Will we finish above Newcastle?

[Leftback99]

Not much between the best XIs? My god some of you are losing your marbles.

Pope, Trippier, Guimarães, Saint Maximin all walk into our team over our equivalent. Others like Botman, Targett, Joelinton there's really not that much in it. Take the blinkers off.

We have better depth that's all.

 

[Wilt]

Maybe? …they’ll be in the bun fight for 6th

 

[BuzzKillington]

Yes. We won’t finished ahead of all West Ham, Wolves and Brighton though. 7th awaits.

9th would await in that scenario.

 

[Focusmate]

Yes we almost certainly will - even if we have a poor start we will have a better team/squad - the more worrying question is whether we will in 1/2/3 seasons time, and km not confident at all on that one.

 

[Mickeza]

9th would await in that scenario.

Nah. I’m saying one of them will finish above us. Not all. I’m haven’t lost all hope. Yet.

 

[diarm]

City, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea obviously finish ahead of us this year.

I reckon Arsenal and West Ham are odds on to do so as well.

Then we're in a shit fight with Brighton, Leicester, Newcastle, Wolves and Villa in the 7th-11th range. Palace might even drag themselves up into that battle.

I'm confident we'll finish ahead of Forest, Bournemouth, Leeds, Southampton, Brentford, Fulham and Everton.

 

[Kill3r7]

Yes but not by much. I have Newcastle finishing somewhere between 8-12. They don’t score enough goals. If somehow Newcastle manages to break into the top 6 this year then the battle for the top 4 next year will be ridiculous. Essentially 5 teams battling over 2 spots and presumably the teams who make Top4 this year will have a recruiting advantage.

 

[LeVoyageur]

Yes, no doubt about.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Good grief.

Newcastle dropped points this week!

 

[Leftback99]

Not much between the best XIs? My god some of you are losing your marbles.

Still convinced?

 

[Chief123]

Still convinced?

Yes. It’s still a stupid hyperbole post. A disaster start for us doesn’t change that.

 

[croadyman]

City, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea obviously finish ahead of us this year.

I reckon Arsenal and West Ham are odds on to do so as well.

Then we're in a shit fight with Brighton, Leicester, Newcastle, Wolves and Villa in the 7th-11th range. Palace might even drag themselves up into that battle.

I'm confident we'll finish ahead of Forest, Bournemouth, Leeds, Southampton, Brentford, Fulham and Everton.

Not confident we recover from this

 

[C3Pique]

I bet a workmate £100 we would...

Right now I don't think we will.

 

[Trequarista10]

I think we'll finish within a handful of points from Newcastle. It's a genuine risk - we currently look more likely to fall behind Newcastle (or another mid table team who has a great season) than we look like overtaking Arsenal, Spurs or Chelsea, all of whom have been improving their teams. Its not a comfortable position to be in. Were more likely to finish 7th or lower than we are to finish 5th or higher. We should be aiming to push for top 4 and have a comfortable gap over 7th in order to minimise the risk of some misfortune. As it stands, we pretty much have to perform as well as this team is possibly capable of to finish 6th.

Still too early to predict exactly how our season will end up, as 3 or 4 signings before the window closes (even if they are not the quality we aspire to long term, but can be an immediate improvement) will make a big difference. 3 or 4 signings and top 4 is an outside chance (but still unlikely), but at least 6th would seem like a safer bet.

 

[Judas]

At the moment we look like the worst team in the league, so it’s bit hard to say with confidence who we’ll finish above.

 

[Chief123]

They got 14 more points than us in the second half of last season so I don’t think this is a ridiculous question

You still feeling giddy about this?

 

[Chief123]

I'm not confident at all. They've had better results over a long period of time now and there is not that much between the best XIs.

Not much between the best XIs? My god some of you are losing your marbles.

Pope, Trippier, Guimarães, Saint Maximin all walk into our team over our equivalent. Others like Botman, Targett, Joelinton there's really not that much in it. Take the blinkers off.

We have better depth that's all.

As I stated at the time, you were being ridiculous.

Still convinced?

Yes. You?

 

[Leftback99]

As I stated at the time, you were being ridiculous.


Yes. You?

We've spent £160m since that post.

 

[Chief123]

We've spent £160m since that post.

Poor back tracking. Newcastle also added a £65m striker since then.

We’ve added casemiro and Antony since then. Before we added either of them, your post was still ridiculous. Without those 2 we still have a better XI than Newcastle.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

You still feeling giddy about this?

At the time things were looking bleak for us in terms of the transfer market and I thought this was a decent benchmark for us. As others have said, we’ve made two big signings since then and also Newcastle have had an unexpectedly average start, mainly drawing their games.

 

[Chief123]

At the time things were looking bleak for us in terms of the transfer market and I thought this was a decent benchmark for us. As others have said, we’ve made two big signings since then and also Newcastle have had an unexpectedly average start, mainly drawing their games.

It was an over reaction. Like I said, even without our 2 new signings since then we still have a significantly better team than Newcastle’s. And that’s with Newcastle adding a quality striker to their team.

Newcastle have not had an average start. They’ve had a normal start. Their form for second half of last season was abnormal and not sustainable for them.

 

[wolvored]

Eventually Newcastle will turn into another City, so enjoy it while you can.
Hopefully we get sold and can at least give the top of the table a fair crack.

 

[golden_blunder]

At the time things were looking bleak for us in terms of the transfer market and I thought this was a decent benchmark for us. As others have said, we’ve made two big signings since then and also Newcastle have had an unexpectedly average start, mainly drawing their games.

It’s why people should wait til the end of transfer windows before making their predictions

 

[Leftback99]

Poor back tracking. Newcastle also added a £65m striker since then.

We’ve added casemiro and Antony since then. Before we added either of them, your post was still ridiculous. Without those 2 we still have a better XI than Newcastle.

Not back tracking at all. It's a fact that we've spent a lot to improve since that post.

I never said we didn't, I said it was close. It still is. Nice try though.

 

[flappyjay]

Poor back tracking. Newcastle also added a £65m striker since then.

We’ve added casemiro and Antony since then. Before we added either of them, your post was still ridiculous. Without those 2 we still have a better XI than Newcastle.

Why was even making this kneejerk prediction 1: before the window had closed and 2: when everyone knew we would be still to bring some players in.

 

[Chief123]

Not back tracking at all. It's a fact that we've spent a lot to improve since that post.

I never said we didn't, I said it was close. It still is. Nice try though.

The fact you still think it’s close is further stupidity.

 

[wangyu]

Nah a new castle is better than an old trafford

 

[DJ_21]

Easy. This shouldn’t even be up for discussion. Our squad is miles better. The question should be… will they take over us in the next few seasons? I think we finish 4th/3rd this season. A lot of people had West Ham and Brighton to finish above us this year before the season starts. West Ham won’t, I think Brighton will drop of a bit now while they get use to there new manager. The team we have to worry about is arsenal, there on the rise. City always finish above us, same with Liverpool. We’re fighting with Chelsea/arsenal and spurs for the other top 4 places. Although Liverpool having a bit of a blip this season has helped us.

 

[Tigersam]

I have just watched their game on Match of the Day and they are looking decent.

Dare I say it: their Bruno is better than your Bruno, currently.

It will be close come May as to who is above who, I think. Man City then Arsenal, Chelsea then either Man United or Newcastle, followed by Spurs or Liverpool would be my prediction right now.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I have just watched their game on Match of the Day and they are looking decent.

Dare I say it: their Bruno is better than your Bruno, currently.

It will be close come May as to who is above who, I think. Man City then Arsenal, Chelsea then either Man United or Newcastle, followed by Spurs or Liverpool would be my prediction right now.

Stop smoking man.

 

[Suedesi]

Man City, Chelsea, United, Liver-polo would be my top 4 for the seasono

 

[Moby]

They can finish over Liverpool.

 

[The Cat]

I have just watched their game on Match of the Day and they are looking decent.

Dare I say it: their Bruno is better than your Bruno, currently.

It will be close come May as to who is above who, I think. Man City then Arsenal, Chelsea then either Man United or Newcastle, followed by Spurs or Liverpool would be my prediction right now.

You don't see the absolutely certain Arsenal fall away happening then?

They are as likely to come second as I would be shagging Kylie.

 

[bond19821982]

I have just watched their game on Match of the Day and they are looking decent.

Dare I say it: their Bruno is better than your Bruno, currently.

It will be close come May as to who is above who, I think. Man City then Arsenal, Chelsea then either Man United or Newcastle, followed by Spurs or Liverpool would be my prediction right now.

I like how you put Arsenal there after City.

 

[M18Red1]

They’re looking good at the moment but I’d be shocked if they finish above us. I think we can get top 4 and Newcastle maybe 6/7th

 

[el diablorojo]

My god do they love their petrodollar takeover - tifo (is it?) display and all. Pathetic really but whatever and whataboutery at me all you want but every point we win in this league isn’t tainted by a dodgy owner or state sponsorship. Creaming themselves over a victory we handed to them on a plate - I’d be shocked if they finished above Man Utd and I hope they don’t.

 

[Leftback99]

Last 38 games, Newcastle 59 points, us 56.

It's closer than people think unless we get our act together.

 

[Zlatattack]

Why are people obsessed with the second half of last year? Most of the players had downed tools for it.

 

[Nero]

We'll comfortably finish above them. It won't even be close.

They'll be 8th-10th this season.

 

[Spaghetti]

We'll comfortably finish above them. It won't even be close.

They'll be 8th-10th this season.

So will we if we keep being 4-0 down at half time on the regular