Last Ten Games

[weymouth red]

With ten games left when should we throw caution to the wind and go all out for the wins !

[Robbored]

What a great position fo City to in. 

Handily placed for a push to the pray - offs.

No point adopting a gung ho attitude in any of the next 10 games. I’m absolutely certain that LJ and his assistants have  been working on how to approach the upcoming match at Bramall Lane - where City have a decent recent  record - if City get a result then onto the next match.

One game at a time.........

[myol'man]

If every team from 5th to 11th averaged 2 points per game from now until the end of the season, City would finish 6th on 75 points.

Almost certainly won't pan out like that so I would say we need a minimum of 18 points to be in the mix, so 5 wins 3 draws and a couple of defeats could do it 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, weymouth red said:

With ten games left when should we throw caution to the wind and go all out for the wins !

but surely we go all out for a win in every game .....or do we say ok lets park the bus in this game and play for a point; will surprise me if we get more than 1win in our remaining games anyway....all out or not.

[Bar BS3]

50 minutes ago, Bri Stool City said:

but surely we go all out for a win in every game .....or do we say ok lets park the bus in this game and play for a point; will surprise me if we get more than 1win in our remaining games anyway....all out or not.

It will surprise you if we win more than 1 (one) of our next 10 (ten) games..?

Based on......?! 

[Wanderingred]

40 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

It will surprise you if we win more than 1 (one) of our next 10 (ten) games..?

Based on......?! 

I guess, the fact that we've taken two points from the last five, and still have to play four of the current top six (3 of them away).

It certainly does not inspire confidence. I think we'll win two, draw four and lose the rest which would put us on 65 points, and about 11th place.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

It will surprise you if we win more than 1 (one) of our next 10 (ten) games..?

Based on......?! 

Previous seasons after xmas form, our latest effort against the poorest team in this div, our opponents, our non existent strike force, our poor again, transfer window in which we failed, again, to take advantage of a top six position, season tickets are sold and players who cant be harsed to battle for the club and have their eyes on summer hols......enough?

Really love it if I am proven wrong though but cant see it, we failed last season to take advantage of a then higher league position and odds are we will drop away this season as well. We seem frightened to push on or maybe the boss doesn't want to pay out or build too high yet.

[ScottishRed]

1 hour ago, Bri Stool City said:

Previous seasons after xmas form, our latest effort against the poorest team in this div, our opponents, our non existent strike force, our poor again, transfer window in which we failed, again, to take advantage of a top six position, season tickets are sold and players who cant be harsed to battle for the club and have their eyes on summer hols......enough?

Really love it if I am proven wrong though but cant see it, we failed last season to take advantage of a then higher league position and odds are we will drop away this season as well. We seem frightened to push on or maybe the boss doesn't want to pay out or build too high yet.

I think ‘frightened’ is a reasonable word to describe where I think we are it.

It is my belief- and I am most certainly not in the know - that things are all a bit too cosy around the club.

The coaching team are under a certain element of pressure but nowhere near the level they would be if SL was ‘demanding’ top 6.

Of course they would argue that they need the resources to achieve that however, that is not the only factor required to get promotion, I sometimes doubt the ambition of the key stakeholders.

The CEO, is on good money, has a profile in the EFL - does he really want PL football which might threaten his role?

I believe, and this is to his credit, that LJ is highly ambitious, but he has youth on his side, it doesn’t have to be here and it doesn’t have to be now. He would take it, of course he would, but I suspect he is having some issues with the timeframe of the clubs ambitions, hence why I think he will leave this summer unless we get top 6 as a minimum.

The players in the main, probably fall into two camps,

1. Bring it on, I won’t to test myself at the highest level possible - the reason, in my opinion, that JB, BR and AF left as they didn’t see that happening here.

2. Comfortable, on good money, like the area etc but have deep concerns on how promotion would effect that - will I be moved on? Will I lose my place?

