Will we qualify for the Champions League? Sadly not...

Better to vote "No" and be ecstatic if we do qualify than vote "Yes" and not qualify. Tempting fate to vote "Yes". Fate likes kicking us in the bollocks.

I'm still taking it a game at a time. We pretty much have to keep winning. I think Wigan away will be tough.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Better to vote "No" and be ecstatic if we do qualify than vote "Yes" and not qualify. Tempting fate to vote "Yes". Fate likes kicking us in the bollocks.

 

I'm still taking it a game at a time. We pretty much have to keep winning. I think Wigan away will be tough.

Fates meaningless man, just a fraudster wanker. Believing it or not at our end won't change anything, just in this moment right now, I feel really positive

Rich and his optimism.

I'm with him, we can do it. Will be tough but it's doable.

Voted yes for funsies. Win the next two and we have a very serious chance, and I think we can do that.

A lot depends on the result this weekend for me, if Everton lose I think we'll go really close for the Champions League as the pressure will be off knowing that we've qualified for the Europa League. If Everton win then all of a sudden the pressure is on and I'm not sure how we'll handle that situation.

Nah. Looking at the fixtures, Spurs will probably hold on to 4th. As long as we get Europe, all is good.

If we do manage to scrape our pert little booties into the CL........... :fwap::fwap:

Personally, I'm not going to make a judgement as yet. Yes, we have been in fantastic form recently and we are in a brilliant position atm so this talk about the Champions League is, to a large extent, justified.

For me, what we need to do is to just take every game as it comes, perform to the best of our ability in them and see where that takes us. That is, 5 massive games left, let's just see what happens!

Fates meaningless man, just a fraudster w*****. Believing it or not at our end won't change anything, just in this moment right now, I feel really positive

I'm not superstitious really. If we win our next two games I'll think it's possible.

Nope, 5th I think. Spurs got some easier looking fixtures and can't see their current form lasting til the end of the season. Think we'll finish above Chelsea though if we avoid defeat at their place.

I'll nail my gauntlet to the mast with all my eggs on the block and say that this is possibly probable...probably.

Imagine us winning every game until season ends. :frantic:

Bless you Rich

Voted no.

we'll cock it up as always

The media spotlight is now firmly pointed on us and I think that may have a detrimental impact on our form as the pressure starts to build. Low expectations have served us well this season as we've gone about our business of winning games without people genuinely seeing us as a threat to the Top 4.

I just hope that even if we fall away in the last few games that those of us in the ground for the Man City game remain positive and the squad get a proper ovation for their efforts once the final whistle has blown, regardless of the result on the day.

Staying ahead of Chelsea is achievable, but tough. Getting ahead of Spurs would be amazing, but incredibly tough. So I reckon we'll finish 5th.

Imagine us winning every game until season ends. :frantic:

You realise that would be 10 wins in a row ? 

we'll cock it up as always

We have no pressure though, let's just go for it and see what happens...Chelsea and Spurs are more likely to bottle it than us.

If we win our next two I think we will.

Yes

I think we have 7 points left to get.

So can Chelsea get 9 or Spurs 7?

Spurs, probably, Chelsea will have to beat us probably, so maybe.

http://i.imgur.com/79nVE.jpg

Not sure myself... But I've a funny feeling the players themselves are beginning to believe they can do it which is half the battle...

It's a definite maybe.

Cracking picture that LFEE

The team spirit at the club at the moment is brilliant.

This has undoubtedly been the season of the optimist. As such, I come to you with a question that would have been laughable if asked way back in August:

 

Will we qualify for the Champions League?

 

Yes or no? Simple.

 

I've voted "yes" and here's a few reasons why:

 

1) I'm an eternal optimist.

 

2) I get easily carried away when things are going well.

 

3) Seriously though, after yesterday's results we sit joint fourth with Tottenham and two points clear of Chelsea in sixth with five league games remaining for all three teams, here's why I think we'll finish above both:

 

It just so happens Tottenham have an FA Cup Semi-Final against Chelsea this Sunday which I hope they win, because if that happens it means that they'll play the FA Cup Final on Saturday 5th May. On top of the formality of causing their league game with Aston Villa to be rescheduled and adding another fixture onto their run-in it's a cup they have great history in, but haven't won since 1991 with a team containing Gascoigne and Lineker.

