Are we strong enough for a relegation dog fight?

AlargeClaret · Post by **AlargeClaret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 9:59 am

For me it’s a huge YES . We all know we’re pretty much officially in a relegation dog fight . Yes , we’re poor ( and injuries have been cruel) but the fight I’ve seen the last few weeks has been excellent . The media and “ top club luvvies” are hating us more than ever . Personally think this is just what we need and a fortress/ siege mentality could have the Turf really rocking and be hugely influential factor at home .

Hudds /Cardiff/Fulham/BHA are the only teams I’d class as “ worse” and that’s enough . If we can find a bit of home form there’s plenty of ponts to be had .

evensteadiereddie · Post by **evensteadiereddie** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:01 am

Who you calling a ponts ?
No, you're right - we'll look back on this season has a battle well won despite the corruption on view yesterday.

claret2018 · Post by **claret2018** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:50 am

Playing ‘well’ and having fight is all well and good if you’re getting points from games. With the last 2 games we’ve played well according to some, but have been soundly beaten in both games.

It’s not looking good. I think we’ll finish bottom by some distance.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:54 am

claret2018 wrote:Playing ‘well’ and having fight is all well and good if you’re getting points from games. With the last 2 games we’ve played well according to some, but have been soundly beaten in both games.

It’s not looking good. I think we’ll finish bottom by some distance.

Take Huddersfield for example, what makes you think they are going to finish ahead of us by some distance.

hampsteadclaret · Post by **hampsteadclaret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:55 am

OP makes a fair point.

We haven’t really played well generally in this early part of the season.. we all recognise that.

However, from the Liverpool game to now, things have been better.. the old fight, desire and togetherness has been apparent. We got nothing at Wembley despite putting in an excellent defensive display and a referee again let us down yesterday.

A seige mentality at Turf Moor where the fans believe that we are up against it, and not getting a fair deal, could work well for us.
It has done before.

Archer · Post by **Archer** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:55 am

claret2018 wrote:Playing ‘well’ and having fight is all well and good if you’re getting points from games. With the last 2 games we’ve played well according to some, but have been soundly beaten in both games.

It’s not looking good. I think we’ll finish bottom by some distance.

“Soundly beaten?”

mdd2 · Post by **mdd2** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:57 am

Sorry but watching how the likes of Southampton Cardiff and even Huddersfield break out and their speed we will not get the points we need imo.
24 points from 20 games is a very tall order with the players we have.

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 11:00 am

I don't think so. We are currently where we ought to be in the league. We have some poor players for the level we are at with especially glaring inadequacies and shortcomings when it comes to creating and scoring goals. With away results so poor it puts incredible pressure on how we perform at home and I just don't believe there is anywhere near enough quality for a significant upturn in results here.

jojomk1 · Post by **jojomk1** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 11:01 am

The next three games will give us a good indication

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 11:01 am

mdd2 wrote:Sorry but watching how the likes of Southampton Cardiff and even Huddersfield break out and their speed we will not get the points we need imo.
24 points from 20 games is a very tall order with the players we have.

So, Huddersfield can break at speed, yet have scored less than us, got less points than us.

NL Claret · Post by **NL Claret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 11:01 am

We need to get JBG and Brady fully fit, can't see Defour having much impact any more so a central midfield with strength and power is essential. Similar in the left back position, if Ward is not going to fit anytime soon we need a left back to replace Taylor.

We have the fight for a relegation battle however as it stands we don't have the quality. The siege mentality is required and Dyche is doing a good job getting it going away. It will not be one for the feint hearted, that goes for players and fans / UTC posters.

ClaretLoup · Post by **ClaretLoup** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:01 pm

We are in a group of four with the highest number of defeats and massive goal differences. We need to win all the three games against the other three and bodge 15 points from somewhere else.

The Domesday scenario is if one of the other three put together a run and we don't respond.

