Looking up or Looking down?

[weybridgewanderer]

Last Season, this

Last season after 20 games we were 19th Reading 20 1-4-5 07-14 4-1-5 15-18 -10 GD 20 Points
This season after 20 games we are: 14th Reading 20 4-5-2 17-11 2-4-3 11-11 +06 GD 27 Points (A game in hand)

7 points, (effectively 8 with GD) 5 positions better off (with the game at Sheffield United in hand)

How can a comparison of 20 games last season and 20 games this season leave us with a game in hand? surely thats 19 compared with 20 or 20 compared with 21 if we still have 1 game to play?

Note the word "after" above

We are 14th, but missed the postponed Sheffield game (thus a game in hand on a lot of teams)

Had we won by two goals at Sheffield we'd be 7th today

This season after 20 games we are: 14th Reading 20 4-5-2 17-11 2-4-3 11-11 +06 GD 27 Points (A game in hand)

What am i missing? we either played 20 games and have 27 points compared to 20 and 20 last season, what does a game in hand have to do with it?

[MmmMonsterMunch]

"Hunt in his full season got 13 from 31 playing 60 minute starts)"

This particular stat just shows how utterly meaningless some of your posts are Snowball. So what if Hunt got 13 goals 2 seasons ago?!

1) He was playing up top with Doyle
2) He was playing with a much better team behind him than the current lot
3) He has had a career threatening injury & hasn't been able to play regularly since

How on earth you can drag that up as "proof" that our strikers are good is beyond me. What Hunt did 2 seasons ago is totally & utterly irrelevant now.

[Man Friday]

Doesn't that back up the point that it doesn't matter how good or bad a run you're on you can still beat a top team, which means your excuse for the teams run of bad form (or not as you claim it to be) is that they were playing a couple of good teams within that run.

No, it shows that you have to judge teams over a reasonable period of time. Losing at QPR is hardly surprising. Most clubs do, and five draws against top eight sides is not bad play or a poor run.

Watford showed they had ability being third after ten games, then they fell away, then they turned back and started getting results. So their 20/21 game form is the one that counts.

Our form is solid mid-table or a little better. Of more interest is we are a VERY hard team to beat and it looks like we are getting harder to beat

This "bad run" bollocks surprises me. We played well against Cardiff and most thought we deserved to win it only to be robbed by a non-goal. We had a terrible first half versus Norwich and a totally brilliant second half scoring three goals and drawing, another game we could easily have won. We scored a really good goal at Watford, let in a poor one, had a stone-wall penalty shout turned down. Nobody said we played badly. Leeds was a bit drab first half but Kebe was on fire when he came on and again we dominated, nobody said we played badly did they? I didn't see the Coventry game so can't comment.

My point is these five draws, taken singly, every game we've competed well. In only one game did we play poorly and only in the first half (Norwich)

I actually agree with this analsys. And as for Coventry, we could have scored six (should defo scored two), they could have scored two (no easy misses). Keep playing as we've done for most of these last half-dozen matches and we'll start to win matches.

[Ian Royal]

Plenty of teams that spend their season in a relegation dogfight are just a couple of lucky goals and the odd game away from turning the corner and finishing mid-table.

[roadrunner]

Plenty of teams that spend their season in a relegation dogfight are just a couple of lucky goals and the odd game away from turning the corner and finishing mid-table.

Just as any inconsistant mid-table side can very easily be sucked into a relegation battle with a few defeats. We are after all only 6 points of the relegation zone. Real concerns over the strikers we have here, especially if we do end up fighting for our lives.

[Ian Royal]

Plenty of teams that spend their season in a relegation dogfight are just a couple of lucky goals and the odd game away from turning the corner and finishing mid-table.

Just as any inconsistant mid-table side can very easily be sucked into a relegation battle with a few defeats. We are after all only 6 points of the relegation zone. Real concerns over the strikers we have here, especially if we do end up fighting for our lives.

Pretty much the point I was making.

[Snowball]

The difference between being 6 points off the top six, and six points from the bottom 3

is that top-end clubs get 1.5 - 2+ points per game whereas the bottom clubs struggle to get more than 1 ppg

Thus it takes a lot longer for those bottom clubs to make up six points plus GD

[roadrunner]

1 Queens Park Rangers 21 41
2 Leeds United 22 38
-------------------------------
3 Cardiff City 21 37
4 Swansea City 22 37
5 Norwich City 22 36
6 Coventry City 22 34
-------------------------------
7 Reading 21 30
8 Nottingham Forest 20 30
9 Derby County 22 30
10 Watford 21 30
11 Doncaster Rovers 21 30
12 Burnley 20 29
13 Barnsley 20 29
14 Millwall 21 28
15 Portsmouth 28
16 Leicester City 22 28
17 Ipswich Town 22 27
18 Hull City 21 26
19 Bristol City 21 26
20 Sheffield United 21 25
21 Middlesbrough 22 21
-------------------------------
22 Crystal Palace 22 21
23 Scunthorpe United 20 20
24 Preston North End 21 19

What a funny league this is. We could lose the next game and find ourselves in 17th.

