Who thinks we will reach the playoffs?

[LouTheBlade]

After looking at the league table last night my heart sank. Cardiff our now the 6th placed team. They're 4 points in front of us (if memory serves), with a game in hand. The four teams in there look comfortable at the moment but that's probably due to the indifferent form of those on the periphery.

I know it only takes one, maybe two games to get us back in it but based on current form I can't see us doing enough to overhaul the lead they have. There is always one side that chucks it away (usually Cardiff), but i'm starting to think Middlesbrough and Blackpool look more likely to over-take.

I genuinely think a playoff place is unlikely now. Does anyone think we will make it? I'm hoping someone can inspire some optimism in me......

 

[lenners]

No. The only real interest in the league now is who might slip through the trap door and the likelihood of us gifting three points to one of the potential droppers in April.

 

[Ted Danson]

I think we'll still make the playoffs, in 6th though. That may go in our favour aswell as we wont be the favorites to win them.

 

[raul]

I think whilst you're always looking for team to pancake (yes, usually Cardiff) you've also got to look at who's going to take advantage.

At this stage of the season, you'd expect a settled side, playing a settled pattern and the cohesion that brings is often that little difference between 0 points and 1, or 1 point and 3.

Have to say we're lacking in both, so no, not optimistic that in the event of someone's form collapsing we've enough in the locker to take advantage.

 

[Micalijo]

No. The lack of quality on and off the pitch will hit home. The big question for me is can Blackie coax a goal out of our hugely paid squad at Hillsboro - I very much doubt it.

Only remaining interest for me is price of season tickets and how many we'll shift. Looking forward to the flurry of activity on here when details come out and to seeing how far the value of assets held by Realty has dropped.

£300 South stand. £200 kop. Good deals for families. You know it makes sense Trev.

 

[broomhillblade]

This season I'd never doubted that we'd make at least the playoffs - until now.

Maybe the shock and disappointment of ending up in mid-table would force a clear-out in the summer. Start again with a bright young manager and some young talent.

 

[LouTheBlade]

No. The lack of quality on and off the pitch will hit home. The big question for me is can Blackie coax a goal out of our hugely paid squad at Hillsboro - I very much doubt it.

Only remaining interest for me is price of season tickets and how many we'll shift. Looking forward to the flurry of activity on here when details come out and to seeing how far the value of assets held by Realty has dropped.

£300 South stand. £200 kop. Good deals for families. You know it makes sense Trev.

I think the this has to happen if they want people through the door. At current prices I can't justify paying for what I'm seeing. I sit in the south stand and paid £440+ this season. I couldn't really afford it last time around but stuck my neck out as usual due to blind devotion.

At £300 I would consider buying. At £250 I would probably bite. Anymore than that and they can give my seat to some other mug.

 

[raul]

Sorry boys, you're living in dreamland if you think you'll be watching Championship Football for around £11 a game. We'd need double the number of STH's - and there's already a biiiiiigggg problem I can see there - to stay still and our current revenue doesn't appear to stretch much past loanees and Ryan France.

Clevor Trevor is going to have to lump the prices up to compensate for the 0000's of non-renewals or in the event we all stand together provide extra revenue to fund the better players we'll be demanding for our extra brass.

Remember : Good news = Kev, Bad News= SCT

 

[Micalijo]

No way can Trevor put prices up - commercial suicide. Even the loyalist of the loyal will be struggling cash wise unless they are very lucky job wise.

Wonder if the fans will get the blame this summer when revenues and budgets drop further?

 

[LouTheBlade]

Sorry boys, you're living in dreamland if you think you'll be watching Championship Football for around £11 a game. We'd need double the number of STH's - and there's already a biiiiiigggg problem I can see there - to stay still and our current revenue doesn't appear to stretch much past loanees and Ryan France.

Clevor Trevor is going to have to lump the prices up to compensate for the 0000's of non-renewals or in the event we all stand together provide extra revenue to fund the better players we'll be demanding for our extra brass.