AlargeClaret · Post by **AlargeClaret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:05 pm

claret2018 wrote:Playing ‘well’ and having fight is all well and good if you’re getting points from games. With the last 2 games we’ve played well according to some, but have been soundly beaten in both games.

It’s not looking good. I think we’ll finish bottom by some distance.

Tbf our last 2 opponents are European superclubs ,both away from home ,one who sneaked it deep into injury time and another who were in the rack at 2-1 before dealing with an offside goal .

Tough , oh yes it’s gonna be a scrap but if there’s one team in the prem I’d be backing in a scrap it’s us

Murger · Post by **Murger** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:05 pm

Nope we are not. We cannot keep clean sheets, we cannot pass a ball, we cannot control a ball and we cannot score for ****. We'll struggle to attract the required quality in January.

JohnDearyMe · Post by **JohnDearyMe** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:18 pm

Murger wrote:Nope we are not. We cannot keep clean sheets, we cannot pass a ball, we cannot control a ball and we cannot score for ****. We'll struggle to attract the required quality in January.

We kept a clean sheet in our last home game which we also won

Aclaret · Post by **Aclaret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:19 pm

I don't really care if we get relegated......did I say that.
I hate what the Premier league has become, wish the top clubs would bugger off and make their own little corrupt league.

Murger · Post by **Murger** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:19 pm

JohnDearyMe wrote:We kept a clean sheet in our last home game which we also won

So 1 clean sheets equates to being able to do it on a regular basis?

JohnDearyMe · Post by **JohnDearyMe** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:21 pm

Murger wrote:So 1 clean sheets equates to being able to do it on a regular basis?

It has been a poor season so far undoubtedly but i hope you can recognise that there has been some improvements recently which give us a bit more hope

NL Claret · Post by **NL Claret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:22 pm

Murger wrote:So 1 clean sheets equates to being able to do it on a regular basis?

Are you suggesting we should be keeping clean sheets at Spurs and Arsenal? Do many other teams outside of the top 6 do that?

ClaretAndJew · Post by **ClaretAndJew** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:33 pm

If we stay up it'll be more down to the poor opposition than any upturn in quality from us. Its almost like we're not clicking as previous, this "strong jaw" mentality has gone and Dyche bleating out the same tired stuff after each defeat. Its like we're going through the motions. What's the answer? Only time will tell.

bfcjg · Post by **bfcjg** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:39 pm

We are physically strong enough, a bit of flair in January and we will be safe.

jurek · Post by **jurek** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 1:20 pm

Although performances seem to have improved in the last 4 games
and most of the players seem up for it (especially those in defence) we're still only
averaging less than 9 attempts on goal with only 3 on target.
Possession stats are even more revealing ( 67% against 33% for us) even though we've
managed to reduce the average shots against and on target (21 to 14 and 6.5 to 5.5) for the opposition in the last 4 games
compared to the previous 4 games.

Not a significant number but then the opposition has been tougher in the last 4 games
so some progress there.

Overall insufficient progress to suggest we can pull away from the relegation dog fight at present.

Our next 4 league games are Everton, West Ham and Fulham at home with Huddersfield away
and a cup tie against Barnsley in between.

If we can manage to get 7 or more points from those 4 (with wins against Huddersfield and Fulham
imperative) then we may still be in with a chance and it will give us hope that we may be strong enough.

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 1:30 pm

ClaretAndJew wrote:If we stay up it'll be more down to the poor opposition than any upturn in quality from us. Its almost like we're not clicking as previous, this "strong jaw" mentality has gone and Dyche bleating out the same tired stuff after each defeat. Its like we're going through the motions. What's the answer? Only time will tell.

I think you are right with 'it's like we're going through the motions' especially away from home where I think we expect to lose. Momentum needs to be built but regular defeats thwarts that happening.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 1:37 pm

But weren't we getting beaten every game away from home two years ago? We just seemed to ho through the motions then as well.

The big difference was our home form seemed to save us every other week.

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 1:43 pm

We're firmly set in a relegation place now,though. I don't think we ever found ourselves as low in league placings as we are now.

