• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

2017/18 Season - Expectations/Predictions

ricky2tricky4city

Tom Huddlestone
Just a little over 3 weeks before we destroy :))) the Barcodes at St James.....so it's time to get out that crystal ball and spout forth the rhetoric for the upcoming season.

Generally we're good. But more often than not we're very good. That still stands if we sign no-one. And in all probability we're even better due to the plain fact of being a year further on.

Walker will be a loss. A top 6 game loss. Poch may mitigate this rather than just thinking Trippier can deal with all that is throne at him. Poch solves stuff......i trust him to deal with this.

I really don't think Poch is that bothered if we don't sign anyone. We/he has targets but if they dont come off for whatever reasons then he's happy to go with the group he's got.

That may be detrimental to pushing on all fronts but tbh we have got two stadium moving seasons ahead of us, that in itself may have more affect than the benefit of signing two/three players so we can compete for everything.

The fear is a Wembley drop off (and i am in that camp) but even those the don't think there will be,surely dont think we'll achieve 50pts out of a possible 54pts like last season?

We just need to navigate next season to the best of our abilities and we appear to have a man that is a master at maximising that. I'm not dreading this season, and that is because this team regularly surprises me with its ability to step up.

My prediction
League - 4th 75pts
CL - Last 16
Fa Cup - QF
Lge Cup - Last 16
Checkatrade - Winners
 
Transition year I think. Wont be disappointed if we "do a united":
League: 5th
CL: knocked out
EL: Winners
FA Cup: Last 16
Lge Cup: Winners
Checkatrade - Winners
 
I predict:

A slow start. Defeat to a buoyant promoted Saudi Sportswashing Machine followed by a toughie against Chelsea. 6 points off the pace early on.
A resurgence against Burnley and Swansea help to settle the Wembley nerves, then we push on but drop silly points throughout season owing to Wembley factor. Including against Arsenal

Media hound us. Talks of "it's Spurs from 4 or 5 seasons ago". "Should've strengthened". Questions raised over Poch's ability when going gets tough. "What Ace does he have up his sleeve to change fortunes", etc etc

League: We end up 4th which, for most fans, given the Wembley issue, is seen as a decent season. Media again make out like we've regressed. Maybe even 5th.

Cups: Nothing past quarters as we look to push on in CL. This will eventually end in a last 16 tie to a big gun having finished second in group.

Sounds negative but i think i'd be happy with 4th. We're still in a state of transition.
 
Am really not bothered if we don't sign anyone. We are good because of our cohesion, our spirit, and through having a squad that totally buys into the Poch way.

With this in mind, I think it will be another good season. Janssen more settled in so able to cover for Kane if required. All of our young players another year more experienced. Dier, Kane, Alli, Winks, all going to go from strength to strength. Eriksen and Son getting better all the time. Davies has stepped up to be a genuinely fantastic option alongside Rose. Walker a loss but it was harsh on Trippier that he couldn't play as much when Walker was here, and whether it's Trippier and KWP or Trippier and a new signing, I trust Poch's judgement on that score. Room for KWP, CCV and Onamah to come through and make an impact. And the Belgian boys and Lloris some of the best in the world in their positions. We don't need much at all. With Lamela to hopefully come back and GKN with a full-pre season, we will have depth all over the park. Barkley would be nice if we had genuine room for him but if we don't get him, it's just more room for Winks and Onamah to show what they can do, saving ourselves £30M in the process.

On the downside, we won't repeat our home form this year. But I don't the Wembley drop off will be that pronounced. We are a good team, and our away form has room for improvement. The other teams have strengthened well - City with actual fullbacks with pace will be a threat. Lukaku is a Mourinho dream and if Arsenal can keep Sanchez for a year alongside Lacazette, you have to think that's a pretty decent front line. It's always going to be tough at the top.

Predicting a top 4 finish and hopefully a nice cup run. It's going to be so tight so as long as we are competitive and in the running, I'll be happy.
 
We've got to win a cup this season. It's the one thing the Poch project is falling short on. Really don't mind which of the three

I predict second in the league again, behind Chelsea again. No one is particularly strengthening, other than City, but I don't think Guardiola has the tools to pull it all together.
 
Bit early to do this given that it depends on who we sign. I said at the start of the window that we needed 3-4 players, and you can now add one more to that given Walker's departure. Setting aside transfers, its believeable that swapping what was a near fortress of WHL for Wembley could easily cost us 1-2 positions in the league on its own.

So, assuming we sign those 3 or 4 players (plus a RB) then:

League: 4th
CL: last 16 (though depends on draw obviously)
EL: n/a
FA Cup: semis
Lge Cup: Winners
Checkatrade: who cares

If we only bring in 1 or 2 then:

League: 6th
CL: groups
EL: last 16 or quarters
FA Cup: semis
Lge Cup: Winners
Checkatrade: who cares
 
Given the wembley factor and our huge home points total last season, i'm expecting a 25% drop on that total but an improved away tally.
I dont think we will make top 4 but if we did and won any cup(checkatrade excluded), this would be a great season considering the obstacles and lack of signings.

