BladesPod: Remaining fixtures & need for perspective

[Beans]

Hey all, quick podcast in the aftermath of our defeat to Wolves, where I try not to overreact to the overreaction that's come from that game. Everybody be cool.

In this episode, I give a recap of our defeat to Wolves, including some bright spots (05:08), Simon Moore’s moment of madness (07:58), the need for perspective (09:57), the potential for a run with our remaining fixtures (15:34), and wrapping up a 10/10 transfer window (17:25).

Listen as always on SoundCloud:



Or subscribe on Apple Podcasts:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/bladespod/id1309198119?mt=2

One thing I talk about is our remaining fixtures, and who we play. As it stands, our remaining games are against the following:

10th, 15th, 22nd, 18th, 24th, 5th (Fulham, A), 12th, 16th, 11th, 4th (Cardiff, H), 21st, 9th, 14th, 19th, 7th (Preston, H) and 6th (Bristol City, A).

We’re 8th in the league and have 4 remaining games against teams above us (and 2 of those are the last 2 games). Even with there being No Easy Games At This Level™, the potential to get back on another run is definitely there. Leeds will be tough but then we have a stretch of teams who are lower-midtable to bottom. Of course there will be some movement here and some of those teams will go on runs – up or down – but we’ve now played the top 3 home and away.

I’m certainly not saying we’re going to storm the second half of the season. But we ARE well-placed for a run ourselves. I'm optimistic. Or, at the very least, pretty relaxed.

Cheers for listening and UTB!

 

[Jesus_was_a_Blade]

The voice of reason in these troubled times

 

[Dalelane01]

After reading that.which was very good reading. Giving us great confidence in chris and the team 2nd place is looking good bar a few hiccups

 

[mattbianco1]

I want 5 wins on the bounce

 

[sheffielder]

I want 5 wins on the bounce

This post all looked well until the last word..

 

[mattbianco1]

This post all looked well until the last word..

I want five wins on the spin.

 

[Beans]

The voice of reason in these troubled times

Thanks Jesus, it means a lot.

I saw this shortly after recording, which is also pretty interesting - shows how teams rank in terms of expected goals for and against, from open play only:



Essentially, this is what the league table would look like if every team scored/conceded the amount of goals they "deserved", based on the quality/frequency of chances created (with all set-plays removed).

Basically suggests we're right around where we deserve to be. Of course, if you factor in set-pieces - or more accurately, chances created from set-pieces - then we probably "deserve" to be slightly higher (if you assume that we create plenty of chances from set-pieces, which we do, we just don't seem to finish them).

TL;DR - we're in a good position and with some small improvements / a bit of good fortune here and there (eg, Clarke hitting the goals again, opposition scoring at a more "normal" ratio than the 42% rate that was discussed on here last week), we have an excellent shot at making the top 6.