Not sure whether this is a good barometer of things to come or whether the league is poorer etc but here we go:
97/98 - Points after 34 games
59 Points
07/08 - Points after 34 games
52 Points
12 Game Run in 97/98
29 points out of 36 (9 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat)
Final Position
4th with 88 Points - 6 points behind the leaders, 3 points behind second place.
We played Forest and Sunderland in the run in (beat Forest at home and drew with Sunderland) who you consider to be "contenders" -this year we have to play Bristol City, West Brom, Ipswich, Plymouth, West Brom
This shows the kind of run we DO need to go on - comfort is in that at the same stage in that season Boro and Forest were on 68 and 65 points respectively whereas Stoke and Bristol are on 62 and 61 points at the moment.
Basically if we go on a bloody good run we'll be ok.
I know stats can be twisted any which way and its up to how you interpret them but hey ho.
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You are right about the run in, and i'm convinced that a similar one will see us not 4th, but in the top two. The title will be won in the 80s this season, not in the nineties of previous years. I honestly can't see more than 1, 2 at most, teams putting in that sort of run.
So some of the football isn't great, but this is an incredibly tight league where anyone can beat anyone.
Prem - gap between 1st - 15th - 38 points
Cham - gap between 1st - 21st - 25 points.
Says it all
I'm not so sure we can find the level of consistency needed in order to do so though. Then again I wasn't sure that we had it in us the year WSS mentions above and I reckon there's a good chance that a 29 point run-in from here will see us up automatically as everyone continues to take points off everyone else above us.
Despite what the doom 'n gloomers would have us believe I really don't think it's time to give up on this season yet.....
Cardiff ended up just 1 place above Ipswich, despite being 20 points ahead of them at this stage.