Remember : Good news = Kev, Bad News= SCT

If that's the case count me out along with many others. Lets see him compensate for it with 18,000 crowds.

 

[Rustyblade]

We've built a state of the art academy in China, you know.

 

[tomtheblade]

Can't see it unfortunately. The playoff positions and the clubs occupying those slots take form over the season and right now the four teams up there look like they will be occupying those places at the end of the season.

They all have a much better goal difference than us and i think that's the telling factor.

Imo if you want to be in the playoffs you have to have been in the places for a significant amount of time during the season, or have spectacular end of season form to push in at the last moment. We have neither and the latter happens very rarely, and i can't see it happening to us for a variety of reasons.

Wish it weren't the case but i think the teams there now will be there come May.

 

[scouseblade]

On present form no way. If form picks up, perhaps.

 

[raul]

No way can Trevor put prices up - commercial suicide. Even the loyalist of the loyal will be struggling cash wise unless they are very lucky job wise.

Wonder if the fans will get the blame this summer when revenues and budgets drop further?

Watch out for use of the word "fickle" reaching record, keyboard-breaking levels Mic.

 

[SwissBlade]

Yep - we'll make the Play Off's, just not for a while

 

[Fiery Blade]

Play Offs
Not a hope in hell!
10th or 11th at best in a very poor division
End of season
Get rid of all loanees
Get rid of all crocks
Either appoint Speed as manager or release as a player
Get rid of Blackwell, Ellis and Co
Wasted season - End of Story

 

[Pinchy]

Our daft manager thinks it would be a magnificent achievement. I think he's getting his excuses in early.

It won't happen. Wembley is safe from another Blades debacle for at least a year.

 

[Deleted member 875]

Our daft manager thinks it would be a magnificent achievement. I think he's getting his excuses in early.

It won't happen. Wembley is safe from another Blades debacle for at least a year.

Wasn't the play offs out of the reach in the minds of a lot of supporters this time last season?

 

[Revolution]

Wasn't the play offs out of the reach in the minds of a lot of supporters this time last season?

The position last year is irrelevant. Last year at this point we had a terrific defence. Now we have a collection of loanees of dubious quality and our entire defence is sold, injured or suspended.

Last year we were about to put Cotterill back into the team. This year he is galvanising Swansea.

Blackwell is right, it will be a miracle if we make the playoffs.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

If Blackwell doesn't make the playoffs with the 4th highest wage bill he should be removed, in my mind there is no way round that.

Personally I would think Mr Birch could talk him into resigning given his already proven mental strength. I just don't see how you can give a manager a massive wage bill and then accept not finishing into the top 6. Why do you expect him to do better with less money?

P.S. I think we will squeak into the playoffs this season.

 

[Trigger Blade]

Our daft manager thinks it would be a magnificent achievement. I think he's getting his excuses in early.

It won't happen. Wembley is safe from another Blades debacle for at least a year.

On Radio Sheff before the Derby game, he was asked if not making the play-offs would amount to failure and he said no.

That was the end of the season for me. Even if he believes what he said, he surely has to maintain a public stance of it being a mimumum requirement?

 

[broomhillblade]

On Radio Sheff before the Derby game, he was asked if not making the play-offs would amount to failure and he said no.

That was the end of the season for me. Even if he believes what he said, he surely has to maintain a public stance of it being a mimumum requirement?

To be fair, he could hardly say anything else.

If he'd said 'yes' then the next question might have been "So if you don't make the playoffs would that make your position as manager untenable?"

 

[Pinchy]

To be fair, he could hardly say anything else.

If he'd said 'yes' then the next question might have been "So if you don't make the playoffs would that make your position as manager untenable?"

We can but hope.

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

If that's the case count me out along with many others. Lets see him compensate for it with 18,000 crowds.

Might get some of the passion back in the crowd

 

[Ollessendro]

I genuinely think a playoff place is unlikely now. Does anyone think we will make it? I'm hoping someone can inspire some optimism in me......

