Or if we only played the top clubs every week we'd have 52 points as against the rest of the league every week we'd have 68 points So our range of points would lie between 52 and 68.
Sixty points seems to be our optimum figure and unless there is another freak season we are doomed to non-qualification for the CL. We can't guarantee taking so many points off the big clubs every season and we will have to hope that our returns from the other teams sees an improvement in order to maintain our 6th-7th place in the league.

Even then it's a some way short of the likes of RVP, Suarez, Bale, Benteke and Michu. Even a Ba, Lambert or Lukake (surely some of which could have worked in our range) would have made a massive difference.

Obviously Ba's at Chelsea now, I suspect Lukaku will be back at Stamford bridge next year and Lambert will have richer admirers, but what about someone a little lower down the tree. Le Fondre has looked deadly as a supersub in a Reading side that wasn't exactly overwhelming opponents and Wigan's Kone has looked dangerous the times I've seen him.

Berbatov's also looking to be on his way out of Fulham this summer apparently and although he's obviously not going to run the channels and isn't getting any younger, £5M for a couple of seasons of extra guile up front could make a big difference and at least give us options.

> Newcastle - 2 pts lost to two wrongly ruled out goals
> QPR - potential 2 pts (and knock on to Derby with erroneous Pienaar sending off)
> Norwich - 2 pts lost to a wrongly awarded last minute free kick
> Man City - 2 pts lost to a wrongly awarded penalty kick
> Liverpool - 2 pts lost to a wrongly disallowed goal

There have also been numerous unawarded penalties (vs Reading and Wigan most notably), which Moyes has expressed anger about that I'm going to average up to another 2 pts.

Granted we got one or two decisions also. We should have lost the first derby last minute (1 point back) and Fellaini's handball in a goal vs Southampton shouldn't have stood (2-1 rather than 3-1 win).

In summary we're looking at potentially 11 points lost through poor officiating, even if this is argued down to 8 or even 6 it's the difference between a good season and a great CL-breaking one.

Naturally we didn't help ourselves either, inexplicable performances like Sunderland and Wigan where we didn't turn up ain key games and failure to capitalise on dominance (Fulham away is starkest example) also took their toll.

The point I guess I'm trying to make here is that we're not actually way short of CL at all even with the current squad. With fairer refereeing and a little more luck/composure up front we'd be up in the top 3 now. If we hadn't inexplicably fallen apart at Goodison we could be in a cup final too and talking about an amazing year and excitedly looking ahead rather than the damp squib we're left with.

That said, 6th place in the PL should by no means be considered disaster, we may have come up short for Europe this time, but yet again we were right in contention for most of the season with many external pundits fancying us for a top 4 slot.

I see the early season period as a real highlight in terms of our play, but its also the reason we fell short. Id love us to playe like that every week though. Great entertainment.

For some reason I have never liked Newcastle, and would ‘luv it’ if they were the ones to be relegated this season. And they can take Gosling, whose career has Rodwelled since leaving us, along with them.

Not in a generous mood this morning.

I'd define it another way. You'd put your house on none of the top seven getting relegated next season, but you wouldn't make that bet with any single choice from the bottom 13.

They'll all be competing for safety, and is not something that we have to contend with.

One year of Chelsea spending would make so much difference to this team. A top striker, as pointed out, is an absolute must. As is another attacking creative player, and central midfield replacement. It would be incredibly irritating if we lose Moyes, and some of this squad, without never having the chance to compete... even for one season.

I know I'm dreaming (and would also love Newcastle to go down)... But — Ben Arfa, Cabaye and Remy... imagine how much better we would look then?

There's that money thing again

a) They can't play 30 yards away from the nearest blue shirt, take on 3 defenders on their own and score.

b) They can't control Jag's "passes".

c) They're no good at getting on the end of their own crosses(after all there's no other fucker in the box when the only striker has been asked to run the channels).

We've had two natural goal scorers at the club under Moyes; Jelavic and Yakubu. Both scored for fun and both turned shit very quickly. None of our other recent strikers have done particularly well for us.

Either you can believe that all the strikers we've ever had are shit and their good spells were a fluke. Or maybe something the management is doing with them is causing them to go off the boil. My vote is for the latter option.

Its clear Moyes likes his strikers to be team players and work hard. Our build ups are generally very lethargic and we're too cautious in committing players into the penalty area. These are the main reasons that our strikers suffer. They're either not in the danger area, or when they are, they're out numbered 4-1 by a defence which has had time to settle.

Moyes fault?

The response to my argument has often been that all teams can point to bad luck and games they deserved to win. What's your take on this? Are we unluckier than the rest?

That said, what do you expect when he's probably knackered from running channels and/or fighting off 3 defenders on his own.

He's probably very conscious of the fact that he's not doing the one thing most people measure strikers against, so of course his performances are going to suffer, even when he has gilt-edged chances because his confidence is completely shot.

So, yes I do think Moyes is largely responsible for that. Having a striker be more of a team player or not giving that striker sufficient support in the final third has consequences.

Steve, Yak has scored more than 1 in 2 for the 3 club's he's played for since he left us; as for Jelavic only time will tell.

Don't believe the hype Chris James, Suarez shouldn't have been on the pitch to score that goal in the first place.