StrettoBoy
Well-Known Member
We have had a dreadful start to the season, a fantastic run in the middle and an awful end.
Sound familiar?
Sound familiar?
Yeah and the late goal for Luton didn't actually change that much in the endAt the end of the day, we have just lost two games in succession, to both the two teams at the bottom of the table.
Yet here we are, STILL in 6th place.
We would have all taken that all day long before those games wouldn't we? The reality that with 1 game to go, we would still be in the playoff positions.
Still a lot to be optimistic about. But we do need some key players back (MVE and Thomas especially)
Anyone else see that guy spitting at our fans at the end? He was standing up on a pillar.
Guy behind was shouting at the copper [pc 949] to do his job, he just ignored it.
They really are scummy fans.
Yep. Such weird behaviour from them. Gutted we've kept them up.
Fair play mateHe’s wrong.
Not necessarily...
Correct, he was really good I thought. Morris is a handful for any centre back in this league.Some people posted that Latibeudiere was a stupid player. I have to disagree. I think the opposite is true. He was having a torrid time first half against Morris but totally turned it round second half and didn't give him an inch. A player who can adapt to CB in a 2 or 3; a right back and DM clearly has some football intelligence.
I'd rather convince myself we are finishing 7th and revel in the misery and then be pleasantly surprised should we finish 6th, rather than the other way around.With all the luck we’ve had regarding our results… I’m convinced it’s our time!
Well because twice in a week opponents have escaped blatant red cards committed right in front of the officialsHe's really cross! Not seen him like that before.
How about he calls out the fact he keeps on picking useless Collins.He's really cross! Not seen him like that before.
That’s another ban and fine then! How many more times does he have to stand up to these shit refs before the FA do something about them?He's really cross! Not seen him like that before.
We have had a dreadful start to the season, a fantastic run in the middle and an awful end.
Sound familiar?
We have had a dreadful start to the season, a fantastic run in the middle and an awful end.
Sound familiar?
Have you forgotten we are 6th still going into the final day with a home game v Boro (also out of form with easier games).
It’s not ideal, but Blackburn, Millwall and Boro would rather be in our shoes right now.
Obviously I haven’t forgotten the position we are in but my comment was about how our seasons seem to be developing a consistent pattern.
Last season, we lost all our 6 pointers home and away. We’ve lost a few tough away games and all of a sudden it’s a collapse. It’s not.
In our last 6 home games, we’re still 4th in the table on home form where we’ve scored in every game and kept clean sheets v WBA, Sunderland and Pompey. Thankfully, we end the season playing Boro away who are 9th in the away table who have failed to score in 3 of those games and are yet to keep a clean sheet.
To reiterate, its advantage Cov.
We have lost four of our last five away games and three of those were against teams who at the time were in the relegation zone.
A league table drawn up on everyone’s last nine games has us only just outside the relegation zone.
We can argue whether or not that’s awful but it’s certainly not great for a team chasing promotion through the playoffs.
Look at their form and who’ve beat… at this stage of the season, past form goes out of the window and a quick at the form table shows that. Pompey beat Leeds and Plymouth beating Sheff U, odds things happen at the bottom of the table.
What actually matters from now is that we’ve got a favourable home tie v Boro where we’ve been faultless and the reward is either a playoff tie with Sheff U or Sunderland, both teams we are above in the form table…
It forces Bristol to get the win and PNE must win too. Anything can happenLook at their form and who’ve beat… at this stage of the season, past form goes out of the window and a quick at the form table shows that. Pompey beat Leeds and Plymouth beating Sheff U, odds things happen at the bottom of the table.
What actually matters from now is that we’ve got a favourable home tie v Boro where we’ve been faultless and the reward is either a playoff tie with Sheff U or Sunderland, both teams we are above in the form table…
I don’t disagree with any of that but you are consistently missing my point, which is that yet again we are showing a pastern of a poor start to the season, an excellent run in the middle and a decline at the end. I just wonder why we keep doing this.
We have only been outplayed at home by an overpowered Leeds side, whereas on the road we’ve been outplayed frequently. The difference quite often was having Dovin around to keep us in there long enough to grab goals at the other end.It’s you who’s missing the point because our home record has carried by home form.
It’s fair to say that under Lampard, we’ve not cracked the code of how to beat the bottom half teams who play a low block when we’re away from home. It’s consistent v Cardiff (home and away), Hull* (home and away), Derby (A), Pompey (A), Plymouth (A) and Luton (A). We relied on late winners v Stoke (H), Pompey (H) and Oxford (A). Based on this evidence, it’s fair to say that there is a fundamental issue with the tactical approach to these games that needs correcting next season.
*yes, we beat Hull but we went 1-0 down, they caused us some problems and it remains the only win from a losing position under Lampard.
Where we have done v well is at home where we’ve been remarkably consistent and we’ve only lost v the automatically promoted teams. I’m pretty certain if we’d played Boro at home last weekend we’d have won and the playoff race over.
The loss of Dovin was a massive hammer blow. If you were to look for one particular reason for our struggles this season, Dovin's absence, forced or otherwise, is it.We have only been outplayed at home by an overpowered Leeds side, whereas on the road we’ve been outplayed frequently. The difference quite often was having Dovin around to keep us in there long enough to grab goals at the other end.
Home advantage seems to have mattered a lot across the Championship in general and you’d expect the trend to carry on for the 46th time. There are question marks over us with our goalkeeping situation and over Sheff Utd standing players down ahead of the playoffs though. Expect Burnley to want to go for the title.
If you take all of the points Collins’ howlers have cost us this season and add them on…it’s not worth thinking about. What he did on Saturday still just beggars belief. Nothing to do with goalkeeping, all to do with decision making.The loss of Dovin was a massive hammer blow. If you were to look for one particular reason for our struggles this season, Dovin's absence, forced or otherwise, is it.
That’s a really good point I’ve been trying to explain my thoughtsIf you take all of the points Collins’ howlers have cost us this season and add them on…it’s not worth thinking about. What he did on Saturday still just beggars belief. Nothing to do with goalkeeping, all to do with decision making.