Next 4 league fixtures should tell us. All very winnable. Take 10 points from them and I will start to believe.
Agree the next 4 will be a good indication, unfortunately, I don't think they're all that winnable.
Bolton in our last 10 we have won twice, last 8 times away there we have won once, Rotherham will be tough, they've been showing some fight lately, same as Shrewsbury, lost 1 in last 5, as for Bristol Rovers, proper dodgy team for us atm, lost 5 in a row vs them lot.
10 points would be nice, and keeps us on target, but the next 4 are genuinely quite tough for us.
I also think the sleeper team this year is Leyton Orient, I don't know what's been put in their porridge, but they're doing very well recently
Agree that long term form against Bolton is awful but you can also say that we have picked up 4 points from last 2 against them, both under Jones. Also think the way they play is perfect for our press so fancy us to get a win there.
Rotherham will be an ugly game, always is against Evans - would take a point if we can back it up with 3 at Bolton.
Shrewsbury/Bristol Rovers - 6 points are a must - we have a lot of home games against the lower half to come so we need to build the momentum here
Interesting point around Leyton Orient, they were nowhere after 10 games so it shows if you can put a good run together then it's possible to get into the mix.
I feel positive given we are usually awful around the winter period and down to the bare bones squad wise. The football has got a lot better since the debacle that was Crawley and we have an almost fully-fit squad. We need to trim it and add a bit more going forward, but it's nice to be looking up rather than down going into the second half of the season.
Orient (I mean jesus Orient! 5 wins from 5) Bolton Stockport Mansfield (4 wins from 5) Reading
I don't see us overtaking them all to make 6th
Stockport will see a drop off with the loss off Louie Barry, Reading are set to lose a couple of key players and behind the scenes stuff will probably damage them and I can't see Mansfield staying in the Top 6 picture till the end of the year.
Orient have really got going and look impressive and I think when Bolton sack Evatt they'll be a huge threat as well. Also looks like Rotherham have joined the race now so could do with getting something from that on Saturday
Barnsley are not that good! Plus we have to play them at home!
They have 8 more points than us and sit in 5th place, I wish we weren’t that good
Mike the league isn’t that strong, look how bad we have been and amazingly we are still in with a shout. Look at Barnsley’s home record until the Wrexham game, it was absolutely shocking!
Realistically and statistically, we're just a bit too far away to make it and there are other teams that are feeling a lot better placed to grab 5th/6th than we are.
I'll echo what they said on the NTTT pod - Brum and probably Hudderfield for autos. Wrexham and Wycombe (even now without Bloomfield) taking 3rd/4th. Barnsley have got the experience and improving form to take 5th, but are capable of imploding.
6th is arguably available for everyone up to just down to us, at a push. Reading have the points, but have off the field stuff continuing that still could mean they take a dip. Stockport will tail off without Barry, but still a decent side. Orient have probably the best shot at it with a recency bias on their form, but a betting man would probably go for them (as they did on the NTTT pod). Mansfield have done well, but probably feel least likely to make a significant push. Bolton have big volatility with Evatt, but I think missing out is less likely. Finally it's us, and we probably have too much of a deficit to catch up.
Our problems stem from our inability to win games when we don't take a lead and the fact that we don't have any margin for error for this point onwards. We've got to go away to most of the current top 6, and we do have more away games than home games. We would have to go on a similar run to Orient to be in the mix in order to get the swing of points that we require. It's completely in our own hands, but the impact of every loss from this point forward grows more and more significant.
Signings would be essential to this, as upcoming games will mean injuries and certain positions lack cover/options (wide and attacking midfield). I remain concerned that we won't invest now and that a finish in the 7-10th positions is acceptable to the board and is spun as progress.
Another season of L1 football feels most likely, which is a shame because, in the dice roll of the playoffs, I would actually fancy us to give it a good go.
We can see from last night that we are not far off. If we don't get injuries to key players and maybe bring one or two in, there is absolutely no reason we can't go on the sort of run we need to. Yes the 'IF' is quite a big one and we might have a 40% chance but that is significant.
