Bournemouth

[HeCanDoMagic]

I seem to remember that when Bournemouth went up it was on the back of a ridiculous run of form.

Does anyone know what position they were in at this stage?

It's a lot to ask but we've now finished with the top 4 and have 5 home games in match alone.

 

[blader]

On 15/02/2013 Bournemouth were top of the league. They had 58 points. It's nice to look for anything to cling onto, but Bournemouth is not the place to start I'm afraid!

I personally think some are getting carried away, let's solidify our place in the playoffs and there's no reason we can't win them. If we lost on Tuesday, people would be questioning if we can stay in the top 6! We would have to win every game to even stand a chance, so let's just go from week to week, and win promotion by defeating our damn Playoff demons!

 

[UnitedBlade]

After 28 games they had 46 points and were 6th. They finished 2nd with 83 points, third had 79.

So they were 1 point better than we are now and averaged 2 points per game for their run in.

The problem for us is it'll probably need more than 83 points to finish second this season.

 

[blade too long]

again I say win our 2 in hand its a 6 point gap southampton filled that gap with ease in 2010 11

 

[BusheyBlade]

Didn't Bournemouth lose a load in one run and then win 10 on the bounce at the end if the season?

 

[Gavlar]

Its all hypothetical at this stage, yes we can still get auto and we should aim for it by simply focusing on winning the next game that comes along and see what happens.

At the moment if everyone wins their games in hand the table will look like this:

1. Bristol City PL 30 PTS 64
2. Swindon PL 30 PTS 57
3. MK Dons PL 30 PTS 56
4. Preston PL 30 PTS 56
5. Blades PL 30 PTS 51

6 points isn't a lot from us to 2nd but we then need Swindon, MK and Preston to all have a bad run and us to keep winning. Its not just the points its the goal diff as well. Not impossible by any means but very unlikely. 7 goals in 2 games is great tho, loads to be positive about.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

I always advocate one game at a time, but with 18 games left with none against the top 4 teams we have a great chance to go on a great run.

If we were to win 15 and lose 3, we would end up with 90 points - perfectly acceptable figure to finish possibly in 2nd place.

This is not based on one good win v Bristol, but based on a team, with a big, fresh and rotatable squad that is more than capable of winning 15 games out of 18. Yes it needs CONSISTENCY and focus, but with no distractions of the cup, it is more than feasible.

Go and have a look at MK Dons and Swindon games to play.

If we finish above Preston, then we will finish above Swindon and MK Dons.

It is not blind faith - just a professional requirement that we have a target to chase and a challenge to rise to - it would be lamentable to just think of playoffs with 18 to go.

UTB

 

[judge]

i think its do-able but the more games you win the closer the dream gets the more the pressure builds up the more injurys we will get from our ridiculous pile up of fixtures brought on by prioritising the cups over the league
i think there will come a point where we will come close but have to accept we need to go into the play offs with players well rested and at optimum match fitness

As soon as we cant finish lower than 6th send them all of to the bahamas and play the youth team and wrap done up in cotton wall and make sure he walks out at wembley fully fit and you just never know

 

[grafikhaus]

It is not blind faith - just a professional requirement that we have a target to chase and a challenge to rise to - it would be lamentable to just think of playoffs with 18 to go.

UTB

I'd agree. (Tho' ask me again after Tuesday! )

I always liken the team in front with the one who is being chased down in a foot race. The chaser can see what's in front of him, can adjust his pace, kick on and close down. The chased knows there's somebody coming after them, but can't keep looking over their shoulder as it distracts them.

It's about morale and momentum. Don't worry, despite the Bristol fans sitting on their points gap and pretending they're not worried, they will be. They came to BDTBL on the opening day and 'did a job' on us. Saturday, with a much-improved team, we returned the favour.

Lots of twists and turns to come - who thought we'd win on Saturday? Who thought Bristol, MKD and Swindon would all lose?

Naturally, being a Blade involves looking at the worst scenario and being 'woe is me'. But we're heading for yet another exciting end of season - something we seem to have most seasons. It frays the nerves but would I swap with the S6 Ladyboyz, stagnant in their sand pit?