[glass half full]

We have joint fourth-best goal difference in the Championship.

[Ian Royal]

We have joint fourth-best goal difference in the Championship.

Rarely lose by more than one goal, no big defeats, but three big wins.

[Snowball]

Never mind the play-offs, we're only 11 points off top spot

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Never mind the play-offs, we're only 11 points off top spot

You think the 60+ points from 25 games we'd probably need to overhaul QPR is realistic then?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Never mind the play-offs, we're only 11 points off top spot

You think the 60+ points from 25 games we'd probably need to overhaul QPR is realistic then?

But the points are spread further across the Division, no one really adrift at the bottom. Leeds in second, if they were to win the 23rd game they would be on 41 points at halfway, so 82 over a season, 2nd place may only need 85 ish, whereas people normally aim for two points average for auto.

[under the tin]

1 Queens Park Rangers 21 41
2 Leeds United 22 38
-------------------------------
3 Cardiff City 21 37
4 Swansea City 22 37
5 Norwich City 22 36
6 Coventry City 22 34
-------------------------------
7 Reading 21 30
8 Nottingham Forest 20 30
9 Derby County 22 30
10 Watford 21 30
11 Doncaster Rovers 21 30
12 Burnley 20 29
13 Barnsley 20 29
14 Millwall 21 28
15 Portsmouth 28
16 Leicester City 22 28
17 Ipswich Town 22 27
18 Hull City 21 26
19 Bristol City 21 26
20 Sheffield United 21 25
21 Middlesbrough 22 21
-------------------------------
22 Crystal Palace 22 21
23 Scunthorpe United 20 20
24 Preston North End 21 19

What a funny league this is. We could lose the next game and find ourselves in 17th.

It's not a funny league, it's a medoicre one, where any team is capable of defeating any other. It's about grinding out results, which presumably,is why Brian brought in another defensive midfielder.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Never mind the play-offs, we're only 11 points off top spot

You think the 60+ points from 25 games we'd probably need to overhaul QPR is realistic then?

But the points are spread further across the Division, no one really adrift at the bottom. Leeds in second, if they were to win the 23rd game they would be on 41 points at halfway, so 82 over a season, 2nd place may only need 85 ish, whereas people normally aim for two points average for auto.

55 points from 25 games works at at the equivalent of 101 for season. 17 wins, 4 draws, 4 defeats.

While I readily laughed at the old women who suggested being mid-table indicated we were likely to be relegation candidates, I see nothing in this current squad that suggests going on such a storming run to the end of the season is likely either.

[Snowball]

Never mind the play-offs, we're only 11 points off top spot

You think the 60+ points from 25 games we'd probably need to overhaul QPR is realistic then?

Jeez, it was a joke. But QPR could implode. Doubt it, but they could

[Snowball]

Let's not forget we are now 4 points off the play-offs with a good GD and a game in hand

now NINE clear of the bottom 3 with a much better GD

[Wycombe Royal]

Let's not forget we are now 4 points off the play-offs with a good GD and a game in hand

now NINE clear of the bottom 3 with a much better GD

There are also 4 teams below us with a game in hand who could go above us. You need to look at both sides of the picture.......

[Snowball]

Let's not forget we are now 4 points off the play-offs with a good GD and a game in hand

now NINE clear of the bottom 3 with a much better GD

There are also 4 teams below us with a game in hand who could go above us. You need to look at both sides of the picture.......

Of course, Wyc, but this isn't about that.

This was about "punting for the top six or worried about a relegation dog fight?"

9 points clear, much better GD, game in hand on the 21st and 22nd club. I'm not looking "DOWN" at all.

[Wycombe Royal]

Let's not forget we are now 4 points off the play-offs with a good GD and a game in hand

now NINE clear of the bottom 3 with a much better GD

There are also 4 teams below us with a game in hand who could go above us. You need to look at both sides of the picture.......

Of course, Wyc, but this isn't about that.

This was about "punting for the top six or worried about a relegation dog fight?"

9 points clear, much better GD, game in hand on the 21st and 22nd club. I'm not looking "DOWN" at all.

Looking up or down is what this title is about so surely we need to look at the positions of all teams? We could be 11th if all games were equal and that would affect people's view of our position.

You just can't stop being selective......