cidercity1987

1 minute ago, The Original OTIB said:

Max could be player of season at this rate.

Well I think today is showing very well that our two best players are Dickie and O'Leary

Ipswich look well off the pace today

As just about the only poster on OTIB thinking we are still on the very outer edge of the play off race, this would be a very bad result 

Shittest wall I've ever seen

4 minutes ago, Harvey86 said:

My in laws are brum fans so naturally I’d love them to go down. I can’t believe they’re in the equation based off how good they looked at AG earlier in the season- bet they’re not chanting ‘USA’ now!

They are well overdue a spell in League One, going back to when we should have relegated them at the Gate 

I wonder what happened with Rotherham this season. Championship survival to absolutely hopeless and not even competitive in the space of a season?

Points per game James starting v not starting can shove recency bias where the sun don't shine

Anyone got the stats?

45 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

"Its not going to be an over night thing where you can parachute in to somewhere and bish bash bosh everything totally changes and you start winning every week and you go from mid table to top 6, it doesn't happen over night, it takes time" 

It was their bloody brief to come in and change things quickly! I'm not buying into another 'project'

I find that quote offensive in the extreme

If these guys were not supposed to get us top 6 then why the **** was Pearson not given the fair opportunity this season.

I'll enjoy the rest of the season if we win the next three to make Norwich away a very interesting game with an outside chance of the play offs (as they will drop points between now and then)

Otherwise the season is still a failure to not even be in the play off conversation 

29 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

They were in receipt of PL cash or Parachute money between 2002-03 to 2022-23, that helps a lot.

One report says wage bill of £45mish last year that helps. If they stay down this year they may well have to cut cloth, first year post Parachutes atm.

Preston ie more valid. They've had some creative recruitment this year..players from Denmark, Swiss League in case of Millar (Canadian iirc), Slovenia. They definitely seem to have something intangible albeit their underlying numbers in some respects are horrible.

They used to get rather a lot of penalties too, that helps.

4 minutes ago, zombie said:

Nope, Mr Pop has replied to you and pointed how that they’ve been receiving Prem cash or PP for the last 20+ years, so comparing WBA and ourselves is like comparing apple as and oranges. Comparing ourselves with Preston, Millwall is more realistic than the Baggies.

As the OP I wasn’t making a point, I was asking do we deserve to be higher or does our position fairly reflect other metrics.

Not sure I can agree with your story/recall of us having top 6 gates either.

1 minute ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I would also say WBA are a bigger club than us historically but how much difference that makes Idk.

Maybe WBA was a bad comparison if they have always had Parachute payments. Not sure what bigger club historically means in the race for the Prem but it all appears to boil down to that? Something totally intangible? Is that why other clubs of similar or lower resources always eventually make it back to the Prem? Something intangible?? All sorts of clubs

Clubs with a few more fans than us Middlesbrough, Coventry, 

Clubs with far less fans and resources than us QPR, Blackburn, Watford (without parachute)

Bloody hell Cardiff, Swansea, Huddersfield, Hull

All these clubs manage a go at it every now and again

Why do we have to compare ourselves to clubs with far less fans like Millwall and Preston. I literally do not understand. 

Ultimately my conclusion is that it is the OWNER

1 minute ago, FNQ said:

Ummm… Could it have anything to do with our owners versus other teams owners?

EXACTLY, which is the opposite of the point the opening poster is making

What is it about clubs like West Brom who despite averaging only about 1,000 fans more than us, always get their act together and finish at least in the play offs every few years with or without parachute payments. What do they have that we do not? A winning mentality?? Same applies to loads of clubs of very similar resources.

Why can't we EVER finish above tiny PNE?? And don't say because they won a few things 100 years ago as that is totally irrelevant to resource generation in 2024.

In a usual season our attendances are at least top third, or if not top six. So there is that. I appreciate this season they are midtable as there are a number of well supported clubs, but our crowds are higher than Stoke for example and way higher than loads of the mentioned ex Prem clubs like Blackburn.

We cannot compete with parachute clubs but we should be able to compete well with every single one of the remaining non parachute clubs. It's totally embarrassing that 50 clubs or more (many with far less resources) have made it to the Prem and we have not.