Finally, the owner, I suspect he would love to see us in the PL but equally has concerns about how that would play out with the supporters if we are bottom at Christmas on 10 points! - would the demand to spend big money in the Jan window sit well with him?

[EmissionImpossible]

12 hours ago, weymouth red said:

With ten games left when should we throw caution to the wind and go all out for the wins !

Tactical genius 

[Dr Balls]

29 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

I think ‘frightened’ is a reasonable word to describe where I think we are it.

It is my belief- and I am most certainly not in the know - that things are all a bit too cosy around the club.

The coaching team are under a certain element of pressure but nowhere near the level they would be if SL was ‘demanding’ top 6.

Of course they would argue that they need the resources to achieve that however, that is not the only factor required to get promotion, I sometimes doubt the ambition of the key stakeholders.

The CEO, is on good money, has a profile in the EFL - does he really want PL football which might threaten his role?

I believe, and this is to his credit, that LJ is highly ambitious, but he has youth on his side, it doesn’t have to be here and it doesn’t have to be now. He would take it, of course he would, but I suspect he is having some issues with the timeframe of the clubs ambitions, hence why I think he will leave this summer unless we get top 6 as a minimum.

The players in the main, probably fall into two camps,

1. Bring it on, I won’t to test myself at the highest level possible - the reason, in my opinion, that JB, BR and AF left as they didn’t see that happening here.

2. Comfortable, on good money, like the area etc but have deep concerns on how promotion would effect that - will I be moved on? Will I lose my place?

Finally, the owner, I suspect he would love to see us in the PL but equally has concerns about how that would play out with the supporters if we are bottom at Christmas on 10 points! - would the demand to spend big money in the Jan window sit well with him?

A lot of truth in those thoughts. There will certainly be a few players who might consider their places at risk if we did get promoted and like the relatively cosy atmosphere at the club.

Also the owner is ambitious but by the nature of someone who made his money in the respectable end of financial services (rather than a hedge fund), he is cautious with budgets and won't want to be at risk of breaching FFP rules.

Which brings us to LJ? He's ambitious but are he and his coaching team good enough? It's interesting to note that a number of teams coming into form at the right time have managers who have won promotion from this division before (Neil, Bruce), while LJ has actually not won anything as a manager. And that does count against him in the final reckoning. Plus he knows he has an owner who is not knee-jerk with his decisions, which again does ease the pressure on him.

My prediction is that we will blow the games against the other promotion hopefuls and will end up pretty much where we finished last season - 11th and behind Preston, a club with distinctly less resources than us. That is not exactly progress!

[ScottishRed]

2 hours ago, Dr Balls said:

A lot of truth in those thoughts. There will certainly be a few players who might consider their places at risk if we did get promoted and like the relatively cosy atmosphere at the club.

Also the owner is ambitious but by the nature of someone who made his money in the respectable end of financial services (rather than a hedge fund), he is cautious with budgets and won't want to be at risk of breaching FFP rules.

Which brings us to LJ? He's ambitious but are he and his coaching team good enough? It's interesting to note that a number of teams coming into form at the right time have managers who have won promotion from this division before (Neil, Bruce), while LJ has actually not won anything as a manager. And that does count against him in the final reckoning. Plus he knows he has an owner who is not knee-jerk with his decisions, which again does ease the pressure on him.

My prediction is that we will blow the games against the other promotion hopefuls and will end up pretty much where we finished last season - 11th and behind Preston, a club with distinctly less resources than us. That is not exactly progress!

That is an interesting point, should we not make the top 6, and I agree that we probably won't, will LJ feel that he has done all he can with the resources he has been given and may be given moving forward.

Unless there is a sea change in what is made available to him and I doubt that will happen, he may well think its time to move on.

Is he good enough? I don't think anyone, including him, know that, but he certainly thinks he is.

I think this could be an interesting summer.

[mozo]

I don't think all out attack is the best idea, but our performances definitely need a big injection of intensity, enthusiasm and grit.

[NOTBLUE]

22 minutes ago, mozo said:

I don't think all out attack is the best idea, but our performances definitely need a big injection of intensity, enthusiasm and grit.

