That League table

[davidpinder]

Don't like the look of it this morning, a win for Bournemouth leaves them to 2 points behind us and MK Dons 5 points behind but with 2 games in hand. Our next league game is a week on friday 1st Feb and i fear by 5pm Saturday 2nd of Feb we will find ourselves out of the playoff places for the first time since we were in this league (i don't count the first few games as you can't get a true reflection of the table). Coventry are playing quite well and have come from nowhere just like bournemouth and these inform sides will fancy there chances against us at the moment with us so low on confidence.

The question is we have 2 home games to come which should be 6 points against lets be honest poor sides (just like most in this league), so what can we do different to get that 6 points??

 

[StarBlade]

It's a tight division. What annoyed me about the early games were the amount of draws we should have won. That's history now, but there aren't any teams we should be fearing despite our recent form. Not sure what's been happening at Coventry since I moved house from my Sky Blue supporting neighbour, but I had them down to be in the Wimpey Homes League under the guise of AFC Coventry City by the end of 2012, good for them for picking it up.

I think we will get 6 from 6

 

[SwissBlade]

The question is we have 2 home games to come which should be 6 points against lets be honest poor sides (just like most in this league), so what can we do different to get that 6 points??

Score more than the opposition

 

[Fiery Blade]

It's a tight division. What annoyed me about the early games were the amount of draws we should have won. That's history now, but there aren't any teams we should be fearing despite our recent form. Not sure what's been happening at Coventry since I moved house from my Sky Blue supporting neighbour, but I had them down to be in the Wimpey Homes League under the guise of AFC Coventry City by the end of 2012, good for them for picking it up.

I think we will get 6 from 6

Given that we have taken 0 from 6 against Yeovil and Hartlepool I find your faith astounding!

 

[Trafford]

I'd prefer there to be a number of teams in the mix, rather than 2 from 3, at least that way they all play competitively against each other, rather than giving up.

I'm sure that I've read it elsewhere but can someone please remind me again why we're playing on Friday night?

 

[GlosBlade]

Because for some strange reason both Sheffield teams have home fixtures on the same weekend. Doesn't happen often.....hard to understand why it should ever happen for league games. Seem to recall someone saying that we had to move dates this time because Wednesday did last time this happened, but no idea when that was.

Back on the original point, maybe for once the footballing gods will smile upon us and teams around us will lose games, but agree that with us not playing in the league this weekend or in midweek then things could get even tighter in the top 8 or so. Still think we could do ok this season but we really do need to start to put a decent run together now.

 

[Kenilworth]

I'm sure that I've read it elsewhere but can someone please remind me again why we're playing on Friday night?

It's the "New Black"

 

[mattbianco1]

Given that we have taken 0 from 6 against Yeovil and Hartlepool I find your faith astounding!

And 48 points from the other 26 games. But, we'll not speak about them

 

[Fiery Blade]

And 48 points from the other 26 games. But, we'll not speak about them

Because they're not relevant - last we didn't go up because we did not win any of our last three games - it didn't matter that we had won 6 on the bounce earlier on in the season it's about current form
At Christmas we were top of the league, since Boxing Day we have not won a league game - we have lost possibly our best 'striker' and best centre half - with all due respect 48 points earlier in the season means Jack Sh!t now!

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

wont finish in the top 10. i wouldnt worry about it if i were you. at least were safe from relegation.

 

[mattbianco1]

Because they're not relevant - last we didn't go up because we did not win any of our last three games - it didn't matter that we had won 6 on the bounce earlier on in the season it's about current form
At Christmas we were top of the league, since Boxing Day we have not won a league game - we have lost possibly our best 'striker' and best centre half - with all due respect 48 points earlier in the season means Jack Sh!t now!

That is total bollocks. So you're saying if Hartlepool win their next 6 that's all that matters? The previous 20 odd games are irrelevant.

 

[mattbianco1]

I'm still baffled by that post Fiery Blade. How can the 48 points gained that keep us in touch at the top be irrelevant? Please answer this, I am totally confused

 

[blade too long]

we have to stop looking at one off results and remember the table only matters on may 5th, yes we are currently 5th but there's 18 opportunities to improve on this , and if we dont all run around shouting its all over we've blown it , we might just might surprise our selves.
the year saints came up they were still 8th at this point, so nothings decided yet , our indifferent form could go either way true, but lets not all decide its going tits up as a default setting

and panicking over a 3 game winless run ,Wednesday did that last february lost 3 on the spin, I believe they got over it

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

we have to stop looking at one off results and remember the table only matters on may 5th, yes we are currently 5th but there's 18 opportunities to improve on this , and if we dont all run around shouting its all over we've blown it , we might just might surprise our selves.
the year saints came up they were still 8th at this point, so nothings decided yet , our indifferent form could go either way true, but lets not all decide its going tits up as a default setting

and panicking over a 3 game winless run ,Wednesday did that last february lost 3 on the spin, I believe they got over it

whos panicking? i dont think anybody is panicking. just realising were shit and have no players. we have a worse squad than notts county, most of their players would walk into our team. and theyre halfway down the league. why on earth would we get promoted?

