That's true Guru, but after the Derby on the 1st our fixtures in March are: Wigan (h) Millwall (a) Derby (h) Huddersfield (a) Forest (h) Which March would you rather have? After that the only top 8 match is Boro at home.
you have to play everybody twice, it evens itself out. I normally look at travel, like 2 long away trips back to back and stuff like that aswell. sometimes the bottom clubs are also fighting it out and are harder to breakdown as a point is precious down there!
Brentford just beat Bournemouth and convincingly did us at C R , write them off at your peril. Their "moneyball" owner seems to have them playing way beyond their limits.
You're absolutely right Guru and it wouldn't surprise me if one or both automatic places are decided on the last day of the season and seeing as we're at home to Fulham, it will really test AN's team selection/tactics and the team's attitude!!!!
We don't have to play Brentford again, so I don't see any peril! But you're right, it would be great to see both Brentford and Wolves overtake the Binners... Guru - yes, I agree, anything can happen. But the point is you're less likely to be able to dig in if you're in a spiral of bad form. I think you anything less than 3 points tomorrow night for you and it will start to look quite unpleasant. I seem to remember Carrabuh said he thought we could well be above you before the derby match and was roundly mocked, but the reality is that there is a serious chance we could go into Sunday's match one or two points above you given current form. And while you're spot on that there are two matches a season, picking up points is usually about getting into a good run, whereas getting out of a bad run can take a long time (in our case near three months...) no matter who you play (in our case a shameful double defeat at the hands of Reading, amongst other poor results.
the thing with us Rob is it not like we have lost 3/4/5 games on the bounce, we have lost a silly game, then won a couple, drew a couple,lost one, then won one for example. what we did first half of the season is be very consistent which we have dropped a little, but we have a side with huge spirit which helps to bounce back.
I think we're talking at cross-purposes Guru. I don't disagree with you - McCarthy has definitely developed a great team spirit with Ipswich and you have bounced back from defeats. But if you look at the matches, generally, the ones where you've bounced back is where you have a nicer fixture (e.g. it was a great time to play Millwall after you lost to Derby, and the fixtures against Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham were the perfect tonics to your unfortunate loss to Rotherham). My points was simply that you haven't had such a consistently difficult run yet (likwise neither had we until the now). You need to go into those long runs in good form so that if you have a setback, you still have something to fall back on. We came into this Wolves-Watford-Blackburn-Binners run in good form and we've been fortunate enough to see it through halfway. I think you'll find you need this win desperately tonight, because going into the next few fixtures without points in the bag ramps up the pressure. That's when it goes into a downward spiral. Of course, this is all ifs. It could equally well be that you beat us and then go on a great run. Absolutely. But time and again we see clubs get into tough runs, have a real wobble, and it's difficult to dig yourselves out of it as the league gets ahead of you. I can see a very real situation for Ipswich where by the time they play Wolves it could be that Wolves are ahead or in a position to overtake you. I can't say the same about, say, Middlesbrough, because they have the points in the bag and not (quite) as tough a run (they have the "easier" (if you can call them that) games in between to restore momentum if it goes pear-shaped).
Well, Bournemouth winning 5-1 against 10 man Fulham!!!! Opening up a good GD!!!! We could do with a convincing win at the Den.
Agree Thai - the win is the vital bit. If we drop points again, it becomes more of a mountain to climb. Goals would be nice as well however.
