Play Off Optimism

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This is our 10th Playoff campaign, we might be successful this time, we might not.

But surely our playoff luck has to change at some point.
 

You seem to enjoy it when we lose
Not at all. I can take losing. I can't take playing crap. I've said it before on a number of occasions, if I was only bothered about results then I wouldn't watch the matches. I'd just check the final score later in the day. I'd get the same thing out of not going.

I've been consistent all season in arguing that consistent performances and playing well are more important than results and will likely end up with good results.

No joy from losing, but also no joy watching slow, laborious, predictable, boring, unimaginative "winning" football.
 
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I put a bet on around 6 weeks ago that we'd finish outside the top 2 and cov would win the play offs.
1 down. 1 to go.
If you win you might have enough to pay Uncle Susan for a blowie. How much does he charge you?
 
I'm not knocking anyone other trying to stir up arguments etc, but to those who think we'll do it in the play offs could I please ask why? What makes you believe this? What have you seen from us all season or recently that's lead you to this conclusion? I'm genuinely curious.



* please refrain from turning this into a "bedwetter/rose tinted" argument.

Because we’ve won 27 games this season.
 
Play-offs is a lottery and how many points you got or didn't get means nothing.

It's not a lottery.

The team that performs best in the play offs will win it.

But if you've finished 3rd then you're better than the three teams that finished below you so you have an advantage.

The stats back this up with 3rd getting to the final 65% of the time and 6th getting to the final only 35% of the time.
 
Look at all squads we should be clear favourites but it's not as easy as that. I think we do have a good chance since the 2nd leg at home is so crucial
 
Im not a wilder fan at all with all the dirge weve seen this year but todays performance gave me optimism for the playoffs , we tried to get it forwards quicker and played 2 up front. Persist with this in the 2 dead rubbers and we will be ok, revert to type and its bye bye
 
Ask me after our performances against Stoke and Blackburn. We continue this dire sh1t show of slow play then we'll go down at the first hurdle. But, I can't believe I'm writing this, if we play like we did against, um, against we'll buts of Coventry....then we have a chance. Over to you coaching staff to raise our play.....brother
 
We are scarred by play offs as fans as we endured every one (depending on age). This bunch of players, and Wilder, have no relation to our terrible record. If they balls it up, it won’t be any supernatural curse!
 
It's not a lottery.

The team that performs best in the play offs will win it.

But if you've finished 3rd then you're better than the three teams that finished below you so you have an advantage.

The stats back this up with 3rd getting to the final 65% of the time and 6th getting to the final only 35% of the time.

Out of interest, has there ever been a larger gap between 3rd and 6th than the current 20. Last seaso. It was 17.
 
Teams that win the play offs Usually go into them in good form.. over last 5 we are next to bottom in the form table.

I’d be interested to see the stats on that, I genuinely have no idea if that’s the case or not.
 
Well, we beat Sunderland at home and then just absolutely gifted them the win at their place.
We got a stroke of luck late at Bristol City and they returned the favour the at the lane, although they were clearly the better side and we are certainly going to struggle against that side over 2 legs if they are in that form.
Coventry we beat handily at home and they didn't show a great deal at their place to concern us.
Boro beat us with ease at their place and we did the same at the lane.

Any side is beatable in a one off game if we don't keep shooting ourselves in the foot and if we keep our heads. Whether we can do that at this point is a mystery.

I'd definitely not want to play the robins in the semis and Boro are a bit of a mystery so I'd like to avoid them. But losing to Coventry in the semis would send my head rolling off.
 
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It's not about whether you think we will or won't. The fact is that's the path in front of us now.

If you want to sit silent, watch from behind the sofa or get ready to leap out and be the first to say 'I told you so' (as seems to be the prerogative of some on here) then that's your choice.

I'd rather back the lads because that's sort of the point of being a fan.

We're miles ahead of the other teams behind us in terms of points. We've beaten each of them. They've all lost games today at the business end of the season. They're all reasons to believe we can do it.

We should be going into it buzzing for a bear pit Lane in the second leg. A massive advantage.

