The now later and end position

[AnonymousBlade1995]

Thoughts are we happy, where would you see us at Christmas and the end of season? in my opinion i see us hanging around 2nd probably 1-5 points out of it for most of the season then with a bit of luck with results around us sneak in to 2nd last few games. (probably bottle it later)

 

[Going up]

I see us second or third by Christmas, with our strength in depth, Champions (with a good, Brayford style recruitment in January) at the end.

 

[Rollerball]

There's been a lot of talk about how we are playing how the team is chopped and changed and how we are not putting teams to the sword, now my own personal opinion is the second two points are linked, with a more settled team we probably would be winning by 2 or 3 goals, we are certainly creating enough, take yesterday, some complaining we "only" beat an admittedly poor Crewe side by one goal, but we missed a pen and had several other very good chances without really getting out of third gear.
We are 5th in the table, 2 points off second and 7 behind arguably the best or should I say most consistent team in this division without really playing well or even to the undoubted ability of the players in the team, we see glimpses of that ability each game from 3 or 4 players then we sort of ease off which usually means we lose a goal or are under the cosh for a period of the game.
Frustrating as it is, as time moves on and games played we seem to be getting harder to beat, play better for longer periods and keep getting the points, all as I say without really playing well, once this team has fully fitted together, I can see us putting teams to the sword much earlier and becoming that team that no one looks forward to playing in this division, like the man ure of old where teams almost knew they had lost before a ball is kicked.
In closing I'd like to say, give them a little more time and I believe we can at the very least walk second place, I said early in the season this squad would need till mid nov before it looked like the team it can be, and given we have quite a large in depth squad where most have had games, when it gets to the busy Xmas time when injuries and suspensions start to really bite, we will be a lot better placed in terms of bringing players into the first team and will pick up points where others around us with smaller squads will find it hard.
Onwards and upwards.
UTB

 

[judge]

There's been a lot of talk about how we are playing how the team is chopped and changed and how we are not putting teams to the sword, now my own personal opinion is the second two points are linked, with a more settled team we probably would be winning by 2 or 3 goals, we are certainly creating enough, take yesterday, some complaining we "only" beat an admittedly poor Crewe side by one goal, but we missed a pen and had several other very good chances without really getting out of third gear.
We are 5th in the table, 2 points off second and 7 behind arguably the best or should I say most consistent team in this division without really playing well or even to the undoubted ability of the players in the team, we see glimpses of that ability each game from 3 or 4 players then we sort of ease off which usually means we lose a goal or are under the cosh for a period of the game.
Frustrating as it is, as time moves on and games played we seem to be getting harder to beat, play better for longer periods and keep getting the points, all as I say without really playing well, once this team has fully fitted together, I can see us putting teams to the sword much earlier and becoming that team that no one looks forward to playing in this division, like the man ure of old where teams almost knew they had lost before a ball is kicked.
In closing I'd like to say, give them a little more time and I believe we can at the very least walk second place, I said early in the season this squad would need till mid nov before it looked like the team it can be, and given we have quite a large in depth squad where most have had games, when it gets to the busy Xmas time when injuries and suspensions start to really bite, we will be a lot better placed in terms of bringing players into the first team and will pick up points where others around us with smaller squads will find it hard.
Onwards and upwards.
UTB

Everything in your post is correct another spin on it however is that we are in a poor league and not playing great yet we are winning games and ditting top 6

If we had strengthened the squad using the money we have available we would have pissed this league
If we end up losing in the play offs and 3 quality teams come down from the championship would you really fancy us to get promotion next season with our shoestring budget ?

 

[metalblade]

It is hard to see why we are if not top then at least in one of the top two spots by some margin. I think everyone is agreed we need a top striker in the team Baxter is not working but the stats don't say this with any conviction. We have scored 22 and have 18 against us. Of the teams around us Notts County have scored one less than us but have only conceded 12 (21-12). Peterborough have scored two more but had an extra game (24-17) Oldham one more than us with an extra game (23-17) both only conceding one goal less. Three teams have played a game less Swindon (27-17), MKD (27-15), and Preston (26-13), leaders Bristol have a goal ratio of (32-17) You have to go down to 10th place Chesterfield to find a team that has conceded more than us. What it all says to me is that as well as needing a top marksman we need to cut out gifting goals at the other end just as much. As we are we will only make the play offs, at the moment Preston look most likely to win the League for me they are scoring enough and have a mean defence but Bristol will be up there they score for fun but also concede as many as anyone up there and more than some. I do think with a few quality additions we could definitely push very hard for the top two places.

 

[Edinblade]

The current team is far too good for this league. Cloughie recruited a lot of players in the summer. It was always going to take time to gel and develop team spirit.
He has done exactly the right thing. He's kept the money so if he needs to buy in January his options are still open. Top two finish for me probably comfortable from March onwards.

