Hmm Two Defeats, -if we dont beat Blackburn Saturday..

[WhistleHappy]

....there will be Hull to play.

 

COYR's ...  

[Smokey]

Ill be glad when we've got the Hull game out of the way. The glamour tie against a huge premier league club must be hard for the players to keep focus for league games

[ChippenhamRed]

Not sure how serious the original post is, but reading the match thread it seems some people need to get a grip.

We are essentially a mid table Championship side, and that means we will win roughly as many as we lose. That also means we will occasionally lose two or three on the bounce, or win two or three on the bounce. Losing a couple doesn't mean we'll be relegated any more than winning a couple means we will go up.

This is a tough division with not much between a lot of teams. We are a work in progress. If we finish anywhere above 18th this season, which seems likely, that would represent a fourth consecutive season of improvement. And despite tonight's result, we are still 6th and could still have a very good season. There is a lot to like about our club at the moment on and off the pitch.

So please, let's have some perspective.

[reddogkev]

I like your pun, but in all serious, feel very surprised we've lost these last 2 games.

I know it helps to manage / lower our expectations, but I was pleasantly satisfied that we could mount a play-off challenge, and now those crappy little seeds of doubt are rife in the mind again, and suddenly our prospects don't look as bright.

Ok, it sounds melodramatic and over the top, but those 2 losses have punched me right in the guts and swiftly kneed me in the nether regions...

[AshtonGreat]

3 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Not sure how serious the original post is, but reading the match thread it seems some people need to get a grip.

We are essentially a mid table Championship side, and that means we will win roughly as many as we lose. That also means we will occasionally lose two or three on the bounce, or win two or three on the bounce. Losing a couple doesn't mean we'll be relegated any more than winning a couple means we will go up.

This is a tough division with not much between a lot of teams. We are a work in progress. If we finish anywhere above 18th this season, which seems likely, that would represent a fourth consecutive season of improvement. And despite tonight's result, we are still 6th and could still have a very good season. There is a lot to like about our club at the moment on and off the pitch.

So please, let's have some perspective.

I would argue that mid-table would be an underachievement 

[reddogkev]

3 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Not sure how serious the original post is, but reading the match thread it seems some people need to get a grip.

We are essentially a mid table Championship side, and that means we will win roughly as many as we lose. That also means we will occasionally lose two or three on the bounce, or win two or three on the bounce. Losing a couple doesn't mean we'll be relegated any more than winning a couple means we will go up.

This is a tough division with not much between a lot of teams. We are a work in progress. If we finish anywhere above 18th this season, which seems likely, that would represent a fourth consecutive season of improvement. And despite tonight's result, we are still 6th and could still have a very good season. There is a lot to like about our club at the moment on and off the pitch.

So please, let's have some perspective.

It's pretty simple, people don't like losing games.  We all want to be winners, all of the time.

Losing 2 matches, after winning 4, hurts a lot.

[ChippenhamRed]

2 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

I like your pun, but in all serious, feel very surprised we've lost these last 2 games.

I know it helps to manage / lower our expectations, but I was pleasantly satisfied that we could mount a play-off challenge, and now those crappy little seeds of doubt are rife in the mind again, and suddenly our prospects don't look as bright.

Ok, it sounds melodramatic and over the top, but those 2 losses have punched me right in the guts and swiftly kneed my in the nether regions...

I

We've lost two Championship games in a row having won the previous three, in a 46 game season. We are still 6th. Play offs would be beyond expectations for this season anyway, yet still remain achievable.

Perspective.

[reddogkev]

2 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

We've lost two Championship games in a row having won the previous three, in a 46 game season. We are still 6th. Play offs would be beyond expectations for this season anyway, yet still remain achievable.

Perspective.

You speak with a rational mind, but after losing away to QPR, after the start we've enjoyed to the season, I am still boiling with anger!

Losing games is never easy to take, and like many others, I felt we were better than QPR, be it on their patch or not.