Well our last few home games have certainly been “gritty”,or something that sounds very similar to gritty.

[Allwaysred]

6 hours ago, ScottishRed said:

That is an interesting point, should we not make the top 6, and I agree that we probably won't, will LJ feel that he has done all he can with the resources he has been given and may be given moving forward.

Unless there is a sea change in what is made available to him and I doubt that will happen, he may well think its time to move on.

Is he good enough? I don't think anyone, including him, know that, but he certainly thinks he is.

I think this could be an interesting summer.

He will be at Fulham come next season.

[BS4 on Tour...]

14 hours ago, ScottishRed said:

I think ‘frightened’ is a reasonable word to describe where I think we are it.

It is my belief- and I am most certainly not in the know - that things are all a bit too cosy around the club.

The coaching team are under a certain element of pressure but nowhere near the level they would be if SL was ‘demanding’ top 6.

Of course they would argue that they need the resources to achieve that however, that is not the only factor required to get promotion, I sometimes doubt the ambition of the key stakeholders.

The CEO, is on good money, has a profile in the EFL - does he really want PL football which might threaten his role?

I believe, and this is to his credit, that LJ is highly ambitious, but he has youth on his side, it doesn’t have to be here and it doesn’t have to be now. He would take it, of course he would, but I suspect he is having some issues with the timeframe of the clubs ambitions, hence why I think he will leave this summer unless we get top 6 as a minimum.

The players in the main, probably fall into two camps,

1. Bring it on, I won’t to test myself at the highest level possible - the reason, in my opinion, that JB, BR and AF left as they didn’t see that happening here.

2. Comfortable, on good money, like the area etc but have deep concerns on how promotion would effect that - will I be moved on? Will I lose my place?

Finally, the owner, I suspect he would love to see us in the PL but equally has concerns about how that would play out with the supporters if we are bottom at Christmas on 10 points! - would the demand to spend big money in the Jan window sit well with him?

I agree with lots of this - as soon as were safe from relegation we’ve seemed to ease up....LJ knows SL will be happy with a top half finish and most of the players can then be confident about their short term futures here....everyone’s happy...because the fans and their thoughts don’t really matter....

[RobintheRed Red]

4 hours ago, Allwaysred said:

He will be at Fulham come next season.

Ha ha :laugh:

[The Constant Rabbit]

Starting with 2 up front at home (at least) would be a big help.

It's a must win next game - a defeat = 2pts from last 6 league games.

 

[Bar BS3]

8 minutes ago, SX227 said:

Starting with 2 up front at home (at least) would be a big help.

It's a must win next game - a defeat = 2pts from last 6 league games.

 

The next game is so NOT a must win game..! The current run of form would be irrelevant. 

At worst we’d be 5 points off 6th place, with 2 games in hand. 

A decreasing chance, yes. But not a MUST win. 

If we do lose in Sheffield, then I’d say that Boro is a must not lose game though. 

 

[BS4 on Tour...]

12 hours ago, ScottishRed said:

That is an interesting point, should we not make the top 6, and I agree that we probably won't, will LJ feel that he has done all he can with the resources he has been given and may be given moving forward.

Unless there is a sea change in what is made available to him and I doubt that will happen, he may well think its time to move on.

Is he good enough? I don't think anyone, including him, know that, but he certainly thinks he is.

I think this could be an interesting summer.

I agree with you again SR....I don’t think it will be SL who loses patience with our mid-table finishes - it will be LJ - and as much as people like me old mucker @Robbored think that LJ is full of gratitude and loyalty and would never consider leaving, I don’t agree, I think LJ seriously believes in himself and some of the hype that has swirled around him over the last couple of years...he talks a good game, knows his way around a PowerPoint presentation and thinks he’s cool and progressive because he measures the grass length at away games...

