OK, my son just asked me this question:

What is better for us to finish second to the Scum or finish 3rd and some-one else (Arse/Pool?) to win the league.

The latter is the any-one but the scum school of thought - which I subscribe to.

In this scenario we finish behind the scum in either case.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Answers

They're all scum.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

I'd almost rather we finished 5th, so long as the Scum don't win it.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

To be honest, if we don't win it, I'd rather ManUre does in preference to 'pool and Leeds. Pool are boring and Leeds are dirty cheats. At least ManUre play decent football and are entertaining, whethertehy're winning or losing. The only other one likely in contention is @rse, and alsothough I like their play, I can't stand Wenger. Mind you, he's no better than Taggart in that respect.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Don't care. I want us to finish as high as possible. 2nd gets an automatic CL place, 3rd and 4th are a qualifying round.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Us second to Man Utd would do me. Leeds and Liverpool are more repulsive than Man Utd (and both have had spells of dominating English football). I could stand Arsenal winning it but I'd still prefer us to be second to Man Utd.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

hey, we all get manic depressed when we lose (look at post Spurs threads) so today should be a day of rejoicing. We shouldn't be contemplating the horrors of finishing second to anybody, today is the day for dreaming of winning things. If I'm not allowed to be misty eyed and enthusiastic today then maybe I'll never get the chance.

On Saturday we played against a side hell bent on kicking us out of it, we won, we didn't buckle under pressure, something all of our sides have always done, always. We played pressure football, harrying their players all over the park, getting the ball and playing with pace and verve and skill and absolutely stuffing the League leaders.

How are teams going to play against us from now on ? You can't kick us out of it, we've beaten the best of the kickers. You can't dare attack us as you just know that Dyer/Robert/Bellamy will demolish you. We are a team to fear. My pal who was at his first ever English game was stunned at the pace of it all, even though he's an avid armchair fan he just couldn't believe what he saw.

We're behind on goal difference, but we should be aiming for the top spot, lets not worry about the others, let them worry about us. Remember Robson reckons Dyer isn't really match fit yet, Robert has been carrying an injury.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Excellent post macbeth - I'm with you all the way.

Let's push ManU all the way in a reverse of '95, with limited expectations, enjoying the experience, and just see what happens. Let's just see if they can hold their nerve with the concurrent pressures of the CL - if they do then they will fully deserve it.

As to the real question posed - the very thought of our neighbours being in contention is so acutely improbable it is very difficult to seriously contemplate.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Too true. Who gives a toss what the rest of the league are doing, that doesn't affect us directly immediately ?

The way things are now, it could be weeks, at least, before anything the scum (assuming you mean the makems) do, will have much bearing on where we are, possibly other than as a favour by beating one (or more) of the sides who could stop us. It's all down to Bobby and the lads.

Preferences that have us contemplating anything other than top spot don't interest me.

The time to worry about those scenarios is after the event, when, if the worst happens, we'll all have our own version of why we ballsed it up again.

The question strikes me as being a bit like asking if you'd rather have a pointy stick stuck in your left eye, or up your nose.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

I'm with MacBeth. Let's just enjoy it. We aren't under the pressure we were then, nobody seriously considers us as title contenders and we have a manager far more able to cope with the pressure. Taggart's mind games won't affect him like they did Keegan. As to the original question - we need a change from ManU but I hate Leeds even more after Saturday and despise Liverpool for the way they play. Don't care who it is if it's not us!

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Not concerned about the opposition at all. In a way I actually hope we don't win it. Not just yet- ie perhaps next year. There are too many other things to sort out that might be ignored in the euphoria. Our injuries this season (or lack of them) have been a huge bonus, but since I'm not aware of any changes in training regime, I would put it down more to luck than anything. Or is our makeshift training facility actually better (injury-wies) than a water-logged and/or frozen Riverside?

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Frankly, I just want to see Chelsea fail.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

I see the bookies reckon we've no chance! Manu - Evens to win it, then a sliding scale down to Liverpool as 4th favourites at 7 - 1 then Newcastle at 33-1! Un-bloody believable. Haway lads let's prove them all wrong.