[Super]

6 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

We've lost two Championship games in a row having won the previous three, in a 46 game season. We are still 6th. Play offs would be beyond expectations for this season anyway, yet still remain achievable.

Perspective.

The alarming thing has to be the poor performances in both games. Deserved nothing in either. Big performance needed on Saturday.

[ChippenhamRed]

9 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

I would argue that mid-table would be an underachievement 

On what grounds? In terms of the size of the club, budget, wages, attendances, parachute payments (lack of), time in the division...we are somewhere in the middle.

[Full nelson]

If we lose! then Blackburn will be only 5 points behind us and they've had a shocking season according to their fans!! 

[Phileas Fogg]

56 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

I like your pun, but in all serious, feel very surprised we've lost these last 2 games.

I know it helps to manage / lower our expectations, but I was pleasantly satisfied that we could mount a play-off challenge, and now those crappy little seeds of doubt are rife in the mind again, and suddenly our prospects don't look as bright.

Ok, it sounds melodramatic and over the top, but those 2 losses have punched me right in the guts and swiftly kneed me in the nether regions...

We've just had two tough away games and lost them narrowly. It happens. 

We're still 6th and have played well overall this season, we will have times where we lose games on the bounce. The squad is young, the manager isn't the finished article either. We need to be patient because it won't be a totally smooth ride this season, the league is too strong for that.

[AshtonGreat]

22 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

We've just had two tough away games and lost them narrowly. It happens. 

We're still 6th and have played well overall this season, we will have times where we lose games on the bounce. The squad is young, the manager isn't the finished article either. We need to be patient because it won't be a totally smooth ride this season, the league is too strong for that.

Equally, we played poorly against Cardiff and it sounds like we did again tonight. For me, LJ tinkers with the team too much

[Jerseybean]

1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Not sure how serious the original post is, but reading the match thread it seems some people need to get a grip.

We are essentially a mid table Championship side, and that means we will win roughly as many as we lose. That also means we will occasionally lose two or three on the bounce, or win two or three on the bounce. Losing a couple doesn't mean we'll be relegated any more than winning a couple means we will go up.

This is a tough division with not much between a lot of teams. We are a work in progress. If we finish anywhere above 18th this season, which seems likely, that would represent a fourth consecutive season of improvement. And despite tonight's result, we are still 6th and could still have a very good season. There is a lot to like about our club at the moment on and off the pitch.

So please, let's have some perspective.

Well said. We were not great against Forest but won, then we produce a couple of poor away performances and get what we deserve - disappointing defeats - albeit only by a one goal margin. IMO neither Cardiff or QPR are going anywhere this season and as we are a work-in-progress / mid-table team we might have fancied taking something from these away games. Although disappointing we need to maintain a realistic perspective.

[ChippenhamRed]

2 minutes ago, Jerseybean said:

Well said. We were not great against Forest but won, then we produce a couple of poor away performances and get what we deserve - disappointing defeats - albeit only by a one goal margin. IMO neither Cardiff or QPR are going anywhere this season and as we are a work-in-progress / mid-table team we might have fancied taking something from these away games. Although disappointing we need to maintain a realistic perspective.

Also worth remembering that our worst performances last year were 4-0 tankings. Now even our poorest games only have us losing by the odd goal. That's progress of sorts!

[Phileas Fogg]

12 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

Equally, we played poorly against Cardiff and it sounds like we did again tonight. For me, LJ tinkers with the team too much

Yep, he's not the finished article yet as I said. Lots of improvement to come from both him and the team. I really really hope if we end up losing 4 on the bounce or something that our fans stay patient. 

[Up The City!]

1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Not sure how serious the original post is, but reading the match thread it seems some people need to get a grip.

We are essentially a mid table Championship side, and that means we will win roughly as many as we lose. That also means we will occasionally lose two or three on the bounce, or win two or three on the bounce. Losing a couple doesn't mean we'll be relegated any more than winning a couple means we will go up.

