Demitri_C Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: What goes in our favour is that we now play teams within touching distance above us. Beat them and we start picking them off one by one and climbing the table! That’s true... but if we lose we fall further behind. Bruce has totally given us a handicap now. Shambles 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 7 points behind 2nd (8 points if you count goal difference). Its still doable, but will probable need a run of 6 wins in a row at some point, as the top will keep picking up a lot of points as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) This is such a tight league this season. Just 8 points difference between 16th and top. If you can string 3 or 4 wins together you can shoot up the table. There is no doubt we have massively under achieved this season where as the likes of Sheff Utd, Norwich, Wigan, Blackburn have been doing the opposite. We are not even a third of the way through the season though and I expect us to gradually start playing to the potential we show on paper. Based on today, and a day or two with the full squad, Smith has already got us playing much higher up the pitch and we look much better for it. Give him a few months and I am sure he can work wonders. If he does then we will be well in the mix for promotion. Edited October 20, 2018 by markavfc40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunther Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 I’m glad Smith has a month to work with the players before that December run. If we can keep in touch till then then it’s all on that month. We’d have to beat those teams anyway to get automatic... if we can put a winning running together in December it’s all to play for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turvontour Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Not sure why so many people think playoffs should be the target. If we win Tuesday then we are in the playoffs! Its only blummin October, not March. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted October 21, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 21, 2018 Automatic is still totally possible. It’s hard, but this league is hard. A couple of wins, and one bad week for whoever is second and it’s all open. Even Cardiff last year won their first 5 (or was it 6?) games and still looked like fading away a couple of times later on. It’s a long season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 (edited) 33 minutes ago, turvontour said: Not sure why so many people think playoffs should be the target. If we win Tuesday then we are in the playoffs! Its only blummin October, not March. I think playoffs is a realistic target based on what I have seen this year. Top 2 would be amazing but I don’t think we are good enough to achieve that even if we are only 7 points off it. Yesterday was encouraging but also highlighted how much work there is to do. Edited October 21, 2018 by Vive_La_Villa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted October 21, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 21, 2018 Looking at the last two seasons after 25 games (I’m choosing 25 games as that includes all of the dreaded December fixtures) - 2017/18 Derby were 2nd with 48 points. Cardiff were 4th with 47 points. 2016/17 Brighton were 2nd with 54 points. Of course this season could be different but my suggestion earlier in the thread of getting around 40 points by the same stage is looking like it will prove to be short. ****ing Bruce. Who knows though? December looks tough, but we could get something from each of those games (and take points off three automatic hopefuls in the process). Boro - failed to score against us in the four proper games we played against them. Baggies - local derby, can go either way. Stoke - don’t look like they’re going to have a great season. Leeds - lost at home to sha. How good can they be really? (I’m sure the Leeds lot on here will accept that detailed analysis ) Swansea - sounds like we could have battered them yesterday. Preston - currently mooching about just above the relegation zone. As long as we’re within touching distance by the time the January window opens, we’ll have a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turvontour Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 53 minutes ago, alreadyexists said: Automatic is still totally possible. It’s hard, but this league is hard. A couple of wins, and one bad week for whoever is second and it’s all open. Even Cardiff last year won their first 5 (or was it 6?) games and still looked like fading away a couple of times later on. It’s a long season. I think its a really weak league, in terms of good teams running away with it. Theres no Wolves, Newcastle or even Brighton. First and second spots are absolutely there for the taking. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 7 minutes ago, turvontour said: I think its a really weak league, in terms of good teams running away with it. Theres no Wolves, Newcastle or even Brighton. First and second spots are absolutely there for the taking. Agree which makes it more frustrating we have essentially written off a part of it under Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnock1984 Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Anybody can beat anybody in this league. We just need to hit our stride and win 3-4 on the bounce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted October 21, 2018 Moderator Share Posted October 21, 2018 26 minutes ago, nnock1984 said: Anybody can beat anybody in this league. We just need to hit our stride and win 3-4 on the bounce. Steve? Is that you? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 This league is terrible, we can definitely go up. If we had a competent manager from the start of the season I think we'd be top three/four now. Possibly 6th with a win at Norwich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turvontour Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 29 minutes ago, nnock1984 said: Anybody can beat anybody in this league. We just need to hit our stride and win 3-4 on the bounce. I think thats the case with every football league, surely? I cant remember a league where teams arent able to beat eachother. Feels like it was a phrase that was coined to make the premier league seem more interesting. My observation of the Championship this season is that there are some crap teams, some average teams, some good teams but crucially no very good teams. This gives us one hell of an opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junxs Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 2 hours ago, turvontour said: Not sure why so many people think playoffs should be the target. If we win Tuesday then we are in the playoffs! Its only blummin October, not March. Whilst I agree with your sentiment, for us to get into the playoffs with a win on Tuesday it would mean that 7 teams above us all have to lose or the right ones to draw all at once.. highly unlikely! Page 50 and this is my first contribution to this thread, I'm starting to believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turvontour Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 11 minutes ago, Junxs said: Whilst I agree with your sentiment, for us to get into the playoffs with a win on Tuesday it would mean that 7 teams above us all have to lose or the right ones to draw all at once.. highly unlikely! Page 50 and this is my first contribution to this thread, I'm starting to believe We can only go 5th, 6th or 7th on Tuesday. 7th would mean that results had gone against us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Don't think you'll need 2 points a game to get automatic promotion this year like last season. Teams generally of a lower quality than last season's standard and reflected in the bunched up points totals. We need to win 3-4 in a row before serious talk of this though. December fixtures are really brutal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 I don't care what anyone says about how hard this league is, it's bloody awful. The fact you can go on a run of 1 win in 10 and still only be 3 points off the top 6 and 7 off the top is an embarrassing indictment of how poor this league is. Top 6 is an absolute minimum requirement, and I'm confident Smith will deliver it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 We’ll be there or thereabouts... 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazrim Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 (edited) By Christmas Smiths doctrines should have well and truly sunk in. I think we'll see gradual improvement leading up to that. In the new year, all being well, and with some reinforcements, I can see us going on one hell of a run. It's definitely all to play for - including the title. Just stay in touch and keep improving and developing. Edited October 21, 2018 by Mazrim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts