Where will we finish? 2025/26

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Where will we finish 2025 / 26

  • Automatic Promotion

    Votes: 4 2.5%
  • Play offs

    Votes: 24 15.3%
  • Top half

    Votes: 60 38.2%
  • bottom half

    Votes: 60 38.2%
  • bottom 6

    Votes: 5 3.2%
  • Relegation

    Votes: 2 1.3%
  • Champions

    Votes: 2 1.3%

  • Total voters
    157
Stop it or defend it? Two very different things. A peach of a cross, when most would probably have gone further down the line giving us a better chance of stopping it, but Devlin did manage to find space inbetween our players.

Take their first goal from the moment the player shoots from 20 yards and it's one of those very unfortunate goals that you can do nothing about. A deflection off Joseph wrong foots Pandur and it's in the back of the net before anyone can move. Take the second goal from the moment the guy hits a brilliant left-footed cross right into the box and it's a clinical goal. The problem with both goals is that opportunities weren't taken to avert the danger in the lead up to the final ball. The first goal - Pandur punches, the cross is headed back not out, and Joseph's mishit clearance - 3 chances to deal with the situation, none taken. The second goal - Amir loses the ball, then doesn't close down the cross - 2 chances, neither taken.

We've played 16 games so far and conceded 2 or more goals in 10 of them. Rarely have we been clearly beaten (twice?). It just means that in two thirds of our games we have to score 2 or more goals ourselves to get anything out of the game. We've done that regularly though and stand fifth which is remarkable.

We won't finish fifth or even sixth however unless we deal with that damning statistic of conceding 2 or more goals in the majority of games.
 
According to the poll at the top most people expected us to finish mid-table
with hardly anybody expecting us to be promoted or relegated

That doesn't seem crazy to me with a manager who has never worked in this country before
and was therefore very much an unknown factor

Now the poll is showing more saying bottom half than top half, only by a few admittedly. But I think some of the votes have changed.
 
The goals were one lucky deflection and one mistake in midfield that was ruthlessly punished. Outside of the last few minutes when we sat deep, I thought Portsmouth didn't offer much at all
That's my point. Portsmouth offered very little and yet we still conceded twice to the lowest scorers in all four divisions. The stats show that, in order to win matches, we're relying on the opposition to be far less ruthless than us which I'd suggest isn't really a sustainable approach especially, as Syd points out, we have tougher games ahead.
 
Stop it or defend it? Two very different things. A peach of a cross, when most would probably have gone further down the line giving us a better chance of stopping it, but Devlin did manage to find space inbetween our players.


Two different things indeed.

Our game policy now seems to be one of creating as many chances as possible which is both refreshing and exciting to watch but without wanting to break the current wave of euphoria, at the other end our goals against suggests City are still being opened up too easily at times for the same reasons we saw last season which basically was our difficulty to both prevent and deal with crosses into our box. Hopefully the players missing through injury will help City ease our current Achilles heel and in turn improve the goal difference could well be vital come April.

Others may disagree.


UTT.
 
Some crazy predictions on here in hindsight of picking up players like McBurnie/Ajayi/Lundstram despite the restrictions. Was always going to be up there imo.

A couple of bad results Jelly and you'll be the first to slag off all the players as being **** <laugh><laugh><laugh><laugh><laugh><laugh><laugh>

I predicted midtable but said I be satisfied with top of the bottom half.

They've certainly out performed my expectations in the first third of the season and I sincerely hope we keep doing so.

For me the manager has been fantastic. Not afraid to switch up the tactics or formation depending on who's available or who were playing. A focus on forwards momentum over maintaining possession and a general feeling of the handbrake being off.

I personally feel that maintaining this good form will in large part come down to how lucky we are with injuries. We cant spend in January and getting more freebies will be extremely difficult. So we have to hope the squad we have holds together :emoticon-0165-muscl
 
Now the poll is showing more saying bottom half than top half, only by a few admittedly. But I think some of the votes have changed.

