the relegation rivals

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It is. If we beat Stoke and Cardiff, for example, we’d be on 47 points, Stoke would be on 39 and Cardiff on 37. Beating Stoke and Cardiff and losing to Sheffield United and Sunderland would’ve been far, far better.

This feels eerily similar to Sellés’ short stint as Southampton head coach a couple of seasons ago when Nathan Jones was sacked. He got some good results by beating Chelsea 1-0, drawing against Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool but losing to Leeds, West Ham, Bournemouth and Forest who were all in the bottom half. Southampton still went down.

Even if we’d beat Stoke and Cardiff and they only had 37 and 39 points, without also having the Sheffield United and Sunderland wins we’d only have 41 points. There’d be more teams in the mix but we’d still only just sit just above safety.
 
Even if we’d beat Stoke and Cardiff and they only had 37 and 39 points, without also having the Sheffield United and Sunderland wins we’d only have 41 points. There’d be more teams in the mix but we’d still only just sit just above safety.
Four points clear of the bottom 3, with another team below us as a cushion. Far better than 1 point and 1 place above the bottom 3!
 
Even if we’d beat Stoke and Cardiff and they only had 37 and 39 points, without also having the Sheffield United and Sunderland wins we’d only have 41 points. There’d be more teams in the mix but we’d still only just sit just above safety.

Fair but that would still be a better situation than now.
 
Fair but that would still be a better situation than now.

True. It would also have been the same point gap that we would have had if Derby lost tonight.

I believe it was 2014 the last time Derby won five in a row in the Championship, so hopefully they don’t end that record at the weekend.

Oxford are at Sheffield United this weekend, and I can’t see them getting a win.

If we manage a win against Wednesday – who have the second worst home form and players that haven’t been paid recently – we could be in a great position again.
 
You needed three teams well adrift which just isn’t the case now, for Derby to take 12 points from 12 plus Luton 7 from 9 is unusual but it is what it is, Massive slip by us on Saturday and now a number of clubs are in a very difficult position. It’s a mini league now with seven games to go, form teams can suddenly go off again with one defeat however it’s good to have momentum this time of the season. We are definitely right in it now, the players are going have to respond, it’s seven cup finals that points are needed from. It’s so close and hard to predict. Every single point will be vital.
Good post. And it touches on why this talk about our form being 'mid table-ish' since Selles took over is not that meaningful or insightful.
What has been and is more relevant is what those that were below & around us have done compared to us, and those that are below us are doing compared to us.
For example, Portsmouth were below us not that long ago but are now well clear.
Derby were below us, but have now gone above us.
Luton looked in freefall, but have won 3 in 5 (including beating us) and in touching distance of us.
Then, QPR's form has been dreadful, but we have been incapable of taking advantage so far.
It's really not being dramatic to say we are in big trouble. A loss on Saturday and the pressure becomes massive. We looked hopeless against Luton, especially going forward, but hopefully Pedro returning helps get us back on track.
 
Unlike general tendency, and my season long prediction in favor of relegation, I believe we will survive for another season. Only way that we are going down is losing all of the last 3 games against main relegation rivals.

Next 4 games are against top half teams and Swansea. A tally of 3 points with a surprise win or couple of draws should get us 43-44 points. Then 3-4 points from last 3 would be enough, I believe 47 will be magic number this year.
 
Good post. And it touches on why this talk about our form being 'mid table-ish' since Selles took over is not that meaningful or insightful.
What has been and is more relevant is what those that were below & around us have done compared to us, and those that are below us are doing compared to us.
For example, Portsmouth were below us not that long ago but are now well clear.
Derby were below us, but have now gone above us.
Luton looked in freefall, but have won 3 in 5 (including beating us) and in touching distance of us.
Then, QPR's form has been dreadful, but we have been incapable of taking advantage so far.
It's really not being dramatic to say we are in big trouble. A loss on Saturday and the pressure becomes massive. We looked hopeless against Luton, especially going forward, but hopefully Pedro returning helps get us back on track.
That’s because they only keep comparing selles to Walter
That’s a really low bar
Selles has bought a lot of players in January
Egan amrabat Lincoln crooks
All subs in the last game
And Joseph who came off
That’s so ****ing wasteful
 
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Good post. And it touches on why this talk about our form being 'mid table-ish' since Selles took over is not that meaningful or insightful.
What has been and is more relevant is what those that were below & around us have done compared to us, and those that are below us are doing compared to us.
For example, Portsmouth were below us not that long ago but are now well clear.
Derby were below us, but have now gone above us.
Luton looked in freefall, but have won 3 in 5 (including beating us) and in touching distance of us.
Then, QPR's form has been dreadful, but we have been incapable of taking advantage so far.
It's really not being dramatic to say we are in big trouble. A loss on Saturday and the pressure becomes massive. We looked hopeless against Luton, especially going forward, but hopefully Pedro returning helps get us back on track.

But more than one thing can be true at the same time.

Derby and Luton are clearly in good form - but we can also be in decent form and catching teams above us.

At the end of Feb compared to now:

QPR were 11 points ahead - now 4
Swansea were 7 points ahead - now 4
Portsmouth 6 points ahead - now 4
Stoke 2 points ahead - now 1
Oxford 5 points ahead - now 1
Cardiff 3 points ahead - now 1 behind
Plymouth 3 points behind - now 7 behind

We have been a part of a 3 team charge to chase down teams above us in the table.

