Play Off Chase

[Give it to Ron]

11 hours ago, die Mannyschaft said:

Need Skates to draw at least with Derby cant have another team on same number points in case we drop points.

We have to play both Derby and Wrexham it’s in our hands

[SaintLondon]

Starting to feel sick with nerves constantly.. I think if Watford get a positive result tonight it'll be massive for tomorrow -  I do worry about Norwich but I think if we can start the game well and get the monkey of our back then we can hopefully kick on... Up the Saints! 

[Noodles34]

On 16/03/2026 at 07:19, CB Fry said:

So we hd a better chance of winning the FA Cup this season than getting promoted all along. Before the season started its only 7 games to win the cup so much more likely on your logic.

That’s not the logic though is it. I stated this at this point, the parameters have changed from last August. And I’m not saying winning the cup at all, I personally think we’ll do neither. I fancy us beating arsenal as much as I fear us scraping a draw at home to Norwich. 

[macca155]

Only once has more than 75 points been required (Fulham needed 80 in 2017). 6 wins from 9 for Saints, should be enough.

There will be losses, it's inevitable, and that's going to lead to some serious knee wobbling from Saints fans.

This time 2 years ago Saints had 73 points, way more comfortable.

Do we, and more importantly the players, have the mental strength to cope.

[SNSUN]

Well done Watford. Tonda, it's over to you.

[die Mannyschaft]

2 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

Well done Watford. Tonda, it's over to you.

Brilliant win, you just wouldn't have predicted the run of result Saints have had and other teams results. No better incentive tomorrow night.

[bpsaint]

Last time we broke into the playoffs, albeit very briefly at 3-0 up against West Brom, the wheels well and truly fucking fell off. Let’s hope the team are in a decent place to handle the expectation ahead of tomorrow night.

With a tough trip to Sheffield United at the weekend there’s every chance Wrexham are sat behind us and Derby come Saturday evening.

 

 

[Saint Scott]

Updated. A nod to @Andy Hill too 😉

On 03/03/2026 at 22:15, Saint Scott said:

A look at the run in for Saints, Hull and Wrexham. 

	Hull City (63 pts)	Southampton (57 pts)	Wrexham (60 pts)
	Millwall (L)	West Bromwich Albion (D)	Hull City (L)
	Wrexham (W)	Coventry City (W)	Swansea City (W)
	West Bromwich Albion (L)	Norwich City (H)	Watford (L)
	Sheffield Wednesday (H)	Oxford United (H)	Sheffield United (A)
	Oxford United (A)	Wrexham (A)	West Bromwich Albion (A)
	Coventry City (H)	Derby County (H)	Southampton (H)
	Sheffield United (A)	Swansea City (A)	Birmingham City (A)
	Birmingham City (H)	Bristol City (H)	Stoke City (H)
	Leicester City (A)	Blackburn Rovers (H)	Oxford United (A)
	Charlton Athletic (H)	Ipswich Town (H)	Coventry City (A)
	Norwich City (H)	Preston North End (A)	Middlesbrough (H)

 

On 03/03/2026 at 22:45, Andy Hill said:

Very wishful thinking if you think Hull are catchable.

 

Edited yesterday at 09:15 by Saint Scott
FA Cup fixture reschedules

[skintsaint]

Wrexham are cooked looking at those away games. But who knows.

[woodsaint1]

1 hour ago, skintsaint said:

Wrexham are cooked looking at those away games. But who knows.

Their last two games may not be as difficult as they seem. Coventry could/should be champions (although will want to finish at home with a win) and same Boro could be confirmed 3rd and resting players. We could do the autos going down to the wire

[skintsaint]

31 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Their last two games may not be as difficult as they seem. Coventry could/should be champions (although will want to finish at home with a win) and same Boro could be confirmed 3rd and resting players. We could do the autos going down to the wire

True but WBA not easy, Birmingham/Wrexham has needle going back from last season. Oxford fighting for survival...could be a few losses/draws in there.

[pimpin4rizeal]

Someone left the back door open  beat Norwich tonight we looking good 

[StrangelyBrown]

On 02/03/2026 at 13:52, StrangelyBrown said:

6 from 11 now... Starting to look more realistic! But the hope kills

5 wins from 9 still needed based on needing to get more than 70 to make the playoffs. It's going to be tough with a difficult run of games coming up, but hats off to Tonda he's keeping the hope alive!

Tough game tonight.

[Football Special]

2 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Someone left the back door open  beat Norwich tonight we looking good 

Norwich must also be thinking if they win tonight they have a real chance of 6th. 

Derby / Watford- need to keep an eye on those two putting a run together 

[warsash saint]

30 aways required for Wrexham away game 😬

[Noodles34]

3 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

30 aways required for Wrexham away game 😬

They are selling away by away - ridiculous 

[Pamplemousse]

On sale now on the site, a little earlier than the advertised 9.30

 

[Tommy Mulgrew]

For a few weeks now, we have benefited from the results of a whole load of other games going our way in a way that I cannot remember before: usually in a promotion chase or a relegation battle other games tend to throw up an ever increasing succession of hurdles for us to overcome.  This time, it could not have been better for us if we could determine others’ results ourselves.

Hence, I think I shall steel myself for a swinging reversal of our fortunes in a few weeks time.  We’ll get into the play-offs all right.  But then the pay-back for our good fortune so far will kick in and kick us up the jacksie.

That’s what a long lifetime of supporting Saints does to you!

[Jack]

1 hour ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

For a few weeks now, we have benefited from the results of a whole load of other games going our way in a way that I cannot remember before: usually in a promotion chase or a relegation battle other games tend to throw up an ever increasing succession of hurdles for us to overcome.  This time, it could not have been better for us if we could determine others’ results ourselves.