There's plenty of banana skins for everyone left in the remaining fixtures. There's no question we've got the best run in. Look at what's left - I won't even try to format it - just try to work it out. I see Venger reckons they'll win it but the Arse have 4 London derbys to cope with as well as aways at Leeds, ManU and of course SJP. We need to play every game like it's Leeds and we'll walk it. Pleeese!

LIVERPOOL Southampton H Manchester Utd * A Leicester City H Leeds # A Ipswich H Everton H Fulham A Newcastle H Middlesbrough H Chelsea # H Charlton A Blackburn H Sunderland A Derby H Tottenham A Ipswich H

LEEDS Arsenal * H Chelsea * A Liverpool # H Middlesbrough A Charlton H Everton A Ipswich H Blackburn # H Leicester City A Manchester Utd * H Tottenham A Sunderland H Aston Villa A Fulham H Derby A Middlesbrough H

ARSENAL Leeds * A Leicester City A Blackburn A Southampton H Everton * A Fulham H Newcastle # A Derby H Aston Villa A West Ham H Sunderland H Charlton A Tottenham H Manchester Utd A Ipswich H Bolton A Everton H

CHELSEA West Ham # H Leeds * H Leicester City A Aston Villa A Tottenham H Charlton A Fulham H Sunderland H Liverpool # A Derby H Ipswich A Everton H Blackburn A Manchester Utd H Middlesbrough A Aston Villa H

MANU Blackburn H Liverpool * H Bolton * A Sunderland H Charlton # A Aston Villa * H Derby * A Tottenham H West Ham A Middlesbrough H Leeds * A Leicester City A Arsenal H Chelsea A Ipswich A Charlton H

NEWCASTLE Leicester City A Tottenham A Bolton H Southampton H Sunderland * A Arsenal # H Liverpool A Ipswich H Blackburn A Everton H Aston Villa A Fulham H Derby A Charlton H West Ham H Southampton A

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

33-1!!! Bloody hell, I'm down the bookies at that price. We would need a lot of luck to win it, I admit that much, but 33-1?

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Thay was according to Sky Sports. I've just checked Ladbrokes on- line. Odds as follows:

ManU 1.8, Arsenal 3.5, Leeds 7, Liverpool 8, Newcastle 26, Chelsea 34.

Of couse Hills may be offering better!

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

So 35 quid will get you a thousand - I paid more than that for my Leeds ticket. It's got to be worth a flutter.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

In fact William Hills have dropped our odds to 13 - 1. Someone's betting on us!

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Ya, I also rather see Scum win if we dont. Im so used to see them so I dont really bother. But I hate Liverpool, Leeds, Arsenal, Tottenham and all the rest. Come to think of it, maybe Chelsea if not Scum or we win.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

In the Times today,there is an interesting little article saying that the serious title contenders have been like greyhounds who keep looking around at the other dogs instead of keeping their eye on the hare (which Man Utd have done).

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

I don't think we've been looking around at the other dogs either. Just getting on with it and doing the best we can, which is just fine by me! As long as we don't go on a massive losing streak, we're already set to finish higher than previous seasons and should earn a European spot of some sort the proper way, so that's already made me happy. My main cause of nerves now is hoping we really can maintain this form. My head knows we can, but past experience is just waiting for the inevitable. Still, just enjoying the good moments while they last, and long may they last!

As for the original question, count me in on the latter option. ;-)

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Oops. Looks like I missed the point of this, since the scum appear to be manure and not the real scum.

In which case, it won't bother me to finish 2nd behind manure if we can't win it. It keeps everybody else sick as parrots and still leaves only manure better than we are.

If somebody else ends up winning it, it means that they and manure are better than we are. Another bit of silverware will go un- noticed at OT, whereas we'd never hear the last of it if Leeds or any of the rest of them won it.

So, if it can't be us, just preserve the status quo.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Man Utd top, they have the best team, play the best football and don't have a team of French whingers.

Ideally I'd love us to win it, but Man Utd probably.

It also means that for all the money Arse / Pool / Leeds have spent they still can't over take Manure.

It's more of a case of who do you least want to win the league, and Man Utd are bottom of the four for me, as I'd hate to see Arsenal, Liverpool or Leeds with a Premiership title to their name.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

>>2nd gets an automatic CL place, 3rd and 4th are a qualifying round.

Geordie's said it all for me. I'll never understand fans who place other factors more important than us winning success - at least not the sorts of things posted on this thread

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002