I am not aware that being an ex Premier League club gives any greater right or even resources to challenge instead of us?

Dickie by a country mile

Conway begrudgingly in the absence of anyone better. I thought we were supposed to have a young team?

Conway goal versus West Ham away

Clicked past the women (yes you can do this) as I don't know enough

14 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Lansdown isn't the most trigger happy in the world by any stretch but..

I noticed Norwich today, yeah I know now losing but they are right in the hunt for the playoffs, 6th by a decent number of points but sides below with games in hand.

Erm we sacked NP when we were 15th albeit in the midst of an injury crisis but. This is a critique of the hierarchy moreso.

1) Just around 4 months ago, Wagner was on the verge of the sack. Norwich fans had turned or were turning- they were in some shocking away form especially.

Their record from Rotherham Away to Watford Away, both verbatim and in general.

P14W4D1L9F19A29Pts13GD-10

They were conceding a lot of chances too..a lot.

Away

P7W1D1L5F11A19Pts4GD-8

Had we won as we should that Sunday, that could have been it for Wagner. Who knows if they would now be 6th.

2) Ryan Lowe, Preston. Flying start, surely hit buffers thereafter.

Unsure fans were happy, was he under pressure in December.

First 7 games they got 19 points, first 8 was 20. Thereafter?

By New Year's Day.

P18W4D3L11F18A38Pts15GD-20

3) Coventry.

Robins, tasked with reaching playoffs again I would imagine. Two key players sold but £20-25m spent.

Three wins by early to mid November, 15 points from.15 and 16 from 16. Six behind us by 2nd International break.

Did Delia, Hemmings or Doug King push the panic button. No they didn't- unlike us with NP!! Arguably to varying degrees they have been rewarded.

PNE fans don't like Lowe even now and I really really don't get it. Shooting well above their weight

No one else doing the usual after a few wins then and checking the fixture list, this season ain't over yet....

Not saying we could win all 6 and not saying if we did that 71 would be enough

But we might win a few more to make it interesting....

Revisit after Sunderland

Such a spawny team with all these late winners 

I know it's down to attitude rather than luck but they've got so many more points than their true level 

Redevelopment effect, we aren't the same club we were 10 years ago for better or worse

2 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

They should study Rotherham, much more like them. Similar size club.

Problem is this league they haven’t been in for 30 years is absolutely brutal, “small” clubs like those this joker quotes have decent players & money they can only dream about.

Rotherham did incredibly well to survive for the first time in six seasons last year, however they are getting hammered every week in their second season & on their way back down.

Despite the local media false equivalence, Rovers are slowly dying, a ground that is shit, can’t afford to refurbish it, ageing fanbase that has no hope of getting the next generation of Bristolians to watch them.

A slow death that I will really enjoy watching.

Even a club like Plymouth coming up automatically with quality and momentum have really started to struggle.

Imagine if ragtag Rovers sneaked in fluckily through the play offs one year with a squad like theirs at the moment. They wouldn't have the first clue how to compete and I could see a record low points total

I hope he notices our win ratio when James plays compares to when he doesn't....

I fear without James we are going to have teams running through our midfield in a way not seen since 2011 - 2013

1 hour ago, steviestevieneville said:

Fanbase has little to do with it . Would you class Newcastle as big a club as Liverpool because they get similar sized crowds ? 

No because Liverpool have multiples upon multiples of the number of fans Newcastle have 

Derby are significantly bigger than us

Blackpool are significantly smaller

Basic counting fans skills

Hope that helps 

You're not a very good WUM Mark

Nice win, think it could have gone either way.

Strange feeling, that's the regime in place until at least November now

6 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Certainly doesn’t look like a team not playing for their manager but are they playing for the sky cameras?  

Just a team that plays well against possession based sides

2 minutes ago, Spike said:

The Leicester commentators haven't stopped talking about how quiet our fans are, even making comments like "sounds like there are 5 people here" and calling out our fans for leaving their seats on 45 minutes. Really unprofessional.

But so true