Season defining 6 days

[HeCanDoMagic]

I didn't ever consider Corky to be fashionable since his nickname was "bin-man".

You probably just wasn't cool enough...!!

 

[jezzablade]

Yep.

If we win the next 5 I might start thinking that the PO are a possibility...

I don't think so considering the game congestion. The cup win has helped confidence that's for sure and helped us with these wins but the amount of work going in them has to take its toll. We are close to getting out of relegation trouble and this is down to the run, but the amount of games that has given us with all the will in the world is going to sap the life out of the players. We should stay up now (but this is Sheff Utd) but with the games to play in the time period would make it incredibly difficult to think of the play offs in any realistic sense. Tired legs let in goals.
One thing that is different though is Howards command of the box which has been instrumental in the recent form. The cynic in me thinks that George Long was played to the end of Jan for a sale, as we have George Willis, and then Howard after the window was shut to shore things up a bit. I hope I'm wrong about that, but we do have a chance of getting to Wembley with Howard in goal, very little chance of the play offs due to the game density.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

Its a shame we haven't got a couple of extra squad players, because the form Clough has got the entire squad in we not far off having 2 players for every position which given how well Clough has rotated could have helped in this busy period.

We only have McGinn as cover for Coady/Doyle.

And the defence is just 1 utility player (ie a right sided Matt Hill) away from been comfortable.

 

[jezzablade]

Its a shame we haven't got a couple of extra squad players, because the form Clough has got the entire squad in we not far off having 2 players for every position which given how well Clough has rotated could have helped in this busy period.

We only have McGinn as cover for Coady/Doyle.

And the defence is just 1 utility player (ie a right sided Matt Hill) away from been comfortable.

Agreed which is why I thought Den Davies was a good addition. Funnily enough Cloughy is now looking at defensive cover. But another massive part of our upsurge is Conor Coady. His runs are making gaps all over the place. He is still very young and I don't know how long he can keep going at this pace.

 

[Selly]

I don't think so considering the game congestion. The cup win has helped confidence that's for sure and helped us with these wins but the amount of work going in them has to take its toll. We are close to getting out of relegation trouble and this is down to the run, but the amount of games that has given us with all the will in the world is going to sap the life out of the players. We should stay up now (but this is Sheff Utd) but with the games to play in the time period would make it incredibly difficult to think of the play offs in any realistic sense. Tired legs let in goals.

I agree, its almost unfeasibly unlikely. Which is why its probably only realistic if we continue our winning run for a long time yet.

If we are within 5 points with 5 or six games left anything can happen...

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

Agreed which is why I thought Den Davies was a good addition. Funnily enough Cloughy is now looking at defensive cover. But another massive part of our upsurge is Conor Coady. His runs are making gaps all over the place. He is still very young and I don't know how long he can keep going at this pace.

He's not one of the players I worry about burning out, he wasn't used all that much earlier in the season and he seems a natural athlete.

Flynn and Murphy are the ones that I think could suffer, especially Flynn - puts a shift in every game.

 

[Bladesman]

Clough has accumulatedpoints at 1.68 points per game, over 32 games this is somewhere between 53 and 54 points.

We'd be in or around the Playoffs, probably...

Which is where we were expecting to be under Weir.

 

[grafikhaus]

Wolves should be out of the division next season making our increased revenue count. We could even join the exclusive "won all divisions club" Wolves are already in, win the paint cup and then work our way up the league to win the (milk, rumbelows, or whatever its called now) to get the full set of every domestic possible competition. I.e. all four divisions FA Cup, League Cup and JP Trophy. How many clubs could say that?

More like get the fuck out of the Paint Cup as quickly as possible to aid our promotion ambitions.

 

[SwissBlade]

We're 11 off with the possibility of 8 tonight

My bad, for some reason I'd read Peterboroughs points as 50 earlier... I need to get these red and white tinted specs sorted.

Either that or my daft time zone

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

Given the time difference perhaps in Japan we're already only 6 points off.

How far did we get in the Cup?

 

[wizadry]

Never lost the faith or the love, although it has been tested at times watching some of the rubbish served up earlier this season.

I feel tonight is one of the biggest matches and tests of just how far we have come in a few months, win and there's only a 8 points in it, not nice for them being chased by an in form side, they will be twitchy, I honestly feel we can capitalise on this.

