doddisalegend Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 I picked up this posted by St Landrew on another thread Steve Claridge made a very good point twice, after both sets of League One highlights, and that was that in any of the other leagues, where playoffs are contested, the teams under the top 7 would be well in contention if they had 40+ points. Not in League One though, as the top 7 seem to be pulling up the ladder behind them. What it means is, if League One were running to average, Saints would be well in contention for playoff status, instead of struggling 17 points behind. I'm sure I'll be told it's just another excuse, but it would seem that this was not the season to give everyone a 10 pt head start. I wonder what the league was like the year leeds scraped into the play offs after their points deduction Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 when teams like wallsall are THAT horrifically poor and are above us..I will again refuse to believe that league 1 is that hard..or should be that hard for our team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 when teams like wallsall are THAT horrifically poor and are above us..I will again refuse to believe that league 1 is that hard..or should be that hard for our team But maybe harder than an average league one season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 But maybe harder than an average league one season? still does not hide tha fact that the shower of shyt that turned up at SMS yesterday wearing green are above us in the league that was more embarrassing than losing at home to brighton... walsall are terrible...they were completely out of their depth playing us....just why cant we win more on the road..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 I picked up this posted by St Landrew on another thread Steve Claridge made a very good point twice, after both sets of League One highlights, and that was that in any of the other leagues, where playoffs are contested, the teams under the top 7 would be well in contention if they had 40+ points. Not in League One though, as the top 7 seem to be pulling up the ladder behind them. What it means is, if League One were running to average, Saints would be well in contention for playoff status, instead of struggling 17 points behind. I'm sure I'll be told it's just another excuse, but it would seem that this was not the season to give everyone a 10 pt head start. I wonder what the league was like the year leeds scraped into the play offs after their points deduction Thoughts? Leeds finished on 76 points(5th) (same as Swindon in 6th) meaning that they obtained a total of 91 points for the season.Swansea won the League with 92 and Forest were second with 82 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 still does not hide tha fact that the shower of shyt that turned up at SMS yesterday wearing green are above us in the league that was more embarrassing than losing at home to brighton... walsall are terrible...they were completely out of their depth playing us....just why cant we win more on the road..? Perhaps we play like Walsall did yesterday Sometimes we play well sometimes we dont possibly like Walsall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc_saint Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 The season Leeds started on -15 the points total for getting into the Play offs was 76. Effectively leeds gained 91 points that season which would have been enough for 2nd place. We've been nowhere near that sort of mark this season. I think the main difference between them that season and us this season was that Leeds overcome thier points deduction relatively quickly. With Huddersfield (in 6th currently) on 58 points, I'd expect it would be more than 76 points to get into the play off this year. Maybe 80ish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Porter Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 It might well be better than average but the only teams to impress me this season have been Colchester (really strong unit hard to beat) and Huddersfield (before we signed some proper centre backs) Norwich and Leeds had some obvious quality but they aren't all that. We should be doing a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 The season Leeds started on -15 the points total for getting into the Play offs was 76. Effectively leeds gained 91 points that season which would have been enough for 2nd place. We've been nowhere near that sort of mark this season. I think the main difference between them that season and us this season was that Leeds overcome thier points deduction relatively quickly. With Huddersfield (in 6th currently) on 58 points, I'd expect it would be more than 76 points to get into the play off this year. Maybe 80ish? Leeds won the first 7 matches and a total of 11 out of the first 13. that's the difference, they were competitive straight away. Probably had a baddish patch somewhere. After 13 matches they were already on +20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stmusicdude Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 still does not hide tha fact that the shower of shyt that turned up at SMS yesterday wearing green are above us in the league that was more embarrassing than losing at home to brighton... walsall are terrible...they were completely out of their depth playing us....just why cant we win more on the road..? While I agree with you re winning on road more, think everyone Will .. they ( Wallsall have been in good form & while they might of looked rubbish yesterday how much of that was because WE was good? or are every team we demollish going to be lambusted as p*** poor? & therefore taking away from our performance.. thats a NO win situation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macthesaint Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 I think that was our first 'double' of the season. Some of our opponents this season have upped their game against us,but Wallsall were truly shocking,especially that centre back. Those top 6 teams are just maintaining form and the gap from 7th to 8th is large at this stage of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 I picked up this posted by St Landrew on another thread Steve Claridge made a very good point twice, after both sets of League One highlights, and that was that in any of the other leagues, where playoffs are contested, the teams under the top 7 would be well in contention if they had 40+ points. Not