Probably the biggest issue is still putting the ball in the back of the net and if anything is going to cost us, that will. Clearly, we have to do better in the second half of the season, but we have introduced width to the side and that has made a big difference. Seriously, if we can get CBT or similar, we should, as we need to have an option if TC or Small or both are injured as without that width, we are too easy to defend against,
Sky have both us and Orient at 10/3 to make the top six. Think too much is being made of Orient’s recent surge in form when you look at the teams they had beat. Long old way to go yet.
Sky have both us and Orient at 10/3 to make the top six. Think too much is being made of Orient’s recent surge in form when you look at the teams they had beat. Long old way to go yet.
I agree mate however our biggest problem over the recent history is failing to beat the teams we should beat
Sky have both us and Orient at 10/3 to make the top six. Think too much is being made of Orient’s recent surge in form when you look at the teams they had beat. Long old way to go yet.
Barnsley are not that good! Plus we have to play them at home!
we have 2 games in hand on them
Better to have the points in the bag.
I prefer the hopeless optimism of having games in hand, so when I look at the table I can say we will be here if we win our games in hand, despite deep down knowing we won’t
The table doesn't lie but we have discovered a way of playing that suits us in relatively recent games so we have every reason to think the second half of the season will be better if we don't lose key players.
I had a light flicker of hope because league one is crap, and we are not even better than the crap. For me seeing u go down to 2-0 in 15 mins against Rotherham who have hardly won in ages shows we are a mid table to 10 team, Something has to change. Manager and Recruitment. Most of the players we have is dross. Why sign ex Luton players that are on their way down. Keep jones to the summer. We can't keep changing Managers all the time. The players I would keep are Small, Leaburn. Jones, Ramsey, Small. Get rid of the dross like Adhame (who would want him though?), and McG.
I had a light flicker of hope because league one is crap, and we are not even better than the crap. For me seeing u go down to 2-0 in 15 mins against Rotherham who have hardly won in ages shows we are a mid table to 10 team, Something has to change. Manager and Recruitment. Most of the players we have is dross. Why sign ex Luton players that are on their way down. Keep jones to the summer. We can't keep changing Managers all the time. The players I would keep are Small, Leaburn. Jones, Ramsey, Small. Get rid of the dross like Adhame (who would want him though?), and McG.
Small, Leaburn and Jones will all leave at the end of this season! Two out of contract, the other sold!
Comments
Birmingham are s*** as well.
I'll echo what they said on the NTTT pod - Brum and probably Hudderfield for autos. Wrexham and Wycombe (even now without Bloomfield) taking 3rd/4th. Barnsley have got the experience and improving form to take 5th, but are capable of imploding.
6th is arguably available for everyone up to just down to us, at a push. Reading have the points, but have off the field stuff continuing that still could mean they take a dip. Stockport will tail off without Barry, but still a decent side. Orient have probably the best shot at it with a recency bias on their form, but a betting man would probably go for them (as they did on the NTTT pod). Mansfield have done well, but probably feel least likely to make a significant push. Bolton have big volatility with Evatt, but I think missing out is less likely. Finally it's us, and we probably have too much of a deficit to catch up.
Our problems stem from our inability to win games when we don't take a lead and the fact that we don't have any margin for error for this point onwards. We've got to go away to most of the current top 6, and we do have more away games than home games. We would have to go on a similar run to Orient to be in the mix in order to get the swing of points that we require. It's completely in our own hands, but the impact of every loss from this point forward grows more and more significant.
Signings would be essential to this, as upcoming games will mean injuries and certain positions lack cover/options (wide and attacking midfield). I remain concerned that we won't invest now and that a finish in the 7-10th positions is acceptable to the board and is spun as progress.
Another season of L1 football feels most likely, which is a shame because, in the dice roll of the playoffs, I would actually fancy us to give it a good go.
Probably the biggest issue is still putting the ball in the back of the net and if anything is going to cost us, that will. Clearly, we have to do better in the second half of the season, but we have introduced width to the side and that has made a big difference. Seriously, if we can get CBT or similar, we should, as we need to have an option if TC or Small or both are injured as without that width, we are too easy to defend against,
we have 2 games in hand on them
meant to quote this
Two 0-0 draws at home (Mansfield and Reading) during a period when we are supposedly in form.
Better to have the points in the bag.
We have the most ridiculous over the top fans at times