The possible chance to be the first Blades to see a Wembley win in 100 years. Tbh it's a sizeable proportion our own fans that makes me negative about the play offs (and the club in general). Not the team. You wouldn't want them in in the trenches with you.
 
I’d be interested to see the stats on that, I genuinely have no idea if that’s the case or not.
Southampton were the best of the 4 sides over the final 6 games of last season. That's as much as I do know!
 
They're in better recent form than us still, yes.
Pretty sure Sunderland aren't in good form at the moment, they drew today didn't they?, their form is inconsistent at the moment.

Coventry aren't in great form either, lost 3-1 against Plymouth and only stayed in the playoffs because Middlesbrough dropped points.

Bristol City are the in form team in the playoffs, but they're on course to finish fifth, and like us they have to win the semis to meet us in the final, and vice versa.

We play like we did today (especially in that 1st half), we'll beat anyone in this league, and would have beaten Oxford, Millwall and Plymouth had we played like that against them, especially Oxford and Plymouth.
 
Over the season we have been better than all the teams below us who could get into the play off's there is no reason we can't win them. It is all in the fans minds but it will not be in the players thoughts we still have a job to do and are more than capable if we put our minds to it. Knowing SUFC we will have only got our loan players until the last day please tell me Bettis and co signed them up until after the play off's.
 
Pretty sure Sunderland aren't in good form at the moment, they drew today didn't they?, their form is inconsistent at the moment.

Coventry aren't in great form either, lost 3-1 against Plymouth and only stayed in the playoffs because Middlesbrough dropped points.

Bristol City are the in form team in the playoffs, but they're on course to finish fifth, and like us they have to win the semis to meet us in the final, and vice versa.

We play like we did today (especially in that 1st half), we'll beat anyone in this league, and would have beaten Oxford, Millwall and Plymouth had we played like that against them, especially Oxford and Plymouth.
I don't think Sunderland are no, but I don't pay enough attention to other teams to know what they're doing. Sunderland have been locked up in 4th for a little bit so I have been a bit unsure on whether they're keeping people fit for the play offs at this point
 
Out of interest, has there ever been a larger gap between 3rd and 6th than the current 20. Last seaso. It was 17.

I doubt it if last season was only 17.

The season that always used to get mentioned was 1997-98 when Sunderland finished 3rd with 90 points.

They had a 16 point gap to us who finished 6th.
 
Southampton were the best of the 4 sides over the final 6 games of last season. That's as much as I do know!

It just feels like one of those things that pundits say, but I don’t know if the stats actually back it up.
 
It just feels like one of those things that pundits say, but I don’t know if the stats actually back it up.
I feel like Luton/Forest were both on a mean run of form when they won the play offs too. But I could be talking crap.
 
The problem is that we are not playing well and don't have any type of game plan to beat teams.

I don't expect we will make it through the playoffs. Its a one off at Wembley and I honestly cannot see us getting through the first round.

Its a lottery, we all know that and expectations, game plans, playing it safe are all thrown out the window.

Which is why we royally screwed up in the last 2 weeks to leave ourselves in this lottery.

Do we honestly believe we will go out and attack when we play away in the semi, no matter the team.

And are we capable of scoring more than 2 goals on a game?

I hate to say it but we will need to a totally different approach to games if we want to get through the playoffs.

toledo
 
I feel like Luton/Forest were both on a mean run of form when they won the play offs too. But I could be talking crap.
Forest went from the relegation zone to winning the play offs the day Cooper took over as manager. Their run was incredible and they went into the play offs full of confidence.
 
The form guide goes out of the window but the likely play-off teams are largely on bad form. Us, Sunderland, Coventry, Boro. All struggling. There's a big worry for me that if we end up playing Milwall or Blackburn they're both in good nick.

Indeed, look at the likely teams we'll play and our form/results against them.

Coventry are always tricky. Bristol City a bit of a bogey team. Boro are tricky as well. We struggle against Sunderland. Millwall we all know.

The big worry is our inability to put teams to bed. We might beat whoever he play 1:0 in the first leg but then are we just going to sit back and let them come on to us?

We really need to discover some form in the last two games. Put 3 goals passed one of them.
 

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