I'm probably the least surprised. (2 Viewers)

a better test of how we are currently is probably Colchester they are very similar in form & position ...... lets see where we are after that. At this stage anything is possible including top six .......... although i would suggest bottom 4 is becoming much less likely.

Top six is going to take something like 73 points to get 6th place........... automatic promotion last year was achieved on 93 points........ we are on 20 with 84 points to play for, that would mean equivalent of winning 18 out of 28 games to get top 6. Or more remotely 24 wins out of 28 for automatic promotion. Given our inconsistency either are a tough ask .......... but not yet impossible.

Still dont see us as top 6 but it is still all possible....... upper mid table will be where we finish i think ............ but for now can we just enjoy the fact that under MR we have a team that is winning more than we are losing ........... and take it from there, see where it takes us.

stupot07 said:

To be fair there were plenty of posters saying that the squad was better than last seasons and would have avoided relegation....and that was before we signed Mcgoldrick and Bailey, etc.

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We have better squad depth this year, last year we started off with 3/4 players who had never played a professional game that were playing big roles in the team

oldskyblue58 said:

Top six is going to take something like 73 points to get 6th place........... automatic promotion last year was achieved on 93 points........ we are on 20 with 84 points to play for, that would mean equivalent of winning 18 out of 28 games to get top 6. Or more remotely 24 wins out of 28 for automatic promotion. Given our inconsistency either are a tough ask .......... but not yet impossible.

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On our current league form from the last seven matches, W3 D1 L3, if we say multiply that by 4 to give us the total remainder of matches (28) equates to us W12 D4 L12 only getting 40 points. Obviously each teams form will change throughout the season, but we sure need to get a good string of results to even achieve the play-offs now. If we can go 10 games and say win seven, draw two and lose one. Then the play-offs are acheiveable but we need a good undefeated run to do this.

dongonzalos said:

We do have a good enough squad for the play offs.

The majority of us thought it, AT thought. All the candidates for the job thought it.

Initially we had a period of gelling 9 New players in the squad. Followed by a period of unsettlement. Now a period of transition. A new manager with new ideas. He will fancy some played and not others.

For example the original plan would have been for Barton to be the focal point of the team. He is now on the bench MR rates him but does not think he suits his system of play. This is the only player we have paid a fee for.

Quite frankly with everything that has gone on. I am pleased we are 11 points off the play offs.

MR speaks very well I am impressed with him. I think he may be able to turn around that run of 5 defeats on the trot and scrape us into those play offs.

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Got to be honest Don i am only now beginning to think the squad is good enough............ and only because of MR's influence. On paper it have seemed that the squad should be good enough at the start of the season, partly because we signed 9, but it wasnt so on the pitch. Of those 9 how many are actually playing for the team regularly or would be starting 11.

MR has had to shake things up...... not just in the team itself but also in the ethos of the club........ that would not have happened had he not been appointed. The players seeming to have some of the most influence are doing so because either MR brought them in or he has changed how they are involved in the team, a lot of the "9" brought in are really not that involved. Yes DMG is someone elses appointment, you can argue who's but thats irrelevant, the team even with him in it were not achieving, it isnt about one man though on the pitch he cant be top scorer without others doing their job well enough, without a manager knowing the teams strengths as a whole and playing to them.

We have changed a lot of things that have led to the team having a sense of direction on the pitch. It is not the team, squad or set up we had at the start of the season. We do not play the same formation, we are trying to encourage pace and fullbacks getting forward, we adapt, we have more than one player willing to put body in the way to defend, training is organised focussed and good according to various players who also say it is different to how it was, we have a goal scoring focus to our attacks, a sense of confidence emanating from the manager, standards set and expected with consequences for not achieving. Yet we still have a long way to go. we are still too inconsistent

To reflect back on the 9 brought in is I feel a little irrelevant in that MR is very much his own man and many of the 9 have had little effect on the recent good run of results.

Time to forget about the first 8 or 9 games and the characters involved in managing it Don i think ........ what we have now has very little to do with either the previous fulltime manager or the caretaker that followed him. My own feeling is that anything we achieve this season will be down to MR and inspite of the two "managers" before him

oldskyblue58 said:

a better test of how we are currently is probably Colchester they are very similar in form & position ...... lets see where we are after that. At this stage anything is possible including top six .......... although i would suggest bottom 4 is becoming much less likely.

Top six is going to take something like 73 points to get 6th place........... automatic promotion last year was achieved on 93 points........ we are on 20 with 84 points to play for, that would mean equivalent of winning 18 out of 28 games to get top 6. Or more remotely 24 wins out of 28 for automatic promotion. Given our inconsistency either are a tough ask .......... but not yet impossible.

Still dont see us as top 6 but it is still all possible....... upper mid table will be where we finish i think ............ but for now can we just enjoy the fact that under MR we have a team that is winning more than we are losing ........... and take it from there, see where it takes us.

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Pretty fair assessment OSB-if you look at all the games we've thrown away then 18 from 28 isn't impossible. Mind you, it'll probably be 11 from 28 to secure safety; so somewhere in between is probably likely.

Black6Osprey said:

Hartlepool haven't won at home this season and are bottom for a reason.

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I knew they'd won a game so I checked. They have won at home, they beat Scunny 2 -0 back in September. Linky