Not just for us- for all our leagues top teams this year so far. None of the top 6 have a better home record than away. In fact ourselves, Port Vale, Exeter and Rochdale all have a much stronger record away from home, with the other two in the top six- Cheltenham and Fleetwood about equal between home and away performances. Another one for brb here maybe, I am sure he can dig out some stats but my guess is that this is highly unusual so why such poor home form this season by all the leading clubs?
not sure so much about exeter and rochdale but it does highlight how being able to get the ball down and ping it around helps on the counter attack which you tend to use more when away from home! just a thought
If I get some time this week I will have a look for you BelfastBlue. Personally I think the away support is far better than the home support. It really is time to bring back a standing area at Priestfield for the vocal lads. It does not bother me now because I'm too old but our grounds have become to sterile for the younger generations. There seems to be a bit more leniency towards away supporters, plus it is more of a fun day out on your travels. This in turn has an affect on the team, rather than the sometimes unwarranted jeers of home supporters.
Would love to see to standing areas brought back. Fond memories in the Rainham end in the late eighties. I also think our lower attendances at home may have in a way actually helped atmosphere (going by gills player reports of atmosphere), because these are loyal fans. Maybe when we get crowds up and over 6k, these extra fans are the ones who tend to get on players backs. I think some expect to be rewarded for with a win just for turning up and are maybe being unused to regular lower league football their expectations may be to high from a diet of premiership and European fair.
I agree on the lower attendances comment. There was a couple of midweek games last season that had really low attendances, I think Rotherham might have been one of them, when the atmosphere was better than the higher gates during the season.
My take is that maybe it is getting harder to break down well organised away teams who come for a point. Whereas away from home, it is 'easier' for decent sides to have success on the counter-attack. Port Vale fans reckon their away record is down to being organised, soaking up pressure then being clinical with their chances on the counter. Sounds about right. But having said that, I think over the course of the season, the away form of all those top sides will probably come back to the regular kind of results. Most auto-promoted teams tend to have a decent home record, and an away record of maybe 3 or 4 wins more than defeats. 2007/08 is one outstanding year for good away records. Have a peek below, the top 5 all ended with much better records away than home. MK Dons away record would take some beating W18 D3 L2. And yet they all had quite average home records. Weird. 1 MK Dons 46 11 7 5 39 17 18 3 2 43 20 +45 97 2 Peterboro 46 14 4 5 46 20 14 4 5 38 23 +41 92 3 Hereford 46 11 6 6 34 19 15 4 4 38 22 +31 88 4 Stockport 46 11 5 7 40 30 13 5 5 32 24 +18 82 5 Rochdale 46 11 4 8 37 28 12 7 4 40 26 +23 80 6 Darlington 46 11 7 5 36 22 11 5 7 31 18 +27 78
maybe its something that happens every few years then. I take your point about teams coming for a draw, but that would be the case every year. Also from the results above, all these teams have lost more games at home than away which puts a question mark over teams coming to park the bus. maybe its an expectation thing with less pressure away from home allowing more freedom to play. interesting stats though.
My point belfast, was that teams "parking the bus" nowadays are maybe even better at it that of old. There are a lot more defensive systems around now, rather than just put 5 at the back and 1 up top. The tactical side appears to me to have changed enormously over the last few years. Having said that, I don't believe it is any kind of trend. As I said in my first post, I expect the away records of us all to come back to the norm come seasons end.
Dont quote me on this but from memory (i really am too lazy to research this) but is'nt the Priestfield pitch quite small? Less room to spread out the play and all that?
Just had a very quick glance through some stats for L2 and by the end of the season, the home stats are better than the away stats as would be generally expected. The only real significant change to that, came from the MK Dons again in 2007/08 absolutely amazing away stats, won 18 - drew 3 - lost 2.
Sorry i didnt put my point over properly in that we have not often had a team that generally likes to play football and ping it around at a high tempo and we may actually be better suited to some away grounds with bigger pitches?
Officially the pitch at Priestfield is 114 Yards x 75 Yards, this is a big pitch i haven't looked at all the divisions, but as the premiership info is easiest to come by only the 2 Manchester clubs have a bigger playing area in the top flight, so I cant imagine there are many bigger pitches in our division.
Thanks AshfordGill, i have always thought it as a small pitch for some reason, shows how much i know! lol
are you sure? I also thought that we had a small pitch. didn't hessy famously say last season it was to small to play football on? maybe officail figures differ from reality? jaygills- take your point about style of play but what about exeter rochdale etc? could be as sirkeefy said, a change in organisation and tactics generally at this level
http://soccervoice.com/grounds2.htm This lists them all looks like we have the 6h biggest in our Division with bigger playing surfaces Aldershot, Barnet, Northampton, Port Vale and Wycombe, (4 of which we have already played at and won!)
