Topic: Chasing the Title

[Paragon]

Just been in the National Football Museum in Manchester and was going to get a picture of the Premier League trophy but decided against it to not tempt fate.

I'm not normally a superstitious person either. Oh, and was v disappointed by the museum.

Ditto!

I visited a couple of months back and the steward asked if I'd like a photo with the trophy. I told him it wouldn't be appropriate.

[meady1981]

Almost, first went up when we scored in the last minute against Fulham on the 12th of February.

My memories going. Was at that game and thought it was in December.
Though I have mentally erased that season anyway.

[Advil]

Yeah, I think Klopp would shoot that down straight away.

13/14 was very different. It started as a joke (maybe TAW), then turned into 'BELIEVE!' and then at one stage almost everyone was convinced. Think there will be lessons learned from that.

I learned my lesson. Even if we are 15 points with 5 matches to go, I will not be celebrating as we could still lose the title by goal diff.

[reddebs]

Funny somebody mentioned hotel rooms being booked up as my husband asked if I'd checked them last night.

To put this into context, I've just turned 59 and have been planning many "things" I'd like to do in my 60th year. 

So far it's a couple of festivals, one of which I'll be djing at, walking a marathon for charity, holidaying abroad for the first time in nearly 20yrs and last night I told Paul I want to be in Liverpool if we make it.

Now we don't need accommodation as I have plenty of family over there to stay with but in any case how the hell do people know the date it'll happen!!

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[BobPaisley3]

Funny somebody mentioned hotel rooms being booked up as my husband asked if I'd checked them last night.

To put this into context, I've just turned 59 and have been planning many "things" I'd like to do in my 60th year. 

So far it's a couple of festivals, one of which I'll be djing at, walking a marathon for charity, holidaying abroad for the first time in nearly 20yrs and last night I told Paul I want to be in Liverpool if we make it.

Now we don't need accommodation as I have plenty of family over there to stay with but in any case how the hell do people know the date it'll happen!!

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I think most are basing it on the day Jordan gets his hands on the shiny thing with the potential bus parade the next day. Unless of course we’re still in Europe.

[reddebs]

I think most are basing it on the day Jordan gets his hands on the shiny thing with the potential bus parade the next day. Unless of course we’re still in Europe.

But that could be in April, it won't necessarily go to the final game.

I get the bus bit might be later especially if we've got European games still to play but I'm talking about when it's confirmed.

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[Sharado]

But that could be in April, it won't necessarily go to the final game.

We won't be presented with the actual trophy till the final game though, I think. *if we win it*

[Felch Aid]

Stating the obvious but it is just one game at a time.

They always say a solid defence wins titles and we've been ahead all season. What we lack is experience of getting over the line and more recently a perception of chokers and as fans a lot us start to doubt that we can do it and its up to us to enjoy it and believe we can do this.

[mattybeard]

Playing with some stats this morning and getting carried away but it's fun to share.

City have got an average of 2.33 points per game so far this season, we have 2.6ppg. If we dropped to 2.2 (which is 11 wins from 15) and City somehow increased to 2.5ppg, we would still win the league with 93 points against their 91.

[reddebs]

We won't be presented with the actual trophy till the final game though, I think.

Really?  Ok that changes things then.

It's been that long since I've taken notice I just assumed it was presented when it was won.

Fancy having to wait weeks to get your hands on it!!

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[Hij]

Really?  Ok that changes things then.

It's been that long since I've taken notice I just assumed it was presented when it was won.

Fancy having to wait weeks to get your hands on it!!

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We were discussing this the other day and I'm fairly certain City were presented the trophy on the last day last season when obviously they won it with games to spare.

[reddebs]

We were discussing this the other day and I'm fairly certain City were presented the trophy on the last day last season when obviously they won it with games to spare.

[emoji106]

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[Larse]

Loved that game yesterday. City supporters singing Kevin De Bruynes name after he avoided that second yellow card and then just a few minutes later they concede the 1-1 was probably. Turned of the TV twice during the game because I thought it was done, right after the 1-0 and after the 2-0 that was correctly not given. Newcastle played a really good game of football and I loved how they used their pressing to win the ball for their second goal.

This also showed that city will not win every game from here on, even if they win their next set of games.

[PhaseOfPlay]

Stating the obvious but it is just one game at a time.

They always say a solid defence wins titles and we've been ahead all season. What we lack is experience of getting over the line and more recently a perception of chokers and as fans a lot us start to doubt that we can do it and its up to us to enjoy it and believe we can do this.

Not to be an ass, but everything in this post is slightly more myth than fact

An outstanding attack is more useful than a solid defence in winning titles

And we can actually put out a starting 11 that have all won leagues (with a slight bit of jiggery pokery with positions)

A solid defence does help though

And as a collection of players, we haven't yet experienced the winning of a title together

But they will

[Crosby Nick]

We were discussing this the other day and I'm fairly certain City were presented the trophy on the last day last season when obviously they won it with games to spare.