Longside4evr · Post by **Longside4evr** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 1:52 pm

Thing is we were going to sides last season in with a chance of taking the points off virtually every club season before same as so we have moved neither forward or backwards its as you where
Big fight on our hands
This proves last year was a freak UTC

Murger · Post by **Murger** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:10 pm

NL Claret wrote:Are you suggesting we should be keeping clean sheets at Spurs and Arsenal? Do many other teams outside of the top 6 do that?

Did I say that? We should be doing better against the teams around us, ie; Fulham, Newcastle, Huddersfield.

SussexDon1inIreland · Post by **SussexDon1inIreland** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:23 pm

Agree with Aclaret above post (#16)

NL Claret · Post by **NL Claret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:30 pm

Murger wrote:Did I say that? We should be doing better against the teams around us, ie; Fulham, Newcastle, Huddersfield.

And the likes of Brighton at home, which we did and kept a clean sheet. You can mention the positives you know, I supposed we can be grateful there have been no Dyche out threads for 3 weeks.

gtclaret · Post by **gtclaret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:32 pm

claret2018 wrote:Playing ‘well’ and having fight is all well and good if you’re getting points from games. With the last 2 games we’ve played well according to some, but have been soundly beaten in both games.

It’s not looking good. I think we’ll finish bottom by some distance.

I regret that I have to agree with this. We do not have the pace or quality to compete at this level, and defensively we have been found out

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:43 pm

NL Claret wrote:And the likes of Brighton at home, which we did and kept a clean sheet. You can mention the positives you know, I supposed we can be grateful there have been no Dyche out threads for 3 weeks.

Never going to be far away though. It would be ironic if a decent cup run kept him in a job.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:48 pm

Silkyskills1 wrote:Never going to be far away though. It would be ironic if a decent cup run kept him in a job.

He's got one of the most secure jobs in football, and rightly so. Even if we went down he'll be here next season, provided he decides to stay.

mdd2 · Post by **mdd2** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:56 pm

Spijed wrote:So, Huddersfield can break at speed, yet have scored less than us, got less points than us.

Wait and see, starting on Jan 2nd

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 3:03 pm

Spijed wrote:He's got one of the most secure jobs in football, and rightly so. Even if we went down he'll be here next season, provided he decides to stay.

You may be right but my point was that anti-Dyche factions will always be prevalent and would understandably increase the longer our wretched form continues.

Steve1956 · Post by **Steve1956** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 3:35 pm

Simple answer...NO

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 3:45 pm

For those who think clubs outside of the top six can go to the Emirates this season and get points - only Wolves have manged to do that.
For those who think clubs outside of the top six can go to Wembley this season and get points - no-one.

Basically every club outside of the top six would have lost the same two away games.

We've come as close as anyone to getting a result at Spurs and Arsenal as they've both demolished every other team they've played who isn't a title contender.

So why don't we have any fight left?

boatshed bill · Post by **boatshed bill** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:04 pm

Spijed wrote:For those who think clubs outside of the top six can go to the Emirates this season and get points - only Wolves have manged to do that.
For those who think clubs outside of the top six can go to Wembley this season and get points - no-one.

Basically every club outside of the top six would have lost the same two away games.

We've come as close as anyone to getting a result at Spurs and Arsenal as they've both demolished every other team they've played who isn't a title contender.

So why don't we have any fight left?

Has anyone actually said we have no "fight" left?
All the battling qualities in the world won't make up for lack of ability. We lack pace and quality on the ball, that's what needs addressing.

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:09 pm

Perhaps because so many defeats in a relatively short time begins to take its toll on players and fans alike. People are only offering their opinions which in the end count for nothing.

Longsidebogs · Post by **Longsidebogs** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:10 pm

Everton g3tting pumped 4-1 at home to Spurs. We were beaten 1-0 in injury time at Wembley. We can escape but it has to start on Boxing Day. Edit 4-2 now.

