GeordieVillan

Its not unrealistic - its a fact - we are in no worse a position than we were at the start of the day - we need 3 wins more than the other 5 teams down there to get out of this. Its not looking good, but I refuse to implode over a result that doesn't change our position too much. If we get battered by Arsenal next week, and the other teams above us win, then we are in further trouble and I will need to vent!

On the face of it this Newcastle result is bad for us, but in reality it doesn't change our position, we are still 3 wins from safety (and 15th place). Newcastle always have this kind of result in them, but they are just as likely to get their asses handed to them against Spurs, as they did against Palace. The only thing this does change is it means we 100% need to avoid defeat at St.James. If Newcastle beat us, we will be 10 points behind them.

I feel sorry for this guy. When we do put a decent cross in, he always looks like he might get on the end of it, and has shown that he can do that already. Bur we never bloody cross the ball - its bizarre.

I don't think I've ever seen Sinclair cross the ball for us. I like him, he's lightweight but quick, but I don't know why he never crosses.

Not true. You are working on the basis that we need 38 points, but its entirely plausible that we might need less than 38 points to survive. Bournemouth currently have 13 points from 15 games, so based on that trajectory they would finish on 33 points - so we would need 34 to survive. I'm not saying that we can get 28 points from 23 games, but thats 8 wins and 4 draws. We definitely have draws in us under Remi, we've shown that already. If we can win 2-3 games before out of the next 6 or 7, then who's to say its impossible to win another 5-6 from the remaining 17.

The bottom 6 are all still in this. We just need to start getting results now so its 3 teams from 6, rather us plus 2 teams from 5. Newcastle have 10 points (11 if they draw with Liverpool) - there's no way they will be thinking they can't catch Swansea in 15th who have 14 points.

Based on the past 4 games (since Garde came in), our best 2 players by a mile have been Ayew and Veretout, followed by Gana. Injuries withstanding, our other stand out performers this season have been Richards and Amavi, and probably Hutton. So I would say 5 out of our 6 best players this year have been new signings, so I don't see how that can be blamed on the transfer committee, or in particular our Summer transfer activity. Lescott has been disappointing, Gestede average, Adama hasn't really had a chance (yet), likewise llori and Crespo. I still don't believe that our squad is one of the worst 3 in the league - we are missing a dominant centre forward, but otherwise we've got enough of a blend in our squad to put together a decent. This year has seen a bit of an awakening in terms of Gil and Grealish - we all wanted the team be built around them, but neither is consistent enough for that to be the case, certainly not having them both in the same team. Our problem remains, aside from confidence, that we still don't know our best team, and by "we" I mean the management and also the fans. It seems as though Garde has decided on his midfield 3, with Veretout as no.10 - and I think he's showing himself to be reliable at the minute, and his set pieces alone add alot of value compared to the last few years. Sanchez is the one who worries still, he's a liability at times. The back 4 - I don't think anyone is safe, except Richards perhaps. As for the front 3, Ayew picks himself right now, and alongside that I expect to see Sinclair and Gabby against Arsenal. I would like to see Adama instead of Sinclair now, but perhaps he isn't trusted yet. I just don't think Sinclair is doing enough going forward. We are not out of it yet, but we are needing a point at least at Arsenal to keep what little momentum we have going before our key games. We've allowed another 4 games to pass without winning since Garde came in - we desperately need a win from somewhere just to make mission impossible seem possible.

Massive 45 minutes this second half is. Come on Villa - a win here and we are right back in the mix.Just need Arsenal to pull their finger out second half and results are going our way. Out confidence is so fragile, our only chance is to keep a clean sheet, as soon as we concede a goal we will retreat and implode.

