Yeah I'm not even worried about watching others results at this stage. Just take each game as it comes and see where we're at by January. Lose to WBA on Saturday and we're still further behind Ipswich than we were yesterday despite their draw. I still think we'll finish roughly where we are now, 4th. Don't see us as good enough for top two.
Ipswich are practically guaranteed a playoff spot. They are halfway to the points required already, with two thirds of the season left. It would take a monumental drop in form for them to not reach 75-80 points.
We're basically one-third into the season now. It's in the middle-third coming up when the table will properly take shape. Unlike in the PL, it's relatively common for a Championship team to have a really good block of fixtures, and so most likely results, at some point - say 8 to 10 games. At the front end of the season, that can distort the table. QPR and Reading last season would be examples of that. Likewise, with the extra games at this level, and the reduced number of strong teams, it is also far easier to overcome a poor start. Coventry and Boro last season would be examples of that. Possibly the most famous one was when Sunderland went right through from bottom to top of the division to win the title under Roy Keane. That isn't to say this first-third of the season is irrelevant. Leicester, for example, have fully convinced me already that they'll be getting automatic promotion. I'm merely saying that league position at this stage generally needs to be taken with a large pinch of salt. (Whereas the PL table probably already resembles something very close to the final positions come May.) From our point of view, I'm hoping that we can use these next 15 games to get ourselves closer to (or maybe even ahead of) a two-points-per-game average. Despite our good run at present, we're still just behind that. If at the end of the season 92 points isn't enough for 2nd place, well then fair to play which other team (along with Leicester) have managed to better it. It's not unheard of for the team finishing 2nd to exceed 92 points, but in most seasons they get slightly less than that. Looking at our fixtures, these next 15 I would argue are easier than our first 15. So we might be able to make up that three point deficit, though it won't be easy. To have 60 points after 30 games would be a very healthy total.
I’m hoping to avoid defeat on Saturday, as we have a few issues in defence which could be problematic for us. Avoiding defeat would be the right way to start these next batch of games, I guess we will see how we recover if we do lose, but it does feel like we have the start (not the same level yet) of the team bond we had all those years ago going through the leagues. Still a long way off, but we have come quite far with dealing with a complete losing mentality that gripped us for a few years. I did want RM gone during our bad slump, but he has addressed some issues, and that we have kept in touch and winning without our main striker could provide us with a great post Christmas run.
Watching Blackburn v Preston, and impressed by Preston RB. If we lose KWP in January, then he would be worth a look. Potts is big, strong and attacking.
Blackburn tonight sounded like an earlier in the season home Saints. I do hope we’ve got rid of those performances?
Yeah. I’m also yet to be convinced we will be in the mix for the second auto spot come the end of the season. Think finishing 4/5th is much more likely
Drew with Ipswich too, and Leicester needed a last minute goal to beat them. Just a funny little bogey team for the top clubs.
