Fleetwood scoring in the 90th min to draw 3-3 against Blackpool was good a result for any team chasing the play offs. Blackpool would have been joint 6th place with a win.
Stevenage still holding on to 6th place is still a surprise as though they would have been caught by now.
I am not surprised they are living comfortably in league 1 as I thought they played good stuff against us in the carabao Cup last season.
Top6 is a brilliant start though, got some good players in their squad, recruitment team/Steve Evans have an eye for a good player. Be surprised if they keep it up though
I would say at this point Pompey, Bolton, Oxford in any order looks nailed on top3. Barnsley will probably stay in the top6. Then you have about 5-6 teams with a claim for the last play off slots.
Us being 5 points outside them with our horrendous start shows how weak this league is
Fleetwood scoring in the 90th min to draw 3-3 against Blackpool was good a result for any team chasing the play offs. Blackpool would have been joint 6th place with a win.
Stevenage still holding on to 6th place is still a surprise as though they would have been caught by now.
I am not surprised they are living comfortably in league 1 as I thought they played good stuff against us in the carabao Cup last season.
Top6 is a brilliant start though, got some good players in their squad, recruitment team/Steve Evans have an eye for a good player. Be surprised if they keep it up.
I would say at this point Pompey, Bolton, Oxford in any order looks nailed on top3. Barnsley will probably stay in the top6. Then you have about 5-6 teams with a claim for the last play off slots.
Us being 5 points outside them with our horrendous start shows how weak this league is
Good summary and shows that if Apples can sort the defence out we’ll right in the mix for 5th/6th spot come the end of April
Fleetwood scoring in the 90th min to draw 3-3 against Blackpool was good a result for any team chasing the play offs. Blackpool would have been joint 6th place with a win.
Stevenage still holding on to 6th place is still a surprise as though they would have been caught by now.
I am not surprised they are living comfortably in league 1 as I thought they played good stuff against us in the carabao Cup last season.
Top6 is a brilliant start though, got some good players in their squad, recruitment team/Steve Evans have an eye for a good player. Be surprised if they keep it up.
I would say at this point Pompey, Bolton, Oxford in any order looks nailed on top3. Barnsley will probably stay in the top6. Then you have about 5-6 teams with a claim for the last play off slots.
Us being 5 points outside them with our horrendous start shows how weak this league is
Will be Pompey and Bolton autos. Oxford, Barnsley, Derby in play offs and either us or Peterborough to join them.
Fleetwood scoring in the 90th min to draw 3-3 against Blackpool was good a result for any team chasing the play offs. Blackpool would have been joint 6th place with a win.
Stevenage still holding on to 6th place is still a surprise as though they would have been caught by now.
I am not surprised they are living comfortably in league 1 as I thought they played good stuff against us in the carabao Cup last season.
Top6 is a brilliant start though, got some good players in their squad, recruitment team/Steve Evans have an eye for a good player. Be surprised if they keep it up.
I would say at this point Pompey, Bolton, Oxford in any order looks nailed on top3. Barnsley will probably stay in the top6. Then you have about 5-6 teams with a claim for the last play off slots.
Us being 5 points outside them with our horrendous start shows how weak this league is
Will be Pompey and Bolton autos. Oxford, Barnsley, Derby in play offs and either us or Peterborough to join them.
I've said from the start Bolton are autos and if you finish above them you're definitely promoted and I am sticking to that.
Very surprised to see Oxford and Pompey doing so well, thought Derby would be in their position with, on paper a strong squad and a more seasoned manager who has experienced being promoted from this league multiple times.
If we can't get play-offs it will be so disappointing as it's such a weakened league
Leicester felt like the "best" team to go down in a long while, injuries and poor performances in defence did the damage but they had decent players.
I know they've lost a few but they"ve still got some very good players, and Coady, Winks were good signings for the Championship. Think they'll cruise it this season.
Very difficult to be definitive at this stage of the season. They are the bookies favourite for a reason but, as you say, they have lost the likes of Maddison, Barnes, Castagne, Soyuncu, Evans and Tielemans. They will undoubtedly be in the shake up but, perhaps, Leeds might actually pip them.
Leeds have had a bit of an indifferent start in dropping points at home but have had injuries (Bamford, Firpo, Dallas, Cooper and now Spence all out) and still recorded very good away wins at Ipswich (their only defeat of the season) and now Millwall. Leeds only finished three points behind Leicester last season and in Daniel Farke they have someone who has worn the Championship winning T shirt - not once but twice. In fact, if we go back to his first Championship win with Norwich, they actually started the season with just five points from their first six games but still ended up with 94 points. They currently have nine points from the same number of games.