SGr · Post by **SGr** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:15 pm

Next 3 games + Janaury window will decide whether or not we’re getting out. Right now, absolutely not.

Murger · Post by **Murger** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:26 pm

Spijed wrote:But weren't we getting beaten every game away from home two years ago? We just seemed to ho through the motions then as well.

The big difference was our home form seemed to save us every other week.

Christ, you always mention what's gone on previously and choose to ignore the here and now.

NL Claret · Post by **NL Claret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:46 pm

Murger wrote:Christ, you always mention what's gone on previously and choose to ignore the here and now.

You ignore UTC when Burnley win.

boatshed bill · Post by **boatshed bill** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:59 pm

Murger wrote:Christ, you always mention what's gone on previously and choose to ignore the here and now.

You do realise we came 7th last season, don't you?

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:02 pm

boatshed bill wrote:You do realise we came 7th last season, don't you?

And for some I really do believe that stuck in throat!

Some on here are certainly not proper supporters.

boatshed bill · Post by **boatshed bill** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:07 pm

Spijed wrote:And for some I really do believe that stuck in throat!

Some on here are certainly not proper supporters.

HaHa. uber fan,
Sometimes being a fan includes seeing the signs that things are not all rosey, we have been terrible for an entire season's worth of games. coming 7th was a great achievement, and I doubt that any BFC fans were anything but delighted, but it glossed over our weaknesses which are now being exposed.

BTW, are you Sean Dyche?

South West Claret. · Post by **South West Claret.** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:10 pm

AlargeClaret wrote:For me it’s a huge YES . We all know we’re pretty much officially in a relegation dog fight . Yes , we’re poor ( and injuries have been cruel) but the fight I’ve seen the last few weeks has been excellent . The media and “ top club luvvies” are hating us more than ever . Personally think this is just what we need and a fortress/ siege mentality could have the Turf really rocking and be hugely influential factor at home .

Hudds /Cardiff/Fulham/BHA are the only teams I’d class as “ worse” and that’s enough . If we can find a bit of home form there’s plenty of ponts to be had .

What relegation fight’s that about AC?

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:14 pm

boatshed bill wrote:HaHa. uber fan,
Sometimes being a fan includes seeing the signs that things are not all rosey, we have been terrible for an entire season's worth of games. coming 7th was a great achievement, and I doubt that any BFC fans were anything but delighted, but it glossed over our weaknesses which are now being exposed.

BTW, are you Sean Dyche?

Well I don't have ginger hair!

elwaclaret · Post by **elwaclaret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:16 pm

AlargeClaret wrote:For me it’s a huge YES . We all know we’re pretty much officially in a relegation dog fight . Yes , we’re poor ( and injuries have been cruel) but the fight I’ve seen the last few weeks has been excellent . The media and “ top club luvvies” are hating us more than ever . Personally think this is just what we need and a fortress/ siege mentality could have the Turf really rocking and be hugely influential factor at home .

Hudds /Cardiff/Fulham/BHA are the only teams I’d class as “ worse” and that’s enough . If we can find a bit of home form there’s plenty of ponts to be had .

Personally, I think one of the problems has been the change in fan mentality. We started two seasons like we were in a bear pit and this season like we were at the theatre... hardly intimidating. Not saying its the only one, but it is time we got back to making the opposition (psychologically) scared of coming to get the ball for a throw-in for fear of his soul being corrupted its so "us against the world!" The atmosphere you could carve with a knife and it would bleed Claret and Blue .

mickleoverclaret · Post by **mickleoverclaret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:28 pm

gtclaret wrote:I regret that I have to agree with this. We do not have the pace or quality to compete at this level, and defensively we have been found out

We competed at this level last season with virtually the same squad.

NL Claret · Post by **NL Claret** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:33 pm

mickleoverclaret wrote:We competed at this level last season with virtually the same squad.

For the first half of season Ward, Defour, JBG and Brady were fully fit, probably made a big difference.