in League One though, as the top 7 seem to be pulling up the ladder behind them. What it means is, if League One were running to average, Saints would be well in contention for playoff status, instead of struggling 17 points behind. I'm sure I'll be told it's just another excuse, but it would seem that this was not the season to give everyone a 10 pt head start. I wonder what the league was like the year leeds scraped into the play offs after their points deduction Thoughts? AS I quoted on another thread - were it not for the -10 , we would see just how GOOD Saints record really is..aside from those few drawn games that we really ought to have won. Try deducting 10 points from everyone else in the league..and then bear in mind that we have 2 games in hand on many teams around us ....and you get a truer picture. As I recall Leeds were not a bad side - even when they were relegated, and they manage to retain some of their better players, so inevitably they did well despite their points deduction. The play-offs are a lottery anyway, so they were just unlucky, as we were in our tie v. Derby (who subsequently showed what a b***** awful side they really were in the Prem.) When we were in the Prem, so too were Charlton and Norwich..not to mention Leeds.. and so there is quality in this division, despite changing managers and players they have all maintained their fan base whereas some teams in L1 think it is good when they get 6,000 for a home game. Many (big)clubs are victims of bad financing and not always bad management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintBobby Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Overall, Leagie One probably isn't much harder than any other year - but the top six/seven are pulling away from the pack and this is exactly what we didn't want. If the top two were running away with it and the rest of the teams were much of a muchness, we'd definitely still have a good shot at the top six. I think were going to end up with a record along the lines of W 22 D 14 L 10 - 80 points, reduced to 70. That isn't going to cut it. Pardew should be judged on the points we get, not the position we end up in. The latter depends too much on the relative performance of L1 teams to each other - not to Saints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StD Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Imo next season it looks as if League 1 will be weaker than this season towards the top of the table, with Peterborough, Plymouth +1 other coming down; Leeds, Norwich +1 other going up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie@home Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 In most seasons, you would expect teams around the 4th - 8th positions to be much less consistent than they've proved to be. It's Leeds and Charlton who've got the jitters lately, whereas it would have suited us for it to be Swindon and Huddersfield. Nothing to be done about that, just the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Imo next season it looks as if League 1 will be weaker than this season towards the top of the table, with Peterborough, Plymouth +1 other coming down; Leeds, Norwich +1 other going up. Leeds aren't going up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graffito Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 In most seasons, you would expect teams around the 4th - 8th positions to be much less consistent than they've proved to be. It's Leeds and Charlton who've got the jitters lately, whereas it would have suited us for it to be Swindon and Huddersfield. Nothing to be done about that, just the way it is. I'm hoping for the likes of these teams to get the jitters, starting on Tuesday night. It's all if, buts and maybe's but we've seen time and again the pressure get to sides near the top when it gets to the sharp end of the season. If we can get them looking over their shoulders anything could happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwertySFC Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 We didn't have a very good pre-season , AP turned up facing a team that did not have any confidence, the club had just come of its worst ever turmoil, we faced -10 points, players were looking to go , Pards had one hell of a job turning this club around. I remember many on here just wanting us to re-group this season , get over the -10 and ensure we are in good shape for next season and I do believe that is where we are. Pards did say in the SMS Fans Forum that when saints roll into town , the home team know it's a big day for them and they will up their game because nothing like getting points off the big boys ( remember that feeling when we were at the Dell). Players will up their game against us for possably there own personal reasons , I mean there can't be many players who would refuse us in this league if Pards knocked on their door, I think we are the biggest club in this division , we have an owner with a personal wealth of £2 billion and nothing like hitting the big boys. If we don't make the play off's this season I won't be disapointed , this season was always about stabalising the ship and maybe Pards has raised the bar for us fans with some great games and a wembley final, lets keep it in perspective ..we are only 8 months away from a position where the club faced complete meltdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monosaint Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Maybe it's time to start using the BBC Website Predictor. Just run through it and it puts us 2 points behind a playoff spot but with still one to play. They've not included a fixture yet to be re-arranged. So it's possible.. Noticed that there are a lot of top teams playing each other so who knows. Being over-optimistic I guess but shows that with a good run we can make it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie@home Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Just compared the Championship with League One table - 6th in Championship Cardiff have 49 points. Everyone in mid-table has a chance of making the play-offs. League One, Huddersfield have 58. Last play-off place in League Two - 51 points. It's probably to do with the strength of the sides that went down last year, combined with the teams that expected to do well, like Huddersfield and Leeds, have continued to keep their form going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectisSaint Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Could actually argue that League One is very easy this year. There are 7 good teams, 16 total dross and Southampton, good but with a 10 point penalty and a crap start to the season. Fact is the Top 6/7 have been winning week in/week out because they are playing the dross below them consistently. The fixture computer this season threw up a strange set of circumstances where most of the Top 7 are home the same week and away the same week. This means most of them still have to play each other, and is why in the end the number of points for 6th will not be as great as some predict (but will still be too much for us to achieve). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Landrew Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 (edited) Just compared the Championship with League One table - 6th in Championship Cardiff have 49 points. Everyone in mid-table has a chance of making the play-offs. League One, Huddersfield have 58. Last play-off place in League Two - 51 points. It's probably to do with the strength of the sides that went down last year, combined with the teams that expected to do well, like Huddersfield and Leeds, have continued to keep their form going. That's the comparison Claridge made. It was NOT with other League One seasons, but with the current Championship and League Two. I think it's a good point, and goes some way to showing how Saints can be so far behind, yet still have a pretty damn good results record, so far this season. Saints start on -10. Pl HW HD HL GF GA AW AD AL GF GA GD PT -10 31--8--4--2-30-14--5--8--4--24-19-21-51-41 1st 10 games: Millwall [H] 1-1 Huddersfield [A] 1-3 Swindon [A] 0-1 Brentford [H] 1-1 Stockport [A] 1-1 Colchester [H] 0-0 Charlton [A] 1-1 Yeovil [H] 2-0 Carlisle [A] 1-1 Bristol Rovers [H] 2-3 The 11th game: Gillingham [H] 4-1 If anything has killed this season alone, it is the first 10 games, where the new setup was finding itself, and it showed that there was insufficient quality. Even so, AP managed to get the team playing better, and the 3-1 wins run started. But it is a combination of the unusually high points of the first 7 teams in the current League One, and the poor start, that has blown this season. The average performances on away grounds with poor pitches are just a sideshow. Unfortunate, but it occasionally happens. Edited 28 February, 2010 by St Landrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabrone Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 I'm hoping for the likes of these teams to get the jitters, starting on Tuesday night. It's all if, buts and maybe's but we've seen time and again the pressure get to sides near the top when it gets to the sharp end of the season. If we can get them looking over their shoulders anything could happen. On Tuesday we have a golden opportunity to try and hammer Huddersfield as hard as possible, maybe causing them to wobble for a couple of games. Might be enough to give us a chink of light but a very long shot. Trouble is even if we did that we'd still need at least one of the other teams to have a wobble too and at the moment they are all doing really well. I had a go at predicting the fixtures yesterday and I think Saints can only afford to drop 2-3 points till the end of the season. Can't see it whichever way I look at it but if we did manage to pull off a miracle then we'd be red hot favourites to win the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Once upon a time wins at home and draws away would see you okay. Now you have to win at home and away. Walsall may well have been pants against us on the day but so were we against Brighton. It is all about maintaing a level of consistency - something even Leeds are have problems wity right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintmatt Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 While I agree with you re winning on road more, think everyone Will .. they ( Wallsall have been in good form & while they might of looked rubbish yesterday how much of that was because WE was good? or are every team we demollish going to be lambusted as p*** poor? & therefore taking away from our performance.. thats a NO win situation spot on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Tel49 Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 While I agree with you re winning on road more, think everyone Will .. they ( Wallsall have been in good form & while they might of looked rubbish yesterday how much of that was because WE was good? or are every team we demollish going to be lambusted as p*** poor? & therefore taking away from our performance.. thats a NO win situation Heaven forfend that DD ever admits that we were so good we made the other team look bad. Actually I think that he is just miffed that he hasn't really got anything to complain about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Heaven forfend that DD ever admits that we were so good we made the other team look bad. Actually I think that he is just miffed that he hasn't really got anything to complain about. we were brilliant after about 15 mins..yes no doubt I think even if we were turd they would have still been worse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Once upon a time wins at home and draws away would see you okay. Now you have to win at home and away. Walsall may well have been pants against us on the day but so were we against Brighton. It is all about maintaing a level of consistency - something even Leeds are have problems wity right now. wait till next year when NC talks up being champions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 wait till next year when NC talks up being champions... Oh joy, no pressure then!