NickG Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 (edited) Few months ago there was criticism that we hadn't beaten enough of the top teams. 12 games ago we were facing a daunting run of 12 games when six of the games were against teams higher than us (we were 12th) We beat all 6 of them. Norwich away, won 2-0, (top ) Huddersfield, won 5-0, (7th 12 games ago, 6th when we played them) Leeds, won, 1-0,( 2nd) MK, won, 3-0, (8th) Orient, won, (11th 12 games ago, 16th when we played them) Charlton, won 1-0, (3rd 12 games ago, 5th when we played them) Edited 11 April, 2010 by NickG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 Few months ago there was criticism that we hadn't beaten enough of the top teams. 12 games ago we were facing a run of 12 games when six of them were against teams higher than us ( we were 12th) We beat all 6 of them. Norwich away, won 2-0, top Huddersfield, won 5-0, 6th Leeds, won, 1-0, 2nd MK, won, 3-0, 8th Orient, won, 16th Charlton, won 1-0, 5th Before Christmas (and just after), we were beating the rubbish sides and losing to the good ones, (Leeds, Colchester) with the odd exception such as Brighton. This year so far, we've done well against the good sides but have floundered against the weaker ones (Tranmere etc), with the odd exception such as Swindon. It's all a question of consistancy. Sort out the consistancy next season and we'll be champions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizona Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 We've improved in that respect no doubt. I think I remember saying, at around new year time, that we'd only beaten three teams in the top half. MK, Walsall and I think Southend might have been about 11th at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponty Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 I'd count Swindon as a top side and we certainly didn't beat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 Few months ago there was criticism that we hadn't beaten enough of the top teams. 12 games ago we were facing a daunting run of 12 games when six of the games were against teams higher than us (we were 12th) We beat all 6 of them. Norwich away, won 2-0, (top ) Huddersfield, won 5-0, (7th 12 games ago, 6th when we played them) Leeds, won, 1-0,( 2nd) MK, won, 3-0, (8th) Orient, won, (11th 12 games ago, 16th when we played them) Charlton, won 1-0, (3rd 12 games ago, 5th when we played them) I noticed this (except Orient) yesterday. A definite turn-around. However, it would also be interesting to analyse our record against the bottom clubs too, to find out how often we failed to beat the poor clubs of the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singeon Sears Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 It's boring to say but consistency wins the day, as Pardew has already stated. We have come a long way this season, and we are the best team in the league every 3rd or 4th match I'd guess , when we beat Norwich, Leeds, Charlton etc. In between we suffer the odd bad game which we lose or draw and a couple of average ones where we scrap a draw or win. Our biggest problem now are games away from home against "lesser" teams on dodgy pitches. Not sure what the stats on that look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickG Posted 11 April, 2010 Author Share Posted 11 April, 2010 I'd count Swindon as a top side and we certainly didn't beat them. true - 6th at the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scudamore Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 And now we must win against Bristol Rovers above us. How exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken With A Banjo Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 if we beat bristol rovers. Charlton win on Tuesday Millwall win on Friday and we beat yeovil and our game and hand the Tuesday after. By end of play on that Tuesday we will be 2 points of the play off. lot's of ifs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 Since, and including, Bristol Rovers at home (probably the first match we really "gelled" this season and the team was taking shape even though we lost) we have had 31 league matches. We have won 18 of the 31. We have drawn 7. We have lost 6. So that's 61 points from the last 31 games. That's borderline top form and is certainly second place form. This is why people should have every confidence, ceteris paribus, that we will get automatic promotion next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 Since, and including, Bristol Rovers at home (probably the first match we really "gelled" this season and the team was taking shape even though we lost) we have had 31 league matches. We have won 18 of the 31. We have drawn 7. We have lost 6. So that's 61 points from the last 31 games. That's borderline top form and is certainly second place form. This is why people should have every confidence, ceteris paribus, that we will get automatic promotion next year. Interesting statistics,although that would = 90points over a season. And I've not heard that phrase for a couple of decades! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 Thought I'd lob it in there! I'm pretty sure 90 points would always be enough for second place. Looking at the table now, Leeds would finish on 92 if they won their last five matches and Milwall would finish on 93 if they did. Also, if we win 4 or 5 of our last 6 our average will creep up a bit more. Basically, for three quarters of this season we have shown virtual top 2 form. The quarter where we didn't was the first; it wasn't some blip in the middle. That suggests to me that we are consistent enough and good enough to finish top 2 next year. On top of that, I think the league will generally be weaker and over the season we will probably be stronger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legod Third Coming Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 Thought I'd lob it in there! I'm pretty sure 90 points would always be enough for second place. Looking at the table now, Leeds would finish on 92 if they won their last five matches and Milwall would finish on 93 if they did. Also, if we win 4 or 5 of our last 6 our average will creep up a bit more. Basically, for three quarters of this season we have shown virtual top 2 form. The quarter where we didn't was the first; it wasn't some blip in the middle. That suggests to me that we are consistent enough and good enough to finish top 2 next year. On top of that, I think the league will generally be weaker and over the season we will probably be stronger. It's worth going on football 365 and reviewing the league one stats to remember that we didn't win a single bloody game in August and that we had only won ONE game at the end of September... This is where the real gap emerged with our rivals. Anyone who thinks we had a 'blip' is bonkers and time and again our results at places like Tranmere, Brenford and Wycombe have been shown to be on a par with our rivals (if not better than them)... http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/D2/tosep.html If we don't get promoted (and I still maintain we can) this season, the evidence is that the current squad and manager can do the business next season. Especially if we get another central midfielder in!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 Exactly. This is the third tier. No team goes through a season without losing to a ****e team now and again. We are also likely to be stronger at RB next season than we have been this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawillwill Posted 11 April, 2010 Share Posted 11 April, 2010 Since, and including, Bristol Rovers at home (probably the first match we really "gelled" this season and the team was taking shape even though we lost) we have had 31 league matches. We have won 18 of the 31. We have drawn 7. We have lost 6. So that's 61 points from the last 31 games. That's borderline top form and is certainly second place form. This is why people should have every confidence, ceteris paribus, that we will get automatic promotion next year. After we played Bristol Rovers at home we were bottom of the table and 27 points off the top. Now, 30 games later, we are 9th and 26 points from top (having gained 10 points on the likes of Leeds). That is title winning form I believe. At that point we were 16 points adrift of Huddersfueld in 6th too...still a wee chance I guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 12 April, 2010 Share Posted 12 April, 2010 I noticed this (except Orient) yesterday. A definite turn-around. However, it would also be interesting to analyse our record against the bottom clubs too, to find out how often we failed to beat the poor clubs of the league. Because every silver lining has a cloud.......the point was that some (like you) were harping on about us not beating teams above us...which we now have done. Still, we are not at home to Mr Postive are we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughieslastminutegoal Posted 12 April, 2010 Share Posted 12 April, 2010 (edited) It's boring to say but consistency wins the day, as Pardew has already stated. We have come a long way this season, and we are the best team in the league every 3rd or 4th match I'd guess , when we beat Norwich, Leeds, Charlton etc. In between we suffer the odd bad game which we lose or draw and a couple of average ones where we scrap a draw or win. Our biggest problem now are games away from home against "lesser" teams on dodgy pitches. Not sure what the stats on that look like. This is exactly why I feel the main problem is CM. The better sides spread the play and there is more room, and actually move players forward occasionally which also tends to leave a bit more space. The lesser sides cram the defence and centre midfield, and we don't have the power to drive through from the middle of the park. Even if the wide men get round the outside cutting it back along the edge of the box often fails to generate anything because cm isn't threatening enough. Oh for a Brian O'Neil or a Nick Holmes. Many of Le Tiss's goals came from picking it up in cm, though I know we can't expect that level of ability in L1, but we need to find the L1/CCC equivalent. I'm sure AP realises this and hence the plan against Charlton was to keep playing it up to RL for flick-ons. Edited 12 April, 2010 by hughieslastminutegoal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint137 Posted 12 April, 2010 Share Posted 12 April, 2010 Can't we just clone Ricky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 12 April, 2010 Share Posted 12 April, 2010 This is exactly why I feel the main problem is CM. The better sides spread the play and there is more room, and actually move players forward occasionally which also tends to leave a bit more space. The lesser sides cram the defence and centre midfield, and we don't have the power to drive through from the middle of the park. Even if the wide men get round the outside cutting it back along the edge of the box often fails to generate anything because cm isn't threatening enough. Oh for a Brian O'Neil or a Nick Holmes. Many of Le Tiss's goals came from picking it up in cm, though I know we can't expect that level of ability in L1, but we need to find the L1/CCC equivalent. I'm sure AP realises this and hence the plan against Charlton was to keep playing it up to RL for flick-ons. We play a bit of hoofball away from home, when we should be imposing ourselves with our passing and power up front. Against Wycombe we looked very ordinary, and I wouldn't mind wagering that we play similar tactics away against similar opposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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