When we finish around 12th this season he will be looking for his next move - and to be fair to him, if he believes in himself as much as I think he does, why not? I wouldn’t blame him....I don’t think he’s anywhere near the ‘real deal’ as he obviously thinks he is....but my opinion doesn’t count...the club don’t care what I think, they just want my money...evidenced by the recent bombardment of my phone in the form of texts and emails pleading with me to renew my ST and reminding me of deadlines...

[weepywall]

LJ may think very highly of himself and he is doing an ok job here but I can't see to many clubs further up the chain taking a punt on him, his poor runs of form won't have gone unnoticed, still got a lot to prove, his winless runs would have got him the sack at any other club.

[mozo]

8 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

The next game is so NOT a must win game..! The current run of form would be irrelevant. 

At worst we’d be 5 points off 6th place, with 2 games in hand. 

A decreasing chance, yes. But not a MUST win. 

If we do lose in Sheffield, then I’d say that Boro is a must not lose game though. 

 

Well you can't really say with certainty that it is NOT.

We all have difderent ideas of what is must win. Even hindsight won't prove one way or another. 

I still feel that Ipswich was must win and even with 4 pts from next 2 games I'm doubtful we'll finish 6th. I think thats a minimal pts total needed.

 

[Bar BS3]

7 minutes ago, mozo said:

Well you can't really say with certainty that it is NOT.

We all have difderent ideas of what is must win. Even hindsight won't prove one way or another. 

I still feel that Ipswich was must win and even with 4 pts from next 2 games I'm doubtful we'll finish 6th. I think thats a minimal pts total needed.

 

Surely a must win game is pivotal to your end goal. Otherwise it’s it’s a “handy to win game”

If we lose at Sheffield, it’s not going to write off our play off hopes. Middlesbrough is a far more important result, directly, as it’s a proverbial “6 pointer”. 

We can probably/possibly afford to lose 3 of our remaining games, so the first one of those simply isn’t a “must” win. 

[mozo]

1 hour ago, Bar BS3 said:

Surely a must win game is pivotal to your end goal. Otherwise it’s it’s a “handy to win game”

If we lose at Sheffield, it’s not going to write off our play off hopes. Middlesbrough is a far more important result, directly, as it’s a proverbial “6 pointer”. 

We can probably/possibly afford to lose 3 of our remaining games, so the first one of those simply isn’t a “must” win. 

Yes but the fact that you've used words like probably and possibly adds a level of subjectivity. 

So a true must win is a game that if lost would mathematically rule out the objective. So when Man City beat QPR on the last day of the season to win the league that was a bona fide must win.

Every cup game is must win.

Anything else is down to your own perspective and we're all reading the data differently. 

If we're using variables like momentum and opponent's fixtures, and uncontrollables like crucial injuries and refereeing decisions, you can only speculate.

Another way of thinking about it would be when we were 4 pts clear of 7th with 13 games to go (iirc??) What odds would you give us to finish 6th? Then, had we beat Ipswich, what odds would you have given us? Then, having drawn with Ipswich, if we lose to Blades, what odds would you give us?

If the odds are sliding steeply, you can argue that there was a must win game in there somewhere, even if an unlikely run of form would salvage our chances.

Would welcome your thoughts?

[Bar BS3]

27 minutes ago, mozo said:

Yes but the fact that you've used words like probably and possibly adds a level of subjectivity. 

So a true must win is a game that if lost would mathematically rule out the objective. So when Man City beat QPR on the last day of the season to win the league that was a bona fide must win.

Every cup game is must win.

Anything else is down to your own perspective and we're all reading the data differently. 

If we're using variables like momentum and opponent's fixtures, and uncontrollables like crucial injuries and refereeing decisions, you can only speculate.

Another way of thinking about it would be when we were 4 pts clear of 7th with 13 games to go (iirc??) What odds would you give us to finish 6th? Then, had we beat Ipswich, what odds would you have given us? Then, having drawn with Ipswich, if we lose to Blades, what odds would you give us?

If the odds are sliding steeply, you can argue that there was a must win game in there somewhere, even if an unlikely run of form would salvage our chances.

