what was our position when Selles took over, were we bottom? how many points adrift , i genuinely cant remember, would we really have settled for this? a lot of managers completely transform seasons in a lot less time. not a dig at him, a genuine question- i would have liked to have been safe by now with his reputation thats all unless we were like 9 points adrift, which im sure we werent.
werent reading fans all panicking when selles left? i just looked, they're still in the playoffs, didnt seem to affect them did it they even lost their main striker in janaury to wrexham
He was appointed on 6th Dec. We were 22nd Not sure what games took place that night but by the 7th we were bottom and 2 points adrift. We’d also played more games than most teams around us.
You’re right. Sellés didn’t take charge of a game until 11th December. By that point we were rock bottom in 24th with 15 points. Plymouth, Cardiff and Portsmouth were above us with 17 points. Oxford and QPR above those with 18 points. We first climbed out of the bottom three on the 21st December by beating Swansea 2-1 but we’d played a few games more than everyone around us. We then dropped in and out again until the 18th January when we beat Millwall, reached 26 points and sat in 21st on goal difference. We haven’t dropped back in since. It took us 9 games (and 11 points) to overturn the two point gap between us and safety after Sellés took over.
Not looking for an argument, but have to say it's easy to flip all of that. Last night we got zero points. Derby, Cardiff, Stoke and Luton all got what might be valuable (to them) points and so moved closer to us. To my mind, that isn't a good set of results. Derby's point was very unexpected (now 1 loss in 6), Cardiff's was decent (undefeated in 4), Luton undefeated in 5. Again shows the danger in putting weight on so called easy ("good") games. We were supposedly playing Watford 'at a good time'. 2 key players out, on a poor run and we absolutely should have seen them off but for continuing poor attacking play. Following the Luton performance and the Wednesday one which was only saved by a last gasp wonder goal, it's very easy to understand the fear.
Let’s be honest here. If we beat the drop this year that’s the only thing that matters. We were dead and buried at Christmas with the old management. Not many thought there was a chance of surviving. We have battled away with a squad that lost its best players to injury early on. We have players with heart but limited ability and some skilful midfielders. Our forward line is mediocre at best. We have been crying out for a goal scorer to lead the line for a couple of seasons but it never seems to get addressed. We had people talking about the playoffs when survival was the only realistic goal. At least that’s stopped now. Maybe Acun has got things wrong. He tried things that have not come off but he has been desperately unlucky with injuries. We lost Greaves, Philogene and Delap, players with top end Championship quality, is anyone going to seriously suggest better players have taken their place. If we survive be happy about it, if we don’t then we don’t deserve to.
Let's be honest here, we have sub standard full backs as far as going forward is concerned, we have neat and tidy midfielders but very little bite and creativity, and our wide men just don't do enough, with very little creativity. We can get out of this but it will be through sheer hard work and graft. We badly missed Puerta, sorry but Slater for all his running around d just isn't very good. Pedro shows glimpses but is feeding off scraps, and Crooks looks like he eats five pies before a game the way he lumbers around.
There’s a lot to discuss here - and I agree with you that fear of the drop is still understandable - but you can’t quote the context of other teams form whilst ignoring our own. Without wanting to get back into the argument about how many games you should look back as that got silly - we also shouldn’t react to a defeat every time we get one that we are the poorest team in the bottom 6 or whatever. Over the last 10 games we are outpacing everyone around us. If that continues we’ll possibly get two more wins out of our last 5 - which takes us to 50. Using Cardiff as an example - you say they are undefeated in 4 - but they also only have one win in there. They are now going to need 3 out of their last 5 to be wins to get to 50. It’s all ifs and buts depending what we do but I guess what I’m saying is - they still have serious work to do if we continue just as we are. I’ve seen comments like ‘we’ve got work to do to get out of it’ (I’m not quoting anyone specific here). But I think that ignores the point that we HAVE got out of it and that’s due to the team we have now. We should put some faith in them that they can keep us out of it - as that is their only job now. I still fear we could get relegated, but we are by no means a dead cert - which I think is the feeling that comes across in some posts following a defeat.
Show me, because as sure a F I dont see it... Like many, we're looking at other teams and hoping they get beaten. I'd bet from the top down theyre looking that way too. Do you honestly think this lot have the balls for a last day at Portsmouth based on what we're seeing. Since Selles came in, there has been one occasion that I thought 'here we go' and that was at Sheff Utd.
we aint going down i just hope this dire boring football is not here next season i realise performances dont matter one bit right now, just hoping its temporary football
It isn’t clear cut, using a certain American president’s tactic of “if I say it it will happen” doesn’t work. If we lose on Monday and results go against us, then we could find ourselves in the relegation zone. And if we keep playing like we have been while teams around us rally and pick up points, it will be out of our hands. Over to you, Ruben.
That's not correct, they're still doing well, but they're not performing better than they were under Selles (they had 30 points in 17 games under Selles, they've got 38 points in 24 games since he left).
I think you’re right, I don’t feel we are grasping the stuation and showing the fight to change it. Our lax attitude is the same on and off the pitch “someone else will do it” We’ve got no goals in the team which comes down to recruitment but the fight and desire must be shown from the players we have….and it isn’t. No way can we go to pompey needing a result, our squads arses will fall out on the runway at humberside
Great point too many saying or thinking ‘someone else will do it’ , usually watching Puerta run around .
