Top of League 1

Athletico Charlton

Get the feeling the cream is starting to rise to the top already; for me it will be 7 into 6 for the autos/playoffs...

Charlton, Sheff Utd, Sheff Wed, Preston, MK Dons, Brentford & Huddersfield.

I also expect Colchester & Scunthorpe to improve as the season proceeds but unlikley to make play offs.

We have a good team this year as our start suggests and coming back to win after giving up a 2 goal lead today is a good sign in my opinion. I think this league will be 2 tiered this year though so expect it to be quite congested & hard fought at the top.

Looking forward to MK Dons, Sheff Utd & Brentford coming up to see exactly how good we are.

COYA

MuttleyCAFC

Average 2 points a win and we'll go up automatically - we don't need to worry about who else goes up then. We are currently 2 wins in credit.

ShootersHillGuru

Average 2 points a win and we'll go up automatically - we don't need to worry about who else goes up then. We are currently 2 wins in credit.

I will be disappointed if we only get 2 points a win tbh ;0)

bigstemarra

Sorry, wrong thread!

Oggy Red

Great report - and a really good read, Big Stem.

Cheers!

MuttleyCAFC

lol, ok - 2 points a game then

Oggy Red

Great report - and a really good read, Big Stem.

Cheers!

bigstemarra

I've been having a few technical difficulties and have just spent over an hour trying to post it in the right thread - and I still made a right dog's dinner of it!

Jints

It was worth it, thanks bugstemarra.

The three teams I'm worried about are Sheff Utd, Huddersfield and Preston. 

But keep on like this and we'll be fine. I always do the 2 points per game thing too and at present we are +4, but a bad run and that can disappear pretty quickly. 90 points had been enough to get automatic every season in league 1 for at least 10 years, less in most seasons.

Robert

Huddersfield have not lost in 34 league games, very impressive indeed! I think shedding utd and hudders will get the automatic places and then us, sheff weds, Preston and a wildcard will be in the play off places...

Henry Irving

Long long way to go. Preston seem to have strength in depth.

Hudds are on a great unbeaten run but how will they cope with a defeat?

Brentford look good but have a small squad.

Charlton can be got at as today showed but they have a lot of goals in them and some more good players to come back from injury.

Notts Co could mount a challenge

Hartlepool couls be this years Bournemouth

BlackForestReds

We've made a great start and have gotten points on the board. Sooner or later we'll have a blip with a few lost games and dropped points, but if we assume that 85-90 points will give us automatic promotion then we are over 20% of the way there already despite having played less than 20% of the season.

Stig

Leaders of the fair play league as well.  Keep that up and it's got to help later in the season when others start picking up suspensions.

BigRedEvil

Preston look strong, Hume and Mellor will score goals.

Just have to take each game as it comes, although it does seem there's going to be 6/7 teams in and around the top this year.

MuttleyCAFC

I do honestly believe there is more to come from us too and that is another factor to take into account.

Floyd Montana

Agree Mutts.
Increasing understanding, improving tactics and returning players from treatment all bode well.

Mendonca In Asdas

Good job we have made a good Start as we have a run of tough games coming up, we need to keep the faith and get behind the boys and make some noise, as a wise sage at the valley often says.

jakecafc

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/assists/_/league/eng.3/english-league-one?cc=5739 

Paul Hayes and BWP joint top for assists so far. 4 in total. Just shows how important BWP is... 4 Assists and 5 goals in 7 games.

ShootersHillGuru

I have always thought that the latter third of the season would be our strongest period based on a new young squad and manager. Our great start but sometimes stuttering performances are a testament to the inherent quality of the squad and I feel that once a stride is reached we can and will go on a very impressive run. We have a mouthwatering group ou players still to call on and I am very hopeful that a top two spot can be won. IMHO the top three is coming from us, Huddersfield and Sheff Utd. Huddersfield unbeaten run is awesome and I see them as the biggest threat.

bigstemarra

Well, the runners and riders for the great Div 3 sweepstake now seem to be lining up....

I actually think that Hudds are the team that I fear the most.  They are a good passing side and very resilient, so they seem to be able to pick up points when the chips are down.

PNE are shaping up into a very good team for this league and their front two are arguably the best strike partnership in the division.  With Phil Brown behind them, they will be tough to beat.

I am surprised that Sheff Utd have started so well - I thought that their financial problems would have had a far greater impact upon their situation on the pitch - that may still happen if they lose a few key players in January, but I certainly wrote them off in error.

Sheff Weds will probably be there or thereabouts, but I am comforted to be reminded of who their manager is - it will never be a smooth ride with Megson around.  Many of the fans hate him already (mostly for the style of football his teams play) and their situation reminds me of a certain team last year that I can't quite recall.....

MK Dons could still be a big threat.  They started the season very well and can really play from what I can make out.

