Champions?

FalmouthOx

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Havent seen a thread about us actually being champions this year but it is looking much more likely - particularly if you look at current form - here is the link for flashscore https://www.flashscore.com/football/england/league-one/standings/ - there is a tab "Form" which is showing some interesting trends. Over 25 games we are 3rd behind Wycombe and Ipswich - logical - over 20 games we are third 3rd Wycombe and Peterborough with Ipswich dropping to 5th. Over 15 games we are top, with Wycombe dropping to 3rd and Ipswich 8th. Look nearer - we are also top over 10 games, with Wycombe in 3rd and Ipswich dropping to a lowly 19th. Over 5 games we are 2nd. Wycombe have dropped to 12th and Ipswich 21st

So the trend is a massive drop off from ITFC, Portsmouth starting to gallop, hopefully the choirboys now spewing chips, and we are clearly the form side in the league (and probably the best footballing side in the league and the only one playing a style which would be competitive in the Championship). On form I think we go up as Champions, with Portsmouth second - Peterborough, Fleetwood, Wycome, BristolR in the play offs

The board at OUFC can and now need to deliver us as Champions - we need a good window and a refusal to sell any of the key players - how many more millions do we get as a club in the Championship (from say TV) versus being in L1??? (Anyone know??) - the promotion drive needs now to be put ahead of the individual desire of any player to move on if his head is turned. We won't have a better chance than this (to go up) in many years so assuming there is real ambition we need to keep together. As L1 winners/Championship club, it also takes our price list to £5m+ for pretty much all our players, from the £2-3m which is considered good business if in L1. We need to get there this year and after a great Xmas so far, abstain from sales in January.
 
Whatever happens at AFC Wimbledon on Sunday we are League one champions in 2019 ?
2019/20 League One Date Range: 1-JAN-2019 to 27-DEC-2019
Pos
Team​
P WDLGFGA WDLGFGA GDPts
1Oxford United41 12623417 7773226 2370
2Portsmouth41 11924021 6582930 1865
3Peterborough United42 12454122 6692835 1264
4Wycombe Wanderers42 13443221 56101925 564
5Sunderland42 101023923 5872122 1563
6Bristol Rovers41 8863125 8652123 462
 
Havent seen a thread about us actually being champions this year but it is looking much more likely - particularly if you look at current form - here is the link for flashscore https://www.flashscore.com/football/england/league-one/standings/ - there is a tab "Form" which is showing some interesting trends. Over 25 games we are 3rd behind Wycombe and Ipswich - logical - over 20 games we are third 3rd Wycombe and Peterborough with Ipswich dropping to 5th. Over 15 games we are top, with Wycombe dropping to 3rd and Ipswich 8th. Look nearer - we are also top over 10 games, with Wycombe in 3rd and Ipswich dropping to a lowly 19th. Over 5 games we are 2nd. Wycombe have dropped to 12th and Ipswich 21st

So the trend is a massive drop off from ITFC, Portsmouth starting to gallop, hopefully the choirboys now spewing chips, and we are clearly the form side in the league (and probably the best footballing side in the league and the only one playing a style which would be competitive in the Championship). On form I think we go up as Champions, with Portsmouth second - Peterborough, Fleetwood, Wycome, BristolR in the play offs

The board at OUFC can and now need to deliver us as Champions - we need a good window and a refusal to sell any of the key players - how many more millions do we get as a club in the Championship (from say TV) versus being in L1??? (Anyone know??) - the promotion drive needs now to be put ahead of the individual desire of any player to move on if his head is turned. We won't have a better chance than this (to go up) in many years so assuming there is real ambition we need to keep together. As L1 winners/Championship club, it also takes our price list to £5m+ for pretty much all our players, from the £2-3m which is considered good business if in L1. We need to get there this year and after a great Xmas so far, abstain from sales in January.
Agree with most of that....though one thing that comes to mind re buying n selling players . Of course, as 'ours' go up in value as championship players if/when sold, replacing any sold would cost Oufc more too?

