What’s the point of this forum then? We’re all just talking ****e on topics of choice, which has no bearing on anything whatsoever in reality. Nothing I can do about what happens on the pitch nor can anyone else but as a fan I can have a certain level of expectation, which as someone who thinks this team is good enough for promotion I can say those who are content with scraping draws against teams struggling at the bottom of the table are accepting ****e results. It’s just a loser mentality. It shouldn’t be “well we’re still top”… we could be four more points clear at the top. Then we wouldn’t be worrying about Leeds or Burnley dropping points because it would irrelevant. And come the end of the season if we just miss out these are the results that we’ll be scrutinising.
That's not how football works tho, anyone who knows anything about the championship knows top teams drop points against teams at the bottom of the league teams. We ain't going to win every match, so taking points when we are not at it isn't a bad thing at all.... it's not accepting s***e results as you have said Preston is never an easy mid week game Every team in the league will drop points against teams they should beat. How good or bad these points are will be decided at the end of the season
I honestly reckon we have it in ourselves to get ahead of Sheffield United. Will need a bit of luck, but they're not more talented than us. And we have a better manager.
It makes me laugh that some who didn't expect us to do anything this season, suddenly expect us to win every game now we're top . I thought we'd have a good shot at promotion this season and I still do. Even if we lose top spot at some point as teams do. It's not going to be easy for any side, especially the team at the top under pressure and others raising their game. But fooking hell, if some can't enjoy what's happening with us this season they might as well pack in watching On the way home last night, tired from 12 hour nights and the lurgy and a 0-0 draw. I said to the lad "don't think I'll bother trying to get to a game until maybe after new year". Woke up this morning wanting to go again PS. Thought I spotted you as I was entering the ground looking up at the crowd. (White hair/beard ???) Looked back around and couldn't see. I wanted to get to Preston early for a few pub beers but my lad didn't finish work till 6pm. He's back in on 12 hours today. Thank fook I'm off and having a lie in
RLB ON PNE Regis Le Bris spoke to the press after Sunderland's drab goalless draw last night, and here's what he had to say... TAKE THE POINT AWAY FROM HOME “We are not happy because this was not the performance that we wanted to execute today, but in the end it is a point." ROBERTS AND MUNDLE RESTED “It’s a long league with many games in the week. We have to manage the team and the squad and give opportunities to other players because we’ll need them. We need to also manage the others as they can get tired and we need them in the best shape. We know that Roberts is a big strength that we miss for sure, but it was expected that the last 30 minutes were for him and I think we changed the dynamic of the game in that moment.” ISIDOR OUT WIDE “He’s a young player and he needs the opportunity to learn. He can’t imagine the difficulties before playing so it’s good for him. He worked for the team. Obviously, it wasn’t the best performance that we can expect from him, but it’s just normal because he needs time.” DRESSING ROOM REACTION "Now I think the culture and the standards they have is bigger. They are not happy in the dressing room right now and that's good for me. They know that they can play much better. They protected the goal and won a point, but in the future I don't have to push them, they will do it by themselves. That's good for me." please log in to view this image
Man City lost at Bournemouth, must be ****e. But not quite as ****e as some of the bollox spouted on this thread.
FWIW RLB said last night a point was a good result. I guess he's a loser mentality as well. Behind the scenes he'll be saying the same thing. And focusing on the performance. He seems dead set on keeping everyone on an even keel. Don't get carried away when results go well and don't get despondent when they don't. There's a risk if we all start assuming we should now be top 2 that we fall away entirely once things start going badly. The best approach for the players (and I think, the fans), is to remember how ****e we were last season and enjoy how much better we are this season. And remember what our goals for this season are. And not to throw our toys out of the pram if and when we slip to 3rd or 4th.
It's an interesting dynamic tbf. Our position and continuing ability to keep the points total ticking over is incredibly positive, but it brings with it a certain level of pressure. Dispassionately, we're a top 6 squad and could finish anywhere from 1st to 8th depending on a bit of luck or a hot streak of form. Add in the fact that this league is notorious for anyone being able to beat anyone on their day (as we see week after week) and I personally don't feel that flying off the handle after anything less than a win is helpful. Of course it will be disappointing if we fall away a bit as the season goes on, but will that be because the club failed, or because the fans are too willing to accept ****e? Or will it be because other clubs have far more money than we do? Basically, for as long as we're down in this league we will be fighting against the odds if we're anywhere above 4th favourite. It's worth remembering that when we fail to get the win. The game we're playing is rigged.
I'll add - one of the ways Ipswich maintained their position at the top last season was by consistently maintaining that "even keel" mentality. They went through some **** runs of losing and drawing multiple on the trot, But didn't panic and just kept going, knowing they were exceeding expectations and could play with freedom. They ended up in the top 2. "Accepting" that you will sometimes lose or *shock horror* draw 0-0 away from home isn't "accepting ****e". It's about keeping calm and continuing to pursue what's been working so far.
All teams at the top go through difficult patches .. Leicester last year for example .It happens every year and draws are what you need to get through. For me the fact we have 7 clean sheets is a sign we are in with a great chance .
Last night was easily Alan Browne's worst game for us but I'll cut him some slack. Must have been a bit of a weird one being back at Preston after all his time there. That kind of return goes 2 ways, you either play out of your skin or struggle mentally. Plus, he wasn't alone in being poor. Chris Mepham had easily his worst game for us. Cirkin was off it. Rigg was half a yard slower than normal. And we were also playing a new and different defensive shape in that first half.
He didn't say it was a good result. He said they weren't happy with the performance so will take the point under the circumstances. That's how I read it anyways.
2nd in the 5-game form table with 4 of those games away from home and 1 goal conceded. Ask anybody, anywhere, in any division, and they'd snap your hands off for that. Regardless of who the opposition are.
Been mulling over the last two games and keep coming to the same conclusions. We haven't played as well as we can, but have got a point in each. We are very difficult to score against and the whole team are up for the fight. RLB and 09 both said last night wasn't good enough, but we would take the point, analyse it and learn from it. We are still top, unbeaten in 7 games and everyone knows we can play better. As an all in package it's bloody good, a win Saturday and it's a hell of a points return from the past 5 games. There's every chance we will head into the November international break top of the league and I'd have snapped your hand off for that at the start of the season.
