Run in difficulty - the top 6

[mattbianco1]

Thanks Matt. What is ours, over all play offs?

You don't wanna know

• 1997 - 5th place, PO runner up
• 1998 - 6th place, PO semi finalist
• 2003 - 3rd place, PO runner up
• 2009 - 3rd place, PO runner up
• 2012 - 3rd place, PO runner up (league 1)
• 2013 - 5th place, PO semi finalist (league 1)
• 2015 - 5th place, PO semi finalist (league 1)
• 2022 - 5th place, PO semi finalist

If you want to go one better. 1988, lost our relegation Semi Final Play Off to Bristol City. We were Division 2 (21st place), Bristol City were in Division 3 (5th place).

Which means...

• 3rd place failure = 3 times
• 4th place finish = 0 times. Last time we finished 4th in any division was 1960
• 5th place failure = 4 times
• 6th place failure = 1 time
• 21st place failure = 1 time

 

[The Bear]

You don't wanna know

• 1997 - 5th place, PO runner up
• 1998 - 6th place, PO semi finalist
• 2003 - 3rd place, PO runner up
• 2009 - 3rd place, PO runner up
• 2012 - 3rd place, PO runner up (league 1)
• 2013 - 5th place, PO semi finalist (league 1)
• 2015 - 5th place, PO semi finalist (league 1)
• 2022 - 5th place, PO semi finalist

If you want to go one better. 1988, lost our relegation Semi Final Play Off to Bristol City. We were Division 2 (21st place), Bristol City were in Division 3 (5th place).

Which means...

• 3rd place failure = 3 times
• 4th place finish = 0 times. Last time we finished 4th in any division was 1960
• 5th place failure = 4 times
• 6th place failure = 1 time
• 21st place failure = 1 time

I know, I was there at Ashton Gate ! Been at every sodding play off final too grrr.

 

[mattbianco1]

I know, I was there at Ashton Gate ! Been at every sodding play off final too grrr.

I've said i'll never go to another. Seriously thinking of booking a weekend away late May

 

[Bladesince59]

Feels like 96 pts to me. Hope that's enough for the autos.

 

[The Bear]

I've said i'll never go to another. Seriously thinking of booking a weekend away late May

Yeah but then the one time you dont go (if we make it) we'll win ! At 67 am beginning to wonder will I ever see em win at Wembley tbh.

 

[Tarqs]

I think the really $64.000 question is if we finished 3rd would the team/Wilder be able to overcome the disappointment to make a creditable play off performance?

Given we struggled against BC, WBA and Coventry you do wonder.

I wonder the last club to blow it re autos actually won the play offs was ??

P5 W2 D3 in those fixtures so far....

 

[The Bear]

P5 W2 D3 in those fixtures so far....

No its P5 W1 D4. Weve only beaten BC (just).

 

[mattbianco1]

Yeah but then the one time you dont go (if we make it) we'll win ! At 67 am beginning to wonder will I ever see em win at Wembley tbh.

I know. I'd obviously be happy if we won, but gutted i missed it

 

[Tarqs]

No its P5 W1 D4. Weve only beaten BC (just).

Thought we'd beaten WBA at home..... as it turns out, it was at xmas and I didn't go

 

[Selly]

Here we are - run in based on recent form accounting for H/A, last 4 games

 

[The Fox]

Every game for every team is difficult , it's how the championship is.
I'm expecting that we carry on as we have , unconvincing and hopefully scraping enough points to get us over the line .

 

[BarrywaffleBlade]

Leeds 1/33 to get promoted

 

[Selly]

Leeds 1/33 to get promoted

For a team with a history like their that are only 2 points ahead (They could be third by End of March) those seem astonishingly short odds.

Clearly it also includes the possibility of them winning the PO

 

[BarrywaffleBlade]

For a team with a history like their that are only 2 points ahead (They could be third by End of March) those seem astonishingly short odds.

Clearly it also includes the possibility of them winning the PO

Of course I wouldn’t fancy them massively Over any of the other play off sides

 

[The Bear]

Thought we'd beaten WBA at home..... as it turns out, it was at xmas and I didn't go

Yeah, no worries.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

After beating Wednesday, I now make us very (very!) slight favourites for 2nd place.

Leeds
The easiest run-in, with very winnable home games and they're exceptional at home. The international break came at a good time for them to re-group. I think they'll come back strongly and have promotion secured by Easter. A drop-off in form thereafter once promotion's confirmed.

