Our away form is particularly average, and probably is the only threat to our promotion chances. Why do we play so different away from St Mary's? All of our worst performances have come away from home. Needs to be sorted out sooner or later.
i think its the fact that other teams play a lot better when they are at home rather than we are awful away
So basically you're saying that our true ability gets found out away from home and that we're over-performing at St Mary's?
no, just that we are comfortable at st mary's as people have to play our way, but away from home teams are more confident against us
So we're going to continue this unwavering winning at home are we? We are bound to have a bad patch at home somewhen, and we need to be able to get consistent points away from home to compensate. West Ham and Cardiff are hot on our tails, and a bad patch could spell playoffs.
3 wins 3 draw and 3 losses is not disasterous away form,because, as MMJ has pointed out, our home form has been superb. Other teams have been dropping points at home which takes the pressure of of us a bit and is the reason why we still have a comfortable lead over 3rd place.
I don't see any reason why we can't keep winning at home, I haven't seen one game where we were the worse side at SMS this season and most times we play there we totally outclass the opposition.
I would be dissapointed if we finished in the play offs after the start we've had, but I won't commit suicide over it like some fans would. I kind of agree with JDub, we need to start playing well away from home if we want to go up.
Our away form isn't sensational, but it's still top 6 form: West Ham (P9) 20 Boro (P9) 16 Hull (P9) 15 Cardiff (P10) 14 Leeds (P9) 14 Saints (P9) 12 Palace (P9) 12 Derby, Reading, Ipswich, Cardiff and Leicester are all top 6 contenders, so taking an average of one point per game vs those sides is nothing to be ashamed of. And of the other four games, well we beat Barnsley and Coventry, and were very unfortunate to only draw Burnley - there was little wrong with the performance itself. It's just today that was the poor result, and even then it was against a Bristol City team who were under new management and in some good form. I do accept that in terms of a top 2 finish, our away form probably does need (ever so slightly!) improving*. If we continue to have an even split of wins, draws and defeats away from home, we quite possibly will fall back into the play-offs. But since when was this a bad thing? I hardly gave us a chance of a top 10 finish this season, let alone a top 6 finish. If we finish, say, 5th at the end of the season I will be over the moon. *(But with away games against the likes of Doncaster, Watford, Posh, Pompey & Millwall all still to come, I think it will improve).
Bumboy? what a mug. We have to start picking up our away form. Yes atm it's ok as we aren't even halfway through the season. If it keeps going on tho it will heap pressure on our home games towards the end of the season. To say we will remain unbeaten at home all season is foolish.
We lacked a bit of fight today which we have done in some away matches. When teams stand off us like Coventry did, we can murder teams but when the likes of Bristol City and Cardiff close us down and hit us on the break with pace, we seem to struggle and pannick when in possession. I'm not sure what needs to be sorted but we will get some games that won't go our way like today.
One way which we could potentially improve our away form is by adding a bit of pace to the squad. I don't think it's an issue in the slighest at home - with the way that we play, and also the way which teams now respect us at home, we don't miss that pace. Indeed, if anything, I think we play better football at home now than we did last season with Chamberlain in the side. Away from home though, when home sides come at you at bit more, having that pace to counter-attack is a huge asset. I don't think it's a coincidence that De Ridder seems to consistently have eye-catching 20 minute cameos away. But really, he's the only one. I do think our away form would benefit from another pacey player in the matchday squad.
Apologies for the 'bumboy' comment, never leave your laptop lying around when your house mates are in!