This could all mean nothing at the end of the season - but if we're assessing the risk from below us - we should also assess the opportunity to catch the teams above us.
 
I hate how we have a virtually no goalscoring team full stop.

I said this last season but it's even more true now - it's crazy how many types of goals we just don't score:

Our defenders never score. They go up for set pieces time after time but it never happens.

We've scored one direct free kick in about five years.

We've not scored or had a penalty since September.

We don't score long range shots. We very rarely even get them on target. Look at Kamara's effort on Saturday going about 10 yards wide after he'd brought it down brilliantly. We're pathetic at shooting from mid/long range.

We very rarely score from crosses. Pedro looked good at attacking crosses for a couple of weeks in the autumn but since then I've barely seen him attack one. Maybe it's less of a feature of Selles' style, but it's another type of goal we never score.

You watch games as a neutral and these goals all happen in other games. It just seems to be a rule that we can't ever score from these typical situations that other teams get a chunk of their goals from. Oh and we don't score in the first half at home. It's no wonder our overall tally is always so low when you look at all the sources of goals that just don't apply to us for some reason.
 
I just don't quite see the panic with one loss in our last 5. Big game against Sheffield Wednesday now but I don't think we've lost consecutive games under Selles yet and their home form is dreadful. Win that and I just don't see sides like Stoke, Oxford, even QPR a bit further up doing better to close out the season than us.
 
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I get people get fed up of negativity , but the ultra positives are equally baffling . We are 1 point above relegation with 7 to go and some people talk as though any concern is nonsense . We haven’t lost consecutive games under Selles yet so we will definitely be fine? Key word there is yet …. We might well be fine , but next 3 are against teams chasing top 6 . Wednesday chances might be slim but they still have a chance so won’t be rolling over . Easter weekend fixtures look favourable but If sat in bottom 3 the pressure is ramped up , And of course City always win the favourable games when it looks easy don’t we, we are famous for it . I personally think we will do enough to survive, but certainly not thinking anyone concerned is wrong to be .
 
I get people get fed up of negativity , but the ultra positives are equally baffling . We are 1 point above relegation with 7 to go and some people talk as though any concern is nonsense . We haven’t lost consecutive games under Selles yet so we will definitely be fine? Key word there is yet …. We might well be fine , but next 3 are against teams chasing top 6 . Wednesday chances might be slim but they still have a chance so won’t be rolling over . Easter weekend fixtures look favourable but If sat in bottom 3 the pressure is ramped up , And of course City always win the favourable games when it looks easy don’t we, we are famous for it . I personally think we will do enough to survive, but certainly not thinking anyone concerned is wrong to be .

Where did I say we'd definitely be fine? I said if we win that we're in a strong position. There's a key word there... I said there's no need to panic, not that we're definitely safe. It's just exhausting riding the emotional roller coaster every time we win then every time we lose. People need a bit of poise and rationality.
 
I get people get fed up of negativity , but the ultra positives are equally baffling . We are 1 point above relegation with 7 to go and some people talk as though any concern is nonsense . We haven’t lost consecutive games under Selles yet so we will definitely be fine? Key word there is yet …. We might well be fine , but next 3 are against teams chasing top 6 . Wednesday chances might be slim but they still have a chance so won’t be rolling over . Easter weekend fixtures look favourable but If sat in bottom 3 the pressure is ramped up , And of course City always win the favourable games when it looks easy don’t we, we are famous for it . I personally think we will do enough to survive, but certainly not thinking anyone concerned is wrong to be .

I can come across over optimistic but that's only to counter the doom and gloom merchants.

I think playing teams chasing the top 6 is better for us especially away from home. How many times have we proven we can't break teams down that have a must not lose attitude. But if they have to win and the is on pressure on them at home we do a lot better.

I think playing teams with nothing to play for can be good or bad depending on the season they've had. If they were expected to do better but failed and buckled under the pressure then they play with more freedom but if they were riding higher than expected but just fell short of play offs then they may feel tired and low after the what might have been.
 
Where did I say we'd definitely be fine? I said if we win that we're in a strong position. There's a key word there... I said there's no need to panic, not that we're definitely safe. It's just exhausting riding the emotional roller coaster every time we win then every time we lose. People need a bit of poise and rationality.
where did i address you?
im just on about in general,
 
I can come across over optimistic but that's only to counter the doom and gloom merchants.

I think playing teams chasing the top 6 is better for us especially away from home. How many times have we proven we can't break teams down that have a must not lose attitude. But if they have to win and the is on pressure on them at home we do a lot better.

I think playing teams with nothing to play for can be good or bad depending on the season they've had. If they were expected to do better but failed and buckled under the pressure then they play with more freedom but if they were riding higher than expected but just fell short of play offs then they may feel tired and low after the what might have been.
its good to be positive, im just sure some people have not even looked at the table recently , thats all
keep going on about Sheff Utd and Sunderland away as if that proves we are too good to go down or something.
meaningless when they are backed up with results Like Luton at home.
people point out we havent lost that many lately, that worries me as we still arent clear, as you could argue we are due a couple of defeats in a row anytime now- most teams at the bottom lose a few eventually, other teams might hit form as we have our "slump"