They were away at Southampton last game, think they would have been presented it at their last home game?

[rushie9]

we will drop some points at some stage for sure..just wish we can build the cushion when we can.. surely too they will drop their too

[redk84]

At the moment I am just hoping we can keep our first 11 as fit as possible....and so any injuries will have less and less impact on our season...having the main lads fit will give us the best chance to win anything

Just had a bit of a defensive nightmare (which we're not completely out the woods on), so really want them back and settled into a tight unit again with the business end of the season coming up

[Roady]

Loved that game yesterday. City supporters singing Kevin De Bruynes name after he avoided that second yellow card and then just a few minutes later they concede the 1-1 was probably. Turned of the TV twice during the game because I thought it was done, right after the 1-0 and after the 2-0 that was correctly not given. Newcastle played a really good game of football and I loved how they used their pressing to win the ball for their second goal.

This also showed that city will not win every game from here on, even if they win their next set of games.

Don’t agree with your last sentence. Yes they have to go some to do that. But it isn’t impossible. Yesterday’s game for them is gone. Every game is different

[rushie9]

longer MC stay at every competition.... more chances they will drop pt...yes.mu can criticise they hv a bigger squad but still..

[phonic]

we will drop some points at some stage for sure..just wish we can build the cushion when we can.. surely too they will drop their too

We certainly will drop points at some stage and, it's likely City will do again too. We just need to make sure we don't drop more than they do. Win tonight and we can afford ourselves a slip-up somewhere along the line which we'll hopefully be able to deal with.

It feels different this time; previous title challenges have been purely on emotion and passion. This time feels much more professional. We may or may not end up having a massive party in May but the past few months have shown this squad is different to anything we've had in a long time in terms of attitude and application.

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

Not to be an ass, but everything in this post is slightly more myth than fact

An outstanding attack is more useful than a solid defence in winning titles

And we can actually put out a starting 11 that have all won leagues (with a slight bit of jiggery pokery with positions)

A solid defence does help though

And as a collection of players, we haven't yet experienced the winning of a title together

But they will

I've seen the analysis on title winners and a goal equating to a point but what that doesn't do is account for the spread of goals over various games which is where the solid defence helps.
Over recent seasons we have arguably done enough to win games by scoring 1 or especially 2, but then conceding a couple of daft ones, whereas a title winner with a solid defence takes the 1-0 or 2-0.

[Ski]

To my mind nothing has changed. 3pts tonight is the only thing I’m concerned with. Come on Redmen!!

[Dench57]

I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl on hippy crack, 6 more fucking hours come onnnn

[Lotus Eater]

Different kind of pressure tonight.

After City's defeat, we've got to show we can go out there and capitalize.

We've just got to play our usual game and we should win.

[Ciara (with a capital "C")]

But that could be in April, it won't necessarily go to the final game.

I get the bus bit might be later especially if we've got European games still to play but I'm talking about when it's confirmed.

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There are a lot of sites now where you can book rooms without paying for them. So I would imagine people are doing that - perhaps booking up every weekend towards the end of the season where we have a home game. Some of them you can cancel with just 48hrs notice without being charged, so as long as people can cancel them in time then they are sorted.

Would imagine some chancers would probably even book multiple up and try and sell them on for a higher fee knowing the demand would be high.

[the_red_pill]

Let's just hope this break doesn't have any serious consequences tonight.
I want to us playing like a team that's rejuvenated instead of a team that looks like they've had a long rest.

[reddebs]

There are a lot of sites now where you can book rooms without paying for them. So I would imagine people are doing that - perhaps booking up every weekend towards the end of the season where we have a home game. Some of them you can cancel with just 48hrs notice without being charged, so as long as people can cancel them in time then they are sorted.

Would imagine some chancers would probably even book multiple up and try and sell them on for a higher fee knowing the demand would be high.

Thats true.

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[Brian Blessed]

The only thing that pisses me off (but only a little bit) about this challenge is that *IF* we do the unthinkable, it will immediately be written off by both the press and opposition fans as "Congratulations, you're as successful as Leicester." (Some fans are already saying it in preparation).

But let's just look at this realistically - Leicester had zero opposition from any of the big clubs that year.

To put it in perspective, we could lose 8 of our last 15 games and still equal their league-winning points total of 81.

Does anyone think that 81 would get us anywhere near the title this year?
I certainly don't.

Anyway - Moan over.  Fuck it.
Let's just concentrate on Leicester tonight and see where the next 15 games takes us.

Allez, Allez, Allez.

Leicester have won the league 19 times?

[Pie Eyed]

Leicester have won the league 19 times?

That's the point.

These fuckers all want to forget that football actually existed prior to th inception of the Premier League.

