10 points (16 Viewers)

[covboy9]

Normally I'd agree about teams coming out of the pack, but I'm not so sure it will happen this season.
No one, other than us, seems to be able to show any real consistency on a level needed for autos.

Ipswich Leicester and Southampton will come out of the pack

 

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[Robinshio]

Our 16 points on Southampton and 13 + points deduction on Leicester means they will only catch us if we let them

87 points for us is 10 points every 6 games
87 points for Southampton is 13.2
With a 6 points deduction for Leicester it is 13.8

 

[clint van damme]

Ipswich Leicester and Southampton will come out of the pack

Honestly not sure. I think we're over rating Ipswich a bit, though we'll no more come 5 o clock on December 13th.

 

[skybluelee]

Our 16 points on Southampton and 13 + points deduction on Leicester means they will only catch us if we let them

87 points for us is 10 points every 6 games
87 points for Southampton is 13.2
With a 6 points deduction for Leicester it is 13.8

Not enough people are appreciating how much we'd need to shit the bed for these teams to catch us.

I saw on twitter people saying they'll start to believe it's our year if we're top 2 come January. We could hit relegation form from here until Jan 1st and almost certainly still be top 2.

 

[skybluecam]

How many points clear would be need to be before we'd accept that:
a) We're quite good
b) We're in the race for promotion
c) We're title favourites
d) We're going up

At 10 points clear after 15 games - I can accept A. I'm willing to dream about B.
C & D are ridiculous and given the size & quality of our squad - I can't/won't accept them.

Perhpas 16 points clear in Jan & we can talk again

TSx

I mean A, B and C are obviously true.

 

[skybluecam]

Honestly not sure. I think we're over rating Ipswich a bit, though we'll no more come 5 o clock on December 13th.

Ipswich are good, 2nd in the expected table and they have a deep squad- would expect that to show through in the December fixture congestion. As of today I think they’ll finish 2nd.

 

[fernandopartridge]

I must have completely blacked out the start of last season because I don’t remember Sunderland being top after 15 games at all.

Mad that we could lose the next 3 and would still be in the autos.

Yeah, when we played there just after Robins got sacked they were top and expected to win

 

[Balli001]

Yeah, when we played there just after Robins got sacked they were top and expected to win

And went 2-0 up

 

[Hobo]

10 points sound a lot. But over 30 games. Lose a couple on the bounce and 10 can become 4. Then there is an added pressure that goes with that.

When Lampard took over last season we went on an amazing run. No reason why teams below us can't do it. I am loving the season so far but I'm not going to give it Billy Big Bollocks and the bunting is staying in the box.

 

[Bernie Rhodes Nose]

Damn, I thought it was about Leicester City's points deduction.

 

[bigfatronssba]

10 points sound a lot. But over 30 games. Lose a couple on the bounce and 10 can become 4. Then there is an added pressure that goes with that.

When Lampard took over last season we went on an amazing run. No reason why teams below us can't do it. I am loving the season so far but I'm not going to give it Billy Big Bollocks and the bunting is staying in the box.

We played 29 games under Lampard last season. We averaged 1.79 points per game. That seemed at the time to be an incredible run.

If Middlesbrough went on a similar run now, they would end up on 83 points, which means we would need another 47 points from our remaining 30 games to stay ahead of the current second best team in the division.

47 points from 30 games is 1.56 points per game. That is basically 5th or 6th place form over a season. Completely achievable.

Our form can drop significantly and we still keep a top two spot.

We shouldn't get carried away, but it would take a monumental collapse for us to mess this up

 

[Hobo]

We played 29 games under Lampard last season. We averaged 1.79 points per game. That seemed at the time to be an incredible run.

If Middlesbrough went on a similar run now, they would end up on 83 points, which means we would need another 47 points from our remaining 30 games to stay ahead of the current second best team in the division.

47 points from 30 games is 1.56 points per game. That is basically 5th or 6th place form over a season. Completely achievable.

Our form can drop significantly and we still keep a top two spot.

We shouldn't get carried away, but it would take a monumental collapse for us to mess this up

Yes a W L W sequence from now until the end of the season will do us. It sounds easy doesn't it.

In my experience football is about great teams and also great fuck ups. We aren't even in December yet so I reserve the right to be cautious.

I remember Man City having a six point lead (remember two points for a win not three) and were flying in the old First Division (top flight). They signed Rodney Marsh probably the best player in the division at that time, it totally disrupted them. They finished fourth and towards the end of the season lost four on the bounce.

Nothing is a given, especially as early as November.

 

[bigfatronssba]

Yes a W L W sequence from now until the end of the season will do us. It sounds easy doesn't it.

In my experience football is about great teams and also great fuck ups. We aren't even in December yet so I reserve the right to be cautious.

I remember Man City having a six point lead (remember two points for a win not three) and were flying in the old First Division (top flight). They signed Rodney Marsh probably the best player in the division at that time, it totally disrupted them. They finished fourth and towards the end of the season lost four on the bounce.

Nothing is a given, especially as early as November.

Of course, you're right, nothing is a given.

However what we can say is it would be near impossible for us to be in a better position at this stage of the season.

 

[Flying Fokker]

We played 29 games under Lampard last season. We averaged 1.79 points per game. That seemed at the time to be an incredible run.

If Middlesbrough went on a similar run now, they would end up on 83 points, which means we would need another 47 points from our remaining 30 games to stay ahead of the current second best team in the division.

47 points from 30 games is 1.56 points per game. That is basically 5th or 6th place form over a season. Completely achievable.

Our form can drop significantly and we still keep a top two spot.

We shouldn't get carried away, but it would take a monumental collapse for us to mess this up

Not forgetting Lampard averages 1.977 per game.

This season 2.31 pts/game.

P 45
W 27
D. 8
L. 10
Pts. 89

Win percentage = 60%

 

[Johhny Blue]

I like to keep myself grounded by remembering that Walsall were 15 points clear of the playoffs last season on the 20th Jan and still didn't go up..

Their whole team was built around one player

 

[Hobo]

Of course, you're right, nothing is a given.

However what we can say is it would be near impossible for us to be in a better position at this stage of the season.

I agree, absolutely fantastic so far and I am enjoying every minute of it. Especially Saturday as we normally manage on the back of a good run of form to come up with a dog shit performance against WBA. So the win against WBA even in isolation was sweet.

 

[Hobo]

Their whole team was built around one player

Some of the greatest teams in the world have been built around one player. It's all relative.

It's just like every team has a weakest player. Every squad has a weakest player.

Fans always want better players.

 

[GaryJones]

I like to keep myself grounded by remembering that Walsall were 15 points clear of the playoffs last season on the 20th Jan and still didn't go up..

Good point