Thinking the unthinkable

[terryberry1]

no brum?

Nah, 2 brummies in the prem is enough already. Probably go bust anyway

 

[Simster]

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.

I really don't think that's true at all. The key thing for us is that our squad is now free of injury for the first time this season. Vicente and Buckley would walk into any starting side in the league, including moneybags West Ham.

 

[kevo]

We have been reasonably consistent throughout the season, imho. I think people may be slightly exaggerating the current good run (as they did at the beginning of the season) - in the same way that some people read a bit too much into our bad run of form at Christmas. Yes, we had four defeats on the spin but that included the farce of the Burnely game (I am convinced we would have won that day if there had been any other referee).

My prediction is that we'll finish about 8th, and tbh I'd be very happy with that.

 

[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).

We will have to win 10 from 17 to get there

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

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.

On THIS form we shall be up automatically anyway. May I throw into the mix a resurgent CMS who will rediscover his form and be banging them in all Spring.

 

[ROSM]

We are two wins away from safety; 51 points to play for; what do we reckon the play offs break points will be?

I reckon somewhere between 72 and 76 which means we need just under c 1.7 points a game or a slight increase on the current points per match ratio which is 1.55 at the moment.

We have 9 home games left which I reckon we will get between 18 and 21 points from so we need at least 3 away wins.

Could get very very exciting

 

[kevtherev]

Isnt promotion a very scary thought this year??

When you see Arsenal bang seven past Blackburn, promotion is a scary thought any year. If the chance is there, go for it. There is no such thing as a bad time to go up, you have to take these things as and when they present themselves. Things can equally go wrong very quickly in football. For example, if we were six points clear top with five games to go, dropped into third and lost the play offs, the squad would have to carry that with them into the next season...Never a bad time to go up imo.

 

[WallyBanana]

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?

on another thread moaning about Vicente!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

On THIS form we shall be up automatically anyway. May I throw into the mix a resurgent CMS who will rediscover his form and be banging them in all Spring.

This form
http://www.englishfootball.info/championship/table/index.php?table=recent_form

 

[DavePage]

The beauty is that there are so many teams in contention, no outstanding performers on a regular basis, each counteracting each other.
You could argue that there are a lot of good teams this year, equally tho’ you could argue that they are all mediocre.
The good thing is that we are in that bunch whatever your viewpoint on the groups ability.
With all teams throwing up strange results, how can they (they being some NSCers)so easily write off Brighton’s chances of making the playoffs or outright promotion for that matter.
Look at our fixture dates, my concern is with an extended cup run, just assume we got to the FA cup final, that would mean that the three missing league fixtures would be played in the only remaining weeks where as yet we do not have a midweek fixture. Ok manageable, but stretching at a crucial time what with easter etc.
Now add in 1 replay, this takes us into at least one scenario of 4 games in 8 days, bearing in mind we are already playing twice every week.
So what happens if we go out of the cup? But, Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Southampton, Leicester, Blackpool don’t. This potentially gives at least one of them the fixture congestion.
My point is, don’t be too quick to write us off, anything came & probably will happen. Keep the faith and more importantly keep the support positive!

 

[BHAFC_Pandapops]

I refuse to believe. If you don't expect anything, you can't be disappointed, but you can still be pleasantly surprised.

we've got nothing to lose.

 

[darters74]

When you see Arsenal bang seven past Blackburn, promotion is a scary thought any year. If the chance is there, go for it. There is no such thing as a bad time to go up, you have to take these things as and when they present themselves. Things can equally go wrong very quickly in football. For example, if we were six points clear top with five games to go, dropped into third and lost the play offs, the squad would have to carry that with them into the next season...Never a bad time to go up imo.

Completely agree.

 

[Ernest]

I wonder if Bloom will take a BIG gamble when the loan window opens on Wednesday and SPLASH out on the players Gus mentioned in Saturdays Argus ?

 

[Simster]

I wonder if Bloom will take a BIG gamble when the loan window opens on Wednesday and SPLASH out on the players Gus mentioned in Saturdays Argus ?

I've got a feeling he won't. Gus has already picked up three Premiership fringe players and the squad is now more or less FIT just at the right time.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Tthe squad looks very strong.

And that's not even allowing for teh Premiership midfielder, Gus is signing this week.

 

[Albumen]

I'm amazed you're 125-1 at the bookies to win the division, whereas the likes of Birmingham and Cardiff are 8s. I think 25-1 would be more fitting. It would only take two wins on the trot to chuck you in the middle of the play-off places. And whose to say you can't win it? I think you should try to. And not just because I took Brighton, Charlton and Swindon on a £5 accumulator in the summer at 2,500-1 (and could go on a two month round-the-world trip if it came in), oh no.

Whaaat?? 125-1 still? That's gotta be worth an each-way! 5 points off 3rd.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

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

How you can ignore birmingham is beyond me. They are on better form than us and the main reason people have forgotten about them is they looked at the table and saw them adrift and ignored the fact they had loads of games in hand due to their european exploits. They have now played those and have rolled into the play-offs fairly easily. I think they will finish top 3.

 

[METALMICKY]

This division always seems to throw up a team who comes from nowhere then has a great last 15 matches and sneaks into the play-offs.

Personally I still think we're looking at 8th - 11th because our discipline is still abysmal and we're not scoring enough goals away from home. The X Factor is Vicente, in particular whether he can get goals / assists on the road.

I certainly would not disagree with the discipline comment but wonder if the crucial factors are not so limited to just getting Vicente playing regularly. In addition, we need to have both Noone and Lua Lua fit and available and of course we want Buckley to stay fit and hopefully maintain his quality finishing. And of course as we have all observed, we need to get CMS back on the goal trail and whether the introduction of Vokes can significantly affect that is still unknown. If all these pieces of the jigsaw can fall into place then the play offs is not just wishful thinking.

And even if ultimately we just finish mid table, that is no problem as most sensible fans will appreciate that Gus and the club are in this for the long game, and a period of stabilisation before pushing on is not a bad idea and anything more should be considered an unexpected bonus.

 

[terryberry1]

How you can ignore birmingham is beyond me. They are on better form than us and the main reason people have forgotten about them is they looked at the table and saw them adrift and ignored the fact they had loads of games in hand due to their european exploits. They have now played those and have rolled into the play-offs fairly easily. I think they will finish top 3.

Only a prediction mate. You don't have to agree with me. Most dont

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

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

I would say you're being realistic rather than negative however we can dream and hope which is why we go to each game thinking we can win and if we could string that together who knows but you're probably right but what a position to be in and how far we've come.