Looking at the table, there is only 6 teams in it as far as I can see - everyone from Chelsea up won't get dragged into it. If we can somehow get 3 points against Saints, then it puts us right back in the mix, as you imagine that - Newcastle won't beat Liverpool Sunderland won't beat Arsenal Bournemouth won't beat Chelsea Norwich will do well to win at Watford Swansea beating Leicester on current form wouldn't be likely. If you then look at the next round of fixtures when we play Arsenal, the other 5 teams have tough games as well, so I don't think we will fall further behind that week either. Of course, you could say that on current form Villa beating anyone is highly unlikely, but I can see some improvement, and Southampton on the back of a heavy cup and 2 league defeats might just be a bit fragile. If we can score first and get in front, then we've got a chance. If we go behind, then I don't think we have any character at all to come back. This game is as big as the last game, and I don't class it as a free hit, I think we should be looking to get a point at least from it. We are not down yet, but I think we need 5-6 points from the next 3 games somehow to get us back into it.

If we win this, then it will be 4 points from Remi's first 4 games - thats still not really good enough is it?! I think he has to start both Traore and Ayew. So its then either Gil on the left with Ayew up front, or Gestede up front and Ayew on the left. Interested to see what changes he makes, as there is no way he can go with the same team again...

Did everything we could today, and somehow still managed to engineer a defeat. This is the first time this season that I think we are done for. Today was a must-win game.

If we don't beat Watford, I think I'll be feeling very low about this whole thing. As things stand, I still cling to the belief that we can beat Watford and Newcastle and then go on to win another 2 games over the Christmas period - ideally the ones against Sunderland and Norwich. So we are talking 4 wins and 4 defeats (defeats against Arsenal, Southampton, West Ham and Palace) in the next 8 games. That would still only put on 17 points and still in the bottom 3 I would guess, but at least it would give us a fighting chance. Watford is must win, so we need to find a way to get both Ayew and Gestede in the team - otherwise I just don't see us scoring a goal. Maybe Sinclair as well. I don't envy Garde at all.

Results have gone our way today. A win against Watford next week, and we can't be any worse off hopefully we will close the gap. However, with Arsenal and Southampton after that, Watford really is a must-win (and a must score!). If we can win it, even with a defeat and a draw against Arsenal and Saints and we have chance going into what are hopefully our winnable games beginning at Newcastle. If we carry on as we are, we will be too far adrift by January. Very de-moralised today. A defeat isn't shocking, but the manner of it erodes major confidence that was already fragile even if after the draw time.

Because it just can't be. Look at the players - loads of internationals, loads of PL experience, its bizarre. However, if the players are good enough, I'm not sure what the reason is for our current position.

I don't think our squad is any worse than Norwich, Watford, WBA and some others - its a travesty that we are bottom and playing like this.

I've never known a team with such fragile confidence. The problem is - Remi has been working on this pattern of play since the last game, so I don't know what else he has up his sleeve now.

Very poor. Second half will be interesting. A heavy defeat so early under a new manager can kill the "bounce" effect no doubt. Bad results in the other games also - if Newcastle manage to beat Leicester - we will be 3 wins from safety - which even this early in the season is going to be a very big ask.

Not sure what our Remi's approach is now that we are one goal down. I would get Gestede on at half time and take of Veretout.

I expect the same team and approach as against City, with the replacement for Amavi the only change. I honestly have no idea who he might play there. It could easily be Crespo, Richardson, Nzogbia or Clark (with Lescott in at centrehalf). Quietly optimistic on this - I don't think we will lose. A draw would be a very solid result, a win might just change our whole season.

Hutton is very decent full back, certainly good enough for a mid-table team like we are aspiring to be. If we can actually get a settled team and formation, so he can develop an understanding with whomever is playing in front of him (probably Gil) at the moment, I think we will see the best of him. Bacuna goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. He's not solid or reliable enough.

I reckon we might see Nzogbia play there against Everton, especially if we play the 3 tight in midfield as we did against City, as it gives extra cover to the fullback areas.

