omariqy Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 The positive for us is that we have played the better teams away. They still have to come to our place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vreitti Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 2 minutes ago, omariqy said: The positive for us is that we have played the better teams away. They still have to come to our place. That could very well be the deciding factor in the latter stages of the season. Then again at the moment we seem to be performing better away from home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 We can only afford to „lose“ pts to direct competitors (top 10) if we better enough of them at taking more pts off the rest in the league. Its possible, but risky. too risky for my liking. It would be benefitial all round, debate on here, our nerves, our enjoyment, if we could simply beat enough teams and comfortably when possible looking convincing in 1st or 2nd, Instead the debate seems to be driven by whats acceptable for individuals. Why bother with the playoffs when we can just go straight up? What is the benefit of flying by the seat of our pants every week counting on IFs & IFnots if we make 2nd and above or 3rd-6th? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 8 minutes ago, vreitti said: I never said we haven't had "tough games". Some would argue all games in this league are tough. Considering who we still have to play before reaching half-season, I alluded we've not had the toughest of fixtures. How is that not abundantly clear looking at the tables? I don't know about you, but I'd rather face Burton, Bolton and Sunderland, as opposed to Leeds, Derby and Sheffield U in the coming weeks. I get what your saying but we could lose those games no guaranteed game sin this league. Lets test ourselves against the best, if we can go to either derby or Leeds (or even both) and win people will start taking us seriously. I do think though going away to those two and boro in the space of a month its unrealistic to think we wont drop points. I think even wolves wouldn't be able to win all three of those. as long as we are within touching distance r close to promotion spots by January 1st i think we would have done very well with the injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 11 minutes ago, vreitti said: That could very well be the deciding factor in the latter stages of the season. Then again at the moment we seem to be performing better away from home. Well true but that is because we counter attack well. Maybe that strategy will also work at home against the better teams? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 14 minutes ago, omariqy said: The positive for us is that we have played the better teams away. They still have to come to our place. of these „better teams“ away, which of them are you sure/convinced/hoping we are going to beat? What if Ipswich come to us and adopt a similar style to how they let SheffW play? Will we be able to break them down and stop them countering us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 57 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: What about Norwich? Barnsley? Burton? Fulham? Preston? QPR? I mean sure, Forest was scrappy as was Bolton and Sunderland (I'm told) but we didn't necessarily struggle. In fact Forest is the ONLY win this season where you could make a decent case that the result was in some way unjust. We could also talk about Boro and even Hull, games we should have won if not for elements of luck not going our way. "It's what we do". Which seems to be win all manner of games at the minute? That's my personal angle. Yes we have been disappointing a couple of times, it's a long old season, but for me on the whole we've been good to watch and we deserve our current position. Can we kick on and carry our form from the last 14 into the rest of the season? I hope so. The signs are good. You know we are the team in the claret and blue, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Just now, AntrimBlack said: You know we are the team in the claret and blue, right? I do. I'm one of those strange folk who enjoys watching his team win football matches 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 3 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: I do. I'm one of those strange folk who enjoys watching his team win football matches Oh, I enjoy the wins, just not the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vreitti Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 17 minutes ago, Demitri_C said: I do think though going away to those two and boro in the space of a month its unrealistic to think we wont drop points. Thing is, due to our terrible start, we probably can't afford to drop points, not if automatic promotion is on the agenda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Grasshopper said: of these „better teams“ away, which of them are you sure/convinced/hoping we are going to beat? What if Ipswich come to us and adopt a similar style to how they let SheffW play? Will we be able to break them down and stop them countering us? Re Sheff Wed - I think we were just so poor that first half that it cost us. A one off if you like. We will struggle against teams who make it hard for us but I think the better teams will come to win and that will suit us. Although we have done well away this season, Bruce's record at home is very good. We have Wolves, Ipswich, Sheff Utd, Cardiff, Bristol, Leeds, Derby to come at home. Obviously the top 10 is fluid so the likes of Sheff Wed, Fulham, Brentford etc will come into it to but based on the top 10 as it is then I think we can beat Ipswich, Sheff United, Bristol, Leeds and Derby. I think all of those teams apart from Ipswich maybe will come to beat us and attack us. In terms of away, well we have played the two best teams in the league I think in