Hence, I think I shall steel myself for a swinging reversal of our fortunes in a few weeks time.  We’ll get into the play-offs all right.  But then the pay-back for our good fortune so far will kick in and kick us up the jacksie.

That’s what a long lifetime of supporting Saints does to you!

We absolutely bottled it last time we got this close and went on a horrendous run. No room for error now with this few games left. A point wouldn’t be the worst tonight but a win really sets us up for the run in

[Doctoroncall]

7 hours ago, Football Special said:

Norwich must also be thinking if they win tonight they have a real chance of 6th. 

Derby / Watford- need to keep an eye on those two putting a run together 

it’s all getting quite tense!  

Nine games to go. Norwich still have Millwall (a), Ipswich (h), Derby (h) and Hull (a) to play as well as the Skates (h) in their battle for survival. They have to win two more matches than us and Derby.  Hopefully that means they’ll be more inclined to attack tonight especially as the game goes on, scoring first will be important. 

[CB Fry]

On 13/03/2026 at 07:53, Maggie May said:

We'll see.

Let me know when Norwich reach the top six.

[StrangelyBrown]

14 hours ago, StrangelyBrown said:

5 wins from 9 still needed based on needing to get more than 70 to make the playoffs. It's going to be tough with a difficult run of games coming up, but hats off to Tonda he's keeping the hope alive!

Tough game tonight.

4 from 8 needed. Great work Tonda!

Hopefully we can start to move up through the play off contenders 

[SNSUN]

If you told me a week ago after the WBA draw we'd beat Coventry and Norwich I wouldn't have believed you, but that is tremendous resilience from the lads, even when we're not really at our attacking best. But I've said it recently, one of the key reasons for our good form is our defensive solidity. That starts with Peretz signing, and reintegrating Bree. Then it comes from playing the back 4 which THB is much more comfortable playing. You know Jack is playing well when people hardly mention him, and even Manning has stepped up to cover Welington's absence admirably. Then there's Downes in front, probably in the best form of his career. With a foundation like that we can go into games knowing we won't concede, or at least won't concede many.

Keep it tight against Oxford on Saturday and another 1-0 would do.

[Willo of Whiteley]

Second is on 👀

[Willo of Whiteley]

Some tasty games this weekend.

Teams up and down the league are fighting for their lives now.

Lots of points to be taken off each other.

Why shouldn’t the autos be out the question? Stranger things have happened 😇👀

[Miltonaggro]

Let me the first to say that the league and cup double is still possible. 

[Harry_SFC]

6 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Some tasty games this weekend.

Teams up and down the league are fighting for their lives now.

Lots of points to be taken off each other.

Why shouldn’t the autos be out the question? Stranger things have happened 😇👀

It's a shame Hull are playing Sheffield Wednesday. 

Could've gone into the international break in 5th! 

Wrexham and Derby both have tricky looking games though. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Harry_SFC

[Stud mark of doom]

It’s up for grabs now 

[coalman]

7 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Some tasty games this weekend.

Teams up and down the league are fighting for their lives now.

Lots of points to be taken off each other.

Why shouldn’t the autos be out the question? Stranger things have happened 😇👀

Somehow I fancy Sheff Wed to take something from their game against Hull. Wrexham have to deal with Joe Rothwell who has something to prove after his Rangers spell so obviously they're not getting anything. Everything's coming up Tonda.

[Pamplemousse]

Let's worry about beating Oxford first before thinking about 2nd!!

[Sheaf Saint]

7 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Some tasty games this weekend.

Teams up and down the league are fighting for their lives now.

Lots of points to be taken off each other.

Why shouldn’t the autos be out the question? Stranger things have happened 😇👀

Wrexham's trip to Bramall Lane is far from an easy game. Can see them dropping points there. Then they've got two more tricky aways at WBA and Birmingham with our game at theirs sandwiched in between. That's a tough run for them which could make or break their playoff bid.

[bangkoksaint]

It’s like golf……….look after yourself and don’t worry about the rest 

[Saint86]

On 17/03/2026 at 23:02, Saint Scott said:

Updated. A nod to @Andy Hill too 😉

 

 

Needs to have Derby added i reckon.

[Saint86]

9 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Second is on 👀

As much as i would love this to be the case, the Reading style "McDermot" just isn't on. There is essentially no chance we're catching up 10 points in 8 games at this end of the table, let alone overhauling the 4 sides between us and claiming 2nd. Maybe we can grab 4th and get a home playoff 2nd leg... but right now i'd just be happy to take the playoff spot, or perhaps a cheeky 5th. We have the hardest fixtures of us, Wrexham, and derby.

Edited 1 hour ago by Saint86

[West end Saints]

Just for fun I did Ai prediction, asking it to look at form, whether games are home or away, injury news and any other factors.

I know it's not accurate and sometimes misses fixtures etc but it's breakdown is, based on today.

It does pick up on teams playing each other better than I do...

 

1st 0.1%

2nd 8.5%

3rd 12.0%

4th 22.0%

5th 28.0%

6th 24.4%

7th 4.0%

8th 0.5%

9th 0.3%

It adds comment that, with weighting for squad depth, and likely end of season form 4th increases further.

 

[S-Clarke]

We've certainly picked the right time to have our uptick in results, because all the other teams around us have played either each other or top sides - and we've been able to pull back a ton of points on Hull, Millwall, Wrexham etc. 

I'm conscious that we'll have off days between now and the end, as every team does (the Wrexham away game is a biggy in my eyes), but the balance of home games left against away games surely puts this strongly in our favour.

If we'd have had a better start to the season, even talking 6 or 7 points better, we'd be breathing down Boro's necks right now.