UTB

Their main player was lee tomlin and hes gone to mboro look at the results when he doesnt play for them,come on blades lets be optimistic for a change,weve played harder games than pboro in the last couple of months

 

[Sothall_Blade]

On relection I don't think 72 points will be enough this season. At the moment 6th place Peterborough are on course to get 75 points, hence we would need 76. 11 wins would get us 74 points, so we may actually need 12 or 11 wins and 2 draws from 14.

If you take Peterborough's form over the last 14 games (20 points) they are actually on course for 72 points.
That leaves us needing 32 points and we've taken 25 from the last 14 matches.
So if we beat them tonight, we need a 4 point improvement in our form by comparison to theirs.

The bad news is we're still relying on another club to have a dip in form to even give us a chance.
The good news is we're only relying on ONE other club to have a slight dip in form and we HAVE got a chance.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

Lets just get the win tonight first.

 

[TopBoy]

I'm based in Peterborough with many of my close friends long standing Posh fans. Little Lord Fergie has really divided the fans. Some worship the ground he stands on while others think that he has found his level and would be nothing without some great backing from Darraugh (Chairman). Even in the heady days of August through to October when they were beating everybody they weren't playing well at all. Nobody I've spoken to over the past weeks thinks that Posh will win. Assombalonga's goals really mask what an average side they are. They do have a 100% record in play offs so watch them carefully tonight for any tips

 

[Trafford]

I've accepted that we won't make the play offs (albeit live in hope) and am viewing tonight's game as an opportunity to assess how far we've come - have we really crafted a promotion competing team out of nothing or will decent league opposition bring us back down to earth (the cup results / performances were great but aren't always reflective of sustainable performance). I'm hoping for a convincing answer in the affirmative!

 

[jezzablade]

More like get the fuck out of the Paint Cup as quickly as possible to aid our promotion ambitions.

I don't know why everyone has a downer on the JP cup. It exists and can be utilised in our case to bring on some of the younger players. Diego wouldn't say no to an appearance as wouldn't Terry K. There are a few fringe players coming through that would benefit. The Cup run has demonstrated how wins build confidence and that competition is earlier in the season so doesn't impact latterly with crowded fixtures like the FA cup does. And its trip to Wembley.
I believe we will be going full steam for promotion next season if we can keep the right players. Also it hasn't stopped Chezzy's promotion drive.

 

[S5Blade]

I don't know why everyone has a downer on the JP cup. It exists and can be utilised in our case to bring on some of the younger players. Diego wouldn't say no to an appearance as wouldn't Terry K. There are a few fringe players coming through that would benefit. The Cup run has demonstrated how wins build confidence and that competition is earlier in the season so doesn't impact latterly with crowded fixtures like the FA cup does. And its trip to Wembley.
I believe we will be going full steam for promotion next season if we can keep the right players. Also it hasn't stopped Chezzy's promotion drive.

Is there not stupid rules in the JPT about having to play x amount of players from the previous league game or did I imagine that? Thought there was as wendies had to do it and then made 2 subs after about 90 seconds if i recall correctly.

 

[jezzablade]

Is there not stupid rules in the JPT about having to play x amount of players from the previous league game or did I imagine that? Thought there was as wendies had to do it and then made 2 subs after about 90 seconds if i recall correctly.

I don't know, but even if its X number then X number get a rest and X number get a game when they wouldn't get a league game. So therefore the young un's coming in get to play with the main squad. Brilliant.

 

[Grecian2000]

The good news is we're only relying on ONE other club to have a slight dip in form and we HAVE got a chance.

But what about Crawley?

Aren't they 3 points behind us but with 4 in hand? Given we think we have a chance, slight as it is, then they'll probably be looking and thinking they have lots of games to pick up points in too and they've won both their games since their "winter break".

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

But what about Crawley?

Aren't they 3 points behind us but with 4 in hand? Given we think we have a chance, slight as it is, then they'll probably be looking and thinking they have lots of games to pick up points in too and they've won both their games since their "winter break".

Thats all true, but if we're talking about the play-offs then the only team we need to look at catching is whoever is in 6th place, which at the moment is Peterborough.