Would welcome your thoughts?

Everything you say is very valid. 

I suppose it’s the interpretation of the word “must”. It implies it is critical, withno other option acceptable. 

I don’t believe that Sheffield is. Although of course, we need every possible point..!

A win would be massive, but the expected defeat would not be catastrophic to our play off chances. Defeat at Boro would be far more damaging to our chances, almost regardless of the result at Sheffield. 

6 points would be phenomenal. 4 points would be fantastic. 3 points would be good, providing they come against Boro. In some ways, 2 points might actually be better for us than beating Dheffield but losing to Boro..!

[mozo]

17 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Everything you say is very valid. 

I suppose it’s the interpretation of the word “must”. It implies it is critical, withno other option acceptable. 

I don’t believe that Sheffield is. Although of course, we need every possible point..!

A win would be massive, but the expected defeat would not be catastrophic to our play off chances. Defeat at Boro would be far more damaging to our chances, almost regardless of the result at Sheffield. 

6 points would be phenomenal. 4 points would be fantastic. 3 points would be good, providing they come against Boro. In some ways, 2 points might actually be better for us than beating Dheffield but losing to Boro..!

Agreed, but I would suggest that after failing to beat Ipswich, and the rut we are in...

6 points - hahahaha!

4 points - really?!!!

3 points (v Boro) - okay, Boro's form is poor so might scab a scrappy 1-0 but we're still way off required form

2 points - winless run now 7/8 games, monkey well and truly lodged on back. Forget playoffs

1 point - Bristol Rugby are having a good season, when do they next play?

0 points - I hate football.  Saturdays are for cleaning the car and mindlessly following the missus round the Mall

 

[Major Isewater]

16 hours ago, Allwaysred said:

He will be at Fulham come next season.

Then can I be the first to say 

McAllister Out ? 

[Major Isewater]

4 hours ago, weepywall said:

LJ may think very highly of himself and he is doing an ok job here but I can't see to many clubs further up the chain taking a punt on him, his poor runs of form won't have gone unnoticed, still got a lot to prove, his winless runs would have got him the sack at any other club.

He will just point out that that he has learned from his mistakes ,that he’s only nine and will be better from his experience .

He may also add that the owner didn’t match his own ambitions and had he been given the player he so desperately wanted little old Bristol City may have gone up.

 

[Bar BS3]

1 hour ago, mozo said:

Agreed, but I would suggest that after failing to beat Ipswich, and the rut we are in...

6 points - hahahaha!

4 points - really?!!!

3 points (v Boro) - okay, Boro's form is poor so might scab a scrappy 1-0 but we're still way off required form

2 points - winless run now 7/8 games, monkey well and truly lodged on back. Forget playoffs

1 point - Bristol Rugby are having a good season, when do they next play?

0 points - I hate football.  Saturdays are for cleaning the car and mindlessly following the missus round the Mall

 

I’d happily take 2 points from the next 2 games now. 

The “winless” run would be irrelevant. We’d still be in touch with the play off places, with 8 massive games to go. With only 1 defeat in the last 5 games. 

[mozo]

18 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I’d happily take 2 points from the next 2 games now. 

The “winless” run would be irrelevant. We’d still be in touch with the play off places, with 8 massive games to go. With only 1 defeat in the last 5 games. 

That's an interesting perspective. I hope you're right. 

Go on then... if we draw those 2 would Wigan home be 'must win'?

 

[Bar BS3]

15 minutes ago, mozo said:

That's an interesting perspective. I hope you're right. 

Go on then... if we draw those 2 would Wigan home be 'must win'?

 

It would depend on how other results around us had gone. 

Assuming that we probably need 7 wins from our remaining 10 games, then most certainly become pretty much “must win”

However, in the same vein, a win against Villa would be more valuable to us than a win against Wigan..!

It’s so tight in the top half currently. It’s far easier to identify games that are “must not lose” (like Boro) rather than knowing which ones are “must win”