 

[Fulwood Blade]

I'd agree. (Tho' ask me again after Tuesday! )

I always liken the team in front with the one who is being chased down in a foot race. The chaser can see what's in front of him, can adjust his pace, kick on and close down. The chased knows there's somebody coming after them, but can't keep looking over their shoulder as it distracts them.

Lots of twists and turns to come - who thought we'd win on Saturday? Who thought Bristol, MKD and Swindon would all lose?

Naturally, being a Blade involves looking at the worst scenario and being 'woe is me'. But we're heading for yet another exciting end of season - something we seem to have most seasons. It frays the nerves but would I swap with the S6 Ladyboyz, stagnant in their sand pit?

Well I picked us to win on Saturday - seriously, I just fancied us, but the team and formation was "again" a surprise.
I hope we go on Tuesday like Saturday - in effect 3 holding players in Bash, Coutts and Doyle. It just seemed to work and with Done/Murphy + 1 other allowed to just run at the opposition with pace, we might have eventually found a winning formula away from home. 3 of next 4 away from home - ALL easy winnable if we approach them with professionalism. It isn't even a tall ask - just a sensible, 1 game at a time, small rotations and get ourselves within striking distance of the top 4.

It's the home form where teams sit deep that is still a worry - just got to keep our new talisman man Done injury free.

UTB

 

[Dkc]

i

As soon as we cant finish lower than 6th send them all of to the bahamas and play the youth team and wrap done up in cotton wall and make sure he walks out at wembley fully fit and you just never know

I agree to a point but the home advantage in the second leg is something that I would aim for too. Remember Yeovil a couple of seasons back?

Incidentally, where were the pigs placed at this time of the Ched / Huddersfield season? Can't have been much better off than we are now. I remember at one point we had nine points on them.

 

[davidpinder]

I seem to remember that when Bournemouth went up it was on the back of a ridiculous run of form.

Does anyone know what position they were in at this stage?

It's a lot to ask but we've now finished with the top 4 and have 5 home games in match alone.

Have a look at our form this time last season, just need to do it again.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

Remaining games for those above us include;

Oldham v Bristol City
Bristol City v Swindon
Preston v Bristol City
Bradford v Bristol City
Swindon v MK Dons
Preston v Swindon
MK Dons v Preston
Oldham v MK Dons
Oldham v Preston

One guarantee; points will be dropped.

 

[Taramasalata]

Forget anyone elses games, we have to win ours. Ony way to do it.

 

[Blade56]

I just wanna see the frikin fireworks

 

[Revolution]

Saturday was the first time we've won 2 games in a row since October. Things have looked good over the last 2 games - Saturday was the best result of the season, league wise - but let's not get carried away just yet.

I always think that if you have more games left than points to make up, you have a chance. We have 18 games and a 12 point gap. Still doable, albeit unlikely.

 

[grafikhaus]

I agree to a point but the home advantage in the second leg is something that I would aim for too. Remember Yeovil a couple of seasons back?

Incidentally, where were the pigs placed at this time of the Ched / Huddersfield season? Can't have been much better off than we are now. I remember at one point we had nine points on them.

This season, after 28 games, we have 45 points this season.

In 2011-12 we had 55 points from 28 games, the pigs had 54 points from 28 games.

The rest is history. The pigs were unbeaten in their last 14 games (including just 3 draws). They lost two consecutive games only twice that season. (I can't source the tables, but up to Game 28, the most we were ever ahead of the pigs was +6 points very early - Games 3 and 6 - in the season. After that, it fluctuated between +4 and -4). A combination of consistency by the pigs and our fucked-up legal system resulted in this (look away now...)

 

[Deleted member 875]

We just need to keep winning games and seeing what happens. That is all that we can do. I still think Automatic promotion looks extremely unlikely, but if we keep on winning games then you never know.

However i fully expect us to end this run of blind optimism with not getting a win tomorrow night at Notts County.

 

[grafikhaus]

However i fully expect us to end this run of blind optimism with not getting a win tomorrow night at Notts County.

...especially as Bristol are at home tomorrow (Peterborough) and MKD are away at fourth-bottom Colchester. We'll see.

 

[Vassilis]

I would love us to take advantage of our games in hand, but I'm not sure I can ever remember a United side doing that. We've had a great week though, so I'm a happy Blade.