We will only truly know the state of play and even whether the likes of Ipswich can maintain their excellent start after 15 games or so but I would probably rather be a backer of Leeds at their current price of 8/1 than Leicester at 2/1
Leicester are by no means looking the certainties they once were - two defeats on the bounce and failed to score in both games too. One of those defeats was at home to Leeds (also won at Ipswich) and Leicester managed just one shot on target in that match. The gap between them has now narrowed the gap to 8 points which, with 30 games to go, certainly isn't an insurmountable one.
However, anyone who thought that Ipswich weren't capable of back to back promotions has to be impressed with the way that they are now level on points with Leicester. I suspect that it is only "weight of money" and bookmakers' liabilities that make Leicester a best priced 8/11 and if I wasn't going to back them at 2/1 then I'm certainly not going to do so at their current price.
Had Leicester, Ipswich, Leeds and Southampton top 6 in my accy. Also had Bolton, Pompey and Derby top 6 in L1, Stockport + Wrexham L2, Man City winning PL and Chesterfield winning non league... If only I had stopped there... Sadly I added Gills and Bradford top 7 too. Ggrrr.
I hadn't realised that there are only TWO games in L1 being played today. Farcical to schedule a full fixture list now during international weekends, when so many clubs have players called up.
Notts County look a very decent side for a team who have just been promoted. Is this the most quality league 2 for some time?
Stockport, Mansfield, County, Wrexham, then you have sides like Morecambe, Wimbledon, MK Dons, Swindon, Gills and Accrinton who have all been in league 1 recently
Edit: as I post this now 4-2.
Brad Halliday instrumental in both goals, the player I highlighted against Wimbledon. Really like the way he plays
Notts County look a very decent side for a team who have just been promoted. Is this the most quality league 2 for some time?
Stockport, Mansfield, County, Wrexham, then you have sides like Morecambe, Wimbledon, MK Dons, Swindon, Gills and Accrinton who have all been in league 1 recently
Edit: as I post this now 4-2.
Brad Halliday instrumental in both goals, the player I highlighted against Wimbledon. Really like the way he plays
It's notable that for a significant number of established EFL clubs that fall out of the league due to financial issues, the natural order eventually reinstates itself. Indeed the momentum from coming out of the NL can take them up the divisions quite quickly.
Luton made it to the PL, but Lincoln for example had momentum to take them up to L1 where they've stayed.
Notts County look a very decent side for a team who have just been promoted. Is this the most quality league 2 for some time?
Stockport, Mansfield, County, Wrexham, then you have sides like Morecambe, Wimbledon, MK Dons, Swindon, Gills and Accrinton who have all been in league 1 recently
Edit: as I post this now 4-2.
Brad Halliday instrumental in both goals, the player I highlighted against Wimbledon. Really like the way he plays
It's notable that for a significant number of established EFL clubs that fall out of the league due to financial issues, the natural order eventually reinstates itself. Indeed the momentum from coming out of the NL can take them up the divisions quite quickly.
Luton made it to the PL, but Lincoln for example had momentum to take them up to L1 where they've stayed.
That's true, teams generally tend to find their way back. Chesterfield currently doing so. Imagine sides like Oldham and Southend will also find themselves back in league 2 at least at some point in the near future.
Bradford are having a shocker, by far the biggest club in league 2 and right down the bottom end of the table now.
Looking at the 1997/97 First division (Championship) table, when we finished 4th and went up, Stockport finished 8th, Crewe 11th, Bradford 13th, Tranmere 14th, Bury 17th and Swindon 18th. All finished ahead of Manchester City who were relegated.
Stevenage winning and up to 4th. Will be a long list of clubs looking to sign Jamie Reid. Thought he looked really good against Charlton.
Now 10 points behind Stevenage in 4th. Hopefully we can put together a consistent winning run soon, before the play off spots move too far away. Obviously, there’s some games in hand involved but a lot sides around us have played 16 as well.
Stevenage winning and up to 4th. Will be a long list of clubs looking to sign Jamie Reid. Thought he looked really good against Charlton.
Just 4 points shy of being on track of 2ppg. Very surprised that they keep going. Expected them to fall away similar to Exeter, Port Vale, Cambridge.
Real surprise package and seems to have recruited well.
Jamie Reid contract up in the summer, be interesting to see if Stevenage cash in. He's 29 and very much a late bloomer similar to May. Spent most of his career at non league and best spell at his hometown, Torquay, where he managed around 1 goal every other game.
I don't think he will have too many suitors due to his age and lack of experience. Could be a flash in the pan
I hadn't realised that there are only TWO games in L1 being played today. Farcical to schedule a full fixture list now during international weekends, when so many clubs have players called up.
Why has it got so bad though? More quality in League One? More international games being played? Or more players choosing to represent obscure countries that their grandparents might have once visited, eg. Sierra Leone?