It's just their own way of belittling any of our achievements (similar to the old "How many cups in the last 10 years" stuff).

My point still stands though - Leicester won it with a points tally that might not even guarantee top 4 this year (81).

*IF* we do this, we will most definitely be doing it the hard way, and whether we finish first or second, our points total will most likely beat the winning totals of at least 18 of the past 26 year's PL winners (only 8 of 26 have finished on 90+)

[killer-heels]

I learned my lesson. Even if we are 15 points with 5 matches to go, I will not be celebrating as we could still lose the title by goal diff.

Speak for yourself. If we are 15 points ahead with 5 games left then the celebrations will have started. Probably even before.

[Jm55]

That's the point.

These fuckers all want to forget that football actually existed prior to th inception of the Premier League.

It's just their own way of belittling any of our achievements (similar to the old "How many cups in the last 10 years" stuff).

My point still stands though - Leicester won it with a points tally that might not even guarantee top 4 this year (81).

*IF* we do this, we will most definitely be doing it the hard way, and whether we finish first or second, our points total will most likely beat the winning totals of at least 18 of the past 26 year's PL winners (only 8 of 26 have finished on 90+)

Honestly mate, who cares.

I’m not trying to be dismissive, but what some oik on Twitter makes of our success, or lack of it, is about as far away from the forefront of my mind as it’s possible to be.

[Pie Eyed]

Honestly mate, who cares.

I’m not trying to be dismissive, but what some oik on Twitter makes of our success, or lack of it, is about as far away from the forefront of my mind as it’s possible to be.

Please - Feel free to be as dismissive as you want.

I just need somewhere to vent, being surrounded by Untied "fans" at work, and even having the misfortune/stupidity to have married one over 20 years ago.

Can you imagine how football conversations go in my house?  I hadn't even MET her when we last won (we met in 1991).

 

[deFacto please, you bastards]

When the Mancs sing about how many league titles they've won, they don't say they won the league only 13 times!

[Qston]

I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl on hippy crack, 6 more fucking hours come onnnn

But you are a schoolgirl on hippy crack !

[dirks digglers]

Two things we've done really well this season (as opposed to almost every season I can remember for two decades) are close out games when we are a goal up and come back to win or draw when we have gone behind. This really builds huge positivity and confidence. It has always been us scoring a late goal to win or save a game (Eve/Chelsea) or we have come back from conceding first to win (Arsenal @ home/Palace). There's a euphoria and feelgood factor that goes with that. There have been very few occasions where it's felt like we dropped points from a good position (Arse away/City away). Nothing is worse than repeatedly letting slip a winning position or dominating a game when behind without finding an end product and carving out a result. By contrast City have now lost from ahead three times in recent times. That's demoralising.

[Paragon]

When the Mancs sing about how many league titles they've won, they don't say they won the league only 13 times!

In May 2011, they jumped from "11 times" to "19 times". If we catch them again, you can bet they'll go back to "13 times".

[Andar]

Please - Feel free to be as dismissive as you want.

I just need somewhere to vent, being surrounded by Untied "fans" at work, and even having the misfortune/stupidity to have married one over 20 years ago.

Can you imagine how football conversations go in my house?  I hadn't even MET her when we last won (we met in 1991).

 

Let them know it's nothing like the Leicester City win, considering we could notch up +90 points and go down as collecting one of the highest points total in PL history. At the moment we have the 3rd best start in English football history.

Leicester won it with a points total that equalled to the same amount that the average Utd side picked up last season. That just about sums it up.

If we win it with a points total in the high 70s or low 80s, then fair enough they will have a point, but that simply won't be the case.

[scalatore]

If City win all their remaining games, we can drop 6 points. So 39 from the 45 remaining. That's 2.6ppg. Currently we're on 2.61ppg. So we just need to keep doing our thing. No small feat since we've been excellent so far to get to 2.61ppg, but easier than City's current scenario, in which they might have to win every game and still not have any guarantee that they'd win the league.

There's a long way to go, and although I'm confident we'll do it, it doesn't feel like 2013/14. I was bullish and excited a long way out that season. This year I just want points on the board. If we can be on 75 points in the next five or six games then I might start to get my head turned, but right now I just want to quietly enjoy the season.

(And just because I have the numbers in front of me: City are on 2.33ppg, which is about 33 points from their 42 remaining if they stay at the same rate - 88 or 89 total. If they don't raise their game soon, our job's going to look a lot easier.)

[spider-neil]

If City win all their remaining games, we can drop 6 points.

You're talking like we've already won the Leicester game. I'm sure City were also as dismissive of Newcastle before playing them.

[scalatore]

You're talking like we've already won the Leicester game. I'm sure City were also as dismissive of Newcastle before playing them.

No, I'm not. It's basic maths. If we lose the Leicester game, how many points ahead are we?