... and, if so, have you ever seen one. 4 Wycombe - MK Dons 5 7 Wigan - Oxford 2 2 Sheff Wed - Wigan Sheff Wed - Rotherham 7 Rotherham - Wigan 4 Sunderland - MK Dons Wycombe - Wigan 5 Plymouth - Rotherham Wigan - Sunderland Rotherham - MK Dons MK Dons - Wigan Wycombe - Rotherham Sunderland - Rotherham Wycombe - Plymouth Plymouth - Sunderland Rotherham United - Oxford Wigan - Plymouth Plymouth - MK Dons I think this is accurate but it's just a bit of fun anyway. It's all the 'six-pointers' from now on where someone is dropping points. There's also games to rearrange, I believe, for Wigan, etc. Rotherham and Wigan have 7 of these games which may, to some degree, account for their good form so far. There are other issues to consider such as the amount of local derbies some clubs whereas we only have pretend ones where teams have engineered a grudge into the fixture. In the middle of November Plymouth had 'won the league', were top and Sunderland weren't even in the play-offs ... ... 10 weeks late that situation is almost totally reversed.
true what you say but we all know how fast things can change, this league more than most...how many teams have been 'guaranteed' top spot this season i wonder, i also dare say wycombe were never even considered. plenty of points to go yet, plenty of twists along the way, all we can do is keep winning games in whatever style we can...maybe hire a shaman to curse wigan?
Every win gets three points, but a win against a promotion rival guarantees that they get zero points. Still doesn’t equate to six points but does have extra significance.
With the games they have to rearrange its going to put a big strain on them. This season is going to go down to the wire in my opinion and be nerve racking. All we can do is keep grinding out wins to keep the pressure up
Anybody can beat anybody in this league, there is no guarantees no matter who your playing just ask Wycombe and MK Dons from yesterday. Wigan threw a two goal lead away to a managerless team in the bottom four before scraping out a result, only Rotherham and ourselves kept clean sheets out of the top six iirc. The standard in this league has definitely gone up since we came into it and although our next few games are mostly against lower league teams I'm taking nothing for granted. Yes it's nice to think when top teams play each other there are points going to be dropped, we have to ensure we take advantage of that cos we haven't always done so in the past.
I'd say Wigan will need a pretty severe catastrophe to not go up from here there top and still have 4 games in hand on us in 2nd. Massive game for us is Rotherham at home if ever there was a must win it will be that 1. They can get away with drawing it but we simply can't. Think Wigan champions and 1 of us Rotherham and Wycombe for 2nd. Hand on heart I'd say Rotherham will take it and we will end up back in the playoffs.
Not so much a 6 pointer but where it does count is goal difference if we score 3 against a rival then our difference goes up 3 where there's goes down by 3 giving a 6 goal advantage which could be beneficial.
That's a very good point tbh. From a poor start our GD is now better than Wycombe, MK, Oxford, Plymouth and only 3 behind Wigan ... ... who knows how significant it would be.
Without shoehorning more games in they already this in February which is, of course a 28 day month. Oxford Stoke Sheff Wed Charlton Rotherham Wycombe Sunderland That's a tough month and, when they're at their most tired, have to play Sunderland.
I've never liked the phrase tbh. Same as when teams 'drop 3 points' from a winning position - which only the 'big' teams seem to do btw (everyone else seems to 'get a decent point'). In reality you can only get 1, 3 or zero points from any game of footy. Yes, there are 'big' games but I don't like the term tbh.
they could lose plenty of those matches, esp playing every 4 days. Some very physical matches in there to contend with.
I've always linked it to relegation threatened teams. If a team is 3 points behind the team they are playing, at best they could end up level on points, at worst they could be 6 points behind. That's where the term is best suited. When 6 points is a mammoth difference to chase down when a team rarely wins. 6 point difference could relegate a team, being level on points throws it all wide open.
Very good point and makes sense. In our current situation we'd be happy for the bottom team, Gillingham, to beat Wigan and deprive them of 3 points. But if we beat Wigan they still lose 3 points while we gain 3 so there's 6 points involved rather than 3. We couldn't go above Wigan, with a Gillingham win, but can with a Sunderland win. It's an abstract concept but, like Defoe's new contract, it exists if you believe it does
Couldn't agree more mate. And as Smug said, 10 weeks and everything has changed so much. Wigan's catch up could be a massive challenge for them in end of season mix. I think our squad strength is more than adequate for this league, with more cover expected through the doors. It's an exciting few months for us, that's fore sure.
What's most encouraging, in this respect, is that Wigan and Rotherham both have 7 games against promotion rivals. Defeats, or even draws, can help enormously ... ... and, if we at least drew with them both we'd be well placed to finish top two.