Black November

It seems to me that in recent seasons November has put paid to any realistic chances we may have had of winning the league.  This one has not started well.  We have lost our first game of the season away at Spurs even though we controlled most of the game and completely outplayed them.  If you don't take your chances then sooner or later you will suffer for it.  The Pompey game was also not inspiring as again we failed to create enough or take the chances when they did arrive.

Getting back on topic we have now got three more games (call it four as the West Ham match only just squeezes into December) which for a team with any title pretensions should represent twelve points.  Despite their Champions League set back Chelski still look strong domestically and the Scum are making steady progress despite Flash Ronnie looking like he'd rather be somewhere else.

Win all these games and I think we could end up sitting on top of the league at the turn of the year.  Lose them and number 19 will almost certainly have to wait for yet another year.

Will this be yet another Black November? 

I don't think we've been this close to the top, at this stage of the season for a number of years now. It seems November isn't traditionally a bad month. We are usually adrift by October and make a bit of progress in November, then we cock it up through December with the Xmas period. I remember the years when we traditionally made head way with maximum points during Xmas but this hasn't been the case for some time now. Lets hope we can do that this season and still be on top come mid January.

Was talking about the dreaded month of November last night. Sometimes it seems like a spell has been cast or something.

Without doubt it's a very very important month for us as always. But what we have in this November, which we don't usually have, is the return (hopefully) of a true world class striker. A player who can win games on his own.

I hate to think we need to rely on certain players to pull us out of the sh*t, but it's obvious we're slipping into a phase where the players' heads are going down when the chances aren't going in. Especially after a good run of confidence.

One thing I can't stand is 'we're going to do this' or 'we have to bounce back' statements in the local press from the players. You can only acknowledge something once and then you have to stop talking about it and do something about it. With Torres coming back he can bolster the confidence of the team and help the rest of them to remember that they can do their talking on the pitch and make November an explosive month.

At least that's what I hope.

Signs of November ain't very good. But If i remember correctly, we have been top/joint top this season for a very long time, something we have failed to do in the past seasons. So, it looks all right at the moment. Last season, we were top for only 1 week(after the Derby game). One of the seasons, we were top in October, but then failed to win any of the next 11 games. Let's hope this doesn't repeat again.

I think this November will be more prosperous for us then the last few, I can see where the doubt and negativity is starting to creep in. The good thing in the last 3 games we played we created more than enough opportunities to win each match convicingly. Our lack of has been due to poor play in the final third off the pitch, now with Torres coming back this will all change. I mean the guy has missed 6 games now and we have won 4 and drawn 1 so it is not all dark, we have a relatively easy fixture list in November and should collect maximum points.

well signs are not looking good 4 games 4 goals. fernando could be injury prone, keane not looking as thoygh he can pick up his game.but who can predict the future. we seem to win the big games but have trouble beating the lesser lights.

I was bored so I decided to look past in the past years under Rafa and see what we have done in the past during this period to get a view on what we are dealing with (Premiership only)

04/05 - Birmingham (L), Palace (W), Boro (L), Arsenal (W) 2-0-2
05/06 - Villa (W), Pompey (W), Citeh (W), Sunderland (W) 4-0-0
06/07 - Reading (W), Arsenal (L), Boro (D), Citeh (W), Pompey (D) 2-2-1
07/08 - Blackburn (D), Fulham (W), Toon (W) 2-1-0

Not really that bad of numbers but you have to remember before in the past we have had such poor starts that got us to a point where if we lost or draw we were looking at double digits behind the leaders which meant we were out of the race. This season we are right in the thick of it and with the fixtures we have I hope we can go on a run of 5 or 6 wins that can lead us to the middle of December.

When we play United and Chelsea, we play so well. When we play the other teams, we play well but we can't score a goal. Though, in the United and Chelsea games, our goals came from a deflection and own goal

We should be getting maximum points in November from EVERY game. With United and Chelsea gone and Arsenal in December, we have to be winning those November games and if we are still top/joint top by christmas, that is a good sign.

I do not know about black November but most fans were quite happy till we played Spurs last week.O.K.we lost but we had enough chances to have won comfortably, and most seasons we would be quite happy to have only lost one game at this stage of the season.I am convinced that some team will cop (kop) a hiding from us one day soon,with or without Torres.Lets start with West Brom and put a smile back on the forum.

Let's hope not.  We've had one setback in the league.  The Champions League result doesn't matter greatly thanks to our 8 points already.  It's going to take something calamitous not to progress to the knock out stages.

A win this weekend is vital though or the November worries will return.

Well  posted on those stats there, Adam.

We have to take into account that Rafa is going for the League 100% this year, unlike past years.

This will affect November.

I was bored so I decided to look past in the past years under Rafa and see what we have done in the past during this period to get a view on what we are dealing with (Premiership only)

04/05 - Birmingham (L), Palace (W), Boro (L), Arsenal (W) 2-0-2
05/06 - Villa (W), Pompey (W), Citeh (W), Sunderland (W) 4-0-0
06/07 - Reading (W), Arsenal (L), Boro (D), Citeh (W), Pompey (D) 2-2-1
07/08 - Blackburn (D), Fulham (W), Toon (W) 2-1-0

Not really that bad of numbers but you have to remember before in the past we have had such poor starts that got us to a point where if we lost or draw we were looking at double digits behind the leaders which meant we were out of the race. This season we are right in the thick of it and with the fixtures we have I hope we can go on a run of 5 or 6 wins that can lead us to the middle of December.

Good stats and analysis as to why November seems to bring about the death of our premier league challenge.

Dropping some points may not be calamitous when you are sitting at the top of the league but when you are chasing the pack and the leaders are not dropping points then as in previous seasons it is the beginning of the end of our title aspirations.

Wouldn't it be great if we were the ones picking up twelve points and the other contenders were slipping up.  Three will do tomorrow to get the ball rolling and a hat trick from Torres would also not go amiss.

Read it somewhere that LFC will tank in November. I doubt that. We have this never-say-die attitude this season.

I hope we coast through the November fixtures. Looking forward to 12 points minimum.

There are so many games that we have picked up points this season, when the last few seasons we would have dropped our heads and drawn when we should have won and lost when we should have drawn.  From somewhere, we have got the 'Istanbul effect' nearly every game!!
Long may it continue!!