Six Points off of Europe

[YiddoInAkron]

Well potentially 6 points, if the cup competitions work out like they tend to lately, and 7th spot ends up a UEFA Cup spot. Is it out of the realm of possibility this season? Considering the average league position of the teams we've played is 8th and already have gotten the first round of games out of the way with 5 of the current top 6, the schedule might begin to soften up a bit, and if we can keep grabbing results like we have been since 'Arry has been here, who knows what might be possible.

[LedleybetterthanSol]

Of course it is possible. We just have to keep improving and getting results.

[Phillyspur]

It is incredibly tight from 7th to 20th. Kind of like the Championship last year, when not much separated playoffs and relegation.

On the pessimistic side, there are clearly no complete donkeys in the Premier league this year, which will push up the points requirement to survive. 40 is a minimum.

[jumhed]

It is incredibly tight from 7th to 20th. Kind of like the Championship last year, when not much separated playoffs and relegation.

On the pessimistic side, there are clearly no complete donkeys in the Premier league this year, which will push up the points requirement to survive. 40 is a minimum.

Its all going to be about the team that has a bad run of form at the wrong time. I think we've had ours, and the only way is up!

There are other teams that've already peaked and I feel will begin to struggle from hereon in, (WBA, Wigan, Hull, Bolton).

Its going to be a real scrap down there once we pull out of it (and Toon, unfortunately. Kinnear is just too good a man-manager to let them go down. That said, the new owners will probably sack him at the wrong time in typical Toon fashion!)

[mattie g]

Its all going to be about the team that has a bad run of form at the wrong time. I think we've had ours, and the only way is up!

There are other teams that've already peaked and I feel will begin to struggle from hereon in, (WBA, Wigan, Hull, Bolton).

Its going to be a real scrap down there once we pull out of it (and Toon, unfortunately. Kinnear is just too good a man-manager to let them go down. That said, the new owners will probably sack him at the wrong time in typical Toon fashion!)

Exactly, jum. We just had two really tough games in a row, and we have a good chance to pick up a few more points over the next few league games. We just need to be consistent - no reason to think we need to go out and win every game - and we should find ourselves with a little bit of breathing room.

[mjlutz]

I can't believe we're able to discuss this notion after such a poor start, but somehow, we can. We're lucky this year that the points in the second half of the table are so tight. However, at the same time competition is fierce. (The recently promoted teams are huge fighters this year.) If they can keep playing hard it will be possible. I just hope they can maintain the fight they have in them right now.

[soccernutter]

We will have a run or two of 1 or 2 or 3 points out of 9, but overall, I think we are looking good. We are playing big and winning as it matters. We do have players with ambition, so we should steadily walk up the table.

Statistics time
Right now, we are 3-3-6 (12).
Last year we finished 11-13-14 (46).
We have 26% of the points of last year in 31% of the matches played of the full season. With that said, looking on the positive side, we also have 42% of the losses of last season. Thus, I think we should do better.

Of course, we should also look at three other teams. Last season:
5th: Everton at 19-8-11 (65)
6th: AV at 16-12-10 (60).
7th: Blackbun at 15-13-10 (58)
Complared to how Everton finished last year, we have 19% of the points, over half of the losses in the same 31% of the matches. Thus, we should finish lower.
Compared to AV, we have 20% of the points and over half of the losses. Thus, we should finish lower.
Compared to Blackburn, we have 21% of the points and over half of the losses. And again, we should finish lower.

With that said, if we average 2 points per match for the rest of the season, we will have 64 points and might have a shot at 5th (or as mjlutz said) or better because of the parity of the season so far. If we take the projection for the year from where we are now, we should end up with 38 points. But for the last 4 matches we have 10 from 12. That is 2.5 points per match. If that holds (crossing fingers) we will end up with 77 pionts. That is more points than Liverpool had last year (76) finishing forth.

Further, looking back all the way to the 2002/2003 season, last season was the only one in which the top 4 teams finished with greater than 70 points.

I believe.

[pookspur]

Statistics time
Right now, we are 3-3-6 (12).
Last year we finished 11-13-14 (46).
We have 26% of the points of last year in 31% of the matches played of the full season. With that said, looking on the positive side, we also have 42% of the losses of last season. Thus, I think we should do better ...

keep in mind, though, that last year sucked.