Which two teams will be there in May?

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MartinBWFC said:
my question is are you playing well enough to maintain your current status
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Yes we are. But a few injuries could stuff it, as they could for any of us in the top three. I'm hoping the difference is that we'll strengthen in January whereas you'll lose a couple.

As LS26BLADE suggests, if Bolton end up failing to pay their creditors then what their chairman is saying now is quite disgusting. If he's willing to cover the debts come what may, then fair enough.

MartinBWFC said:
who do you guys think will get automatic promotion?
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As a Blade we expect things to go wrong based on a seemingly endless history of it. But looking at it rationally, we are rightly favourites for a top two slot now. It's been hard earned. And forced to bet now, Bolton have to be my favourites to join us.
 

When reading the reports on the Bolton Scunny game I wasn't hoping to hear about Scunny being battered for 90 minutes and trying to hang on for the point, it would reinforce the hope that they are on the slide and starting to drop out of contention and United and Bolton would now start to pull clear...

..Doesn't sound like that was the case, appears to have been a nip and tuck affair between two top of the table contenders and Scunny sound like they were a bit unlucky to lose.

I think it will be a three horse race to the very end of the season, and odds are whichever one of the theee finishes third will then get robbed of promotion in the play offs by some team that has hung around mid table until finding a bit of form in March.
 
We are Sheffield United

Our best player will be sent down for forgetting to return a library book, only to find out three years later when the damage has been done that he didn't even have the book in the first place

It will also be found that Bolton and Scunthorpe have been match fixing and referee bribing which will result in Third placed Sheffield United getting a points deduction because we had the audacity to complain about it

The FA will make an unprecedented decision to change the three points for a win back to two points for a win on the last day of the season when we are three points behind Bolton and Scunthorpe. Bolton and Scunthorpe will lose and we will win but still finish third

To an outsider like yourself this might seem far fetched and even bitter

But like I said "We are Sheffield United" so we cannot rule any of these scenarios
 
I think the 2 with the most points!?
It might just be a wild guess, but I've seen it before, where the 2 clubs with the highest number of points come 1St and 2nd.
I could be wrong though, stranger things have happened, for instance, some folk would rather support South Barnsley Wednesday than the mighty Blades!!!!............... I know, it's true...... what the fucks that all about!!!!!!!!!!!
 
We are top of the pile now. A great feeling but just like Scunthorpe since early this season, we are there to be shot at. We can afford to lose two and draw three matches between here and May to guarantee our supremacy. Any more than that and we will be scrapping for one of three places. The playoffs are not ever a comfortable or satisfactory consolation prize for our efforts so far this season.

Two things:

1. It's up to us to open up any gap and capitalize on weaker teams, exploiting dropped points of our rivals.

2. The only way to do this is consistency. You don't get consistency by selling players in the JTW.

Both of these have been solidly proven in the past five years.

CW has spoken of his targets in the JTW and areas he'd like to improve. It's now up to the board to put it's money where it's mouth is and allow him to make our team champions of this division and further build to stay in the Championship. This hard fought and won position is not 'by right' but 'by design' of Wilder and his new collective of players who grind out unpretty wins.

Us and Bolton as one and two, I hope. I still don't trust the board, mind, and it is their actions, not the fans and not the players and certainly not Wilder who will define this club and where it ends up next year.

pommpey
 
We have the best striker in the league (the stats don't lie) and all we need to do is find someone to chip in with half his tally and we will be fine. We have arguably the best midfield three in the league (Coutts, Fleck, Duffy), our defence and keeper are solid enough and Freeman is great on right wing.

We need to strengthen a couple of places, no doubt about it, but first four games aside, and one or two blips, we are winning even when playing poorly.

Like I said, if we can get another striker, who can chip in with 10 goals between now and season end we will be ok.

I don't see Scunthorpe falling away, despite dropping to third, they have three proven scorers in Madden, Van Veen and Morris.

