs, and we are just coming into form whereas they've had a blip lately. Their suspensions could play a major part in the title race, but we'd still need to win every game and they must lose/draw two games and to be honest, I cannot see that happening, although we are in a much better position than in prior years.

[hamstrung]

I dont know what has happened over the past couple of weeks but we're playing good football AND winning. I hope to God this good attacking play can continue even if we dont win the PL. I've said all along that we wont win the PL with Rafa mainly because his negative game plans/tactics - has he now suddenly changed his mindset/tactics?? Who knows but maybe he'll prove me wrong - I hope so. I'm not going to get too excited though yet..This is definitly a title challenging season.

 

What about your campaign?

[JohnnyH]

I just hope we are all not getting too ahead of ourselves. I hear some numpties on phone ins declating that the title is ours now!! Utter shite. You still have to fancy the Mancs to get a win against Villa and once they have their confidence back, they will be winning again.

 

Most people on this site are been sensible about it and I agree that we are very much back in a title race, but that it will still be very difficult to overhaul 4 points in the last 8 games. We must must must win all our remaining games, and that will be very difficult.

 

Funningly enough I think Everton could have a huge affect on the title race. If Everton knock them out in the semis then I would nearly expect us to go on and win the title. If Utd get through then I think that could spur them on like Oldham in 1994.

[redrosetints]

I just hope we are all not getting too ahead of ourselves. I hear some numpties on phone ins declating that the title is ours now!! Utter shite. You still have to fancy the Mancs to get a win against Villa and once they have their confidence back, they will be winning again.

 

Most people on this site are been sensible about it and I agree that we are very much back in a title race, but that it will still be very difficult to overhaul 4 points in the last 8 games. We must must must win all our remaining games, and that will be very difficult.

 

Funningly enough I think Everton could have a huge affect on the title race. If Everton knock them out in the semis then I would nearly expect us to go on and win the title. If Utd get through then I think that could spur them on like Oldham in 1994.

 

For all the ifs and buts, momentum and confidence are key at the business end of the season. If we can keep our tails up and win the last 8, while united continue to stumble who knows what we can achieve, so the Villa game is massive, massive for United, massive for Villa and massive for us.

 

I also think we have some major choices to make, wrt the CL. Our Cl destiny is in our own hands, therefore it would be silly to make it less of a priority as the league isnt but 13 games in 2 months is alot for a squad full of players just back from injury.

[Bob]

For all the ifs and buts, momentum and confidence are key at the business end of the season. If we can keep our tails up and win the last 8, while united continue to stumble who knows what we can achieve, so the Villa game is massive, massive for United, massive for Villa and massive for us.

 

I also think we have some major choices to make, wrt the CL. Our Cl destiny is in our own hands, therefore it would be silly to make it less of a priority as the league isnt but 13 games in 2 months is alot for a squad full of players just back from injury.

 

i think we have to prioritise each game as and when we play it (a nice way of saying take each game as it comes!).

 

Look at how we are in this position now and it is beacuse we were out of the running in the league so put all of our focus on battering Real into next week. So we continue to fight full bore for the title until the chelsea game, if by that time we have slipped up, then we know we must focus on the CL, if we havent then we see what the result is of that game. If we get a very good result, then we continue to fight for both, if its a less good result, then we might just focus on the league games more.

 

Its silly to try and guess where our priorities should lie right now.

 

I was thinking about villa throwing away the uefa cup and how that has affected their momentum and beleif, and comparing that to when we won the treble. Ok, we had more of a 'need' to win trophies than villa at the time, but there is no way that our push for the champions league spot was helped by our other successes and the good feeling it instilled in the players.

[redrosetints]

i think we have to prioritise each game as and when we play it (a nice way of saying take each game as it comes!).

 

Look at how we are in this position now and it is beacuse we were out of the running in the league so put all of our focus on battering Real into next week. So we continue to fight full bore for the title until the chelsea game, if by that time we have slipped up, then we know we must focus on the CL, if we havent then we see what the result is of that game. If we get a very good result, then we continue to fight for both, if its a less good result, then we might just focus on the league games more.

 

Its silly to try and guess where our priorities should lie right now.

 

I was thinking about villa throwing away the uefa cup and how that has affected their momentum and beleif, and comparing that to when we won the treble. Ok, we had more of a 'need' to win trophies than villa at the time, but there is no way that our push for the champions league spot was helped by our other successes and the good feeling it instilled in the players.

 

yep, thats sounds like a good idea. Will be intersting to see how it pans out, isnt it nice to be back in teh thick of it again. Wonder what price a Euro/PL double ?

[alonso14]

Wonder what price a Euro/PL double ?

 

25/1 on Saturday night, now down to 18's.

[captainharris]

Just the fact that we're going into April with United caring about what result we get means this is a challenge.

 

Effectively the mancs only need to draw one more game and then we can potentially take it right to the last day of the season. The next two months are going to be very very interesting indeed.

[Glen C]

I'm trying to contain my enthusiasm as i need to see how we'll do against fulham and blackburn(teams that won't attack us). If we beat them then admittidly i don't think i'd be able to contain myself anymore and i'll truely start to BELIEVE.

[Captain]

Anyone who doesn't think we're in a title challenge is a full scale lunatic. Not much more to be said, really.

[Scooby Dudek]

I'm trying to contain my enthusiasm as i need to see how we'll do against fulham and blackburn(teams that won't attack us). If we beat them then admittidly i don't think i'd be able to contain myself anymore and i'll truely start to BELIEVE.

 

I actually think (hope) that Fulham will attack us; when you take into account their home record and how well the first half worked for them in the last game.