Does yesterday give us reasons to be more optimistic about the play-offs?

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

I felt flat after the derby result but was positive by mid week, feel flat today but I am starting to feel the optimism creep back. I am sure the same will happen with the players and come Friday they will be ready.
In some ways I wish it was the home leg first so we could all get behind the team.
We can do it.

 

[spence]

Sidwell potentially 3 games? Very down about this and no confidence. Stephens wins appeal i will be happy again

 

[Honky Tonx]

Nothing to fear. Come on you Seagulls.

 

[Icy Gull]

Sidwell potentially 3 games? Very down about this and no confidence. Stephens wins appeal i will be happy again

Sidwell was on the pitch as we played some good football with 10 players. He had a bit of a shit start with us this time around but has been excellent in his last few cameos IMO.

 

[Albumen]

We get to go here again in 8 days time.

 

[wigman]

I am optimistic ; we failed to go up automatically by just 2 goals.
Keep the faith. UTA

 

[KZNSeagull]

No reason not to be optimistic really.

We didn't lose yesterday.
Just about every time there has been a disappointment this season, this team has bounced back magnificently.
We have lost once in the last 20 games.
The only side in the top six we lost to was Boro at the Amex.
Our team spirit is unquestionable, particularly after hearing how upbeat they were last night in Hurstpierpoint.
Sidwell is a more than adequate replacement for Stephens who I thought played very well after he came on yesterday.
We have not had much luck recently - that must change.

If the belief of the fans is only at 50% of the belief within the club, we will prevail. Lots of positive vibes are required between now and Friday please.

 

[neilbard]

I am not sure about yesterday as one game will affect much but the the whole brilliant season should give everyone great confidence, a club record for the least amount of game lost, the mental ability we have shown to not drop our heads when things go wrong, very hard to beat, and when it clicks bring on the goals...

All of this coming off the back of a really miserable season last year! I'm confident we can do this! #believe

 

[neilbard]

We get to go here again in 8 days time.

The pitch looked lovely yesterday ready for a 3-0 home win against Wednesday

 

[DavePage]

Over the past two games we have played 53 minutes with ten men
53 minutes during which the opposition have not been able to score against us
53 minutes which we have looked the stronger side and shown the strength and belief to score a 95th minute equaliser
Our run will continue, all points to a Wembley shoot out and hopefully a win

 

[sparkie]

Need a 0-0 at Hillsbrough to steady the ship, regain focus, and set us up for a 2 game final push for PL.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

We are now more battle hardened - yesterday was an experience that will stand the players in good stead.

We won't have another 'must-win' away game.

Also the sound of an opposing team celebrating is not something the players will want to hear again any time soon.

Makes me more pessimistic than anything. Failed to play our own game, played like under-confident underdogs. Won't get very much of a return with a front two of Hemed and Baldock anytime soon either IMHO. Time to unleash the head-banger Skalak, plus KLL and/or James 'paperboy with influenza' Wilson. Let's at least try and win the thing with all guns blazing - or die trying!

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

No chance - lets send up the REMF squad instead and not sell any tickets

I think you need some Mickey Adams counselling

 

[John Bumlick]

i don't think the psychological impact of missing out on automatic promotion will be insurmountable for one reason:

 

[warmleyseagull]

I hope I'm wrong and it seems a strange thing to say because I've had so much confidence in our team all season, but my honest feeling is that we have no chance whatsoever in the play-offs.

1) The psychological impact of missing out on the top two.
2) The physical aspect of travelling to Middlesbrough, playing an incredibly fierce game, travelling home and then having to travel to Sheffield five days later for another tough away match. All the while, Sheffield Wednesday's players have had their feet up for a couple of weeks.
3) The fact we're up against the one team in the play-offs who will be genuinely delighted to be there. All the others will be feeling down to some degree (us because we missed out on the top two, Derby because they would have been targeting the top two and Hull because they also messed up their chance of the top two and are in poor form). On the other hand, Sheffield Wednesday have exceeded expectations and have the 'nothing to lose' feeling.
4) The loss of Stephens and Dunk, both of whom cannot be replaced with players of the same standard.
5) I walked out of The Amex after we played Sheffield Wednesday in March and said "Well I hope that's one team we don't face in the play-offs". They didn't give us even the slightest chance that night. It would still be 0-0 if they were playing now. So if we take any sort of deficit into the home leg (which I think we will due to number 2) we are going to find it incredibly tough to overturn.

As I said, I really hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see us doing this at all.

So, apart from that, you seem quite bullish...

 

[Seasider78]

CH has a mountain to climb to get the players focused on Friday and I have got a horrible feeling Wednesday will catch us with a bit of a disappointment hangover. I hope we can get back focused as this crop of players and team spirit deserves a shot in the premier league

 

[Miximate]

Are we upset with yesterdays result - Yes

Would we have taken this at the start of the season - Yes

Would we have taken this after the poor run mid season - Yes

Will we smash the play-offs - Hell Yes !

Just booked my seats for next Monday....me and Jnr will be there giving it large!

 

[Machiavelli]

2) The physical aspect of travelling to Middlesbrough, playing an incredibly fierce game, travelling home and then having to travel to Sheffield five days later for another tough away match. All the while, Sheffield Wednesday's players have had their feet up for a couple of weeks.

Six days, seven hours, and 15 minutes, said the pedant.

 

[Machiavelli]

Haven't posted this yet, but my view on yesterday's game was:
We started pretty well for the first 10-15 minutes without looking that good. They then scored with one of their first attacks, and then we were awful for the rest of the first half -- our passing was simply dreadful, and Greer just sowed panic with everything he did. Crucially, our defensive resolve kept them at bay in that period.
We then re-grouped at half time. The players were out at least three, perhaps as much as five, minutes before Boro's. We started the second half brilliantly. Stephens was putting in a performance that looked like a perfect 10, and was absolutely bossing the game (he was the only one that had a good first half). We equalised, and were absolutely all over them at this stage. And then Stephens won the ball with a high tackle, Dean got his yellow card out, Ramirez snatched it out of his hand and dropped his pants, and Dean got his red card out. And things were unlikely to go well after that. We did brilliantly in those last 40 minutes, but never really threatened.

We haven't lost for ages. We're tough, resilient, difficult to break down and have a whole host of players that are on-form. There's no reason we can't continue that into the final three games of the season. As much as Stephens was awesome yesterday, and has been at an extremely high level of late, it's not his absence that concerns me the most. Of course, I'll be delighted if the decision gets overturned (or returned to the original one), or he only gets a one or two game ban, but I'm expecting three, not that that's what the challenge deserves.
My biggest concern is Greer. He was shocking yesterday. It was a tough game for him to come into, and the good news is that he's now had 80 minutes under his belt. Even his heading was dire yesterday, I can't really remember him winning one. We know he's slow, and is slower on the turn, but these were exacerbated yesterday, while his composure in both passing and defending was way off the pace.
So, if we can get through the away leg with a draw, perhaps even a one-goal deficit, then I'll be relatively confident for the home leg with Dunk back in the team. If we do make it through, the final will be a lottery.