My belated answer is no. I'd be very surprised if we are anywhere near them at the end of the season.

I was looking at our remaining fixtures and think we'll finish with somehwere between 61 and 68 points (65 would be the figure if I had to give one). That puts us way off the mark, as a play off position is rarely less than 70 (if ever).

If we can keep Williamson, Camara and Ward fit then we stand an outside fighting chance. However, our defensive frailties will be highlighted by teams such as Newcastle, Swansea, Barnsley, Cardiff and Ipswich. I looked at the back 4 of Nos, Kyle IV, Morgs and Kalio and thought it would be fairly solid. I was thinking, maybe we could mount a play off push on these guys (if they get a few games under their belt together). Then we concede 3 to one of the worst teams in the league .... at home!?

Not only is our defence a worry, but our away record is terrible. I just can't see us pickign up many points on the road between now and the 2nd May.

 

[LouTheBlade]

I looked at the back 4 of Nos, Kyle IV, Morgs and Kalio and thought it would be fairly solid. I was thinking, maybe we could mount a play off push on these guys (if they get a few games under their belt together). Then we concede 3 to one of the worst teams in the league .... at home!?

Not only is our defence a worry, but our away record is terrible. I just can't see us pickign up many points on the road between now and the 2nd May.

I must admit, I was surprised at how many problems the four of them had but I think a lot of it is down to lack of understanding and cohesion.

Having said that I thought the one positive aspect of Plymouth's side was their forwards. I thought Mackie and Fallon looked a decent pairing and are probably two of their better players so on that basis they would probably test a few defences. I still think conceding 3 was poor though, dont get me wrong.

I know what its like playing with players you're not used to. I generally play centre half and have been captain of two of the sides I have played for. From my experience the hardest part of being a captain in that role is developing understanding amongst the defenders and I have been in a few situations where we've had 2 or 3 new defenders learning to play with one another. It's so important to get that balance right.

From experience its difficult at any level as well, right from sunday league to semi-pro and onwards. I think that is the problem our back four has at the moment. It takes time to develop relationships in defence because organisation is key and IMO you can only have one leader or it doesnt work.........

None of them had played with Morgs before saturday.

 

[Paulus]

For the first time this season I think we might have a chance If:

We can keep players fit
We continue to play with a more creative style
We get a bit of luck

I don't think anyone below us in the table looks as though they are about to burst onto a long winning run, I would expect Boro to improve as Strachan gets more established and Coventry are playing quite well at the moment and I can see Reading climbing the table but they are a fair bit back of us but and if we get on a decent run we should keep clear of all of them.

Of the teams above us Cardiff are surrounded by rumour at the moment. Alledged bust ups between Jones and some players and Jones and Ridsdale and if you look at the relegation odds clearly the bookies are taking the possibility of administration and a points deduction for them quite seriously so we might nick 6th.

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/championship/relegation

 

[Tihane]

I genuinely think a playoff place is unlikely now. Does anyone think we will make it? I'm hoping someone can inspire some optimism in me......

I do. Until it is mathematically impossible for us to finish in the top 6, I keep believing we can do it.
I do rate the probability around 30% at the moment though.

The away form, tight match schedule and unsettled back four does not give many reasons to be optimistic, but it is still there to be won or lost, lets not give up.

 

[shorehamview]

We might, just might scrape into 6th place. If by some miracle we manage to get to the final, and that would be a miracle along the lines of turning water into wine or getting my wife off the phone before the half hour mark has elapsed, then we can look forward to another insipid Wembley performance. If by some hugely fortuitous circumstances we do manage to get promoted, and this is proper fantasy bollocks talk now, we could either attract some decent players and stay up because we'd have very few to start with, or we'd get thrashed by all and sundry every week because we'd have a squad that was piss-poor by Championship standards.

Then again I've got more chance of winning the lottery every week for the rest of the year.

 

[JohnDenver]

Desperately casting around for a bright side amidst the misery of most posts...

If our win-or-bust situation leads to games like Saturday's more often, then I'll be a happy man.