For me, the championship (old division 2) is where Oufc should be and ( rightfully) belong...as a solid, above mid table club :sneaky:

Eei eei eei ooh etc
 
The thing those stats say to me is dont take anything for granted.
Many were suggesting that Ipswich would walk the league. But look what has happened to them.
It is a long season and we could easily have another blip (and with a blip the difficulty is to get out of it- it will be really interesting to see how Wycombe do after 2 defeats in a row)
If the players coming in genuinely do improve us and give us some fresh legs, we have a real chance.
 
Agree that we'll likely never have as good a chance as this to go up. We have a squad that is a perfect blend of experience and youth, decent depth, some standout L1 players that we almost certainly won't have come September, a really weak league around us and what seems to be a very capable back room staff.

Terrified for January. We surely can't keep everyone. Other teams, particularly Ipswich I would imagine, will really push the boat out to strengthen. We'll also inevitably have a wobble, as other teams currently are, it seems. At the moment I'm just hoping for a playoff spot come May, as I refuse to let my expectations get too high.
 
I’m starting to believe. The next four weeks or so will dictate it all. Convince those potentially in demand to give it one more window and add a couple of extra bits of quality and there is definitely looking like something to be had
 
Would it set up a record as the first club to win three championships from the third tier?
Add in the record 6-0 win at Lincoln and the seven consecutive home clean sheets it looks like it will be some season
 
I’m wondering if that Akinfenwa sending off could be pivotal. Say he’d stayed on the pitch and they’d come back and won, and also beat Portsmouth. Currently we are 7 points behind with a game in hand. If Wycombe had won those two games vs us and Pompey we’d be 16 points behind Wycombe.
 
Way too tight at the moment for this sort of discussion in my opinion. There’s only four points between 2nd and 10th as it stands.

If we get through Wimbledon unscathed and can at least maintain (if not improve) our squad then I will start believing.We’ll also need to maintain our good form and hope that clubs immediately below us start slipping up so that we have a bit of a cushion.

Obviously it’s not exactly the case but we really do need to be looking at winning as many as possible and creating a bit of a gap ourselves. I don’t think Wycombe will be top 2 come the end of the season so we just have to push on.

If recent memory recalls we’ve actually been pretty poor over the Christmas period so that would be a big positive if we’d solidified our position up towards the top of the table. If KR can then look to galvanise the squad further and we finish in a similar vein to last season it’ll be very good indeed!

I think hovering in and around the top 3-4 places in January will also make it much easier for the club to sell the vision to prospective players and those currently on other clubs radars. That with a bit of the promotion belief in the stands and hopefully things will snow ball!
 
Agree that we'll likely never have as good a chance as this to go up. We have a squad that is a perfect blend of experience and youth, decent depth, some standout L1 players that we almost certainly won't have come September, a really weak league around us and what seems to be a very capable back room staff.

Terrified for January. We surely can't keep everyone. Other teams, particularly Ipswich I would imagine, will really push the boat out to strengthen. We'll also inevitably have a wobble, as other teams currently are, it seems. At the moment I'm just hoping for a playoff spot come May, as I refuse to let my expectations get too high.
Ipswich didn't invest in the summer really, and Lambert was moaning about the lack of investment. He had a rant after the draw yesterday, saying that there's only so much he can do and that he's happy to leave if he's not wanted. I reckon they might strengthen, but on a shoestring budget again.
 
I’ve had my money (literally) on Portsmouth from Day One. They’ll surely be up there. People are dismissing Ipswich too easily; they are having their ‘blip’ now and will probably finish as champions. Peterborough are dangerous, too, and I think these are the main competition for us. What chances another visit to Wembley - this time for the play-off final? ?
 
Don’t think we should shy away from talking up our chances
our fitness should come to the fore in the latter parts of the season, we have hopefully come through our injury crisis and others will have theirs. on top of that a couple of teams near top look like they wont last the course (Wycombe, Bristol Rovers)

the only thing I would say in reply to the original post is that is is easy to spend other people’s money. I don’t think anyone could criticise the club if they cashed in one of our assets this transfer window, of course it would be better if we didn’t, but we lose a lot of money as a club and the model for stemming those loses is clear. In an ideal world we hold onto our key players and add 2-3 and really give It a go, but we can’t go s**t or bust and we never should, so without intimate knowledge of the finances it is hard to understand what is appropriate.
 
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