I know there are bigger fish to fry after today's results, and it's a bit silly for this to even register, but have to say I'm unreasonably pleased that today's loss means
this man is almost certainly not getting playoffs this year. It would be harsh to say that Stevenage have 'bottled it' after an objectively very impressive first season back at this level, but 8 points in 10 games since the beginning of March (and, incidentally, since that infuriatingly stupid penguin dance linked above) is... pretty bad. You get the sense that, for them, they've thrown away probably the best chance they'll ever have of getting to the Championship. Oh well.
For us, though, you have to say playoffs should be all but nailed on now. Avoiding a loss on Tuesday would, I think, do it. Blackpool have, on paper, been on a decent run, with three consecutive wins. but I wouldn't say scraping 1-0 wins against one relegated side, one all-but-relegated side (Fleetwood) and one side who look to have just about avoided relegation through a good manager appointment in March (Cambridge) is particularly impressive. They'll probably have to get maximum points against Barnsley (admittedly, not looking too unlikely at the moment, but still a tricky game) and Reading (who, to their credit, have shown themselves to be a much more resilient outfit this season than many, myself included, expected them to be) to overtake us. Lincoln, as many predicted at the time, have not been able to maintain winning 5-0 every week off poor xG numbers, have hit a bit of a slump in form, and I doubt would pick up the 6 points from Cheltenham and Pompey needed to overtake us should they fail to win on Tuesday.
Leyton's fall away I've found, objectively, very disappointing. I thought they looked the real deal at our place, I was impressed. 11 points in 10 since suggests they couldn't build on it.
I do think though we shouldn't get carried away. We've had a ridiculous couple of weeks, with a literally (I think) unprecedented goal tally in Oxford United's history, but that is not going to last forever. We are not going to win each of our next three (/ six
) games 4+ goals to nil. We need to treat Lincoln, Stevenage and Exeter with the respect they deserve and focus on getting the points needed to guarantee playoffs. Hopefully that happens with a win on Tuesday.
(And once that happens, we can start thinking seriously about overtaking Barnsley..!)