Search results

Jan is just getting the right players in to keep us on top and then in Jan, assuming promotion, you’d need a massive ‘churn’ to get the correct players in to mount a serious survival challenge. Gut feeling, we’d be the best placed team to stay up even if we went up with Ipswich, Southampton or...

Is it? It’s shorter and easier to say Blues than Birmingham. It’s also their nickname whereas I’m not aware of any others using ‘blues’ in the EFL. I can. Tottenham Hotspur ‘Spurs’, WBA ‘Baggies’, Aston Villa ‘Villa’ as well as calling Birmingham ‘Blues’. It’s not over familiarity but when...

I’d only sign a LB if Bidwell is moved on. The old stalwarts of the Robins era; Wilson, Allen and Bidwell are now all ‘culture’ players. Good to have around the dressing room and all are happy with reduced roles. Personally, I don’t think we’ll move any of those players on in Jan, but...

I agree that the relegated teams will finish in the playoffs. The underlying data suggests they should in around automatics even at this stage. We have both Ipswich and Southampton away in December so those two results for me will give a strong indication of whether or not we’ll go up...

It isn’t, but on the flip side, if we get 4+ points v Ipswich, I think we’ll win the league. Right now, they are our main rivals, statistically and in the table they’re most likely to be next promoted. If we continue our form into December, we’re not gonna get caught up for 2nd realistically...

Would you have sold COH to Southampton/Leicester back in 23/24? My own opinion was no because the playoffs were in reach. If they’d sell him and the club wants him, I’m all for it. He’s a good championship player!

Too important for Bristol to let go. They’re 4 points off automatics so they have a good opportunity to have another stab at the playoffs. If they sold him, it’s a message that they do not believe they’ll go up. As you say, it is reminiscent of our situation with COH and perhaps had we not had...

Bristol will be a tough match but it’s a game we should winning. The only games where you’d ’take a draw’ would be the away games v Ipswich and Southampton. Ipswich will be a tough game and they may overtake us in the xG table (not that relevant) and at home, they don’t lose often. If lose both...

What are you prioritising here? On a per 90 basis, EMC is a much more potent attacking threat, it’s only xA Saka wins. Passing stats tell so much, JDS has better stronger passing stats than MVE but all other categories, MVE is the better player attacking and defensively. To my point, MVE and...

For the second top scorer though. My view is that when push comes to shove, Lampard prefers Haji to BTA. If Simms starts v Boro and continues a decent run of form, it complicates team selection further. Not necessarily a bad thing!

What does that look like for the whole season? Sakamoto has 3 more successful crosses than EMC and a better %. Fotmob gives the % and successful crosses but not the number of attempts. EMC has created more chances, better xG but less xA. In short, they serve different roles and imo, EMC is...

There’s a lot of teams in false positions. Hull, PNE, Stoke, Boro and Bristol are all a lot higher than they should be. Teams like Ipswich, Southampton, Blues, Watford and Blackburn are all massively underperforming. Of all those teams, you’d expect Ipswich, Southampton and Blues to finish in...

A win at Boro puts us 10 points ahead of 2nd even if Stoke beat Charlton. 10 points clear of 2nd at this point and it takes some doing to not be in the automatic promotion come Jan. There’s been a lot ‘take a draw’ games and had we taken it, our lead at the top would be less commanding. It’s...

Simms has been good this season and Wright’s injury is an opportunity for him to stake a claim for a starting berth. Played quality v Pompey, got an assist v Stoke and got a goal yesterday. Away to Boro, he should start.

What helps Tats out is having MVE on the overlap rather than JDS. When we attack on the left, it’s EMC taking on someone whereas Tats will move the ball to his left foot and either cross it, or give it to MVE. Often, Sakmoto doesn’t take on defenders but will hold the ball up before laying it...

Probably gives the club a pretence for shoving away fans in the corner to get even more home fans in.

We’re going to win this one, 2-0.

The ticket office needs sorting out. A few of my mates and I missed the first 15m of the game today because our ST were cancelled. The reason being that because we upgraded to hospitals for a league game in December, the STs were cancelled and put up for sale. Compounding this all was there...

I don’t think we will. We’ve beaten most of the teams in top half for xG and actual top half. We’ve built on our post Xmas form under Lampard from last season so there’s a lot to be optimistic about. This season feels like the 19/20 season in L1 where after Wycombe away, we looked like we’d...

We’ve got to go all out in the Jan transfer market to secure promotion. We’re tracking v well to more or less secure a playoff berth by Xmas (not mathematically). 2-4 solid additions will see us through. We all know the squad is a little thin and we can’t afford to risk an injury crisis...