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Must admit I don't share the concerns over the defence.

Outside a handful of Clubs every set of fans has doubts about their defences, basically because the standard of defending generally is not especially high. IMO it is more important ( for the increase from 17 th to 10 th) to score a few more and generally have a midfield that causes problems for the opposition - this helps the defence hugely and we've lacked it - and I think we will do that.

"The final ball" and " dodgy defence" will always dominate fans concerns but its the same for most clubs, and I don't think we'll have the first of those problems as much as some other sides.

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I personally think people are putting way too much stock in a few preseason games where we played a mixture of kids, unfit players, new signings and ended with a central defensive partnership of Baker and Sanchez.

Edited by dont_do_it_doug.
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Must admit I don't share the concerns over the defence.

Outside a handful of Clubs every set of fans has doubts about their defences, basically because the standard of defending generally is not especially high. IMO it is more important ( for the increase from 17 th to 10 th) to score a few more and generally have a midfield that causes problems for the opposition - this helps the defence hugely and we've lacked it - and I think we will do that.

"The final ball" and " dodgy defence" will always dominate fans concerns but its the same for most clubs, and I don't think we'll have the first of those problems as much as some other sides.

I think this comes down to people believing the symptoms and the illness are one and the same. Giving up goals? Defense must be terrible. Not scoring? Need a new striker.

The real problem for us the last several years, IMO, has been the midfield. Tim has taken great lengths to improve that part of the squad this season, and I think those improvements will pay off for both the defense and attack.

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I fear we'll lose to Bournemouth and well Man. United at home whatever their state just tends to look after itself dosen't it?

 

I dread to think what this thread and forum will look like if we lose our first two.

 

To me our season properly starts at Palace. Palace, Sunderland, Leicester and West Brom. I'd start getting concerned if we'd don't get 7-8 points from those 4 games.

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I fear we'll lose to Bournemouth and well Man. United at home whatever their state just tends to look after itself dosen't it?

 

I dread to think what this thread and forum will look like if we lose our first two.

 

To me our season properly starts at Palace. Palace, Sunderland, Leicester and West Brom. I'd start getting concerned if we'd don't get 7-8 points from those 4 games.

Our season starts against Bournemouth and ends against Arsenal. Bournemouth is a game we should be winning comfortably if we want to move forward.

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It's only one game though...we beat Arsenal away two seasons back and I thought we were going to have a really good season, didn't even reach 40 points and barely stayed up.

 

Similarly we've lost opening games before and finished top 8, I remember that season in the 90s when we lost opening 4 games under Sir Brian Little and still finished 7th although that was with a change of manager halfway through.

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I fear we'll lose to Bournemouth and well Man. United at home whatever their state just tends to look after itself dosen't it?

 

I dread to think what this thread and forum will look like if we lose our first two.

 

To me our season properly starts at Palace. Palace, Sunderland, Leicester and West Brom. I'd start getting concerned if we'd don't get 7-8 points from those 4 games.

Our season starts against Bournemouth and ends against Arsenal. Bournemouth is a game we should be winning comfortably if we want to move forward.

I agree with the main sentiment, every game counts, and we should be beating Bournemouth.

I think though most of us recognise that getting them first game isn't like getting them in January, especially as they are at home.

Their fans, and players, will be more up for this game than any other except Southampton and maybe Man United, so I actually think a draw would be a very good result, and a defeat as long as we play well would be acceptable too.

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I think 11th with a hope for around 7th but I'd just take avoiding the relegation scrap entirely for this year if I'm honest.

 

One thing that does please me is that if/when it should all suddenly go to shit with Sherwood there is now a squad of players there that any number of managers should be able to get a lot out of.

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No way to tell before seeing who else we get in defence. At the moment about 12th. If we get 1 or 2 really good defenders and a good winger/forward, top half.

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As long as we're not in the relegation conversation at the business end of the season, I'd be happy.

 

Exactly.  The money we've spent this summer isn't going to propel us into nosebleed territory, it's what we needed to do in order to at least be competitive.

 

In car terms, we're now roadworthy rather than the MOT failure we've been for the last few years.

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