Proximity.

[Martyboy]

Granted, it’s quick off the mark, but firing blanks…

The wee bampot has returned I see.....

[Insidious]

The first little update was after 12 games -

(After 12 games played)

Distance from 1st - 11 points (space in brackets template for future info about +/- distance)
Distance from 4th - 4 points, Sunderland have played 13 (future info about +/- distance)
Distance from 18th - 7 points (space in brackets template for future info about +/- distance)

The most recent after 15 games -

(After 15 games played)

Distance from 1st - 10 points (having been 11 points adrift, so we're 1 closer to the top)
Distance from 4th - 3 points (having been 2 points adrift, so we're 1 further from 4th spot)
Distance from 18th - 10 points (having been 10 points clear, so no change)

So now we arrive at the 16 games played point -

Distance from 1st - 10 points (no change - we were 10 points adrift after 15 played)
Distance from 4th - 2 points (1 point closer to 4th spot)
Distance from 18th - 13 points (having been 10 points clear, so 3 further points away from the horrible bit of the table)

I doubt many had genuine relegation fears, but it's nice to be so far clear of the drop zone. Arsenal remain annoyingly far away and indeed it's worth noting that 3rd-placed Aston Villa are 7 points away - a 3-game swing which is quite a gap.

At least 4th spot remains quite close, but it would be good to reel in 3rd spot somewhat. I tend to think of the League (whatever your aspirations are) as really hotting up at around the 25-played point, so we have could do with getting closer to clicking in the 17th-24th fixtures if we wish to remain in the hunt at all.

In terms of other sides with European ambitions, we'll soon see Newcastle play both Chelsea and Man United, whilst we have an upcoming opportunity to get 7 points clear of Tottenham. Meanwhile, Man United have matched our pace over our last 5 League fixtures (2 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss) though have tricky fixtures in Villa and Newcastle to come.

Whilst Champion's League football isn't "everything" we do know how important it is for maintaining our appeal to foreign players, our capacity to pay fees and wages and our ability to retain current stars, so it's encouraging that 4th remains close. Let's hope we can reign 3rd in a bit whilst maintaining our decent campaign in the League phase of Europe to ensure knock-out football without an extra qualifying round.

If we can continue with our more solid performances, we should still be capable of grinding out a very respectable season and creating the template for the 26/27 season while we're at it.

[CCTV]

The first little update was after 12 games -



The most recent after 15 games -



So now we arrive at the 16 games played point -

Distance from 1st - 10 points (no change - we were 10 points adrift after 15 played)
Distance from 4th - 2 points (1 point closer to 4th spot)
Distance from 18th - 13 points (having been 10 points clear, so 3 further points away from the horrible bit of the table)

I doubt many had genuine relegation fears, but it's nice to be so far clear of the drop zone. Arsenal remain annoyingly far away and indeed it's worth noting that 3rd-placed Aston Villa are 7 points away - a 3-game swing which is quite a gap.

At least 4th spot remains quite close, but it would be good to reel in 3rd spot somewhat. I tend to think of the League (whatever your aspirations are) as really hotting up at around the 25-played point, so we have could do with getting closer to clicking in the 17th-24th fixtures if we wish to remain in the hunt at all.

In terms of other sides with European ambitions, we'll soon see Newcastle play both Chelsea and Man United, whilst we have an upcoming opportunity to get 7 points clear of Tottenham. Meanwhile, Man United have matched our pace over our last 5 League fixtures (2 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss) though have tricky fixtures in Villa and Newcastle to come.

Whilst Champion's League football isn't "everything" we do know how important it is for maintaining our appeal to foreign players, our capacity to pay fees and wages and our ability to retain current stars, so it's encouraging that 4th remains close. Let's hope we can reign 3rd in a bit whilst maintaining our decent campaign in the League phase of Europe to ensure knock-out football without an extra qualifying round.

If we can continue with our more solid performances, we should still be capable of grinding out a very respectable season and creating the template for the 26/27 season while we're at it.

If we can win our next 5..... then we'll very likely be in a title race

[CCTV]

15 points from 5 would take us to 41 points after 21 games.
Arsenal would have a maximum of 48 points. Cituae a maximum of 49 points.

Taking us up to the January break there are 5 more PL games to play, a few have an efl quarter-final to play.


Here's the next 5 fixtures.... including EFL QFs

LFC:
Spurs A,
Wolves H,
Leeds H,
Fulham A,
Arsenal A.

Arsenal:
Everton A,
Palace H EFL cup,
Brighton H,
Villa H,
Bournemouth A,
LFC H.

Cituae:
Brentford H EfL cup,
WestHam H,
Forrest A,
Sunderland A,
Cfc H,
Brighton H.

Villa:
Manu H,
Cfc A,
Arsenal A,
Forrest H,
Palace A.

Cfc:
Newcastle A,
Villa H,
Bournemouth H,
Cituae A,
Fulham A.

