The Promotion Race (Updated after Ipswich)

Newcastle two nil down at home. Huddersfield winning away, there must be a real chance now that either Brighton or Newcastle are going to get pipped at the post.

 

I'll certainly be a 'Royals' fan this evening!!!

 

Sheffield Wednesday lost Fulham 2-2 latest .

 

I'd rather Reading lost. If they did and we win tomorrow the gap would be 6 points and they still have to come to CR. Cardiff 2-2 Fulham is a final score now. We can move back into 7th place if we win tomorrow. I'll do an update tomorrow.

 

Beat the binners and we are 4 points behind 6th plush Sheffield Wednesday are next and are wobbling.
Can we reduce the deficit to 1 point away from home?

Very doubtful.

 

Don't see the logic there , surely you dont want 5th place Reading to beat 2nd placed Brighton ?
Unless you still think a top 2 finish is on the cards ?
(3-0 Seagulls latest)

 

I was hoping Huddersfield might make the 2nd automatic place. Oh well.

 

Given that Brighton are 3-0 up at the moment and Huddersfield could only draw at Barnsley, they've got a lot to do really. Given that Reading have to come to CR, they seem to be as good a chance as SW for us to get into the play-offs.

 

Away form rules and as was mentioned earlier we are top heavy with goals in the side but a crap defence so we have to attack every game and try to score more than the opposition.

 

After all of the teams above us left the door open for us to try and sneak back into contention we choked again making Sheffield Wednesday away a **** or bust encounter.

 

LATEST UPDATE:
The next two fixtures:

1 Brighton(33-71): Newcastle (h Tues), Forest (a), Rotherham (a)
2 Newcastle(33-70): Brighton (a Tues), Huddersfield (a), Reading (a)
3 Huddersfield(33-65): Newcastle (h), Villa (h)
4 Leeds(34-61): Birmingham (a), Fulham (a)
5 Reading(34-60): Wolves (h), Newcastle (h)
6 Sheff Wed(34-58): Norwich (h), Burton (h)
__________________________________________
7 Fulham(33-53): Preston (h), Leeds (h)
8 Norwich(34-52): Sheff. Weds. (a), Bristol City (a)
9 Preston (34-52): Fulham (a), Derby (a),
10 Barnsley(34-50): Derby (a), QPR (a)
11 Derby(33-48): Blackburn (a - Tues), Barnsley (h), Preston (h)

The games in hand above us have now gone except for Fulham's away at Reading (tba later and they also have to play us at CR later). The 6-9 points is still a big gap to make up and a win at SW now seems essential, if unlikely. Derby's remaining game-in-hand is at Blackburn on Tuesday. Lots of other head-to-heads on offer, including ours at SW, which now becomes an absolute 6-pointer. If we lose that it's really all over. If we draw, we still seem to be in mathematical possibility territory. Certainly the margin for error is narrowing further all the time.

 

As it will continue to do, given our spoardic results since October.
Destroy Forest, a creditable draw vs the Toon, followed by an abject 'no show' at lowly Burton.
Story of our nondescript season I'm afraid, but have to admire your never fading optimism, Rick

 

It's not so much optimism as a slight lingering hope really, Cromer. I did describe a win over SW as 'unlikely', but that is really our only hope now. Even then, we'd need to win away at Bristol City and then at home against Barnsley and Blackburn if we are to have any real chance. Those games are winnable, but the players would have to realise that it's now or never and consistently raise their game. They're capable of doing that, but I'm not convinced they will, thus hope rather than optimism, mate.

 

My glass is always half-full...courtesy of Bacchus, the god of wine, who lives in my local Morrison's

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May your glass never be empty, Cromer!

 

We have had some truly abject performances against teams in the lower regions of the Championship and that is the main reason my belief that we'll make the play-offs is fading as each poor result comes up. Over the last month, by my reckoning, we should be 8 points better off (dropped 2 points at Wigan, 3 at Burton and 2 yesterday). IF we hadn't gifted those points to our opponents, we'd now 5th and snapping at Leeds' heels.
OK, the injury to Basil and Pinto certainly hasn't helped, but IMO, the manager should be motivating his highly paid stars to perform week in, week out. regardless of the opposition and so I'm laying the blame mainly at his door. CJ should certainly have had at least one goal, or at least brought a save from their keeper with the chance he had in the first half and his header in the 2nd half was quite poor for a striker.
I'd LOVE to see a change of manager, but not totally convinced how much it would have helped our cause!!!

 

Motivation is a complicated factor. As a management trainer I studied it in some depth. A manager can encourage it but the response has to come from within the individual if achievement is to be realised. That convinces me that our inconsistency is mostly down to the players, who can be brilliant in some games and then uninspiring in others. That also convinces me that our future lies in younger players who are hungry for success. Many other teams in this league have that hunger, even if they lack the skills our players have. IMO, AN realises that and is working to rebuild the squad, but that takes time. Brady and Olsson are skillful players, but their performances were inconsistent. They've been replaced by Dijks and Wildschut who both seem to have that hunger and a willingness to battle for every ball. Dijks has been my MotM in at least 3 of the 6 games he has played, including yesterday. At 23 and 25 they are the right age as well and I just hope we can convince Dijks to sign on a permanent contract.

If we miss the play-offs, my consolation is that is that our younger players will get a chance to break into the first team squad the way the Murphys and Thompson have done this season. Maddison, Morris, McGrandles, Toffolo and Godfrey look to have the best chance, but there are a host of others coming on in the U23s as well. For that reason, I'd like to stick with AN to make that happen, as I'm not at all sure that a new manager coming in would (neither Lambert or Hughton had much time for that when they were here).

 

Great post Rick and I see what you say in that a manager can only give the willingness to motivate his team and thereafter, it's down to the tesm. I know many years ago, when I was a manager, my team seemed well motivated to do well for me. If any of them did something which I felt was wrong, then I'd have a quiet word with them later in private - NEVER in front of the rest of the team!!!!
I agree, that if as seems likely we're still in the Championship next season that AN used it to get our emerging players involved in the first team and GET RID of the Deadwood!!!

 

It won't happen overnight, JMF. Players like Turner, Whittaker, Mulumbu and I believe Bassong are coming to the end of their contracts and assuming that we can bring some younger replacements in some should move on, saving salaries at least. As I said above, I hope Dijks stays, but otherwise it may be a case of existing players being sold before replacements can be brought in. The ideal would be for more young players to make the grade the way the Murphys have, as they should certainly have the motivation and commitment. Along those lines, I expect a detailed report on the U23s' match with Zagreb tonight.

 

I think Lafferty is also out of contract and I don't expect any of the players you've listed are going to be in demand or command a decent selling price. I hope the first team fringe players put in a decent performance tonight and show AN what they can do.
I'll do my best re a match report, but may have to wait till tomorrow morning!!!