How important is the PL title actually?

[Bluemanc100]

you have to challenge for titles to win them
that being the case some you will win, some you won't
this being the first time we have challenged in 35 years I can live with the knowledge that we will almost certainly be challenging every season and we will win titles and trophies
some seasons we may not as nothing is guaranteed and it would be aboring sport if it were
in our first season back at the very top for a long time I can't be suicidal if we just miss out
but pray we don't

We were challenging last season and gave up the ghost with some insipid displays away from home. How many points off United did we finish in the end ?

Memory not what it was but didn't draws at the Dippers and Newcastle see us off? there for the taking last yearm even more than this season

 

[Anonymous]

We should have taken points from chelsea, WBA (two more), Sunderland, Everton and Swansea, that's where we have lost it, six easy points we have thrown away

Repeating mistakes at this level is worrying - however you have to hold the players largely responsible for a lot of those dropped points. Mancini's "i didn't prepare the team right" mea culpa is all good and well, but we're such a juggernaut at home that some of those away displays from individuals you expect much more from have been inconceivable to me.

Either that or I've vastly overrated some of our players ...

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

Were we fuck challenging for the title last season

 

[Anonymous]

Were we fuck challenging for the title last season

Well considering I've just pointed out we dropped 14 points (mostly away from home against so called lesser opposition) and didn't finish 14 points behind the rags, I'm presuming your "were we fuck" assertion is based on something more concrete than that. :)

 

[Kippax.]

Having a discussion with a fellow blue in work yesterday. My view is that, at this stage of our development, actually winning the league is of secondary importance to doing well in the CL. The reason for that is financial.

Coming second costs us about £1.8m I think compared to winning it but getting to the quarter or semi-final of the CL gains us more than ten times that. Plus it enhances our global standing, thereby increasing our commercial appeal. As increasing our income substantially is one of the key requirements of the business plan then that's more important than actually winning the league in my view.

Don't talk such shit, it means everything to me.

thats your first post! bore the fuck off

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Were we fuck challenging for the title last season

I would disagree, as did Mancini.

The derby at the Swamp was billed as a title battle.

Mancini was insisting it was on even at Birmingham away, where we tossed off the lead twice.

We also dropped two points at home to Fulham (the last time to any team).

We also tossed it off at Everton, having lead and played them off the park for nigh on an hour.

United were out on their feet in the run in and even Chelsea were able to take a two-month sabbatical and take it to the last three games in terms of their own challenge.

The title was on.

 

[SWP's back]

Were we fuck challenging for the title last season

Well considering I've just pointed out we dropped 14 points (mostly away from home against so called lesser opposition) and didn't finish 14 points behind the rags, I'm presuming your "were we fuck" assertion is based on something more concrete than that. :)

That is of no consequence and I see no reason why you keep mentioning it.

Ofcourse we dropped points. If we hadn't, we would have been in the race. But we weren't. How many points did the rags drop after they played us?

 

[coleridge]

The difference was only 9 points in the end and they won with only 80 points, the joint lowest in PL history. As I said the other day, Mancini reckons 90 will do it this time. He may be right but he doesn't seem to know how to get there at the moment. It's a real pity as both last year and this, we could and maybe should have been champions. I don't want to be a drama queen about it, but next season is surely his last chance.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Even Whisky Nose has said that rag fans better get used to us challenging for the next 10 years as we are not going to go away.

I thought we had as good a chance as any with the start we made but despite that we never really opened up a big enough gap. 5 points is decent but its not too big to close as proven.

Our form away isnt great but our form overall is still very good. We have 13 points from 18 and thats 3rd to Arsenal and Rags. Unfortunately the rags are on an exceptional run. 25/27 points at this stage of the season is hard to keep pace with.

I think this season the rags were very lucky to play Arsenal twice when they did, Chelsea twice, Everton away and Liverpool at home. All of these teams were playing very poorly at those points in the season.

We havent been so fortunate with fixtures other than Spurs away.

Next season I expect they wont be as lucky with that and I take encouragment that we still beat Arsenal when they came to use on the back of 4 wins and Chelsea the same.

My view is that we wont win it this year now as I cant see us winning more than 2 away games and that is being optimistic. Our record at Arsenal is shambolic and they have won their last 7 games! It is completely the wrong time to be facing them and I still think they were the best side we have faced at home this season, a game that could have gone their way.

The only chance we have is if the rags form starts to slip. I am hoping that Blackburn and Wigan may be the games they slip up as both of those sides are fighting and in decent form but with Wigan I am definately being optimistic as that is a rag win nearly every season. If we can stay within 3 and at least level on GD then we have a chance. Fulhams one win in 49 at the swamp doesnt give me any hope thats for sure!

The big danger is the possible sacking of Mancini and the inevitable rebuilding that would then be needed. It shouldnt happen based on the season we have had but if Mourinho makes any noises that he would come then I think it could happen.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

I just can't buy it that we were ever really serious title contenders, last season it was all about fourth. Yea 'The derby at the Swamp was billed as a title battle' but it's bound to be as it supposedly makes it more significant. Tottenham were billed as title contenders this season but for me they were never serious candidates and so it proved. When we lost to untied we were 8 points behind the rags and they had a game in hand. Now if you're that far behind them at that stage then you're effectively out of the race, and if you're out of the race by mid Feb then you were never really in it in my book.