I would much rather my team's 'big' games in the second half of the season were at home. We saw with ourselves in 2009/10 how big an advantage that can be.
I think BoL that you are putting far too much faith in Sherwood. It's too early to say we are in the fight for 4th. I know that sounds ridiculous with us only being two points away from the position, but so many of our wins have been narrow ones having played ****. I'd be amazed if we can win as many games in the second half of the season playing as badly as we did in the first half. Even though we've been more creative under Tim we've continued to look dodgy as **** at the back - even more than we already did aside from three particular games (I won't mention them again!) - and I just cannot see how we can pick up lots of wins persisting with our 4-4-2 formation in most our games.
I'm not writing us off by any means, we're fortunate that Liverpool and Everton don't have clear daylight between themselves and us in all honesty - they have both played far better. But it's naive to say stuff like 'they can't keep it up, we can only get better' because there's every chance with the players returning from injury for Liverpool, as well as the rapid development of some of their younger players halfway through the season that they will continue to do well. Bet they have more money to spend than us in January too. If they spend it wisely then they will improve their team. As for Everton, people keep saying they will drop off but I don't see it unless one of Barkley/Lukaku gets a long-term injury. Their depth in most positions is actually okay compared to how people make it sound. If anything, they too may only get better as their players become more acclimatised to Martinez' system.
What about Man Utd - I presume no one's writing them out of the race for 4th just yet? I actually think we have a superior team than them in the defence and midfield positions. If we are to finish above them, however, we could do with Rooney or van Persie getting longer layoffs. They **** all over our strikers and will win them games they play badly in.
It's sure to be an enthralling race for 4th, but we need to be realistic and remember Sherwood could still go either way as a manager so I'd rather we waited to see where we are in March before declaring ourselves a genuine contender - that way, it's less pressure on the team and staff.
Mind you,
http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/premier-league/top-4-finish have us as being bigger favourites for 4th than Everton, so maybe it's a case of what do I know?
