Thinking the unthinkable

[Commander]

And where are all the moaners now? Goring Gull, Terryberry etc were saying Poyet's job was in doubt a month ago, and that we were shit, despite being mid table in the Championship with 12 players out injured. You were all very vocal then, are you now prepared to admit that you were completely and utterly WRONG?

 

[Safe.]

51 points up for grabs it certainly can happen. Bit of luck and keep our key players fit and we'll get play offs.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Saturday is a huge litmus test for me. Win that one and I will start to believe too.

THIS

Although if we take 4 points from Leeds / Millwall I'd start thinking about the play-offs.

 

[beorhthelm]

theres nothing unthinkable about it. the Laws of the Game* state clearly that Brighton must have a season of tension and torment. we are a win or too from safty and close to the playoffs, so clearly we are headed towards the higher end of the table.

* this may not literally be true. but it does seem that we dont do boring midtable, we fight one way or the other to May.

 

[bhaexpress]

Saturday is a huge litmus test for me. Win that one and I will start to believe too.

Get three points at Elland Road (bearing in mid Birmingham have knocked four past them last week) then maybe I'll think about it. This league is too unpredictable right now, ask West Ham about Ipswich.

 

[brightn'ove]

Isnt promotion a very scary thought this year??

Why?

If we spend sensibly, don't splash out on trying desperately to stay up we will be fine, and better off than we are now. HUGE pay day from TV rights etc, isn't it something like £30m? And then even if we do go down, parachute payments would mean that we could rebuild and start a real push for staying in the PL.

If we manage ourselves sensibly (and I trust tony bloom is a smart guy) then going up this year would propel this club forward very, very quickly.

 

[leigull]

I apologise for being a negative nancy here, but we have been on a great run recently, but are still 2 points away from the playoffs. I completely agree our squad is looking brilliant and having all the players finally coming back from injury together is a huge bonus. But I can't help but feel we will suffer a slight dip in form and will end up finishing around where we are now. Our season has gone through patches of brilliance (the start of the season and now), to patches of poor (the 4 defeats in a row to Middlesbrough, Burnley, Reading & Coventry and the 6 or so weeks without a win in Sep/Oct/Nov) and I can't help but think we will have another poor patch before the season is out. Our defence is good enough but we need more people scoring, rather than just rely on Buckley working his magic every week to fire enough goals to reach the top 6.

We have learnt a huge amount in the 6 months of this season already which has made us become a much more solid and hard to beat team so perhaps I am being too harsh in predicting we will go through another sticky patch. Just can't help but err on the side of caution rather than optimism

 

[Pavilionaire]

I still go back to the discipline issue. Unfortunately, our reputation precedes us. Refs know it, savvy opposition players know it too.

Every time Gus sees one of our players get a yellow he'll be worried that another challenge could result in a red. That then affects his substitutions and tactics.

 

[Marshy]

And where are all the moaners now? Goring Gull, Terryberry etc were saying Poyet's job was in doubt a month ago, and that we were shit, despite being mid table in the Championship with 12 players out injured. You were all very vocal then, are you now prepared to admit that you were completely and utterly WRONG?

Now they are not picking on the Manager and Team they have moved onto individuals....depsite it being a team game....
Very sad, why they cannot show positivity in our current position and run of results i have no idea...

 

[terryberry1]

Automatic is improbable but not impossible. This league is weird. No one wants to win it. We will make the play offs
My final table

1-West Ham Auto
2-Blackpool Auto
3-Reading
4-Brighton
5-Cardiff
6-Southampton

 

[Return of the Rev]

on december 31st, we were in 16th place, some fifteen points behind leaders southampton. Speaking to a couple of chums at the time, the concensus was that it was time to look down rather than wonder about play-offs and beyond.

Fast forward six weeks later and we've beaten a team contending for the champions league, taken 4 wins and a draw from our last 5 league games, are back up to nearly a full compliment of players and even made three shrewd additions to the squad in vokes, reyes and mattock.

Anyone now thinking we haven't got a chance of the play-offs is being a bit silly imo, as we are now just two points outside them. But what about beyond that? Given the strength in depth we now have, is automatic promotion a possibility? Southampton in 2nd are only 7 points in front now. Win at leeds and home to millwall and surely we can dare to dream...

bring on the champions

 

[terryberry1]

And where are all the moaners now? Goring Gull, Terryberry etc were saying Poyet's job was in doubt a month ago, and that we were shit, despite being mid table in the Championship with 12 players out injured. You were all very vocal then, are you now prepared to admit that you were completely and utterly WRONG?

Im here
I never said his job was in doubt. I simlpy raised the question due to his off field antics. Glad he seems to be over them now. In gus we trust

 

[Monkey Man]

We may not be scoring a hatful of goals but we're starting to look exceptionally organised in defence, we can keep possession for long periods and we can craft at least a couple of decent chances per game. With Buckley in the form he's in, we can convert at least one of them, and with KLL back and possibly more playing time for Vicente, there's nobody in this division to fear.

Personally I think promotion this season is too early, but it could happen.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

The first half of the season for the most part we've had to do without Buckley, El Abd, Reyes, Vicente and Mattock (who looks top class). Now we've added Vokes into the mix, plus the emergence of JFC and Agdestein, and a re-invigorated Sparrow. We are FAR stronger now than we were 2-3 months ago, we have so many options.

If most of them stay fit and available (still a massive IF with some of them obviously), then I now see no reason why top 6 is beyond us. Top 2 will be a stretch too far, but on current form, I can see us making the Playoffs.

This.

 

[Postman Pat]

Heart says that on current form we will make the play-off''s and then who knows.

Head says there are 8/9 teams in this league with better squads and starting XI than us.

Heart says, well look at Leicester XI, some big names there and we still won.

Heart is winning at the moment.

 

[kevo]

I'd love to finish above Saints.

This!

 

[marshy68]

Automatic is improbable but not impossible. This league is weird. No one wants to win it. We will make the play offs
My final table

1-West Ham Auto
2-Blackpool Auto
3-Reading
4-Brighton
5-Cardiff
6-Southampton

no brum?

 

[Gazwag]

At the end of every game I discuss how many wins away from 50 points we are - once that is accomplished then its another 25 points to virtually guarantee a play off place (based on the last 10 years 70 being the fewest and 75 being the highest for 6th place).

 

[Brovion]

The first half of the season for the most part we've had to do without Buckley, El Abd, Reyes, Vicente and Mattock (who looks top class). Now we've added Vokes into the mix, plus the emergence of JFC and Agdestein, and a re-invigorated Sparrow. We are FAR stronger now than we were 2-3 months ago, we have so many options.

If most of them stay fit and available (still a massive IF with some of them obviously), then I now see no reason why top 6 is beyond us. Top 2 will be a stretch too far, but on current form, I can see us making the Playoffs.

Yeah, I said on another thread assuming everybody's fit and available you try picking a matchday squad let alone a starting eleven. The quality of the players you have to leave out is incredible, I think Poyet doesn't mind the odd injury and suspension as it makes his job a bit easier!

And yes, I think the play-offs are a realistic target and that automatic promotion is not totally out of reach. My reason for thinking this is that NSC's favourite WUM, Withdean Wanderer, has stopped posting again!

 

[KZNSeagull]

We have learnt a huge amount in the 6 months of this season already which has made us become a much more solid and hard to beat team so perhaps I am being too harsh in predicting we will go through another sticky patch. Just can't help but err on the side of caution rather than optimism

This is the key - the big difference earlier in the season was that we looked dodgy at the back, even when winning. Not anymore.

There is definately some momentum building. I think we are in for a very exciting 3 months!