The games played so far and those to come. An easy ride for now?

[Giraffe]

We have made a quite brilliant start and are looking good but it's worth highlighting that the run we have had so far could be described as easy.

Of the teams we have now beaten look where they are in the table:

Watford 20th
Burnley 18th
Barnsley 17th
Sheff Weds 14th

And the team we couldn't beat:
Cardiff 5th

And the team we lost to:
Hull 4th


Overall at a very early stage suggests we are good but not quite world beaters yet. However you can only beat what is in front of you and Hull was away and will be different at the AMEX.

Even the run through to the end of October does not on current form look like toughest ever:

Millwall 21st
Birmingham 11th
Ipswich 23rd
Derby 9th
Middlesborough 8th
Leicester 19th
Blackpool 2nd

So I can see us hitting the top of the table by the end of October, the question is can we stay there when we start playing the really tough teams.

I recall in league one we won the league by being very very good against the teams in the bottom half. We seem to already be doing the same.

 

[Postman Pat]

Sheffield Wednesday were 6th when we played them and they could go back there with a decent win tonight, so that is harsh to say they are 14th!

This early in the season teams will move up and down the table quickly (apart from Peterborough who will not likely move all season!)

 

[hans kraay fan club]

We have made a quite brilliant start and are looking good but it's worth highlighting that the run we have had so far could be described as easy.

Of the teams we have now beaten look where they are in the table:

Watford 20th
Burnley 18th
Barnsley 17th
Sheff Weds 14th

.

Er, are they not in those positions (at least partly) BECAUSE we beat them?

With three more points, all of those four would be top 8.

 

[NickBHAFC18]

I'd like to think we will take 3 points from Millwall, Ipswich, Derby and possibly Birmingham. But that does depends on whether they are home or away fixtures.

 

[Alan Cundle]

This is a great website and a useful graphic to illustrate your point. Our fixtures start to get toug in October/ November
http://experimental361.com/2012/08/10/final-fixture-visualisations/

 

[Giraffe]

This is a great website and a useful graphic to illustrate your point. Our fixtures start to get toug in October/ November
http://experimental361.com/2012/08/10/final-fixture-visualisations/

At first sight this looks a mess. But when you click into it it really does prove the point. Look at our green dots (easy games) so far against the red dots (hard games) of Leeds. Suggests the two will balance out a bit more as the season progresses.

The advantage we have though is the confidence this run will give the players. Much rather have it this way round than the other.

 

[Triggaaar]

Sheffield Wednesday were 6th when we played them and they could go back there with a decent win tonight, so that is harsh to say they are 14th!

This early in the season teams will move up and down the table quickly (apart from Peterborough who will not likely move all season!)

This

Er, are they not in those positions (at least partly) BECAUSE we beat them?

With three more points, all of those four would be top 8.

and this.

 

[albionite]

Not to mention we outplayed Hull and at least deserved a point from that game. Cardiff was more 50/50 with us edging the 2nd half

 

[albion534]

Anyone can beat anyone in this division, regardless of where they are in the table

 

[johnny jigsaw]

It's all very well saying we've had easy games so far, it's another thing entirely to win them. I'd suggest that last season we would have lost or drawn games that this year we've won, and that says a great deal about how far we've come.

 

[OSRGull]

Hull- a team that'll be in or around the top 6.

Cardiff- same applies ^

Burnley- a team that'll be in the top 8

Barnsley- mid table/bottom half team

Wednesday- Started off better than I thought, could be a dark horse this season.

Watford- I thought they'd be up fighting for promotion but lately they've been very poor.

 

[Acker79]

Er, are they not in those positions (at least partly) BECAUSE we beat them?

With three more points, all of those four would be top 8.

As far as I can see, the teams were in these positions on the morning we played them:

Hull City 14th (Alphabetical)
Cardiff City 6th
Barnsley 16th
Burnley 18th
Sheffield Wednesday 6th
Watford 17th

4 points from six against top six sides!

Seriously though, at this point in the season, I'm not sure how much stock to put in the table.

This shows the movement of teams in the table last season. It's an incomprehensible mess because there was so much movement in the first few weeks.



And this shows the correlation between position after the first week of the season and where they end up, and after the 6th week of the season and where they end up.

Circled are teams that were in the same position both times - one team after the first week, 3 teams after 6 weeks
Teams above the green line finished lower than where they were, teams below the green line finished higher than where they were.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Fixture lists can definitely affect a season. Saints got a bitch of a start, they may not recover. We've had a nice start, and it could be the catalyst for confidence and form to mean we stay in the hunt all season.

Last year we started much the same. But we had two periods where we didn't win for 10 games - and yet still finished 10th. I'd be confident that we'll be stronger throughout this year, and the division also seems weaker this year than last, even though there are 'bigger' names.

 

[SB005]

Whilst we do still have a lot of the stronger sides to play, I genuinely believe we can beat any championship team at the AMEX, we are so good at home.

I couldn't go last night, but from what I've read and listening to the game, results and gritty performances like that give me confidence we can finish very high and keep it going.

 

[Springal]

Some banana skins in there. Fancy us against most at home, Derby at their place might be tricky, but they are leaking goals at the moment. Millwall can be tough as we saw last season.

Would not be suprised however if we do win the next 4

 

[BBassic]

I think Saturday will be tough but from then I think we'll be alright.

Also, you say "Cardiff, the team we couldn't beat". Needs to be said that they couldn't beat us either.

 

[The Wookiee]

There are no easy games in this league ! Anybody who thinks otherwise is deluded !

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

3 points is worth 3 points, no matter who you beat. You could argue that everyone who has played Peterborough has had a 'free' win thus far.

If you gave back all our winning points to them teams we beat then they would be higher.

Basically, in conclusion....you cant make any conclusions....

Conclusion.

 

[Biscuit]

3 points is worth 3 points, no matter who you beat. You could argue that everyone who has played peterborough has had a 'free' win thus far.

If you gave back all our winning points to them teams we beat then they would be higher.

Basically, in conclusion....you cant make any conclusions....

Conclusion.

Period.

 

[sydney]

We have made a quite brilliant start and are looking good but it's worth highlighting that the run we have had so far could be described as easy.

Of the teams we have now beaten look where they are in the table:

Watford 20th
Burnley 18th
Barnsley 17th
Sheff Weds 14th

And the team we couldn't beat:
Cardiff 5th

And the team we lost to:
Hull 4th


Overall at a very early stage suggests we are good but not quite world beaters yet. However you can only beat what is in front of you and Hull was away and will be different at the AMEX.

Even the run through to the end of October does not on current form look like toughest ever:

Millwall 21st
Birmingham 11th
Ipswich 23rd
Derby 9th
Middlesborough 8th
Leicester 19th
Blackpool 2nd

So I can see us hitting the top of the table by the end of October, the question is can we stay there when we start playing the really tough teams.

I recall in league one we won the league by being very very good against the teams in the bottom half. We seem to already be doing the same.

can see us getting 12-15 points from the games you have listed......blackpool are promo material ,so should boro with the squad they've got, lester and brum will be tough , derby too........there are no easy games in taht group of matches.