I hadn't realised that there are only TWO games in L1 being played today. Farcical to schedule a full fixture list now during international weekends, when so many clubs have players called up.
Why has it got so bad though? More quality in League One? More international games being played? Or more players choosing to represent obscure countries that their grandparents might have once visited, eg. Sierra Leone?
It does seem that the smaller football nations are calling up players at a younger and younger age, maybe to "capture" them. I'm don't recall such countries calling up 18 year olds before.
Nobody 6 months ago would have thought we'd have 5 of our own players away this break (not even counting loan players).
Stevenage winning and up to 4th. Will be a long list of clubs looking to sign Jamie Reid. Thought he looked really good against Charlton.
Now 10 points behind Stevenage in 4th. Hopefully we can put together a consistent winning run soon, before the play off spots move too far away. Obviously, there’s some games in hand involved but a lot sides around us have played 16 as well.
It’s true that they’ve 10 points more… our slow start, only taking 3 points from 5 games, really hurt us.
BUT they’ve also played two extra games. Their next couple of games are against Fleetwood (lost 2 in 9) and Peterborough (5th, one point behind them with a game in hand).
In the same span we have Carlisle (22nd) and Cheltenham (23rd). Hopefully the gap will close sooner rather than later.
With just 2 league games in league one today and a few postponed in League two, I think the EFL should just bin the whole league programme on intl weekends. I don’t know why, but it just bugs me seeing all these games postponed.
I wonder if it wouldn’t get the votes because of the number of League One and Two teams that don’t have international players outnumber the ones that do…
I wonder if it wouldn’t get the votes because of the number of League One and Two teams that don’t have international players outnumber the ones that do…
But the teams without international players are affected just as much when they have games postponed by their opponents. There must have been at least 8 teams with callups this weekend, if not more, so there's a high chance of playing one of these teams.
Comments
Top6 is a brilliant start though, got some good players in their squad, recruitment team/Steve Evans have an eye for a good player. Be surprised if they keep it up though
I would say at this point Pompey, Bolton, Oxford in any order looks nailed on top3. Barnsley will probably stay in the top6. Then you have about 5-6 teams with a claim for the last play off slots.
Us being 5 points outside them with our horrendous start shows how weak this league is
Very surprised to see Oxford and Pompey doing so well, thought Derby would be in their position with, on paper a strong squad and a more seasoned manager who has experienced being promoted from this league multiple times.
If we can't get play-offs it will be so disappointing as it's such a weakened league
Their next 2 home games are Sheff Weds and Rotherham, so i'd seriously start to question him if they don't win those.
Leicester are by no means looking the certainties they once were - two defeats on the bounce and failed to score in both games too. One of those defeats was at home to Leeds (also won at Ipswich) and Leicester managed just one shot on target in that match. The gap between them has now narrowed the gap to 8 points which, with 30 games to go, certainly isn't an insurmountable one.
However, anyone who thought that Ipswich weren't capable of back to back promotions has to be impressed with the way that they are now level on points with Leicester. I suspect that it is only "weight of money" and bookmakers' liabilities that make Leicester a best priced 8/11 and if I wasn't going to back them at 2/1 then I'm certainly not going to do so at their current price.
Suspect Dave Challinors stock will be high enough soon to land him a championship gig
Blimey
Stockport, Mansfield, County, Wrexham, then you have sides like Morecambe, Wimbledon, MK Dons, Swindon, Gills and Accrinton who have all been in league 1 recently
Edit: as I post this now 4-2.
Brad Halliday instrumental in both goals, the player I highlighted against Wimbledon. Really like the way he plays
Luton made it to the PL, but Lincoln for example had momentum to take them up to L1 where they've stayed.
Bradford are having a shocker, by far the biggest club in league 2 and right down the bottom end of the table now.
Now all are in L2 or out of business.
Real surprise package and seems to have recruited well.
Jamie Reid contract up in the summer, be interesting to see if Stevenage cash in. He's 29 and very much a late bloomer similar to May. Spent most of his career at non league and best spell at his hometown, Torquay, where he managed around 1 goal every other game.
I don't think he will have too many suitors due to his age and lack of experience. Could be a flash in the pan
Mansfield 17 games undefeated.
Will be tough to get out of L2 this season.
Nobody 6 months ago would have thought we'd have 5 of our own players away this break (not even counting loan players).
BUT they’ve also played two extra games. Their next couple of games are against Fleetwood (lost 2 in 9) and Peterborough (5th, one point behind them with a game in hand).
In the same span we have Carlisle (22nd) and Cheltenham (23rd). Hopefully the gap will close sooner rather than later.
Port Vale for example got their game called off because they have 3 loan players called up (1 for Wales U21 and 2 for England U20).
I wonder if it wouldn’t get the votes because of the number of League One and Two teams that don’t have international players outnumber the ones that do…