Rotherham have really struggled lately. Oxford are poor and a defeat on Saturday would be three in a row ... ... that's rotten at any stage of the season, could be fatal now. Sheff Wed are erratic and I think they'll falter. All kinds of things can happen, we just need to keep our nerve.
Get the hotel booked. We are heading to the big smoke again. And just imagine when Rossco bags the winner. Scenes.
Great, they need the points even more now. I agree with Spikey, they're absolutely awful and deserve the drop. Morecambe are a similar club but they do try to play football, Gillingham just don't.
Seems the lad who'd have marked Stewart, at Oxford, had his nose broken tonight ... ... let's hope it's his heart on Saturday
noticed a few games where teams actually try to play a bit but at the same time they time waste and mess around a lot...whether they feel they have to do that just against us i don't know but i can't say i have noticed it with other teams when i watch them and some of them are decent footballing sides. the ref's on the other hand just seem incapable of being impartial, far too many seem to want to show that they will not be swayed by 'big sunderland and their fans', when i see how stewart gets manhandled many times a game it boils my water.
Oxford's results on Sat and last night change the dynamic of the game on Saturday. With a 2 point gap and no games in hand, they could have seen Sat as "must not lose" which would have led to a tight, defensive game. Surely now it's a "must win" game for them which may play into our hands I think we have to win at least 5 of our remaining 6 to guarantee a play off spot - not good for us that Rotherham still have points to play for....
Stating the obvious but every game now is a must win, performances are largely irrelevant as long as they achieve the 3 points. I don't honestly care if the next 6 games are 1 nil wins to us with a deflected goal of someone's arse in the last minute as long as we keep winning
There are so many games where teams in the mix play each other. It seems likely it goes to the last couple of games. The top 3 are too far ahead to catch for everyone else and I think Plymouth too are probably secure in the playoffs with their current form as it is. It really is one game at a time now (a management phrase that is the most daft 90% of the time). I really wouldnt like to predict it at all but as always I have belief we will do it, somehow. Still think we need to sort our attacking play out, but we have the players for that.
This is hilarious from the master tactician, otherwise known as Karl-call me Pep-Robinson. "If you ignore the two goals we conceded, and the chances we failed to create, we dominated the game for 90 minutes ... ... just like we did in the defeat on Saturday." I can't abide him and the Oxford fans are turning on him, could be good if we can get an early goal down there.
I tend not to buy into the stuff where managers and coaches get grief for how they speak or look or what they do away from football. They are always the fall guy for all wrong at the club, not just their own failings so I tend to want to cut them some slack. This sort of statement always seems odd though, but I do sort of get it. Translates as we had loads of possession and territorial control but couldnt convert it to chances. Alex Neil does a similar thing when he says we have to subtract the result from the performance, or vice versa. As a coach myself I dont agree with them as I believe the two are intrinsically linked, the whole performance delivers the result. If you have 75% possession but their keeper only makes 2 saves the performance has lacked. Overall though I dont think it is the worst crime they commit, and I am sure mostly it is about keeping players morale up.
Reminds me a lot of the Bolton game. If you take away the 6 goals we conceded and the other 4 we might have conceded, then if you ignore the lack of chances we created and the complete apathy throughout the team then we go and win that game
The best thing about that interview is when he grins, at the end, and says, "When we get the better players back we'll have a good team." How to kick the players in the teeth who've just totally dominated two games
They've had the same problem as us for most of this season - they can't keep a clean sheet. We seem to have got that sorted now and I'm confident we'll score at least one against them. Just need to keep the run of clean sheets going and we'll get the 3 points.We're dominating the opposition and creating chances, but we need to up our finishing. Unlike some, I don't think we need to win all our games or indeed 5 out of 6. I think 4 wins and a draw will be enough, providing we don't lose at Oxford and Plymouth. We may be okay with even 3 wins and 3 draws.
It’s all set for a thrilling finish, esp 5th & 6th. Just got to keep winning. Best Oxford and that’s a big nail in their play-off coffin
