Relegation Battle

[Trowel]

Big concerns with it not unlikely we'll come away empty handed from each of the next 4 league games.

[blueToffee]

In fairness, Ipswich were pretty lucky today. Wasn't a penalty but then they had something to hang on to and Chelsea missed a bunch of chances. That's going to happen sometimes though.

In general though they certainly look more capable of scoring than we do but their defence in general does look weaker. Could really say the same of Leicester. We on the flipside only seem to do ok with defending but clearly struggle for goals.

So probably comes down to whether we can grind out points more than they can get their hopefully just occasional wins, along with hopefully getting our own occasional flukey win.

Also, random thing just noticed looking at the table Wolves have scored 31 goals, double what we have which seems crazy. They've just been terrible at the back.

[Gash]

Everyone seems to be able to pull off a result like Ipswich did tonight except for us.

We've all been saying how poor Wolves, Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton are but Southampton aside the rest of them are right with us and although Leicester haven't really had a new manager bounce they're still only three points behind us.

Dyche has been saying since he came here that "even before I was here" we struggled to score goals but he's still not managed to address it. Broja and Chermiti are a bit of an unknown, DCL is on yet another career drought with one eye out the door and Beto's all energy and not much else so I don't expect any of them suddenly sticking in 8-10 goals between now and the end of the season but Dyche certainly doesn't know how to fix it or get any of them scoring a handful of goals. We've a bunch of midfielders who generally in their careers haven't been goal scorers and we don't have defenders chipping in with the odd goal from set pieces anymore either.

We're right in trouble and the owners need to decide quickly what they are going to do.

[Cereal Killer]

Everyone seems to be able to pull off a result like Ipswich did tonight except for us.

We're right in trouble, we've all been saying how poor Wolves, Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton are but Southampton aside the rest of them are right with us and although Leicester haven't really had a new manager bounce they're still only three points behind us.

Dyche has been saying since he came here that "even before I was here" we struggled to score goals but he's still not managed to address it. Broja and Chermiti are a bit of an unknown, DCL is on yet another career drought with one eye out the door and Beto's all energy and not much else so I don't expect any of them suddenly sticking in 8-10 goals between now and the end of the season but Dyche certainly doesn't know how to fix it or get any of them scoring a handful of goals. We've a bunch of midfielders who generally in their careers haven't been goal scorers and we don't have defenders chipping in with the odd goal from set pieces anymore either.

We're right in trouble and the owners need decide quickly what they are going to do.

Beto to Roma where he scores 10 goals

Big Tammy Abs to Everton where he doesn’t play until March because he’s not Dyche-fit

[blueToffee]

Our PL "top scorers" this season so far:

Iliman Ndiaye 3
Dwight McNeil 3
Dominic Calvert-Lewin 2
Michael Keane 2
Ashley Young 1
Orel Mangala 1
Beto 1

So if someone gets a hattrick one game, they'd potentially rocket to the top which is pretty amazing given we're 18 games in.

Maybe we just need more Michael Keane? Doucoure's name is notably absent there, could use him chipping in some goals. Also, we're missing McNeil.

[Toddacelli]

Worried. Expecting Wolves to finish above us. Think the third spot is between us and Leicester and I think they’ve got the goals in their side to win more than us. Not many, like - but more than us.

[Paddockoldie]

Feels like we've stepped in quicksand this week, slowly being sucked into the relegation zone

[74Blue]

Our PL "top scorers" this season so far:

Iliman Ndiaye 3
Dwight McNeil 3
Dominic Calvert-Lewin 2
Michael Keane 2
Ashley Young 1
Orel Mangala 1
Beto 1

So if someone gets a hattrick one game, they'd potentially rocket to the top which is pretty amazing given we're 18 games in.

Maybe we just need more Michael Keane? Doucoure's name is notably absent there, could use him chipping in some goals. Also, we're missing McNeil.

You missed Craig Dawson off that list. He's currently tied with Michael Keane and our fucking amazing star striker DCL on 2

[Shogun]

Think it always feels a bit more desperate when you're in the relegation zone. A win from somewhere and suddenly it feels like we're smooth sailing but shows how quickly you can drop back down even if you pull out a 4-0 win over Wolves.

16th Everton 17pts -9
17th Wolves 16pts -11
---
18th Ipswich 15pts -15
19th Leicester 14pts -20

Sat 15:00 Bournemouth v Everton
Sat 15:00 Aston Villa v Leicester
Sun 14:00 Fulham v Ipswich
Mon 20:00 Wolves v Nottingham Forest

At least it's tough fixtures for the others as well.

Trying to be objective, Leicester are most likely to pick up nothing. Ourselves and Ipswich probably have a similar fixture difficulty. Wolves maybe the biggest chance of picking up something just because they're at home but Forest are still 2nd for a reason.

Would be disappointing if any of those teams are ahead of us after Monday night.

[The Doc]

Think it always feels a bit more desperate when you're in the relegation zone. A win from somewhere and suddenly it feels like we're smooth sailing but shows how quickly you can drop back down even if you pull out a 4-0 win over Wolves.

16th Everton 17pts -9
17th Wolves 16pts -11
---
18th Ipswich 15pts -15
19th Leicester 14pts -20

Sat 15:00 Bournemouth v Everton
Sat 15:00 Aston Villa v Leicester
Sun 14:00 Fulham v Ipswich
Mon 20:00 Wolves v Nottingham Forest

At least it's tough fixtures for the others as well.

Trying to be objective, Leicester are most likely to pick up nothing. Ourselves and Ipswich probably have a similar fixture difficulty. Wolves maybe the biggest chance of picking up something just because they're at home but Forest are still 2nd for a reason.

Would be disappointing if any of those teams are ahead of us after Monday night.

Got a feeling this could be the game where Forest begin to average out and pick up some losses. But, Cunha is banned which is a huge miss for Wolves.

Think Fulham and Villa both win with ease.

I don't have much hope for us beyond a scrappy draw at Bournemouth, but probably a 2-0 loss.

[UnsyisaRhino]

Worried. Expecting Wolves to finish above us. Think the third spot is between us and Leicester and I think they’ve got the goals in their side to win more than us. Not many, like - but more than us.

They'll definitely let more in though, it's a race to see who can get the balance right in more games.

They could easily do a burnley or luton, and go down playing better than us, but it'll only happen if we find a way to start scoring and right now we don't seem to know how without mcneil in the team.

[blueToffee]

We feel very reliant on other teams being super shite at the moment and picking up literally nothing.

We just can't put anything together right now it feels like. Even if Dyche gets the boot, desperately need some quality to come in to the side, we need a Landon Donovan style loan effect. I know January is a tough month to recruit, but feels like we need a lift from outside.

The players who stepped up in previous seasons seem pretty off it, maybe just that bit older and that bit more off it.

I can see why people want Dyche out, but it can't be under the illusion it solves many of the issues of this squad. The duct tape is wearing off with the lack of investment we've made and it's really showing.

[Blueomar]

Our PL "top scorers" this season so far:

Iliman Ndiaye 3
Dwight McNeil 3
Dominic Calvert-Lewin 2
Michael Keane 2
Ashley Young 1
Orel Mangala 1
Beto 1

Being a bit harsh on Craig Dawson there, mate.

[chang]

Failed to score in 8 of the last 10 league matches apparently.

[Robioto]

It won't be a battle at this rate. We'll go down with a whimper without some big decisive changes soon.