This is a tough division with not much between a lot of teams. We are a work in progress. If we finish anywhere above 18th this season, which seems likely, that would represent a fourth consecutive season of improvement. And despite tonight's result, we are still 6th and could still have a very good season. There is a lot to like about our club at the moment on and off the pitch.

So please, let's have some perspective.

Didn't realise we were still in the Play Offs. Now that's realised time to forget this one and move onto the next game.

[archie andrews]

Rollercoaster etc etc...

Get on with it an stop moaning were better than last year

 

 

 

 

[lenred]

I would've expected a return of two points from these two games given our form, so not necessarily the end of the world, but it's about momentum and two losses on the bounce just adds a little pressure that we could do without. Win on Saturday and all is forgotten though. Onwards! 

[Son of Fred]

10 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Not sure how serious the original post is, but reading the match thread it seems some people need to get a grip.

We are essentially a mid table Championship side, and that means we will win roughly as many as we lose. That also means we will occasionally lose two or three on the bounce, or win two or three on the bounce. Losing a couple doesn't mean we'll be relegated any more than winning a couple means we will go up.

This is a tough division with not much between a lot of teams. We are a work in progress. If we finish anywhere above 18th this season, which seems likely, that would represent a fourth consecutive season of improvement. And despite tonight's result, we are still 6th and could still have a very good season. There is a lot to like about our club at the moment on and off the pitch.

So please, let's have some perspective.

Play the game-five minutes ago you were sticking us on as play off certs and shooting down those realists in the "were a mid table"(at best)Championship club......you shot me down for my '15th place finish'.

You really didn't like my "perspective"..

Comedy gold.

[Major Isewater]

10 hours ago, smokey live said:

Ill be glad when we've got the Hull game out of the way. The glamour tie against a huge premier league club must be hard for the players to keep focus for league games

This is a joke right ? 

[MarkRed!]

We are still 6th in the League, will possibly move down to 7th if Sheff Weds win their game. However, a promising season and we should be proud of the progression. Defeats are frustrating but we are doing alright.  Matthews was a welcome return and he had a good game last night.  Only one game we have not really got going and that was at Norwich. We have been in all of the other games and they have all been tight affairs. No one has blown us away like last year. QPR was frustrating because we did not deserve to lose. Two guilt edged chances missed and thus we will pay for that in this division. We also missed a sitter at Cardiff late on.  There are fine margins in this league.....

I do think LJ needs to stick to a settled team and then play around with it if it is not working, which he has done really well. For me, he made too many changes last night and dropping Paterson was a strange call. COD and JB are good young players but they did not really effect the game. I also think Pack is a better holding player than O'Neill. Our set plays have also not been effective so this need to be looked at. 

There are some frustrations:

1. For me, the GK is one of the problems because the distribution of both ROD and FF is poor. They continue to kick position away and the fight is retrieving it.  I hope Lucic plays against Hull as he is the real deal and will be first choice by the end of the season.  He is better than both ROD and FF on the deck. 

2. Joe Bryan is more effective playing in an advanced position. Why do we persist in him at LB. 

3. Tammy continues to be isolated - but actually it is not that he is isolated it is just that he is having to receive too many ariel balls. Nothing is coming into his feet. He is quickly overpowered by solid championship defenders. This all goes back to the GK as we have a tendency to play too many long balls. Pass it into his feet and play him in behind!!!!!

4. We need Gustav and Smith fully fit. 

Best city team for Blackburn and for me as our first 11:

Fielding

Goldbourne

Mags

Flint

Matthews

Reid

Pack 

Tomlin

Paterson

Bryan

Abraham

[Major Isewater]

In the Championship the margins between success and failure are slim .

We've been ahead largely because of Abraham's finishing .

Last night QPR out fought us but we could still have had 3 goals maybe 4 .

( Tammy , Tomlin 2 and Reid ) 

On another day those go in and we are all dreaming of the Prem .

QPR's finishing was dire and we coped with the pressure they inflicted.

Hoping that Tammy finds his golden touch Saturday and we get the rub of the green.

[Charliesboots]

11 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Not sure how serious the original post is, but reading the match thread it seems some people need to get a grip.