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 I picked up this posted by St Landrew on another thread Steve Claridge made a very good point twice, after both sets of League One highlights, and that was that in any of the other leagues, where playoffs are contested, the teams under the top 7 would be well in contention if they had 40+ points. Not in League One though, as the top 7 seem to be pulling up the ladder behind them. What it means is, if League One were running to average, Saints would be well in contention for playoff status, instead of struggling 17 points behind. I'm sure I'll be told it's just another excuse, but it would seem that this was not the season to give everyone a 10 pt head start. I wonder what the league was like the year leeds scraped into the play offs after their points deduction Thoughts? When you take into account the average resources of a L1 team compared to ours, yep, its just another excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Oh joy, no pressure then!!! agree with it or not....the pressure will be on next season more than ever...it will sh1t or bust for pardew and probably NC's bonus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Oh joy, no pressure then!!! Its obvious to the world and his wife (but not to some dank corner of Currently Maidstone, apparently) that the pressure on Pardew next season will be massive, and denying it is a nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMike Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 yep pressure will be on next season but with a full summer and pre season behind us, and of course starting on 0 points will help no end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Landrew Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 When you take into account the average resources of a L1 team compared to ours, yep, its just another excuse. I thought it was an interesting point, Claridge was making. I certainly wasn't using it as an excuse. The team's destiny is in its own performances. Minus 10 points, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissyboy31 Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 When you take into account the average resources of a L1 team compared to ours, yep, its just another excuse. Claridge wasn't talking about us TBH he was talking about Bristol Rovers (on 45 points). He was saying that in the other divisions and also if this was a normal season, Rovers would normally be on the verges of the play-offs. He went on to say that the top 7 have just pulled away from the rest and MK, who are now 8th are NINE points off the top 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Answer is pretty simple: some big teams in L1 this season - Norwich and Charlton- probably the strongest bunch that could have got relegated last term (out of the lot that were down there). They are joined by the likes of Millwall and Colchester that play as a tight, well-organised units. And of course there's Leeds. Then there are teams like Bristol Rovers, Swindon and Huddersfield that have a bit of width and pace and can catch you by surprise on their day. L1 really is a mini-league - just look at the disparity in terms of attendance - a handful with 20,000+, some with 10,000 and the majority 4,000. Must also say something about the teams financial muscle and bargaining power in the transfer market. Attendance in the CCC -with the exception of Newcastle- is altogether more equal. As Claridge made clear yesterday, home records and wins count for jack in L1. Even strugglers -Gillingham, Exeter etc- have decent records on their own patch. The difference between having form promotion-chasing form and midtable obscurity is away form - and we've flattered to deceive here (we have the most draws in the division). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.comsaint Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 I noticed on the highlights programme last night the actual state of many L1 pitches which are - quite frankly - shocking. Contrast them to the superb, lush green pitch at St Marys - and there's absolutely no comparison. Now...I know many people bleat about it being the "same for both sides" on the day. But if - like us - you play (or try to play) good passing football along the ground - then in effect - you do indeed have a disadvantage - do you not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyNorthernSaints Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 still does not hide tha fact that the shower of shyt that turned up at SMS yesterday wearing green are above us in the league that was more embarrassing than losing at home to brighton... walsall are terrible...they were completely out of their depth playing us....just why cant we win more on the road..? Tuesday, 16 February 2010 League One Home Team Score Away Team Time Leeds United 1-2 Walsall R (HT 0-0) McSheffrey 54 Mattis 46 McDonald 81 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Tuesday, 16 February 2010 League One Home Team Score Away Team Time Leeds United 1-2 Walsall R (HT 0-0) McSheffrey 54 Mattis 46 McDonald 81 so...saints 6-3 man u we were still crap that season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 I noticed on the highlights programme last night the actual state of many L1 pitches which are - quite frankly - shocking. Contrast them to the superb, lush green pitch at St Marys - and there's absolutely no comparison. Now...I know many people bleat about it being the "same for both sides" on the day. But if - like us - you play (or try to play) good passing football along the ground - then in effect - you do indeed have a disadvantage - do you not? To support your theory, Carrow Road is a beautiful pitch and guess how we played there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyNorthernSaints Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 so...saints 6-3 man u we were still crap that season Any team can play well and beat the top sides in this league. Look at Brighton, near the bottom but beat Charlton away, same with Exeter beating Leeds...etc People were moaning that Saints never beat teams above us. Wins against Norwich and Now Walsall but it seems some are still not happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 Any team can play well and beat the top sides in this league. Look at Brighton, near the bottom but beat Charlton away, same with Exeter beating Leeds...etc People were moaning that Saints never beat teams above us. Wins against Norwich and Now Walsall but it seems some are still not happy. who are these people and where have they said this..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyNorthernSaints Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 who are these people and where have they said this..? You know very well who they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted 28 February, 2010 Share Posted 28 February, 2010 You know very well who they are. Surely we would be in a better position if we had beaten some of the teams in the play off places. But we did not in 2009 and that has put a lot of pressure to win most if not all the rest of our games this year. We are doing OK but still unlikely to get to the play offs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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