Cardiff and Wolves. We have Leeds, Sheff United, Derby, Notts Forest, Boro and Ipswich left. All tough games. However, all are beatable or at the least we can get draws. Edited November 23, 2017 by omariqy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 3 minutes ago, vreitti said: Thing is, due to our terrible start, we probably can't afford to drop points, not if automatic promotion is on the agenda. Sometimes I feel the agenda is to simply have an excuse for failing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 4 minutes ago, vreitti said: Thing is, due to our terrible start, we probably can't afford to drop points, not if automatic promotion is on the agenda. Yes I agree it would be great to win all three but any team looking to win at Leeds, Derby and Boro should be champions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 This thread man It's just round and round of "well if we get points off X, but not Y, but they lose points at Z, then we either will or won't go up" It's talking for talkings sake. Nothing new has come out. We need to win, and keep winning. Don't worry about who we will or won't beat. As long as we get more points than others at the end of the season, does it really matter where those points came from (or not?). Where is the fun in analysing if we beat everyone below us, but no one above us and the potential outcome? It doesn't do anything, and football doesn't behave that way. If it was as binary as some are making out, I wouldn't be bothered about football! What am I missing here? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 (edited) 12 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: This thread man It's just round and round of "well if we get points off X, but not Y, but they lose points at Z, then we either will or won't go up" It's talking for talkings sake. Nothing new has come out. We need to win, and keep winning. Don't worry about who we will or won't beat. As long as we get more points than others at the end of the season, does it really matter where those points came from (or not?). Where is the fun in analysing if we beat everyone below us, but no one above us and the potential outcome? It doesn't do anything, and football doesn't behave that way. If it was as binary as some are making out, I wouldn't be bothered about football! What am I missing here? You are aware this is a football forum? Edited November 23, 2017 by Demitri_C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 1 minute ago, Demitri_C said: You are aware this is a football forum? Yes, but I wasn't aware it was a forum for people with alzheimers disease 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srsmithusa Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Regarding club players and staff reading this.... when I first jumped on this forum, I worried about it, too. I was in a place to chat with some highly visible sports figures in the US and some that worked (no longer) for Villa. The villa people I talked with were frequently skewered here. They ALL said that they rarely read fan forums and when the did they frequently laugh at us. Most of us, let’s face it, have very little idea what we’re talking about. One joined a forum and severely criticized himself just for the fun of it. (Wouldn’t it be great if GH was SB - his rants would elicit a lot of comforting support and new excuses . Mostly they realize that fans are passionate and appreciate it. Without our overwrought passion they would not make the money they do playing a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srsmithusa Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 2 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: Yes, but I wasn't aware it was a forum for people with alzheimers disease Thanks for the reminder. I forgot I have whatever it’s called. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 46 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: This thread man It's just round and round of "well if we get points off X, but not Y, but they lose points at Z, then we either will or won't go up" It's talking for talkings sake. Nothing new has come out. We need to win, and keep winning. Don't worry about who we will or won't beat. As long as we get more points than others at the end of the season, does it really matter where those points came from (or not?). Where is the fun in analysing if we beat everyone below us, but no one above us and the potential outcome? It doesn't do anything, and football doesn't behave that way. If it was as binary as some are making out, I wouldn't be bothered about football! What am I missing here? You're no fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Grasshopper said: We can only afford to „lose“ pts to direct competitors (top 10) if we better enough of them at taking more pts off the rest in the league. Its possible, but risky. too risky for my liking. It would be benefitial all round, debate on here, our nerves, our enjoyment, if we could simply beat enough teams and comfortably when possible looking convincing in 1st or 2nd, Instead the debate seems to be driven by whats acceptable for individuals. Why bother with the playoffs when we can just go straight up? What is the benefit of flying by the seat of our pants every week counting on IFs & IFnots if we make 2nd and above or 3rd-6th? Don't understand , 3pts is 3pt - you don't get anymore for playing convincingly. So how we accumulate those 3pts has no bearing on if we make the play offs or automatic promotion. We didn't play well against Shef W and lost - on that basis there seemed little hope of us going to QPR and coming away with all 3 points but we did. We didn't play well against sunderland - does that mean we won't beat ipswich ? - with us only having lost 1 at home all season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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