The Mail Bag
Title Chance!
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I just received a particularly heavy knock on the head.
In my unconscious state I dreamt that we were 11 points off the leaders in the hunt for the Premier League title at the end of January. The fictional season had been an up-and-down affair, but we were really beginning to put some real form together and there was a buzz amongst the fans.
A draw in the recent derby game at Anfield had given renewed expectation and belief to the players and supporters as we marched on in lion-hearted fashion. The chance to steal points from Arsenal and United was in the back of our minds and suddenly the gulf didn't seem so large.
With Fellaini, Saha, Valente and Yobo to join the team, Moyes had options for the first time in a while. James Vaughan was chomping at the bit and with his injury problems seemingly behind him would he be available for the final push?.......
I'm not a Doddy and try to be realistic with my praise and criticism of Moyes, tactics, players etc... as anybody who's read anything from me on here will testify to, but... maybe, just maybe, we could stage the biggest upset in Premier League history!
If nothing else, it's nice to dream!
Ben Howard, Posted 22/01/2009 at 11:15:38
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I would say Aston Villa have a better chance than we do.
?Excellence can be obtained if you:
... care more than others think is wise;
... risk more than others think is safe;
... dream more than others think is practical;
... expect more than others think is possible.?....
or Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
How time flies, seems like only last week when Brock?s back pass let him in, and the rest, well the rest is history.
I don?t think an Everton team will ever be that low again and win as much as we did in such a short space of time as back then. And as for us being champions of the league for the first time since 1987, it?s not going to happen. Common sense dictates that and any genuine supporters who has watched the game for long enough will share those sentiments.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
But Ben is right ? we are still, despite the start, in a position to get up there. And we are going well. Things can fall apart, but I would trust this bunch of players to give us a real go at it. And to echo another thread ? if the people in the game, especially the refs and the media see us as winners, then things will go for us. And they will.
I would definately settle for that! of course Rooney could then shove it up his arse!
That’s the only place we’ll win the league until Mr Platini gets his way.
Piece by piece, Moyes is slowly assembling a formidable team that is begining to show it is close to even competing against the ?the big 4?. English clubs are considered to be the best in Europe so where does this leave us?
If Moyes can continue following his blueprint, bringing in 1 big money signing a season, take a chance on a lower division player on the cheap and bolster that with another potential gem of a loan signing with option to buy, and then introduce the odd exceptional talent through the youth system, I think we really could be winning the title in another 6 years.
Moyes should also nick Steve Bruce's idea of taking the best young international players from around the world with the best records and reputations like Valencia and Zaki etc.
Back to reality, we COULD finish as high as 3rd but we would need luck on our side and our tiny squad would need to hold up a lot better than we did last year.
We have a better chance of winning the FA Cup. New stricker would help.
Call me pessimistic, but until we hit 40 points, I?m not going to entertain even proper european thoughts. Earlier in the season, our defensive record suggested we would be spending next year in the championship. It's the same defence ? so lets hope they dont have another wobble.
It would take a run of games of record proportions for us to be relegated this season ? but you?re suggesting the same record run of games as fantasy to win the league. You know, 17 wins v 17 losses, or whatever.
Personally, I think we will finish up with 50 odd points, which will put us somewhere from 5th to 8th.
BUT... my fear is another burn-out because the lads are having to play continually without adequate squad support. We MUST get some re-inforcements during this window to make sure we at least stay 6th or better... there will be suspensions and injuries and if it's to certain players like Jags, Arteta and Howard then we will really struggle as we have no replacements at the level they play at.
I cannot for the life of me understand how we cannot compete with seemingly any other club in the league when it comes to buying players. I do not believe we are that broke, there is no way my ex-wife would believe me when I told her I was!!
Why should we just blindly believe BK and DM? Money has come in for finishing high in the league plus the European appearances... yet other clubs who are consistently lower every year are more active than we are. This is rubbish and not to be believed by any thinking man.
Think about it, we’ve only got 4 proper hard games left - Arsenal (h), Man Utd (a), Chelsea (a) and Villa (a) - of which Arsenal and Villa are definately winnable, and Man Utd and Chelsea aren’t scoring much of late against weaker opposition so quite possibly draws there... so why not?
Couple the above with winning most of our remaining home games - against weak opposition, I may add - and a few more away wins (not necessarily a lot more away wins, might I also add) and I think we could be up there with the top 3 and the redshite and Villa come the end of May.
Obviously it all is a massive ask given the size of our squad, injuries etc. but add a few loan signings and players returning from injury, and more importantly keep up the excellent team spirit and passion we’ve incurred over the past 2 months, then we certainly have reason to BELIEVE, never mind dream.
Hindsight is a great thing I know but also if we would have won the home games we should have e.g. Blackburn, Portsmouth, Newcastle and Boro we would only be 1 POINT off the top, rather than 11.
You never know what might happen these next couple of months.
NSNO up the blues!
After so many yo-yo years, in terms of final league position, it is strange to see what is now deemed a "poor season".
The Club must aspire to play in European competitions every year, just to win a domestic trophy would make everyone happy and kill two birds with one stone.
Any arguments over the benefits of each of the European competitions overlook the fact that to the rest of the world if you do not play in European club competitions you are not on the world football radar.
There is nothing wrong with aiming for the top, and there is also no failure in getting close to the summit. The only failure is giving up on the idea of success and not giving it a go !!!
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum is our motto and we have to accept that sometimes giving our best efforts will have to suffice rather than only being satisfied when we are the best of all.
A guarranteed 6th place is a no-brainer.
What pupose does he serve exactly? Was billed as the brightest talent and the player to watch by some before Euro 2004 started. Honestly.
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1 Posted 22/01/2009 at 16:29:22
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I reckon if we dont fall away same as last season third is easily within our grasp, but the title? come on