Remaining games comparison

[blade too long]

Blades v Millwall - (WIN)
Leeds v Wednesday - (DRAW)
Leeds 80
Blades 81

Blades v Forest - (WIN )
Leeds v Wigan (WIN)
Leeds 83
Blades 84

Hull v Blades (DRAW)
Brentford v Leeds (DRAW)
Leeds 84
Blades 85

Blades v Ipswich (WIN)
Leeds v Villa (DRAW)GOOD AS UP WITH GD DIFFERENCE OF 5
Blades 88
Leeds 85





Stoke v Blades (DRAW)
Ipswich v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 88
Blades 89


LAST 5 WE WIN 3 DRAW 2
LEEDS WIN 2 DRAW 3

 

[Cerberus Blade]

As much as we'd like to be above Leeds we are not, but the league doesn't finish after 41 matches it's after you play all the teams, strong and weak.

I'd firmly argue we have the better fixtures.

Average league position. Of our opponents is 16th whilst for Leeds it is 14th.

Looking at it as a build up to the winner takes all last match which could have a one off Cup final nature to it, the average placing of our next 4 is 16 to 17th and Leeds is 12th to 13th.

In terms of form, we play the teams in 8th (Hull), 13th, 14th, 15h, 17th. 13th to 14th on form.

Leeds play teams in 1st, 5th, 17th, 20th, 21st. 12th to 13th on form last 6 matches.

Taking us as two comparable teams we took 1 more point vs the Leeds opposition than they did against ours.

We got wins vs Villa, Wigan home, Brentford away and draws Ipswich away and Wednesday at home. You'd have to say that both Villa and Wednesday are much improved from when we played them at home and this I feel is where our hope lies assuming we do our own business well.

Leeds beat Hull away, Millwall home, Ipswich at home but drew with Forest and lost to Stoke away.

So to progress, we have to eclipse what Leeds managed.

It's certainly going to be tight but I thought yesterday was a handy point and I see Leeds dropping more points than us.

I like the fact we get to go first each game. Let's see how they can cope with the pressure.

I think it’s wrong to assume some games are going to be easier to win than others. I sense most fans on here are thinking a win v Millwall is a gimme?

I bet most Norwich fans thought last nights game v Reading was a gimme as well?

The only thing I think is that over the remaining 5 games we’ve every chance of bettering Leeds results. Whether we can better Norwich’s results is another matter. It’s not impossible but it depends on Norwich dropping lots of points and that seems unlikely. But with 1 point between us and Leeds the chances are second spot will go to the last game of the season.

 

[BettingBlade]

Interesting post. Shame it will all go out of the window where these last 5 games are concerned.

 

[SHOREHAMST.com]

Blades v Millwall - (WIN)
Leeds v Wednesday - (DRAW)
Leeds 80
Blades 81

Blades v Forest - (WIN )
Leeds v Wigan (WIN)
Leeds 83
Blades 84

Hull v Blades (DRAW)
Brentford v Leeds (DRAW)
Leeds 84
Blades 85

Blades v Ipswich (WIN)
Leeds v Villa (DRAW)GOOD AS UP WITH GD DIFFERENCE OF 5
Blades 88
Leeds 85





Stoke v Blades (DRAW)
Ipswich v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 88
Blades 89


LAST 5 WE WIN 3 DRAW 2
LEEDS WIN 2 DRAW 3

If I could like that post twice I would.

 

[Upton_Blade]

Blades v Millwall - (WIN)
Leeds v Wednesday - (DRAW)
Leeds 80
Blades 81

Blades v Forest - (WIN)
Leeds v Wigan (WIN)
Leeds 83
Blades 84

Hull v Blades (WIN)
Brentford v Leeds (DRAW)
Leeds 84
Blades 87

Blades v Ipswich (WIN)
Leeds v Villa (DRAW)
Blades 90
Leeds 85

Stoke v Blades (DRAW)
Ipswich v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 88
Blades 91

That's my overly optimistic prediction that would see us up at the Ipswich game with party time and utter carnage on London Road.

