OK, I know watching the game against Man City was akin to a trip to the dentist or having the same emotions as a man about to get shot, but we have to remain confident. On Monday, against Liverpool, it will be another trip to the dentist.
We have 24 points and, if the last two seasons are anything to go by, we need 36 points to stay up. For those who struggle with arithmetic, that’s 12 points required. And it’s going to go down to the wire because three of our last four games are against Norwich(away), Watford(home) and finally Aston Villa(home). We have to achieve six points out of these.
We can draw with Newcastle (away) and Burnley(home) and one draw against Chelsea (home) Spurs(away), Arsenal(away), Wolves(home) and Man U(away).
That leaves the next home game against Southampton as being an absolutely vital win.
I am reading a book about Stalingrad at the moment. Victory finally came when the Russians launched a counter offensive against the Germans on their flanks, where there were weaker Romanian and Hungarian regiments and finally the surrounded the Nazis. This was the turning point of the war.
Now we have our turning point. We are not going to win by adopting the tactics employed against Man City. We were lucky to only concede two. And I wouldn’t like to see us end the season with a whimper. That means forget about leaving one man up front. It’s an impossible job. Get in our fresh blood. On that score, I can’t for the life of me understand why, after a brilliant performance, Ngakia has disappeared.
We must understand we are only going to stay up if we are prepared to attack. I liked the sight of Rice charging forward, which seemed to be the most positive point to come out of the Man City game. And we have to dispense with the players who lack pace and you know who I mean.
We can do it. But David Moyes needs to do the arithmetic and be bold. I do believe he has brought a new spirit and commitment to the team. But now he has to inject confidence that we have the talent to score goals.
Now, as far as Man City are concerned, it has been established they cheated the way to the top. It would be akin to David Gold arranging a sponsorship deal with Ann Summers for £100 million a year. One wonders how the same verdict can’t be made of many other clubs in Europe. Do you think Man City should be relegated to League 2?
We believe football is awash with money. But the Premier League are only the third highest in terms of income in the world. The National Football League in the USA earns £11.4 billion and Major League Baseball earns £9.2 billion.
That is why there has been speculation that the Premier League could go to a direct to consumer model rather than selling the TV rights to broadcasters. Look out for when they test it in one of their markets. This could lead to a doubling of income for each club and the first £1 million a week footballer. Wouldn’t that be a shame for Sullivan and Gold, if we ended up as a Championship side?
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