We should have a 'where will we finish' poll at the start of the season and another one halfway through the season for comparison purposes and to gauge the mood amongst us. Think I went middle or bottom half but not sure when I voted or where we were in the recruitment process in that window. And I aint looking it up. For what it is worth I feel more positive now than then but I'm sure most do.
 
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You can only beat what's in front of you. Birmingham hadn't lost at home for 29 games and I think have won both home games since we won there. I wouldn't underestimate QPR away. There are no easy games in this league and while the teams you mention above may be tough games for us, they will also be tough games for them. We could lose to all 4 of the teams you mention - but we could equally beat them all. That's the beauty of the championship.
Qpr have lost three in a row at home. Great time to play them.
 
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A couple of bad results Jelly and you'll be the first to slag off all the players as being **** <laugh><laugh><laugh><laugh><laugh><laugh><laugh>

I predicted midtable but said I be satisfied with top of the bottom half.

They've certainly out performed my expectations in the first third of the season and I sincerely hope we keep doing so.

For me the manager has been fantastic. Not afraid to switch up the tactics or formation depending on who's available or who were playing. A focus on forwards momentum over maintaining possession and a general feeling of the handbrake being off.

I personally feel that maintaining this good form will in large part come down to how lucky we are with injuries. We cant spend in January and getting more freebies will be extremely difficult. So we have to hope the squad we have holds together :emoticon-0165-muscl

Me?! Never…

I just had a decent feeling about the direction of our signings, with the quality we had it would have took an almighty **** up to not finish at the very least mid table.

play offs minimum for me now.

UP THE TIGERS
 
Me?! Never…

I just had a decent feeling about the direction of our signings, with the quality we had it would have took an almighty **** up to not finish at the very least mid table.

play offs minimum for me now.

UP THE TIGERS
I'm sure you were also excited to see slater hit his stride.
 
For me, it’s about getting to that 55 point mark as quickly as possible to ensure safety. I think more than a few fans thought we would be relegated, especially after the debacle over finances, so where we’re at right now is a bonus and hopefully with the players we have due back, this will help solidify a decent position in the table. Having said that, we know how fickle the Championship can be so nothing is certain, until we reach that mark for me, then I’ll have a think about it a bit more.
 
Take their first goal from the moment the player shoots from 20 yards and it's one of those very unfortunate goals that you can do nothing about. A deflection off Joseph wrong foots Pandur and it's in the back of the net before anyone can move. Take the second goal from the moment the guy hits a brilliant left-footed cross right into the box and it's a clinical goal. The problem with both goals is that opportunities weren't taken to avert the danger in the lead up to the final ball. The first goal - Pandur punches, the cross is headed back not out, and Joseph's mishit clearance - 3 chances to deal with the situation, none taken. The second goal - Amir loses the ball, then doesn't close down the cross - 2 chances, neither taken.

We've played 16 games so far and conceded 2 or more goals in 10 of them. Rarely have we been clearly beaten (twice?). It just means that in two thirds of our games we have to score 2 or more goals ourselves to get anything out of the game. We've done that regularly though and stand fifth which is remarkable.

We won't finish fifth or even sixth however unless we deal with that damning statistic of conceding 2 or more goals in the majority of games.
I wonder if the amount goals we concede is partly about the 4-2-3-1 set up which is basically 4-2-4 when attacking or even a 4-1-1-4. That can easily leave the midfield wide open in transition especially with the attacking mindset of this current team and with two fullbacks who like to get forward. Any proper coaches care to comment or am I talking out my arse?
 
I wonder if the amount goals we concede is partly about the 4-2-3-1 set up which is basically 4-2-4 when attacking or even a 4-1-1-4. That can easily leave the midfield wide open in transition especially with the attacking mindset of this current team and with two fullbacks who like to get forward. Any proper coaches care to comment or am I talking out my arse?

I understand the concern about how many goals we are conceding - but ultimately points make prizes. If we continue picking up wins then I don't care how many goals we concede.

But I do appreciate that if our forwards hit bumpy form then this might become a bigger issue.