[CCTV]

If we can win our next 5..... then we'll very likely be in a title race

15 points from 5 would take us to 41 points after 21 games.
Arsenal would have a maximum of 48 points. Cituae a maximum of 49 points.

Taking us up to the January break there are 5 more PL games to play, a few have an efl quarter-final to play.


Here's the next 5 fixtures.... including EFL QFs

LFC:
Spurs A,
Wolves H,
Leeds H,
Fulham A,
Arsenal A.

Arsenal:
Everton A,
Palace H EFL cup,
Brighton H,
Villa H,
Bournemouth A,
LFC H.

Cituae:
Brentford H EfL cup,
WestHam H,
Forrest A,
Sunderland A,
Cfc H,
Brighton H.

Villa:
Manu H,
Cfc A,
Arsenal A,
Forrest H,
Palace A.

Cfc:
Newcastle A,
Villa H,
Bournemouth H,
Cituae A,
Fulham A.

1 down, 4 to go

[Insidious]

So now we arrive at the 16 games played point -

Distance from 1st - 10 points (no change - we were 10 points adrift after 15 played)
Distance from 4th - 2 points (1 point closer to 4th spot)
Distance from 18th - 13 points (having been 10 points clear, so 3 further points away from the horrible bit of the table)

The Forest and Fulham fixture will have no bearing on how close/far we are from 18th, whilst the Villa and Man United fixture will have no bearing on our distance from 1st of 4th spot, so we can have a quick look again.

After 17 games played -

Distance from 1st - 10 points (no change - we were 10 points adrift after 16 played)
Distance from 4th - 0 points (2 points closer to 4th spot)
Distance from 18th - 16 points (having been 13 points clear, so 3 further points away from the horrible bit of the table)[/QUOTE]

Really nice to see us finally draw level on points with 4th spot. We'd be foolish to gloat about it, as we're only 3 points ahead of Crystal Palace in 8th, but it's nice to be conscious of looking forward rather than behind.

Chelsea's draw was a big help. We're 4 points behind 3rd spot now, though few will hope for a Villa loss as it means a Man United win - perhaps many would settle for a draw to keep the Mancs away whilst keeping Villa within a distance we feel we might close.

3 wins and 2 draws in our last 5 League games, with an away victory in Europe. After our awful run, we'd definitely have taken that.

Our hopes of catching Arsenal are somewhat dubious right now with the 10-point disparity. I'd love to see us get that down to 7-points behind which probably means having to beat Wolves, Leeds, Fulham and Arsenal on the spin, which looks a tall order just now, though nothing is impossible.

If we pull that off (doubtful, but let's hope eh?) we might briefly hear the whispered echo of Clive Tyldesley's "hello, hello! Here we go!" before Guardiola's side go on a rather dull-and-predictable run of wins

Still - the Champion's League spots are right there now, we'll have belief against Marseille and Qarabag and there are further green shoots as Kerkez's form stabilises, Wirtz snags his much-needed assist and Ekitike continues to do his sumptuous re-imagining of some sort of Matip x Torres hybrid.

In short, there's still plenty to find joy in from now until May. I'll take it!

[JockStrap]

Are we there yet?

[CCTV]

15 points from 5 would take us to 41 points after 21 games.
Arsenal would have a maximum of 48 points. Cituae a maximum of 49 points.

Taking us up to the January break there are 5 more PL games to play, a few have an efl quarter-final to play.


Here's the 3 remaining fixtures after today.

LFC:
Leeds H,
Fulham A,
Arsenal A.

Arsenal:
Villa H,
Bournemouth A,
LFC H.

Cituae:
Sunderland A,
Cfc H,
Brighton H.

Villa:
Cfc A,
Arsenal A,
Forrest H,
Palace A.

Cfc:
Villa H,
Bournemouth H,
Cituae A,
Fulham A.

2 down, 3 to go..

Cfc v Villa underway

[Insidious]

After 17 games played -

Distance from 1st - 10 points (no change - we were 10 points adrift after 16 played)
Distance from 4th - 0 points (2 points closer to 4th spot)
Distance from 18th - 16 points (having been 13 points clear, so 3 further points away from the horrible bit of the table)

Okay - another update, all very finicky from my Phone after the death of my 19-year old PC

After 18 games played -



Distance from 1st - 10 points (no change - we were 10 points adrift after 17 played)

Distance from 4th - 0 points (we're now 4th at last and have a small cushion temporarily)

Distance from 18th - 19 points (having been 16 points clear, so 3 further points away from the horrible bit of the table)

It's taken quite a bit of time to get to the Champion's League spots, but it's done now. The next steps are holding our position and hopefully winning enough games that we might close the gap a little to make things more interesting. Getting Arsenal down to being 7 points clear rather than 10 points clear would be really something, though right now the main hope is getting a little bit more of a cushion to put sides like Chelsea or Man United at arm's length.

[Kev0909]

Why is distrance from relegation a thing, forgive me but I don't get it

we was never going down, I guess we're safe now at least.