By Allen Cummings
We’ve all got our own wish lists for the festive season. and Michail Antonio recently alluded on Instagram to something on his own list this Christmas, when he posted a picture of Andy Carroll with the words: “everyone needs a Carroll at Christmas”.
Who would argue that it will be good to see AC back? But such is the fitness fragility we’ve had to live with throughout Carroll’s time with us, who’s to say any re-appearance soon will actually last until Christmas itself comes along anyway.
So while Carroll’s availability remains the great unknown – what CAN we look forward to by the time the big day arrives?
A glance at the fixtures between now and the start of the Christmas holiday period leads me to believe we have it within us to be sitting in a far more comfortable position in the table.
We’ve bemoaned our tough start to the season, not without reason, which has seen us face 10 of the current top 12 teams in the Premier League, in our first dozen games.
With Manchester City next up, it’s obviously not immediately about to get any easier. But then we have a run of five games in the lead-up to Christmas – all of which have the potential for us to enjoy a generous gathering of points.
We have three games at home, against Cardiff City, Crystal Palace and Watford respectively, none of which will be easy – are there any easy game in this league? But with the encouragement of our convincing victory over Burnley at the London Stadium behind us, I believe nine points are there for the taking.
Away from home we are set to face Newcastle United and Fulham. A point up in the north east would do nicely. The Geordies have been finding life hard so far this season and St James’ is nowhere near the fortress it once was.
Fulham may have changed managers recently, and they did that for a reason because quite frankly they’ve been awful. Claudio Ranieri is a lovely man, but he’s got a massive job on his hands and I believe we’re more than capable of taking all three points at Craven Cottage.
Four victories and a draw following the City game would produce 13 points – one more than we have acquired so far this season, giving us a total of 25 points by Christmas Day. That’s what I’m looking forward to on my personal wish list – whether it’s with or without our own ‘Christmas Carroll’!
