Rival Watch

[Mr Optimist]

Having witnessed all our play-off final disappointments, I'd far rather go up that way, than automatics.

I am enjoying this season, certainly compared to the previous half dozen. We still have a problem playing at home, no idea why that is (lost 7?).

Of course, if we went up, it'd be very, very, very tough.

Me too. If it takes me having to watch us at Wembley on tv and getting massively pissed up in my back garden in North Wales celebrating rather than in London & Reading then so be it!

[Stranded]

It looks tough at the mo but by the time we go to Norwich they'll likely already be Champions and could have switched off.

In the last 6 we also have games v Luton & Huddersfield - hardly tough in paper.

It looks like our season will come down to the away game at Barnsley and the home game v Cardiff. Win one/draw one in any order, we'll get in. Lose one, 50/50, lose both and we're done.

Barnsley have been incredible but the test will be what happens when they next lose, which I'm sure they will. 6 wins in the bounce is fantastic, before that 6 they went W1 D2 L3, which admittedly was against top 6 rivals but they also dropped points v Forest. Long way to go. Despite that run, they are still outside the top 6. If/when they get in here, the pressure changes. Same applies for Cardiff, chasing is often better than maintaining.

Everyone will drop points, we are in a position where we just need to match the results of others.

Matching others results is stressful. Barnsley and Cardiff are setting the pace. We really need them to return to normal form ASAP.

But on the other hand, by fighting our way into the top 6, rather than limping over the line, that may help the players cope with pressured games (I.e the playoffs if we do get there)

Could be wrong but not sure many players in our squad have promotion experience so difficult to gauge how we’ll deal with pressure

Could also become stressful for Cardiff and Barnsley in particular. At the moment, both are on runs from nowhere and the only kind of run that could get them in the race yet they both still sit outside the top 6 (though Barnsley have that game in hand).

Things could change very quickly either way. For example, Barnsley slip up and only draw v Brum on Saturday - whilst we beat Sheffield and Bournemouth win at Preston then despite being in great form they could be 3 points behing Bournemouth and 5 behind us.

Thin margins for them, more so that us as things stand today.

[boycey]

Its all rather exciting TBH

[Stranded]

Having witnessed all our play-off final disappointments, I'd far rather go up that way, than automatics.

I am enjoying this season, certainly compared to the previous half dozen. We still have a problem playing at home, no idea why that is (lost 7?).

Of course, if we went up, it'd be very, very, very tough.

Our home form is weird - only 5 teams in the league have lost more at home than us but only 2 have won more than us. We are the only team not to draw a home game.

[Hound]

Having witnessed all our play-off final disappointments, I'd far rather go up that way, than automatics.

I am enjoying this season, certainly compared to the previous half dozen. We still have a problem playing at home, no idea why that is (lost 7?).

Of course, if we went up, it'd be very, very, very tough.

Our home form is weird - only 5 teams in the league have lost more at home than us but only 2 have won more than us. We are the only team not to draw a home game.

the games all seem to have been strangely similar as well

Either very comfortable wins when we've played well - Bristol, Cov, Bournemouth, Forest etc
Battled hard, scored first and held on to 1-0 - Blackburn, Wycombe, Watford
Conceded first and looked toothless - Stoke, Preston, Middlesboro

and just recently the thrown away lead which led to defeat - Milwall and Brentford

the only time we've even equalised after going 1 down is Norwich I think

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Having witnessed all our play-off final disappointments, I'd far rather go up that way, than automatics.

I am enjoying this season, certainly compared to the previous half dozen. We still have a problem playing at home, no idea why that is (lost 7?).

Of course, if we went up, it'd be very, very, very tough.

Our home form is weird - only 5 teams in the league have lost more at home than us but only 2 have won more than us. We are the only team not to draw a home game.

the games all seem to have been strangely similar as well

Either very comfortable wins when we've played well - Bristol, Cov, Bournemouth, Forest etc
Battled hard, scored first and held on to 1-0 - Blackburn, Wycombe, Watford
Conceded first and looked toothless - Stoke, Preston, Middlesboro

and just recently the thrown away lead which led to defeat - Milwall and Brentford

the only time we've even equalised after going 1 down is Norwich I think

Also Millwall and Sheffield away, and we won at Hudds after going behind

[Hendo]

Having witnessed all our play-off final disappointments, I'd far rather go up that way, than automatics.

