Ifs, Buts and Maybes!
Posted on May 9th, 2012 | 24 Comments |
You know the sort of thing – staring at the league table, seeing we’re only one point behind Tottenham, two points behind Arsenal, wondering what might have been….”if only…”. I find it difficult not to revisit some of the happenings and add the points which might have been. Of course there has to be a cut-off point otherwise we can find reasons why we should have won every game! But there are indeed some happenings which are the most obvious – here’s my list:
* If only Steven Taylor hadn’t got that long-term injury
* If Ba, Tiote and Cisse hadn’t gone to the African Cup Of Nations
* If we’d been more defensive at Tottenham and Fulham
* If we’d beaten Wolves at home like we did away
* If we’d managed to score against Swansea at St James’ Park
* If the ref at Arsenal hadn’t added all that “Fergie Time”
* If only we’d beaten West Bromwich at St James’ Park
* If only we’d bought some more good defenders last summer
The list is longer than that of course, but I’m sure you see what I’m getting at.
I know quite a few folk will say that it’s no good looking back at things like that as there’s nothing we can do about it, but it does make you think about what the league table might look like if some of those events had gone our way?
But there’s always the other side of the coin of course! Where we were perhaps a little lucky?
Certainly the “siege of the Alamo” springs to mind, when we somehow managed to hold out at Old Trafford and come away with a draw. Then there’s Shola’s equalisers against Tottenham and 5under1and at St James’ Park which gained us points we might not have had. You could even point to the unbeaten run at the start of the season and the run of wins at the end. You might also consider the comprehensive defeat of Manchester United on 4th January 2012 and ask “how often do we do that?” and how often do we go to Chelsea and win?
Even during the period when the lads were away at the African Cup Of Nations, we actually didn’t suffer that much with the likes of Danny Guthrie slotting in and keeping things going. It’s absolutely true that we can’t influence the past, only the future – but I keep thinking about how, with a bit of luck, we might have influenced some of those things at the time we were there!
Anyway I still have one “if only” left. If only we can beat Everton in our last game!
What are your memories of “what might have been” in the 2011/12 season?
All fair enough ‘if’s, buts & maybes’ UTD…But no doubt all clubs can say the same sort of thing. Though, the fact remains when it all boils down, as it has, Newcastle are at least the 5th best club in england, by hook or by crook.
It’s a bit better than i thought possible at the start, i was in the 7-9th, with a possible 6th for good behaviour camp.
So 5th minimum is a pleasant surprise!