 

[Isiah]

I certainly agree that a win tonight will help keep our momentum going for Sunday but we shouldn't underestimate the effect our run has had on the opposition. The Posh supporters are very negative about their team's chances tonight because of our current winning streak and that probably goes for their players too. Keep winning and we maintain the aura of - almost - invincibility we're building around ourselves. That and another brilliant atmosphere/turnout on Sunday is worth a goal start.

 

[Grecian2000]

Thats all true, but if we're talking about the play-offs then the only team we need to look at catching is whoever is in 6th place, which at the moment is Peterborough.

Sorry Magic man, I was suggesting we have TWO clubs that we needed to rely on dropping points and not just the ONE that Sothers had pointed out.
We DO only need to catch Boro but we also need to out point Crawley to avoid the ignomy of being taken from behind later.

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

Anybody below Peterborough is irrelevant, they can barely win a game between em. None of em will catch Peterborough.
Peterborough are imo better than their position suggests and will probably put on a good run now when they need to.
Also they only have 3 games left against the top 8, whereas we have 7. We've had a great run, but let's be honest we haven't really played anybody good. Tonight will be a tough game, forget the play offs i think a point will be a good result. A point nearer to safety. Nobody wants to go in to the last game just 3 points ahead, even if it would take 6 teams to all win and us to lose 8-0!

 

[Darren]

Anybody below Peterborough is irrelevant, they can barely win a game between em. None of em will catch Peterborough.
Peterborough are imo better than their position suggests and will probably put on a good run now when they need to.
Also they only have 3 games left against the top 8, whereas we have 7. We've had a great run, but let's be honest we haven't really played anybody good. Tonight will be a tough game, forget the play offs i think a point will be a good result. A point nearer to safety. Nobody wants to go in to the last game just 3 points ahead, even if it would take 6 teams to all win and us to lose 8-0!

I agree with your general point about the play offs being, realistically, out of the question, but it shows how low we have fallen when we would be happy with a draw at home to Peterborough - a team who have never scored at the Lane!

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Sorry Magic man, I was suggesting we have TWO clubs that we needed to rely on dropping points and not just the ONE that Sothers had pointed out.
We DO only need to catch Boro but we also need to out point Crawley to avoid the ignomy of being taken from behind later.

I take your point and admit I forgot about Crawley.
However, they’ve only taken 22 points from their last 18 matches.
A continuation of that form would put them on 60 points and well short.
Basically, their form would need to improve dramatically despite coping with fixture congestion.
I still don’t see them as a genuine threat.

 

[Pedro Verde]

I don't know why everyone has a downer on the JP cup. It exists and can be utilised in our case to bring on some of the younger players. Diego wouldn't say no to an appearance as wouldn't Terry K. There are a few fringe players coming through that would benefit. The Cup run has demonstrated how wins build confidence and that competition is earlier in the season so doesn't impact latterly with crowded fixtures like the FA cup does. And its trip to Wembley.

Why would you want to go to Wembley for a paint pot cup final FFS
I dont even want to go to Wembley for the Semi if we get there. Wembley is for Cup Finals FA and League and Play Off finals
not for the paint pot cup

 

[bricktop]

An FA Cup run always going to be a bit of a bonus, nice to have and good for building confidence. A semi final would be great but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves, our neighbours did at home to Charlton and look what happened to them.

I dont know why people are getting giddy about the play offs. We are still too far off them and have got fuck all chance of getting there.

Its enjoyable having a decent run of form but lets not get silly and ahead of ourselves

 

[itsinyerblood]

An FA Cup run always going to be a bit of a bonus, nice to have and good for building confidence. A semi final would be great but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves, our neighbours did at home to Charlton and look what happened to them.

I dont know why people are getting giddy about the play offs. We are still too far off them and have got fuck all chance of getting there.

Its enjoyable having a decent run of form but lets not get silly and ahead of ourselves

Suggestion brownie, why not, even if we're winning an away game, suggest via the shoutbox that we're losing? That way optimism would deflate, our hopes would shrink, and it might keep everyone grounded......just a thought mate, it's novel, and can't think why it's never been done before?

 

[bricktop]

Suggestion brownie, why not, even if we're winning an away game, suggest via the shoutbox that we're losing? That way optimism would deflate, our hopes would shrink, and it might keep everyone grounded......just a thought mate, it's novel, and can't think why it's never been done before?

Great idea

 

[blade too long]

well its official , 8 points from promotion ,
9 points above relegation ,
promotion is officially more likely than relegation