 

[Rodley]

How on earth do we have a worse squad than Notts County?! Alan Judge is there only decent player, possibly Campbell-Ryce. Name me 6 or 7 players who are better than ours (and don't give me a cop out of the XI last weekend).

The whole issue is that we are underperforming - hence the fan's frustration at recent matches.

 

[SotonBlade]

We'll not get beat in the next 10 league games

 

[mattbianco1]

We'll not get beat in the next 10 league games

Bit of optimism!! Get in.

 

[SotonBlade]

Whats the point in being a doom and gloom merchant….makes you feel like shit!

 

[Rodley]

Some of the shite being spouted on here at the minute is laughable. An unconfirmed rumour seems to have completely detached people from reality.

The potential departure of a player who was roundly booed and consistently barracked at the County Ground on saturday is suddenly a cataclysmic event which will league to our relegation to Conference North.

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

How on earth do we have a worse squad than Notts County?! Alan Judge is there only decent player, possibly Campbell-Ryce. Name me 6 or 7 players who are better than ours (and don't give me a cop out of the XI last weekend).

The whole issue is that we are underperforming - hence the fan's frustration at recent matches.

presuming blackman goes then

their goalie with the funny name, whatever he's called > long
liddle, campbell-ryce, bishop, hughes, judge > our non-existent midfield
zoko, arquin, showumni > all of our strikers

thats 9 for ya right there. ok you can say "yeah but most of them are crap" well yeah maybe, but so are our players only even worse. showumni can barely get a game, but would you really play porter or cresswell over showumni? i wouldnt play them over bob carolgees.

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

i'd love to know who all these players are that are under performing. i hear this word all the time.

long is a kid
howard is injured
maguire is doing ok
higginbum has been here about a week
westlake is crap
collins is injured
mcmahon is average but takes a wicked free kick
williams is average to crap
doyle is crap
flynn is average
mcdonald is under performing
blackman is gone (presumably)
mcallister is gone and crap
kitson is old and unfit
murphy has been here about a week
cresswell is dead
porter is crap
ironside is a kid and never gets a game
whitehouse is a kid and never gets a game
ditto a few others

so who is under performing? mcdonald yes, who else? if anything, i'd say were OVER performing. we have nowt, but are 5th in the league. the board have decimated our squad.

 

[Rodley]

i'd love to know who all these players are that are under performing. i hear this word all the time.

long is a kid
howard is injured
maguire is doing ok
higginbum has been here about a week
westlake is crap
collins is injured
mcmahon is average but takes a wicked free kick
williams is average to crap
doyle is crap
flynn is average
mcdonald is under performing
blackman is gone (presumably)
mcallister is gone and crap
kitson is old and unfit
murphy has been here about a week
cresswell is dead
porter is crap
ironside is a kid and never gets a game
whitehouse is a kid and never gets a game
ditto a few others

so who is under performing? mcdonald yes, who else? if anything, i'd say were OVER performing. we have nowt, but are 5th in the league. the board have decimated our squad.

Completely disagree. Fitness levels look far inferior to the start of the season, off the ball workrate and pressing has completely tailed off. Tempo is down and there's no bite in the midfield. I think we're underperforming.

I take issue with your assessment of Notts County's squad being better than ours. They have a bit more pace than us, but our players are much stronger in terms of ability. Players like Long and Maguire are having a poor spell, but this is inevitable for young players. McDonald and Doyle can do better and the way we're set up means that Flynn (who I don't rate) and Murphy won't maximise their impact on a game. Hill and Collins are good defenders at this level but are injured and Shaun Miller showed enough to convince me that he would have been good for 15-20 goals at this level.

The standard of the division is terrible, but I still think ability-wise we are comfortably in the top 4. The issue is the tactical set-up (Wilson's fault) and the way we are playing at the minute (combination of Wilson and the players).

There's no panacea to the problems, although it seems that McCabe wants to bring in one or two. A couple of decent signings in the key areas, a few alterations to our tactical set up (namely tempo and wide penetration) and an improvement in the fitness, I don't see a run to the top two being unobtainable.