Blades
I think there'll be twists and turns. I have us down for a home loss to Coventry and an away loss at Burnley.
But crucially, I think we might have enough of a gap to Burnley that even a loss at their place doesn't let them back in.
We've been ruthlessly efficient at winning games we're expected to, and I'm not seeing a reason why we shouldn't continue to do so and keep up our 2ppg average.

Burnley
I expect them to out-perform us over the run-in. And, as above, I even expect them to beat us at their place to setup a big finale. But it still might not be enough
They have to lose a game eventually, and for some reason I fancy Derby (a team scrapping for survival) to bloody their nose at Pride Park.
They've drawn a lot of games this season, and a couple more of those on the road might be their undoing.

 

[Harry's Game]

I think we are going to have to be near perfect. We might get away with one defeat and one draw as long as the draw is at Burnley

 

[Berkshire Blade]

Next three games are tricky for Burnley. If we win all 3 of our next I am confident the gap will be wider...

 

[Champagneblade]

Win this Friday and the other two shit the bed and we’ll all feel a lot better Saturday night! That’s my prediction anyway

 

[YES Blade]

I don’t know why I read these type of threads, they just give me anxiety!

 

[thehet]

Win this Friday and the other two shit the bed and we’ll all feel a lot better Saturday night! That’s my prediction anyway

This is all that matters. Win Friday and all this conjecture has to be redone again.

 

[UddersBlade]

I still think 95 pts will be enough - as long as we don’t lose at Burnley. Otherwise - 98 pts.

 

[Melbourne Blade]

Most of the main yootoobers have their final predictions. Some interesting results. Someone has us winning the and league. I forget who. Sorry for all the links!

 

[jono_t2000]

Most of the main yootoobers have their final predictions. Some interesting results. Someone has us winning the and league. I forget who. Sorry for all the links!

It's Justin Peach from second tier podcast who has us finishing 1st

 

[Tony Currie]

At this time of the season form and league position goes out of the window especially in the championship. We see it every season where relegation threaten clubs suddenly wake up to the realisation they will be playing lower league football next season and pull out shock results. Sorry to mention Wednesday but they did just that last season. Probably be better to play mid midtable sides.

 

[Bladepicker]

We will all drop points between now and the end - I suspect we will have one team that ends on about 98 and two of the others on around 91/92. Absolutely no idea who though.

It's going to be really interesting, probably will get a lot more national focus too because the Prem is pretty much wrapped up already in terms of title and relegation.

 

[raimond]

Personally, I think Burnley's fixtures are far worse than ours. I'm sure everyone will drop points but looking at our fixtures it's clearly Cov on Friday and Burnley away that look extra tough.

Burnley have Cov, QPR & Derby away, us at home as well as Bristol City and Norwich at home who can both be a pain in the arse. I'm feeling much better for reading that.

 

[dsr-burnley]

It's impossible to say who's got the better fixtures. Depends how the opposition play on the day. Blackburn, based on recent performances, have given up already - so it should be a win. But what if something winds them up? Or if the players have spent the last fortnight realising it's time top pull their collective finger out?

Sheffield United have three away games at relegation threatened teams. The added jeopardy sometimes makes them play above themselves; or they might be dispirited and easy to beat. Burnley only have Derby, and perhaps QPR, to play from the relegation scrap; Norwich, Millwall and Watford are all likely to be solidly mid-table when we play them. But that might mean they aren't up for it, or it might mean they play with freedom. Anybody's guess.

Let's hope we both finish above DL!

 

[Selly]

It's impossible to say who's got the better fixtures.

It literally isn't - there are league tables that allow us to say, based on the form this season, which fixtures are harder.

None of that matters when it comes to the games on the pitch - so i entirely agree with the rest of your post. 6 years ago on Good Friday we had a home games against Forest and Leeds had Wigan - a glance at the final league table tells you who had the "harder" game. A glance at the results that day shows its didn`t turn out like that.

What I hadn`t spotted before was Brentford finishing in Mid table - I had it in my head that when they played Leeds on Easter Monday they were pushing for a Playoff place and it wasn`t a massive surprise when they lost...

 

[Broomhall Blade]

Personally, I think Burnley's fixtures are far worse than ours. I'm sure everyone will drop points but looking at our fixtures it's clearly Cov on Friday and Burnley away that look extra tough.

Burnley have Cov, QPR & Derby away, us at home as well as Bristol City and Norwich at home who can both be a pain in the arse. I'm feeling much better for reading that.

Don't wish too dampen your optimism but are you really fancying Norwich, the same Norwich that some how managed to loose 3-2 at home to the Scrubbers after leading 2-0.