 

This alone should be enough of a factor to have some kind of adverse affect on their league form as the FA Cup still looms large on the horizon despite the bigger draw of CL qualification, but looking at their fixtures into the bargain they have three away matches and two home matches - including two London derbies/two away games against relegation-haunted teams. It's not the easiest, regardless.

 

Even if Chelsea prevail at Wembley this weekend, Spurs have a run-in of similar difficulty to our own and their form is almost on the complete opposite end of the spectrum to ours as well. It's not the end of the world if they don't have an FA Cup Final date to muddy their chances even further, but it would be a boon for NUFC if this became the case. In short, and in my John Humble, if you have any kind of ambition for NUFC you want Spurs to win this Sunday - preferably after extra time and penalties.

 

Well, what about Chelsea, then? Regardless of their result this coming weekend they have the small matter of a two-legged Champions League Semi-Final with Barcelona to contend with, along with a trip to the Emirates wedged in between. In total they have at least 8 games to play in just 29 days, an average of a game every 3.625 days. If they beat Spurs that becomes 9 in 29 (a game every 3.222 days) and if they do the unthinkable and turn Barcelona over then it's a game every 2.9 days. Insane whichever way it falls, really, especially for this late stage of the season.

 

Without wanting to read too much further into things and make this already-large opening post an absolute monster, something has to give for them and with two horrendous away trips left in the league and another West London derby to come with QPR, I just don't fancy them to get enough points to finish above either ourselves or Spurs. Even if they go out to Barcelona they'll only have four games left to recover things in the league and I firmly believe by that stage they'll be five points behind us and a hell of a lot more fatigued than any of their impending opponents, which will see them dropping points.

 

As for ourselves, we're the form team in the division outside of Manchester United and we've got the form striker in the division. We've undoubtedly got what looks to be a tricky run-in on paper, but consider the fact that we could be playing the final three fixtures "at a good time" against all of the respective teams there. One of them could be simply cream-crackered after too many games in too short a space of time, one of them could have nothing to play for after bottling the league and one of them could be off the back of an FA Cup Final and an extra midweek game. In terms of the latter, win or lose that takes a hell of a lot out of you both mentally and physically.

 

In short (comparatively, at least): I want Everton to beat Liverpool this Saturday so that they come up against NUFC the week after an FA Cup Final and so they have an extra fixture thrown in there immediately preceding our game down at Goodison (their trip to Wolves will undoubtedly get pushed to midweek) and I want Tottenham to beat Chelsea this Sunday so they have an FA Cup Final to distract them a bit from their league form. Ideally, I think Everton winning said final would be best for us too, as they'd nail Europa League qualification without it hinging on their league finish.

 

Ideally I want Chelsea beating Barcelona and then losing in the Champions League Final to completely nullify them in the league, but I still maintain that even if they lose over the two legs and go out in the FA Cup to Spurs they'll be left with too much to do to take qualification from us. Us finishing fourth and then still not being gauranteed a CL qualifying spot come the end of the league season might be too much for some of us to take too, although it would make the CL Final interesting viewing to say the least.

 

I appreciate that just because I want these outcomes to occur doesn't make them so - I've lost enough money betting to know that much. However, I do firmly believe that these results would be in the best interests of NUFC. As we stand we have to make the CL our goal. Forget taking the safe option and wanting guaranteed Europa League qualification, let's just fucking go for the big one. Of course even if things go our way this weekend in particular there's no guarantee that we'll keep our own end of the bargain and get the requisite points to actually finish top four, but similarly if they don't it still doesn't make it impossible: we are the form team in the battle and we've been proving the doubters wrong all season.

 

Finally, I realise this doesn't take a lot of things into account such as Arsenal (surely too far gone and with too much of a "nice" run-in?), injuries, jinxes, refereeing decisions, etc. However, all of that is practically impossible to cover without going mad. I've done my best.

 

Call me crazy, but I genuinely believe we'll finish fourth and I hope I've made a decent enough case to stir something up in one or two of you as well.

 

What.

a.

post.

This could help - Ivanovic looking at a 3 match ban for violent conduct:

http://www.football365.com/chelsea/7663747/Ivanovic-handed-FA-charge

He's been one of their best players lately....

Still voted no mind.