The next three games will shape our season.
Posted on October 5th, 2010 | 41 Comments |
The games that we have played have gone now, and now the focus has to shift to what is in front of us and not what could have been.
Next up, after another irritating international break, will be Wigan at home, and that is a game that we simply have to take three points from. We can’t afford to keep slipping up against teams that are likely to be around us come the end of the season. The kind of slip-ups that we witnessed against Blackpool and Stoke cannot be repeated if Newcastle are to harbour any real intention of staying in the Premier League beyond this season.
It sounds harsh, but in my opinion it’s true. Newcastle simply must start putting points on the board. You could argue that we have played well anough to deserve points at Manchester City and at home to Blackpool all you want, but the fact is that we didn’t get anything.
The next three games are vitally important for us as they are all against opponents that will be in or around the bottom half of the table this season. First up, as mentioned, will be Wigan at home, then it’s a trip to West Ham, then it’s the derby at home against Sunderland, but what can we expect from those games in terms of points?
As I said earlier, the target for the Wigan game has to be three points. They have generally been woeful this season but they do seem to hold some sort of jinx card over us. On the plus side, at least we have Ryan Taylor on our side now so he won’t be able to inflict any damage against us again!
West Ham away will be a toughie. Upton Park is never an easy place to go to but Newcastle have shown that they can actually play away from home this season. I would take a point from that game right now if I’m being honest.
Then there is the derby. The big one. What can we expect from it though? It’s a hard one to call and will be a tight game, as local derbies usually are. It’s still a home game though and I’d like us to get three points.
So if we can get through these three games and pick up seven points, how would you feel? That would leave us on 14 points after 10 games and I would guess that people will feel a little bit better than how they are currently.
How do you think we will get on?
I think 5pts is being more realistic. We might draw with Wigan and beat the scum or the other way round and I definitely expect at least a point against WHU. So yeah, maybe 7 but 12 from 10 wouldn’t be too bad either.