Other possible contenders: Brentford (their best team for a while) and Hartlepool (could be the surprise package of the season as Henry pointed out).  But can they stay the pace?

As for us, it's a point well made how young our squad is overall.  All teams have a bad run at some point and it will be interesting to see how our young side copes with defeat - that will be our real test.  So far they have shown real maturity (yesterday's result being a point in case) and it is hoped that we will see them become more wily as the season goes on.  Remember, they are still learning many football lessons on the job as it were and they haven't done badly at all so far.  They will only get better and that is a mouthwatering prospect for a team that was more or less bought of the peg in the summer.  If we can improve our attacking options from the bench (which we have already started to address) then we will have no reason to expect anything other than a successful season.  We have some very good footballers at the club now and they will only get better as a unit.  Bring it on!

tangoflash

Pretty much agree with all that Bigs.

Saga Lout

Good summary Bigs, although I don't understand your comment about the team being bought "off the peg" - yes, we bought a lot of players, but I see it as a tailored squad, rather than an off the peg one. A lot of thought went into selecting the players now wearing our shirt.

bigstemarra

I don't dispute that at all Saga, I very much see that as being the case and the thought that has gone into building our squad is very much to be commended.  They did their homework and it shows - they have done a fantastic job as far as I can make out.

What I was trying to say was that for a team/squad that is almost completely new we could have expected a bit of a wait for them to get to know each other and blend as a unit (the dreaded gelling, I suppose).  Fortunately, they hit the ground running and the performance against Bournemouth on the opening day of the season was amazing for a brand new team.  This outlines the quality of the players that we have brought in IMO, and again is a credit to the tactical thinking behind our player selection - we have players that have the nouse to play football without needing time to 'bed in' and get to know their team mates.  As such, we ended up with an 'off the peg' team that just got straight on with the job.  Good stuff.

Stig

This outlines the quality of the players that we have brought in IMO, and again is a credit to the tactical thinking behind our player selection - we have players that have the nouse to play football without needing time to 'bed in' and get to know their team mates.  As such, we ended up with an 'off the peg' team that just got straight on with the job.  Good stuff.

I agree with that, but I think it also shows that CP has put together a first team where everyone is playing in their preferred position, and where there is a dedicated player to cover all positions - this made the "dreaded gelling" so much easier because everyone came into that team knowing exactly what their job was.  In past seasons we haven't had that and there was consequently a fair amount juggling about, playing people out of position.

Rudders22

It also helped that these players were targetted early were bought/signed early and went off and had a good pre-season and got to know each other's games. Preparation was excellent

redlanered

We'd all accept that our opening set of fixtures was not the most difficult - though I'll remind you that last season our 'easy on paper' 10 games against Dagenham, Hartlepool, Walsall, Rochdale & Exeter yielded (I think)  just 6 points.

So, we've yet to be tested really.  Most of us said 2 months ago: the squad looks good, CP still to prove himself.  I think that's still the case - he's got us playing well but the real tests are yet to come.  There is evidence that we can be outsmarted tactically - Sheff Wed frustrated us once Megson changed it around, Scunny got their act together, and some Dale fans seem to think they only got close thanks to tactical superiority 2nd half.  Whatever, we can see that all the 'big' teams have started reasonably well or better, and are clear threats.

Of the smaller teams, Hartlepool are intriguing, and who would deny them a season where they threaten?  Solano is real class still - a shrewd gamble paying off it seems.  And the striker Nish may be better than expected - in the Charlie Adam vein a guy who seems to perform better in England vs Scotland. 

But it's all about us - if we can take a reasonable number of points off the top teams and hoover up wins from the rest, we'll be in good shape

BlackForestReds

MK Dons could still be a big threat. They started the season very well and can really play from what I can make out.



As with the last few years they've started the season well, but I don't think they'll have the stamina to be consistent. Huddersfield started off slowly, perhaps a bit of a hangover to missing out on promotion, but they are gathering a few points now. Their attacking style of play guarantees a few goals, not necessarily in their favour. If they added a defender or two and learnt to close out matches then they would be genuine contenders.

For me it's two from Charlton, Huddersfield and the two Sheffield clubs.

Mike

Id say Huddersfield are genuine contenders....they haven't lost for about 30+ games. Do they really need another defender or two? They have conceded the same amount of goals as us having played a game more, 7 goals in 9 games.

seth plum

We need about 33 more points to be almost certainly safe from relegation.

tangoflash

All very well saying that McFrauds won't be able to sustain their form throughout the season but if i recall, we were all saying the same things about Bournemouth in October...........and December.............and January.......March.
I wouldn't write them off. They seem to have an astute young, energetic manager, not a million miles away from Eddie Howe maybe?

Robert

It's funny how we are saying Mkdons won't last the season...we are famous for having good starts and falling away near the end....a very king way to go yet, let's not run before we can walk...