Still a long way to go yet. If we can go on another run then 2nd is very realistic It all depends now on what we do in our games in hand to see how many points we can claw back
There's no point looking at run-ins, because anyone can beat anyone in this league. From what I've seen of the teams and looking at form, my prediction at this point would be: Cardiff Watford Leicester Hull Palace Forest? That last place is wide open. Brighton, Blackburn, Forest, Boro... even Derby are capable of a late run. Don't fancy Leeds though. If Leicester and Hull are to finish in the play-offs, I think getting third spot will be important because I think the sixth team will be some what behind the rest and Palace over two leagues could be tricky. But then teams have sneaked into the play-offs and won them also, so anything could happen. There will be many changes in form etc before May. Hopefully Watford will hit a bad run too.
I rate our chances on par with yours. Still think Watford will do it. Thought that when we were riding high in January.
Yes, our position as well. The interesting thing is who plays who in the top six. Those all become "six pointers" even for the teams not playing (ie if we draw with Watford then you and Palace could be the major beneficiaries)
For me:- Cardiff Hull Watford Palace Leicester Brighton. Watford to beat Leicester in play off final (but I wouldn't put money on any of the above!)
That's how it is right now (apart from Hull being in the automatic spots, of course!) I'd be very surprised if things change that little with some many fixtures remaining.
Good point, I hadn't noticed that. Just goes to show that all this "speculation" is no more than a mix of guesswork, hope and a little knowledge.
Everyone sees things finishing as they are right now. But look how different the league looked two months ago. It will change just as much in two months time. That's why there's no point getting too excited when things look good or too down when they don't. I'm as confident now as I was when we were seven points behind you. I believed that we'd catch you and we did. Right now I can't see Watford faltering like I expected Hull to do but a few bad results for them and we'll all wonder why we feared them so much. Even if Watford do get automatic, there's still the play-offs. If we'd been offered a guaranteed play-off spot at the beginning of the season, most Leicester, Hull, Watford, Hell, even Cardiff fans would have taken it. It's only because we've all flirted with the auto spots that it would be seen as a failure now. But most teams that end up in the play-offs do this. This is one of the most competitive leagues in the world and it changes all the time. I for one won't be writing off our chances until it's mathematically impossible.
This is an incredible thread.Most people go with the current form and positions.We have had Cardiff plus one other for a long time.Lester,Palace,Hull, Lester,Hull,Watford. Most fans would have thought We would have got a point at least at Bolton.Blackburn were thought to be one of our toughest tests-they were not BUT they will cause many problems esp if they get back into PO contention. Injuries will be vital.We have signed Boyd to try and Fathi to give some depth. Don"t know how deep the Udinese well is
As a Cardiff fan I honestly wouldn't have taken a playoff spot at the start of the season. I think Watford have the squad to join us in the autos, but a Vydra injury/loss of form would be interesting to see how they coped. Forrest have been a bit of mystery all season as on the paper they have the squad. If Davis keeps them going and gets that 6th spot they could nick the playoff promotion spot. But if you'd asked before the Bolton game I'd have probably said the new Egyptians were going to swing it for Hull. There's a really long way still to go, glad we only need to 6 more wins to pretty much make sure.
Do you mean "would"? I don't think many people would have had Cardiff down for automatic pre-season, especially with Blackburn, Bolton and Wolves coming down.
Nope, there are threads on our board arguing with Jacks that we didn't need to be scared of those 3 as history shows the PL sides struggle. We knew we had the squad and manager for it this year. We expected to be battling for the auto's and believed the playoffs would be the worst we'd end up with.
I'm surprised anyone could be that confident in this league. You never know who will be up there. As I said, I don't think too many neutral observers would have called Cardiff, and no-one would have said Cardiff AND Watford, if that's what eventually happens. In fairness to the argument you present above, sides like Blackburn and Bolton, who have been in the Premiership more than not, do well i.e. West Ham, Newcastle, Blackburn last time. They usually do it in one or two seasons. I personally did think Wolves would do nothing though - but I didn't think they'd be in a relegation battle!
I'm not saying we knew we'd be 8pts plus a game in hand clear. We know about this division pretty much as well as anyone. I wouldnt have taken a playoff place the first time we had Bellamy either, we finished 4th, but we were in the hunt for the auto's all the way till the last 3 games. All I'm saying is a number of us believed before a ball was kicked this squad could take an auto spot. It's worked out we were right (whether we go up or not we're definitely in the hunt). As such to take a playoff lottery ticket wouldn't have been an option before the season started. If we'd lost our first 5 matches that opinion would obviously have changed! No one ever rates us or gives us much of a chance (see the thread about how all the teams below us are actually better sides a few weeks ago) so the fact other clubs fans didn't recognise us as a threat really didn't come as much of a shock tbh.
There are always a good number of teams that "could" be challenging for automatic. Even now there's five, possible six (if Brighton's run continues and they win their game in hand) teams that could do it but most of these pre-season would have been thinking about a top six finish as opposed to thinking of the autos as the only option. As you said, you konwn how difficult is to get out of this league even when you've had really good squads in the past. I think people have written Cardiff off in the last couple of seasons because you've had numerous chances and blew them. It's usually for anyone to continuous be towards the top of this league for as many seasons as you have, so people expected you to eventually drop out of challenging. Instead you've gone the other way - obviously a good thing for you lot, you're had enough play-off heartbreak!
HULL CITY V WATFORD WATFORD V CARDIFF LEICESTER CITY V WATFORD Watford won't finish in the top 3 in my opinion. 2nd is Hull or Leicester Play off winners is Hull or Leicester. Fingers crossed. ( Watford will drop points at in form barnsley as well )