As someone who has had this injury twice, once in each knee, I can honestly say that no injury is the same and it depends on recovery. I also know alot of people who have done their ACL and everyone's recovery has been different. I used to play football to a decent level, although obviously not professionally. My first ACL rupture was in my right knee (I'm right footed) when I was 22, and I had it repaired by using tendon from behind the knee cap, which is traditional the way the surgery used to be done. The recovery was tough but after a year I was back playing football again and I would say I got back to 95% of what I was before, in fact certain aspects of my game improved - I was much stronger on the ball because I had to adapt the way I played a bit. I also still retained my pace, and probably the only thing that was compromised was my ability to twist and turn, although even that improved with time and the impact of the injury was neglible. The second time was my ACL in my left knee when I was 30. The reconstruction was done by keyhole surgery using hamstring from my left leg, which is the more common way the surgery is now done and it is much less invasive. The recovery was really brutal after this, partly because it takes a long time to rebuild the strength in the hamstring. I'm now 33 and I would say I'm probably only 70% of the player I was before the second injury, although part of that is probably age. I guess what I'm saying is that we don't really know how far this injury will affect him - it may have no impact or it may have a massive impact. Plenty of players come back from an ACL injury and are totally fine and recover 100% (or very close to it), but it tends be players who are very reliant on their pace (think Michael Owen) that have this injury and never seem to get back to their best. I don't think this applies to Amavi as he is quick, but its not the main attribute to his game, so he should be to still hit the same speeds. And obviously Jordan will have access to much better and much more intense treatment than I did! Fingers crossed as he looks the business.

I don't think he would be a good left midfielder. He beats players with ease from left back because he is generally taking the ball past attacking players and is running into space and overloading the opposition - which he did a few times in the first half against City. Playing from deeper also gives him more time to get his crosses in. At left midfield, I think he would get marked out of the game and wouldn't have as much of an impact. Someone like Grealish or Sinclair is ideal at left wing in front of Amavi, as they occupy the full back and sometimes the left midfielder, and also they have the inclination to cut inside, which then leaves more space on the wing for Amavi when he comes forward.

If he can keep us solid at the back, I expect us to win 2-3 games before the turn of the year. However, I also expect those teams around us to do the same, so we will most likely still be in the bottom 3. The key to our season now is going to be midfield. If you assume Ayew is going to be the main striker (although I wouldn't be suprised to see Gabby get a game sadly), then he probably has 5-10 goals in him, but that just isn't enough. We may sign a new striker in January, but we still need goals from wide areas, from midfield, and from our centrebacks from set pieces. We must be the worst team in the league when it comes to scoring from set pieces. We have struggled to get the right balance in midfield since Petrov and Barry/Milner as the midfield pair, and I don't think a midfield 3 of Sanchez, Gana and Veretout is going to get us enough goals or chance creation against the lesser teams - although they were solid against City before tiring. Our one central midfielder who probably has goals in him is Gary Gardner, so it will be interesting if he gets a chance. If not, then I would somehow be trying to fit one of Grealish / Nzogbia / Sinclair into the midfield 3, on the basis that they would have to put in a shift, but they also give us something more going forward. I think that is very unlikely though - so the midfield goals remains the main thing that worries me and that Remi will have to address.

Its amazing the impact one point can make. If we can somehow conjure up a win against Everton - then suddenly everything will be looking very different. Newcastle play Leicester at home, and hopefully that game goes to form, likewise you would hope Palace get a result against Sunderland. Norwich go to Chelsea, and Bournemouth plat Swansea - they could go either way. Winning at Goodison certainly won't be easy, but its do-able. 3 points there would bring us back in touching distance I think, and you would have to think we would be full of confidence going into the Watford game. Again though, who knows. We certainly aren't out of it yet. My prediction - I fancy us to get at least 4 points from Everton and Watford, and then we will be feeling like we are back in the mix, but then defeats against Arsenal and Southampton will deflate us massively. Everything points to that Newcastle game being massive.