Knowing us the below will probably happen meaning it would be all over by Easter Monday.

Blades v Millwall - (DRAW)
Leeds v Wednesday - (WIN)
Leeds 82
Blades 79

Blades v Forest - (DRAW)
Leeds v Wigan (WIN)
Leeds 85
Blades 80

Hull v Blades (DRAW)
Brentford v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 88
Blades 81

Blades v Ipswich (WIN)
Leeds v Villa (DRAW)
Blades 84
Leeds 89

Stoke v Blades (DRAW)
Ipswich v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 92
Blades 85

Now don't get me wrong. If someone had offered me 85 points and 3rd place at the start of the season i'd have snapped their hand off and if we'd have had a massive surge towards the end of the season and finished on that then it would have been amazing but that happening after where we've put ourselves and how we've played for the majority of the season would feel like a poor finish.

 

[SHOREHAMST.com]

I really think if they beat Wednesday on Saturday then that will give them the confidence to go and finish the job. If we can manage to leapfrog them this weekend it’s really on for us.

Going off the last few rounds of fixtures, I think that’s a little naive. I don’t think it’s anything like as straight forward as if they win Saturday they’ve done it or if we go back second, then we’ve done it.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I really didn’t see Leeds winning away at Preston. I’ve a feeling we’ll struggle to catch them now.

Blades v Millwall - (WIN)
Leeds v Wednesday - (WIN)
Leeds 82
Blades 81

Blades v Forest - (DRAW)
Leeds v Wigan (WIN)
Leeds 85
Blades 82

Hull v Blades (WIN)
Brentford v Leeds (DRAW)
Leeds 86
Blades 85

Blades v Ipswich (WIN)
Leeds v Villa (DRAW)
Blades 88
Leeds 87

Stoke v Blades (DRAW)
Ipswich v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 90
Blades 89

Cheered me right up that.

 

[Welton Blade]

Who'd have thought at the beginning of the season that we'd be getting frustrated at (potentially) missing out on automatic promotion?

This Team has performed so far above expectations, and gained the respect of so many fellow professional (EFL Awards) and 'experts' in the game, that we can look back with immense pride at the progress we've made in a short period under CW/AK.

15 points to play for - bring it on.

 

[Toronto Blade]

I hope Villa are not into the playoffs when they meet Leeds in the 2nd last game.
They could choose who they want to avoid in the playoffs.

 

[Topplayersleave]

Hull and Forest are not easy if we are going to talk about "On paper"

Reading got a draw at Norwich last night, so any result in any game is possible

 

[Guesty]

Leeds fan in peace! So the loser in such a situation could, in theory, be in the play off final a week or so later??? The human mind is not built to withstand such stress!!

Endless play-offs, every Blade's nightmare.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I think it’s wrong to assume some games are going to be easier to win than others. I sense most fans on here are thinking a win v Millwall is a gimme?

I bet most Norwich fans thought last nights game v Reading was a gimme as well?

The only thing I think is that over the remaining 5 games we’ve every chance of bettering Leeds results. Whether we can better Norwich’s results is another matter. It’s not impossible but it depends on Norwich dropping lots of points and that seems unlikely. But with 1 point between us and Leeds the chances are second spot will go to the last game of the season.

Penny dropping after today maybe?

 

[Champagneblade]

Penny dropping after today maybe?

As in? Elsewhere I stated I saw Millwall as our hardest game.

There's no easy fixtures in this league.

But we're not playing the rest of the top 6 in the run in.

If we can't get a decent haul from what's left them we don't deserve to go up.

Simple as.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

As in? Elsewhere I stated I saw Millwall as our hardest game.

There's no easy fixtures in this league.

But we're not playing the rest of the top 6 in the run in.

If we can't get a decent haul from what's left them we don't deserve to go up.