We are essentially a mid table Championship side, and that means we will win roughly as many as we lose. That also means we will occasionally lose two or three on the bounce, or win two or three on the bounce. Losing a couple doesn't mean we'll be relegated any more than winning a couple means we will go up.

This is a tough division with not much between a lot of teams. We are a work in progress. If we finish anywhere above 18th this season, which seems likely, that would represent a fourth consecutive season of improvement. And despite tonight's result, we are still 6th and could still have a very good season. There is a lot to like about our club at the moment on and off the pitch.

So please, let's have some perspective.

Saved me writing a post. 

Absolutely agree 100%. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

Newcastle will win the League, Norwich will probably get 2nd though don't rule out a late Villa charge with Bruce. As for us, a playoff tilt is achievable- we will push but probably we will finish somewhere between 10th-14th I think, Huddersfield and some other sides are bound to fall away. When Korey returns that will be like a new signing  if he gets up to speed quickly.

[spudski]

It's always a good indicator as to how a team is doing by looking at the Goal diff in the league table. It's often a better indicator than the points actually showing at the time.

History in the tables has proven this.

Look at the table...and the amount of teams in the negative.

we are doing ok...not being outplayed at all. Bit of luck and we'd have a couple extra points.

Funnily...even with two draws from the last two games...we'd still be in the same position.

[Phileas Fogg]

3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Newcastle will win the League, Norwich will probably get 2nd though don't rule out a late Villa charge with Bruce. As for us, a playoff tilt is achievable- we will push but probably we will finish somewhere between 10th-14th I think, Huddersfield and some other sides are bound to fall away.

Think you're probably going to be about right with this. The likes of Newcastle and Norwich are simply too strong and Villa are obviously in a false position. There are other big sides in this league with ridiculously strong squads who will be aiming for playoffs (Derby, Brighton etc).

We had a threadbare squad for a large amount of last season, it'll take a while to bulk it out with enough quality (relative to our budget) before we can see promotion as realistic. Mid-table or top 10 would be a good season for us.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Think you're probably going to be about right with this. The likes of Newcastle and Norwich are simply too strong and Villa are obviously in a false position. There are other big sides in this league with ridiculously strong squads who will be aiming for playoffs (Derby, Brighton etc).

We had a threadbare squad for a large amount of last season, it'll take a while to bulk it out with enough quality (relative to our budget) before we can see promotion as realistic. Mid-table or top 10 would be a good season for us.

Agreed, solid progression- midtable or top 10 will do nicely. Of course if we sign a high calibre striker in Jan as backup/partner for Tammy assuming we are in touch with the playoffs then the picture could change drastically. As you say, quality in depth will be key and Derby, Brighton et al- I forgot about Brighton and Sheff Wed also fit that category, rising back up the League after a bad start.

[ChippenhamRed]

4 hours ago, Robert the bruce said:

Play the game-five minutes ago you were sticking us on as play off certs and shooting down those realists in the "were a mid table"(at best)Championship club......you shot me down for my '15th place finish'.

You really didn't like my "perspective"..

Comedy gold.

Please show me the post where I described us as "play off certs".  I described us as "heading for a mid-table finish and outside contenders for a play off spot" and the evidence is below.  Unfortunately for you Bruce your attempts to discredit me - and your inability to respond to me posts with anything other than "hilarious" or "comedy" - ironically makes you the comedian.

You may also want to check the table - we're in 6th spot, so "play off contenders" remains a reasonable description.

Try harder, Bruce.

 

 

[22A]

20 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

We are essentially a mid table Championship side, and that means we will win roughly as many as we lose. That also means we will occasionally lose two or three on the bounce, or win two or three on the bounce. Losing a couple doesn't mean we'll be relegated any more than winning a couple means we will go up.

Agreed and history backs you up. Two seasons ago we lost at Swindon and in the next game PNE won at the gate. City bounced back to win the next game 3-0 away and went on to be Champions.

October / November in the 83-84 season City lost six on the bounce and still won promotion.