I am enjoying this season, certainly compared to the previous half dozen. We still have a problem playing at home, no idea why that is (lost 7?).

Of course, if we went up, it'd be very, very, very tough.

Our home form is weird - only 5 teams in the league have lost more at home than us but only 2 have won more than us. We are the only team not to draw a home game.

the games all seem to have been strangely similar as well

Either very comfortable wins when we've played well - Bristol, Cov, Bournemouth, Forest etc
Battled hard, scored first and held on to 1-0 - Blackburn, Wycombe, Watford
Conceded first and looked toothless - Stoke, Preston, Middlesboro

and just recently the thrown away lead which led to defeat - Milwall and Brentford

the only time we've even equalised after going 1 down is Norwich I think

Annoyingly I thought we actually played pretty well in that Stoke defeat, just couldn't score and gave away 3 stupid goals.

[Zip]

Having witnessed all our play-off final disappointments, I'd far rather go up that way, than automatics.

I am enjoying this season, certainly compared to the previous half dozen. We still have a problem playing at home, no idea why that is (lost 7?).

Of course, if we went up, it'd be very, very, very tough.

Yep lost 7, won 10, drawn 0 at home which is a very unusual record.

[Stranded]

Having witnessed all our play-off final disappointments, I'd far rather go up that way, than automatics.

I am enjoying this season, certainly compared to the previous half dozen. We still have a problem playing at home, no idea why that is (lost 7?).

Of course, if we went up, it'd be very, very, very tough.

Yep lost 7, won 10, drawn 0 at home which is a very unusual record.

And in terms of points, is the 6th best record in the division. Away from home, we are the 5th best side.

Compare to Watford, who are the best team at home yet only 12th away.

[Zip]

Barnsley really have done well after a dire start. Just 4 points from their first 7 games. We had 19 points at that stage. Now just 3 points behind us with a game in hand.

[Zip]

Having witnessed all our play-off final disappointments, I'd far rather go up that way, than automatics.

I am enjoying this season, certainly compared to the previous half dozen. We still have a problem playing at home, no idea why that is (lost 7?).

Of course, if we went up, it'd be very, very, very tough.

Yep lost 7, won 10, drawn 0 at home which is a very unusual record.

And in terms of points, is the 6th best record in the division. Away from home, we are the 5th best side.

Compare to Watford, who are the best team at home yet only 12th away.

Sure. If our home record was W 8, D6, L3 it would probably be seen as decent but still only brings us the same 30 points.

[Hound]

Our home form is weird - only 5 teams in the league have lost more at home than us but only 2 have won more than us. We are the only team not to draw a home game.

the games all seem to have been strangely similar as well

Either very comfortable wins when we've played well - Bristol, Cov, Bournemouth, Forest etc
Battled hard, scored first and held on to 1-0 - Blackburn, Wycombe, Watford
Conceded first and looked toothless - Stoke, Preston, Middlesboro

and just recently the thrown away lead which led to defeat - Milwall and Brentford

the only time we've even equalised after going 1 down is Norwich I think

Also Millwall and Sheffield away, and we won at Hudds after going behind

yes - though was specifically talking about home games, but yes we've come back a couple of times away.

[CountryRoyal]

Yep lost 7, won 10, drawn 0 at home which is a very unusual record.

And in terms of points, is the 6th best record in the division. Away from home, we are the 5th best side.

Compare to Watford, who are the best team at home yet only 12th away.

Sure. If our home record was W 8, D6, L3 it would probably be seen as decent but still only brings us the same 30 points.

Good point tbf Zip.

[Stranded]

Yep lost 7, won 10, drawn 0 at home which is a very unusual record.

And in terms of points, is the 6th best record in the division. Away from home, we are the 5th best side.