Simple as.

Wasn’t directed at you specifically, but I’m just backing up my oft-repeated point that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to say one game is going to be easier than another. So threads like this, where fans try and play the guessing game as to who will beat who, are a complete waste of time, an irrelevance. Apart from their amusement value.

I challenged the big assumption that most fans made about us beating Millwall. I said it would be a draw. It was indeed a draw. I just don’t think you can call the results of individual games with accuracy. You can see a trend developing over a few games though, and that’s why I was convinced we wouldn’t beat Millwall.

I think yesterday was the nadir of our fantastic season. It was the day we went 3 points behind a team that is better and stronger than us, with 4 games remaining. I know it’s still mathematically possible to catch/overtake Leeds, but I don’t think it will happen now.

The last few games (and I’ve seen them all apart from Millwall yesterday), we’ve looked well under par. Yes we “did a job” at Leeds but if we are totally honest we were easily second best for most of it and fortunate to get all 3 points. We were well beaten by Bristol City in the next game, despite the close score line. We got away with robbery at Preston with that 1-0 win. They should have been 2-0 in the first few minutes and had a pen. And at Brum last week we controlled the game for most of it, but could not turn that possession into much of a threat on goal. In fact, they had the better chances and in another night might have won.

I said that the goal threat was non-existent at Brum and that was a concern for me, because they were there for the taking imo.

What I’m saying in summary is this:

The signs have been there for weeks that we are running out of steam. We’ve had some good results but you have to look to the performances if you want to be able to second guess what comes next. Our performances haven’t quite been good enough in most of the last few games. I think we’ve handed the initiative to Leeds now and they won’t slip up from here.

Still a fantastic effort by our boys and Wembley here we come (again)!

 

[Oreyt]

What Cerberus said.

 

[K1 flabby stick]

Wasn’t directed at you specifically, but I’m just backing up my oft-repeated point that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to say one game is going to be easier than another. So threads like this, where fans try and play the guessing game as to who will beat who, are a complete waste of time, an irrelevance. Apart from their amusement value.

I challenged the big assumption that most fans made about us beating Millwall. I said it would be a draw. It was indeed a draw. I just don’t think you can call the results of individual games with accuracy. You can see a trend developing over a few games though, and that’s why I was convinced we wouldn’t beat Millwall.

I think yesterday was the nadir of our fantastic season. It was the day we went 3 points behind a team that is better and stronger than us, with 4 games remaining. I know it’s still mathematically possible to catch/overtake Leeds, but I don’t think it will happen now.

The last few games (and I’ve seen them all apart from Millwall yesterday), we’ve looked well under par. Yes we “did a job” at Leeds but if we are totally honest we were easily second best for most of it and fortunate to get all 3 points. We were well beaten by Bristol City in the next game, despite the close score line. We got away with robbery at Preston with that 1-0 win. They should have been 2-0 in the first few minutes and had a pen. And at Brum last week we controlled the game for most of it, but could not turn that possession into much of a threat on goal. In fact, they had the better chances and in another night might have won.

I said that the goal threat was non-existent at Brum and that was a concern for me, because they were there for the taking imo.

What I’m saying in summary is this:

The signs have been there for weeks that we are running out of steam. We’ve had some good results but you have to look to the performances if you want to be able to second guess what comes next. Our performances haven’t quite been good enough in most of the last few games. I think we’ve handed the initiative to Leeds now and they won’t slip up from here.

Still a fantastic effort by our boys and Wembley here we come (again)!

Yep, pretty much on the money, i have to agree.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Wasn’t directed at you specifically, but I’m just backing up my oft-repeated point that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to say one game is going to be easier than another. So threads like this, where fans try and play the guessing game as to who will beat who, are a complete waste of time, an irrelevance. Apart from their amusement value.