I'm going for;

PL - 6th
League cup - winnners
FA Cup- Qtrs
CL - Last 16
Janssen to bang in a few more goals. I liked his end of season cameo and did everything that could have been expected of him given the time he was given in some of those games.
 
Last edited:
Top 4

Cup semis

Maybe quarters in champions league

Wembley won't IMO be the issue people think... as I've highlighted a few times, last season we conceded 10 goals IIRC form 12 shots on target... we dont play teams each week that are that good, lucky and clinical
 
League: 1st/2nd
CL: QF
EL: N/A
FA Cup: Winners
Lge Cup: 4R

Our home form from last season won't be replicated at Wembley but we will still be a force to be reckoned with (which will be the deciding factor between 1 & 2 I think) and our away form will improve on last season. On the other title hopefuls I think a lot depends on how quickly the new lads bed in but here are my thoughts/hopes for next term:

  • IF Utd keep Ibra then I'd be more worried about them but if not I don't see them as quite the same threat. If Ibra does stay and I was Rashford I'd be utterly gutted.

  • Same with the G**ns and Sanchez (I'd be happy if the bog-eyed slacker stays, though). Lacazette is a decent striker but he may not get a lot of help as Ozil is only part-time, it seems. Hopefully they'll also have a shaky start and the boo boy phalanx will be out in force again VERY quickly.

  • Scousers (both sides) won't quite be consistent enough to push for top spot IMO.

  • Chelsea just can't have the same luck RE injuries that they had last season, especially with the much more demanding fixture list they'll have to contend with this term..... can they?!??

  • City....... who knows with that lot. They have the players to destroy anyone on their day (as do we!!) but even though they're addressing their FB issues they still have a Scouse-like inconsistency. It would also help a lot if the Guardiola/Aguerro relationship sours even further.

As long as the CL group draw is relatively kind to us I can see a Redknapp-era march to the quarters resulting in glorious defeat at the hands of one of the Spanish giants. It'll all be forgotten when we lift the FA Cup with an utter smashing of one of our London rivals (pref. Arse or Chelsea but the Spammers would be great, too), thereby saying goodbye to Wembley in style before moving into our beaut of a new home and making immediate use of our spangly new trophy room.

There we are, a bit of good old blind optimism, eh? Can't beat it!!! :D:D
 
Pl : 1st or 2nd. Not blind optimism. There's no doubt we are good enough to challenge again (we are keeping our strong team and I don't feel overly worried by others - yet) but the difference i believe we will see for next season is us topping the table on and off during the season rather than chasing at the end.
I don't think we'll replicate last seasons home form. Rather Wembley will be fine but we'll pick up more points away from home than we did last season.
I'd like to see the Stamford Bridge hoodoo finally being beaten. That could well be what makes the difference.

CL : last 16 (depending on group).

Final of either FAC or LC.

Golden Boot again for Kane.
Coming of age season for Winks.
 
Honest opinion. 8th. We will be lucky to win half of our home games. We will lose an awful lot as it is not our home. Away form will be better than home so can't see us getting into Europe Via the league entries.

My reason for this is the following teams will all have better home form than us.

City
United
Arsenal
Liverpool
Everton
Chelsea
West Ham

And there will probably be a dark horse thrown in there as well.

Champions League second round exit.

Fa cup semi final exit.

League cup win.
 
Last edited:
Honest opinion. 8th. We will be lucky to win half of our home games. We will lose an awful lot as it is not our home. Away form will be better than home so can't see us getting into Europe Via the league entries.

My reason for this is the following teams will all have better home form than us.

City
United
Arsenal
Liverpool
Everton
Chelsea
West Ham

And there will probably be a dark horse thrown in there as well.

Champions League second round exit.

Fa cup semi final exit.

League cup win.

West Ham?

8th?
 
West Ham?

8th?
I think they'll be up there this year. Second year at their new home and with some decent signings yeh. Throw in someone like Southampton again or someone. Maybe 7th. Take West Ham out of that I can't see us bettering any of the top clubs home form.

I always think this will be a write off season for us before we get in our new stadium.
 
Honest opinion. 8th. We will be lucky to win half of our home games. We will lose an awful lot as it is not our home. Away form will be better than home so can't see us getting into Europe Via the league entries.

My reason for this is the following teams will all have better home form than us.

City
United
Arsenal
Liverpool
Everton
Chelsea
West Ham

And there will probably be a dark horse thrown in there as well.

Champions League second round exit.

Fa cup semi final exit.

League cup win.

On last season's form/point tallies we'd have to drop 40 points to finish 8th. I just can't see that happening. Even if we did struggle at Wembley (which I don't believe we will) a drop of that magnitude is hard to imagine. That would be a pretty disastrous season and wouldn't bode well at all for keeping the team together going into NWHL.
I honestly think next season will be far more enjoyable for you than you think. At leat I hope I'm right and you're wrong!
 
Back