 

[metalblade]

The current team is far too good for this league. Cloughie recruited a lot of players in the summer. It was always going to take time to gel and develop team spirit.
He has done exactly the right thing. He's kept the money so if he needs to buy in January his options are still open. Top two finish for me probably comfortable from March onwards.

No chance, two players haven't been replaced yet Maguire and Evans

 

[itsinyerblood]

Obviously the current run brings with it a sense of cautious optimism. Personally, I'd wait another 5-7 games before I'd even begin to assess what our chances might be. Certainly, the movement of Basham to centre half seems to have added a bit of quality to the no-nonsense approach we'd expect, along with McCarthy finally making the obvious adjustments to playing regularly once again. I'm also glad Harris is back in the fold, a good player is old whisperin', and if Wallace can remain niggle free we look to have the determined desire to compete at this level.

Murphy too, looks back to what we saw last season, and the set-up for Scougall's goal was a quality bit of wing play. At the moment Murf is looking about as dangerous as any forward in this division. Just a pity his goals return isn't greater, but I suppose if it was we might be concerned whether the club would sell him. It's not simply because we're in such a good position that I feel encouraged, but we have a player like young Reed waiting in the wings, along with 3-5 other young 'uns who we know will jump at the chance to stake their claim for a first team place.

Nothing's happened yet, there's a lot of football to be played, but as marathons go this is beginning to shape up nicely.

 

[Darthblade]

The current team is far too good for this league. Cloughie recruited a lot of players in the summer. It was always going to take time to gel and develop team spirit.
He has done exactly the right thing. He's kept the money so if he needs to buy in January his options are still open. Top two finish for me probably comfortable from March onwards.

The league table suggests not. If we don't recruit in the loan window ( striker + CH ) I would expect us to be 5th / 6th at Xmas and similar at the end of the season. If we do recruit a strong pacey striker, a strong CM with pace plus a dominant CH then it may be a different ball game.
UTB & FTP

 

[Going up]

A win, or 3 points, from our game in hand and the league table suggests we are.

 

[mattbianco1]

The performance at Crewe underlined two things.

1- The quality we have in the squad to boss games.
2- The need for a natural goalscorer.

Against better sides we will need more than 1goal to win. Orient for example hit us on the break and almost snatched what would've been an injustice of a victory.

 

[blade too long]

had we had played mk dons and won 1-0 the table would be

1 bristol city p 15 pts 33
2 sufc ,,,,,,,,,p 15 pts 29
3 preston ,,,,,,,p 13 pts 28
4 notts co ,,,,,p14 pts 26
5 peterboro ,,,p 15 pts 26
6 oldham ath p 15 pts 25
###########################
7 mk dons,,,p14 pts 24

so we arent far off being in a good position

will oldham and notts county keep up with the pace

 

[AlBlade]

The performance at Crewe underlined two things.

1- The quality we have in the squad to boss games.
2- The need for a natural goalscorer.

Against better sides we will need more than 1goal to win. Orient for example hit us on the break and almost snatched what would've been an injustice of a victory.

Putting aside my natural pessimism (I am a long suffering Blades fan) I think I am actually quite pleased with where we are at the moment. I agree with the other comments regarding further investment in the transfer window would have seen us in a much stronger position, but that didn't happen, and considering some of the less than brilliant performances earlier in the season I think we have done pretty well to be where we are.

My only hope is that over the next few weeks we can see a more consistent and settled starting 11, which actually has at least one striker in it. I actually think that McNulty is a natural goal scorer, but he needs a run of games to hit top form. I understand what NC says regarding work rate etc. but if McNulty can keep scoring at a goal a game (or more) he can get a bloody camp bed out and have a kip on the pitch for 89 minutes as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Bladesman]

had we had played mk dons and won 1-0 the table would be

1 bristol city p 15 pts 33
2 sufc ,,,,,,,,,p 15 pts 29
3 preston ,,,,,,,p 13 pts 28
4 notts co ,,,,,p14 pts 26
5 peterboro ,,,p 15 pts 26
6 oldham ath p 15 pts 25
###########################
7 mk dons,,,p14 pts 24

so we arent far off being in a good position

will oldham and notts county keep up with the pace

Oldham and County will fall away I reckon.

It's Preston, Boro and MK Dons that we need to cautious of.

 

[Eskimo]

I think we are doing well and have improved, but we are a top 6 team that's all. We have not conclusively beaten a decent team in this league yet. Have we? Will we be able to extend Mc Carthy's loan.....?

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

I think we'll finish 4th. We will improve but not enough to finish 2nd. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Having followed this club for some time now I'll play it safe with a prediction of a 3rd place finish and a play off final defeat.

 

[wizadry]

The performance at Crewe underlined two things.

1- The quality we have in the squad to boss games.
2- The need for a natural goalscorer.

Against better sides we will need more than 1goal to win. Orient for example hit us on the break and almost snatched what would've been an injustice of a victory.

I think number 2 should have read the need to PLAY OUR natural goalscorer,otherwise spot on mate.