Compare to Watford, who are the best team at home yet only 12th away.

Sure. If our home record was W 8, D6, L3 it would probably be seen as decent but still only brings us the same 30 points.

Yep the lack of draws has certainly given a negative slant to it because of the defeats but points wise, it is a very decent return.

6 games to go at home, if we can W4 L2 (so roughly in line, with our current record), then we hit 69 points without even taking a point away, Away we are "likely" to go W3 D2 L1 based on our record.

If we do that, we get to 80 pts.

[CountryRoyal]

And in terms of points, is the 6th best record in the division. Away from home, we are the 5th best side.

Compare to Watford, who are the best team at home yet only 12th away.

Sure. If our home record was W 8, D6, L3 it would probably be seen as decent but still only brings us the same 30 points.

Yep the lack of draws has certainly given a negative slant to it because of the defeats but points wise, it is a very decent return.

6 games to go at home, if we can W4 L2 (so roughly in line, with our current record), then we hit 69 points without even taking a point away, Away we are "likely" to go W3 D2 L1 based on our record.

If we do that, we get to 80 pts.

Would be amazed if we only lose 3 more times this season.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Best bet wins - Sheffield, Brum, QPR, Derby, Luton. Hudds (say 4-1-1, 13 points, current season says we will slip up somewhere)

Likely losses - Watford, Norwich

Other games - Forest, Cardiff, Barnsley, Swansea (say 1-2-1)

That's 75 points - not always enough but usually is.

[Stranded]

Sure. If our home record was W 8, D6, L3 it would probably be seen as decent but still only brings us the same 30 points.

Yep the lack of draws has certainly given a negative slant to it because of the defeats but points wise, it is a very decent return.

6 games to go at home, if we can W4 L2 (so roughly in line, with our current record), then we hit 69 points without even taking a point away, Away we are "likely" to go W3 D2 L1 based on our record.

If we do that, we get to 80 pts.

Would be amazed if we only lose 3 more times this season.

Possibly but it would be in line with our season record. Current form would see us W6 L6 and hit 75pts.

[muirinho]

Matching others results is stressful. Barnsley and Cardiff are setting the pace. We really need them to return to normal form ASAP.

But on the other hand, by fighting our way into the top 6, rather than limping over the line, that may help the players cope with pressured games (I.e the playoffs if we do get there)

Could be wrong but not sure many players in our squad have promotion experience so difficult to gauge how we’ll deal with pressure

Could also become stressful for Cardiff and Barnsley in particular. At the moment, both are on runs from nowhere and the only kind of run that could get them in the race yet they both still sit outside the top 6 (though Barnsley have that game in hand).

Things could change very quickly either way. For example, Barnsley slip up and only draw v Brum on Saturday - whilst we beat Sheffield and Bournemouth win at Preston then despite being in great form they could be 3 points behing Bournemouth and 5 behind us.

Thin margins for them, more so that us as things stand today.

Well Mick McCarthy has just signed a two year deal with Cardiff, so presumably the wheels will now fall off their challenge.....

https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/statu ... 1202396160

[tidus_mi2]

But on the other hand, by fighting our way into the top 6, rather than limping over the line, that may help the players cope with pressured games (I.e the playoffs if we do get there)

Could be wrong but not sure many players in our squad have promotion experience so difficult to gauge how we’ll deal with pressure

Could also become stressful for Cardiff and Barnsley in particular. At the moment, both are on runs from nowhere and the only kind of run that could get them in the race yet they both still sit outside the top 6 (though Barnsley have that game in hand).

Things could change very quickly either way. For example, Barnsley slip up and only draw v Brum on Saturday - whilst we beat Sheffield and Bournemouth win at Preston then despite being in great form they could be 3 points behing Bournemouth and 5 behind us.

Thin margins for them, more so that us as things stand today.

Well Mick McCarthy has just signed a two year deal with Cardiff, so presumably the wheels will now fall off their challenge.....

https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/statu ... 1202396160

One can only hope.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Just seen Colin has extended too