Not wishing to be too dramatist but I can't think of any other more hugely important game than the one we are about to play against Sheffield Wednesday! We talk often about 'Must Win' games and "Season Defining" games but this one must surely rank up there as being the most important game we will play since the play-off games against West Ham a decade ago! There is no getting away from the fact that we are in a horrible run of form with only 1 league win since the start of the year and without a home win so far this year. 4 of the top 6 teams play each other tomorrow night so it is vitally important that we pick up the 3 points to close the gap and keep the pressure up on the top 3. Defeat is unthinkable and I believe it will deal an almost fatal blow towards our promotion prospects for this season. We desperately need some momentum from somewhere and Mick will have to go for a more attacking line up as even a draw will not be good enough. It's ****e or bust as far as I'm concerned. I'm going tomorrow night to cheer the boys on but I feel as nervous as hell. Can anyone give any reassurance or are we all sat there ****ting ourselves!
I have no confidence at all, I'm sorry to say Mick has that stubborn streak in him and can't see him changing now If we fail this season, I fear it could put us back 5years in terms of development So to answer your question, I completely agree with you, so yes I'm crapping myself
I just have this feeling, don't know why, but it will be a game where everything will go our way (like when we played wet sham and beat them 5-1). like I have said, can't say why, perhaps its blind faith, but I reckon we will step up to the plate and win 4 or 5 nil!
Its called faith warky...................................................................................... or blind stupidity, either one of the two!
I really hope the Crowd get behind the lads first knockings and make the old stadium rock and bounce like we know it can! The worst games are the nervy ones when the crowd get nervy and the players feed off that and vice versa.
Maybe a tad dramatical, but tomorrows game will certainly go close to seeing which way our season will go. Defeat (and probably a draw too) will shatter the confidence of the team, and could quite possibly slide us down the table into mid table mediocrity. A win on the other hand will cement our postition in the play off postions, and will also close the gap on at least one of the top two, and will keep the budgies at arms length. There is no rhyme or reason as to why we could go from losing just the once in 17 games, to just one victory in 7. Confidence plays a huge part in sport, therefore the sooner we get back to winning ways, the better chance we have of staying in the mix. I don't quite share Guru's optimism that we'll thrash Wendy, but i do think we'll scrape a marginal victory. The problem we have is, is that Wendy will play for a draw, which will make it extremely difficult for us to break them down. We need to go on the offensive from the off, and not let them settle one bit. We also need to get back to Mick's old ways and start to bully teams again. I can see thsi being like the Charlton away game - we'll huff and puff, Wendy will think they've stifled us, and we'll get a late lucky goal.
I agree Stretchy in that I know Wednesday will come with a game plan and it will be up to us to break them down. They will most probably throw 5 across midfield and play with 1 up top and on the counter so we will need to show patience. Games against Wednesday are normally tight affairs so there will only be the odd goal in it. Normally this fixture ends in a draw which wont be good enough I'm afraid. Jeez only Towan can go and fook this up!
Every game is important when you're pushing for promotion, tomorrow night is no different in that respect. Thankfully, despite the result tomorrow, there are still many games to play and it'll be three points for a win regardless of the opposition. So I don't think it's a season-defining game at this stage. For my money, the trip to Norwich will offer a more accurate indication of where we are in terms of quality, spirit, motivation, and the ability to handle pressure. All of which will be crucial in a play off environment, should we get there. Sheffield Wednesday are a good team, who usually get a decent result against us lately, so while we should focus on a more attacking emphasis, we need to retain that solidity and organisation at the back that came so naturally during our good form. I'm hoping for more balance and creativity tomorrow. While Wednesday are doing well in the league, they have picked up only two points from a possible 12, so they're there for the taking. I'll take a scrappy 1-0, we just need points on board.
Do you think Nuggets that our recent experiences of Pressure games (for different reasons) over the past couple of seasons will stand us in good stead for tomorrow night? The reason I started this thread in the first place was to highlight the fact that we haven't had many of these really important "Top of the League" games since 04/05 which is a damning statistic in itself for a club of our size and stature! We blew the chance to go top against an under performing Brighton team so what makes us think that we will prevail over a mediocre Wednesday side? I'm sure the players are well aware of the magnitude of each game.
Sorry, not buying this season defining/must win game thing you're on about. The only time I'll call a game must win is when we are sitting something like seventh on the last day of the season and we play the sixth place team and three points would see us in the play offs, for example. Every league game is a chance for points and it's the total at the end that counts. In my opinion it's better to take points off the teams in and around you than from teams lower down so I consider those games higher priority. Everybody has said they want to see a much changed team this time out, with Sears starting up front but I'm not sure Mick will drop McG, although I wish he would. We will win this game but not in a convincing manner.
As a club, I agree we have massively underperformed over the past decade. That comes down to several factors, such as poor managerial appointments, a lack of a set playing ideology, financial largesse spent on mediocre players, and declining attendances at Portman Road, because of a lack of on-field quality and exorbitant ticketing prices. These factors are gradually being addressed, and some cases reversed, this season which have led to some impressive improvements, in my opinion. As a club, we haven't had a serious run at promotion for about a decade, and as you say, that may have an effect on our recent poor performances. But we've had tough games during that time. There were relegation battles under both Roy Keane and Paul Jewell, which bring its own pressure, and a League Cup semi-final. However, it's a fairly flawed argument in that we have players in this squad that have experienced promotion and gone through those pressures in their career before, including our managerial and coaching staff. Our poor form is hopefully just a blip, I'm still quietly confident we can attain a play-off place. McCarthy seems to realise a degree is change is needed, judging by his comments to the media, so if he starts with Bishop, Sears, and Parr then we should see an improvement of form, according to our logic of course. But football isn't that simple. We hit some good form, have a couple of good players, and a good coaching team, but it's evident we are a club punching above its weight. Hopefully the ground is rocking tomorrow with a positive vibe and not revert to booing by some of the idiots that go. Also, there is no reason why we can't push on next season, if we don't get promotion this year. I refuse to ascribe to the belief that's it 'do or die' this season.
Saw the u21 game today and we have some decent players imo.......we had a little fella getting stuck in on Danny ****tu which was highly amusing.
Why would it be 'do or die' this season, we need to progress season on season and MM has done that so let's just let him get on with it.
I think it's vital to get a win tomorrow. If we loose it could completely shatter any confidence we have left at the moment. I just hope the players roll their sleeves up and not play with fear. My prediction is a not very pretty 2-1 win, Sears to get both after SW take the lead from a nervous mistake. Of course I'd like to see Bish, Sears start. Also would like to see Cameron Stewart getting a chance. However if we can completely dominate the game and get a big 3/4/5-0 win that'd do us wonders!
" Sorry, not buying this season defining/must win game thing you're on about. " Same. Our biggest game of the last 10 years was last day of the season when we beat Hull to give ourselves a chance of play offs ( we did our part, other results went against us ) Even should we lose and everything go wrong we're still in the top 6 whatever happens. I didn't realise Sheff Weds were quite so good away from home, 5th best record I read earlier. That said, we're top 4 at home.
In answer to your question Warky, no not at all!! I actually think we wil have a comfortable victory tonight but at the end of the day its just 3 points towards the end if season total. If we lose, then we move on to the next, equally important game!!
For those that cant or don't want to see what's in front of their noses then yes this game is nothing special!
I seriously don't get where you're going with this!?! Yes it's a big/ important game. As was Rotherham. As is our game at Fulham Saturday. Biggest in 10 years it is not!