 

[Kenilworth]

If things dont change much in our squad then I see Donny winning the league and either Tranny or Swindon being second. We will slip out of the play off places and the crowd will get on the players back even more as they fail and fail again at home - dragging us down further.

With the lack of fight and bottle being displayed at the moment I just cannot see where the rot is going to stop cos I have seen this so many times before - it's not going to be naive bubblegum and Shirley Temple smiles of optimism that will turn this around it's by bloody hard graft and not shirking responsibility. Sadly, I don't see any signs of that and it's going down the pan rapidly.

 

[metalblade]

After rolling over to Reading reserves it is back to the league, has it gone unnoticed that we have dropped another place this weekend ? Yes we are down to 6th with that team Bournemouth (who many thought would never catch us) moving above us .................. just goes to show what a managerial change can do. Next up is Coventry who sit just below us but who have played two games more, a win for them would move them to just one point behind so it should be interesting on Friday night. MK Dons sit below City in 7th but have two games in hand on us so could easily in the next few weeks overtake us and push us out of the play off places.
Personally I think Friday 1st of Feb will be the day where we see the direction in which we will be heading for the next few years ........................ Will we still have Nick Blackman or irrespective of him going or staying will we have a few new players ? Will Wilson halt the slide and get the players motivated ? Will it all go tits up ? The only game being played that night for the media to show an interest in ...............................What could possibly go wrong ?

 

[Kenilworth]

Agree Mets. Friday will be the acid test of where the lads heads are at and if they have the bottle for the fight.
If we lose key players in the JTW and replace with the usual inferior options then we will be playing catch up for the rest of the season.

On Coventry, they sacked Andy Thorn after they had a dreadful sequence of results and were in the relegation places. The fact that they are within a few points of us now shows how poor we have been turning draws into wins - and that is down to bottle, mental strength, commitment and attitude. This set of players are not strong enough to deal with it and that's why they will fall short

 

[Fiery Blade]

I'm still baffled by that post Fiery Blade. How can the 48 points gained that keep us in touch at the top be irrelevant? Please answer this, I am totally confused

I was responding to Star Blades comment 'I think we will get 6 from 6' regarding the next two home matches - I was alluding to current form of 0 from 6 in the last two home games - it's simple enough
The fact that we got 47 points before New Years Day does not affect current form - we have gained 2 points since then with a less than competant display at Donny and losing a one goal advantage to 10 men Notts County.
On present form and attitude we don't look like we'll win another game so my comment was directed at Star Blades faith in the Blades turning it around instantly!

 

[mattbianco1]

I was responding to Star Blades comment 'I think we will get 6 from 6' regarding the next two home matches - I was alluding to current form of 0 from 6 in the last two home games - it's simple enough
The fact that we got 47 points before New Years Day does not affect current form - we have gained 2 points since then with a less than competant display at Donny and losing a one goal advantage to 10 men Notts County.
On present form and attitude we don't look like we'll win another game so my comment was directed at Star Blades faith in the Blades turning it around instantly!

Looking at the next 7 games we should win 5 at least. If the crowd get behind the team Friday we can push them over the line with a tricky game. Win that and we've then got winable home games against Crawley, Colchester and an away day at Shrewsbury. All winable. That should be 10 or 12 points. Bournemouth and Oldham away are gonna be tough but surely we'll beat Oldham so I'm saying 6 wins and a defeat at Bournemouth in the next 7

 

[super_pig]

Yes we are down to 6th with that team Bournemouth (who many thought would never catch us) moving above us .................. just goes to show what a managerial change can do.

interesting.. Olle was derided when he suggested that Bournemouth would overtake us.. i think coventry might still catch us as well.. when the bigger teams get rolling they are hard to stop.. this is the biggest game since the play off final (how many times have i said that).. these next two games are season defining

 

[ghandi]

Looking at the next 7 games we should win 5 at least. If the crowd get behind the team Friday we can push them over the line with a tricky game. Win that and we've then got winable home games against Crawley, Colchester and an away day at Shrewsbury. All winable. That should be 10 or 12 points. Bournemouth and Oldham away are gonna be tough but surely we'll beat Oldham so I'm saying 6 wins and a defeat at Bournemouth in the next 7

What is the medication you are taking that makes you appear delusional about the abilities of the current Blades team?

 

[Hartley Hare]

We can not afford to lose to Bournemouth or Coventry, or any other games for that matter - these are six pointers as they say.

Now is the time to turn the corner and get on a winning run. Blackman to stay and two decent new players available for Friday.

We can still win it!

HH