So all in all, a three horse race, the rest of the pack are falling too far behind to dent the top three, Chris Wilder and Alan Knill have been a breath of fresh air at Bramall Lane and know what needs to be done in January. Our bench is already better than some teams first eleven, we just need the icing on the cake.
 
Bolton are not letting in many goals which is a very good start.
Scunny are just giving it a good go.
I see no reason either will slip away,more likely someone else will put a great run together to complicate things.
We are just doing enough,especially at home and we need to sort that out before it costs us dearly.

I would say that the two clubs which manage the transfer window best by not losing any key players and strengthening wisely will finish first and second.
 
Goal difference doesn't lie and the 3 best teams in the division are the top 3. Every side has a bad run at some time; we had ours right at the beginning of the season and Scunthorpe are just having theirs, albeit during a tough run of fixtures. Bolton had a dip earlier and dropped down the League but have come back well.

What makes football so enjoyable is that we just don't know what's going to happen next. We all have to play each other again and those matches will go a long way to deciding who finishes in the top 2, but inevitably all of us will lose the odd game we are expected to win.

As for Bolton's finances, they might well have to lose a player or two but regardless, it's not the fans' fault, is it? When someone comes onto the forum to have a friendly discussion I see no reason to throw insults back at him. Blades fans should be much better than that. Civility costs nothing after all.
 
MartinBWFC said:
Bolton fan in peace, we currently stand one point behind you, and one point in front of Scunny, it's so tight up there at the moment that could be any 2 of the current 3, my question is are you playing well enough to maintain your current status, and after seeing Scunny yesterday, they look a decent team, but their fans seem to think they'll fade away, who do you guys think will get automatic promotion?
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From what I've heard your team has been efficient and clinical rather than free flowing. By all accounts you get out of jail at the end against Shrewsbury. Us? As others have said we are doing well without firing on all cylinders in December. We are poised to buy in January and I think if Wilder gets it right the league is ours to lose. We are quietly confident without shouting it from the rooftops. Having been down here 6 years and this being your first time in a while I will say one thing. Underestimate teams like Scunthorpe and Peterborough to name but two at your peril. They are better than you think and have a nasty habit of biting you on the bollocks.
 

GallonofMagnet said:
I think we'll finish third. I'll be disappointed but not as much as all those who seem certain we'll be top two.
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Our history over many decades is we'll sell our best forward or he will get injured and then without proper cover we'll draw too many games and miss out on a top two finish. We've always been a "nearly team", nearly because we nearly get promoted, nearly win the play offs and nearly avoid relegation because we are usually too complacent and overly optimistic to strenghten enough when it matters. I've seen 40+ years of this recurrent theme and put those rose tinted specs in the bin years ago after all those nearlies. I hope I'm wrong and I see more positivity in the JTW but otherwise I will be crossing my fingers rather than expecting a top two finish.
 
South Bucks said:
Our history over many decades is we'll sell our best forward or he will get injured and then without proper cover we'll draw too many games and miss out on a top two finish. We've always been a "nearly team", nearly because we nearly get promoted, nearly win the play offs and nearly avoid relegation because we are usually too complacent and overly optimistic to strenghten enough when it matters. I've seen 40+ years of this recurrent theme and put those rose tinted specs in the bin years ago after all those nearlies. I hope I'm wrong and I see more positivity in the JTW but otherwise I will be crossing my fingers rather than expecting a top two finish.
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You're my brother from another Mother. xxx
 
5-0 up against Chesterfield at half time in the last game of the season needing only a point to guarantee automatic promotion. Just as Gary Sinclair is about to announce the super draw winner Bramall Lane and all those within are obliterated by a meteorite inexplicably undetected by NASA.
The only comfort I can draw from this scenario is that we will not be expected to take part in the play offs and our ground will still look better than Hillsborough.
 
Can't even imagine us winning the league.

When things are looking good for us you can be sure something will go tits up.