I challenged the big assumption that most fans made about us beating Millwall. I said it would be a draw. It was indeed a draw. I just don’t think you can call the results of individual games with accuracy. You can see a trend developing over a few games though, and that’s why I was convinced we wouldn’t beat Millwall.

I think yesterday was the nadir of our fantastic season. It was the day we went 3 points behind a team that is better and stronger than us, with 4 games remaining. I know it’s still mathematically possible to catch/overtake Leeds, but I don’t think it will happen now.

The last few games (and I’ve seen them all apart from Millwall yesterday), we’ve looked well under par. Yes we “did a job” at Leeds but if we are totally honest we were easily second best for most of it and fortunate to get all 3 points. We were well beaten by Bristol City in the next game, despite the close score line. We got away with robbery at Preston with that 1-0 win. They should have been 2-0 in the first few minutes and had a pen. And at Brum last week we controlled the game for most of it, but could not turn that possession into much of a threat on goal. In fact, they had the better chances and in another night might have won.

I said that the goal threat was non-existent at Brum and that was a concern for me, because they were there for the taking imo.

What I’m saying in summary is this:

The signs have been there for weeks that we are running out of steam. We’ve had some good results but you have to look to the performances if you want to be able to second guess what comes next. Our performances haven’t quite been good enough in most of the last few games. I think we’ve handed the initiative to Leeds now and they won’t slip up from here.

Still a fantastic effort by our boys and Wembley here we come (again)!

Agree with all that and as I've said elsewhere, we've gone ahead in the last 4 but only picked up 5 points which is not what we've been about under Tufty. Maybe Hogan and Madine getting a run might ignite something up front if Billy is out but as you say, we've looked spent recently and that's not good going into the dreaded play-offs.

 

[Champagneblade]

We took the play off possibility down to game 45 last time.

If we can do the same to the autos this time then it's genuine progress.

My worry is that without this group achieving the goal this season, it could all fall apart.

JOC may leave. Wilder's progress may attract a Premier side. And unlike Brooks who was in and out of the team, those linked with moves will be the cornerstones of the team's progress.

Hendo has been good too. But Man U will want him on loan in the Prem, not as you were in the Championship.

As poor as the play off record is, it's partially that way because we always seem to get a key injury in the run up. MacDonald injured and Cheese sent down under Wilson. No fit striker apart from Craig Beattie under Blackwell. This time it seems to be Sharp and Basham having a question mark over them.

 

[Upton_Blade]

Blades v Millwall - (WIN)
Leeds v Wednesday - (DRAW)
Leeds 80
Blades 81

Blades v Forest - (WIN)
Leeds v Wigan (WIN)
Leeds 83
Blades 84

Hull v Blades (WIN)
Brentford v Leeds (DRAW)
Leeds 84
Blades 87

Blades v Ipswich (WIN)
Leeds v Villa (DRAW)
Blades 90
Leeds 85

Stoke v Blades (DRAW)
Ipswich v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 88
Blades 91

That's my overly optimistic prediction that would see us up at the Ipswich game with party time and utter carnage on London Road.

Knowing us the below will probably happen meaning it would be all over by Easter Monday.

Blades v Millwall - (DRAW)
Leeds v Wednesday - (WIN)
Leeds 82
Blades 79

Blades v Forest - (DRAW)
Leeds v Wigan (WIN)
Leeds 85
Blades 80

Hull v Blades (DRAW)
Brentford v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 88
Blades 81

Blades v Ipswich (WIN)
Leeds v Villa (DRAW)
Blades 84
Leeds 89

Stoke v Blades (DRAW)
Ipswich v Leeds (WIN)
Leeds 92
Blades 85

Now don't get me wrong. If someone had offered me 85 points and 3rd place at the start of the season i'd have snapped their hand off and if we'd have had a massive surge towards the end of the season and finished on that then it would have been amazing but that happening after where we've put ourselves and how we've played for the majority of the season would feel like a poor finish.

Unfortunately it looks like it may be the 2nd lot of predictions that are more likely at the moment