Everything in my footballing brain says that we should be promoted as champions. We're clearly the better team in every game we play, but I still just can't see it.
 
Stats show we've dominated our recent games in both possession and shots and so deserved the wins - luck hasn't been a factor. but, we've increasingly lacked a clinical side and a few bits of the team jigsaw need some jiggling. I don't think we're a team that can be 'found out' but can see us being frustrated in games and hence I think there will chopping and changing at the top and a definite 3 horse race for some time yet.

The injury Gods will also play a huge part as obviously will Jan window. all 3 teams are heavily reliant on a few key players.
 
The momentum is with us and now we're at the top I think we'll revel in that pressure. I feel the players won't want to relinquish top spot in a hurry. After so many false dawns the fans are growing in confidence and in number. This confidence is quite tangible now and this can only benefit the players.
 
If I was a supporter of any other team in this division in our position I'd be very confident but I'm a Blade. So all I can hope for is to keep up a consistency of picking up points and Bolton or Scunny drop enough points for us to finish in the top two.

Would like to think we'll finish Champions though, about time we won something rather than finished as runners up again.
 
I think February will be the defining period as to who will win the division

We play yourselves, Scunny and Peterborough

I think we'll know then if we've maintained our first half of season form

I'd like to think we will be auto promoted, but as with all things Sheffield United, we have a habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and 6 seasons in this division endorses that. However, this season seems different and in Chris Wilder and Alan Knill, I believe we have the best dynamic duo since Batman and Robin, so I'm optimistic we will be there when it most matters and that's after 46 games
 
We are averaging just over 2 points a game after starting the first 4 games with only 1 point, so if we have another wobble as most promoted teams do, then we should still break the 90 points mark.Only 2 teams have failed to be promoted after having broken the 90 point mark and they were Sunderland and...err....Sheffield United! Can't happen again though.......can it?
 
curly said:
We are averaging just over 2 points a game after starting the first 4 games with only 1 point, so if we have another wobble as most promoted teams do, then we should still break the 90 points mark.Only 2 teams have failed to be promoted after having broken the 90 point mark and they were Sunderland and...err....Sheffield United! Can't happen again though.......can it?
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Being a nerd I looked at wikipedia and at 31/12/2011 we had 47 points from 23 games and finished the season in third place. We now have 50 points from 24 games which in my book is about the same. True it was an exceptional season but means we should take nothing for granted.
 
No better team than us ....................................................... at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. A bit silly predicting anything with us, after all Tranmere were top at this stage a few seasons back and look where they are now. I would much prefer us to go about our business quietly and let the rest shout about what they are going to do.
 
JohnDenver said:
Unless you're SUFC and relegated with a positive goal difference. :)
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In the 80-81 season we were no where near relegation at any point. Always around mid table but on the last match of the season for us to be relegated we had to lose to a relegation threatened poor Walsall team and other teams near the bottom had to win or draw.

It was long odds for us to be relegated. Walsall got a dodgy penalty in the 1st half and then deep into injury time we got an even more dodgy penalty. Score and we stay up. Our normal penalty taker John Matthews bottled it and up stopped Don Givens who hit a weak shot that was easily saved.

Meaning we went down to the 4th division with a PLUS goal difference.
 

I think ( like most sides in this division) we are vulnerable to losing players to injuries. Any of Sharp, Coutts, Fleck, Duffy, EEL or Moore getting injured would weaken us.
Expect it to go down to the wire and actually think Bradford could rejoin top 4 if they buy a goalscorer in January.

Bolton are tough to score against and have had some magic with Clough, Vela & Ameobi. I think they could well make top 2.
Scunthorpe have money and I expect them to try to buy big in January.

This is best Blades side since we've been in the division, and given reasonable luck with injuries, I am pretty hopeful we can win this League, though not as bullish as some of early posters.

I'm sure all top 4 will lose games they shouldn't, always happens. But I'm going Blades, BWFC, Bradford and Scunthorpe as top 4 in that order.
 
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