The next eight games.....

tonyw

tonyw

Level: Paul Moody
(197 Apps, 75 Gls)
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.....look pretty straightforward on paper.

16th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 10th, 12th, 18th, 24th.

If we can string together a few battling performances like yesterday and/or some quality performances like we've seen from time to time this season, then I don't think it's out of the question that we could come out of that stretch with 4-5 wins and a couple of draws and basically remove all our relegation fears.

We may have to - because I wouldn't want to be needing too much out of our last four - when we play three of the top six, all of whom may still have promotion to play for.....

Now's the time, KR - let's get it done, and then we can get back to worrying about things in the Boardroom, and hoping that we don't **** up a 3rd straight summer window!
 
The only problem is that we've generally done better against the top clubs than those nearer the bottom--maybe because the top clubs think we'll be easy pickings, whereas those at the bottom play in a style that we're unwilling or unable to match.

More games like yesterday's will be needed--not trying to play too expansively, but doing whatever it takes to grind out a win.
 
Oxymoron said:
On the flip side, in March Walsall have got to play Burton, Fleetwood, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Barnsley & Doncaster before hosting us on 6th April.

That's a tough run even by our recent standards.
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Excluding Doncaster, we picked up 7 points from the other 5 games which will likely be at least 3 or 4 points more than Walsall will get. We'll be a long way clear of them by the time we play them.
 
Jon-ioualways said:
The only problem is that we've generally done better against the top clubs than those nearer the bottom--maybe because the top clubs think we'll be easy pickings, whereas those at the bottom play in a style that we're unwilling or unable to match.

More games like yesterday's will be needed--not trying to play too expansively, but doing whatever it takes to grind out a win.
Click to expand...


More or less my thoughts as well.
 
It's said that we perform better against the better teams but 5 of our wins have come against Burton, Plymouth, Shrewsbury, Gillingham and Rochdale, and what should have been a win a Scunthorpe. All teams in and around the bottom half.

Even if you ignore our away games, we have Scunthorpe, Bradford, Wycombe and Wimbledon as our next 4 home games, which could, and should be 4 wins. Add in a few draws away to Gillingham, Rochdale and Walsall and we should be home and hosed.
 
One of the reasons the poor Christmas games were so disappointing was because we knew we had a really tough start to 2019 on paper. However, despite not picking up too many points, I reckon we’ve come through January and February reasonably unscathed. I think the five points against Pompey, Barnsley and Sunderland are more than anyone really expected, and the win at Blackpool means we have come out of this period out of the relegation zone, when I think there was a danger we could have been cut pretty far adrift. We’re obviously still in a precarious position, but as the OP suggest, hopefully this marks the beginning of a slightly more enjoyable period for us all!
 
But then all those teams around us will have the same thought process "we can beat Oxford"
 
Not sure any of us know which way it’s going to go as we’re so unpredictable, but whichever way it does go we know it’s going to be tight.

Yes, we do have winnable games during March, but we thought that when we played Peterborough after good performances against Pompey, Barnsley and Sunderland!

Having said that, not many of us expected to beat Blackpool away which we hadn’t done for 39 years!!

Going to be a rollcoaster ride here on in, with us probably needing something away at Luton on the last day!! Hope not though.
 
work out a way to play against the dirty hoofball teams and we'll be fine. will be glad when this seasons over though and hope for a more positive outlook for the summer with investment and exciting players
 
uptheus said:
Not sure any of us know which way it’s going to go as we’re so unpredictable, but whichever way it does go we know it’s going to be tight.

Yes, we do have winnable games during March, but we thought that when we played Peterborough after good performances against Pompey, Barnsley and Sunderland!

Having said that, not many of us expected to beat Blackpool away which we hadn’t done for 39 years!!

Going to be a rollcoaster ride here on in, with us probably needing something away at Luton on the last day!! Hope not though.
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Probably need something from Luton really?
We need 4 wins and 2 draws to get to 50 points
If we need something from Luton we have probably has it. We need to get the results well before Luton.
 
Foley said:
Probably need something from Luton really?
We need 4 wins and 2 draws to get to 50 points
If we need something from Luton we have probably has it. We need to get the results well before Luton.
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Exactly. If we need something from Luton then we deserve to go down as we can not expect to throw away easy points to then rely on Doncaster and Luton at the death.
 
yellowbow said:
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how they do, with many people on here suggesting - with some justification- that a change of manager at this point of the season would be committing suicide.
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Given their track record of recent appointments it probably is. They want through a good spell and have to say I thought they would pull away but they have not kicked on
 
It will be tight, whichever way you cut it, and we really don't want to go to Luton still needing even one point.
Shrewsbury play their game in hand tomorrow night (v Donny) and Rovers still have a game in hand.
Wimbledon are still adrift despite a recent upturn, and Bradford are looking for their third manager of the season (so hopefully unlikely to get much of a bounce from any new appointment).
 
Jon-ioualways said:
The only problem is that we've generally done better against the top clubs than those nearer the bottom--maybe because the top clubs think we'll be easy pickings, whereas those at the bottom play in a style that we're unwilling or unable to match.

More games like yesterday's will be needed--not trying to play too expansively, but doing whatever it takes to grind out a win.
Click to expand...

I've wondered about this point as is appeared to be true so I've broken it down into points gained against the clubs in each quarter of the league. The points tallies are:

Teams placed 1-6 = 8/27
Teams placed 7-12 = 13/30
Teams placed 13-18 = 8/27
Teams placed 19-24 = 7/18

Bearing in mind, we're in the bottom quarter and therefore cannot gain nor drop points against ourselves, it goes to show that the sides in the higher reaches of the division have indeed proven happier hunting grounds for points.

That's an issue as we're giving point away to those around us and allowing the likes of Scunthorpe, Plymouth and Accrington to wriggle free. I wouldn't at all be surprised if Scunthorpe take something from us this weekend and then we promptly go and beat Doncaster later in the season.
 
unification said:
I've wondered about this point as is appeared to be true so I've broken it down into points gained against the clubs in each quarter of the league. The points tallies are:

Teams placed 1-6 = 8/27
Teams placed 7-12 = 13/30
Teams placed 13-18 = 8/27
Teams placed 19-24 = 7/18

Bearing in mind, we're in the bottom quarter and therefore cannot gain nor drop points against ourselves, it goes to show that the sides in the higher reaches of the division have indeed proven happier hunting grounds for points.

That's an issue as we're giving point away to those around us and allowing the likes of Scunthorpe, Plymouth and Accrington to wriggle free. I wouldn't at all be surprised if Scunthorpe take something from us this weekend and then we promptly go and beat Doncaster later in the season.
Click to expand...

Interesting figures. Do they reflect where teams are now? Or where they were when we played them? I’m just thinking that for teams like Plymouth, who we beat in (October?) when they were in the relegation zone but have since gone on a run, the figures might be slightly skewed.
 
ttg17 said:
Interesting figures. Do they reflect where teams are now? Or where they were when we played them? I’m just thinking that for teams like Plymouth, who we beat in (October?) when they were in the relegation zone but have since gone on a run, the figures might be slightly skewed.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is a downside to it. I've calculated it based on the positions as of today so there is some skewed numbers.

That said, I don't think we've had a real game changing charge or decline from any teams this season, have we? I'm thinking a Barnsley-style bottom to playoffs run like they had in 2016. As such, I think as a rough indicator to see whether we do better against the top half sides than the lower half sides it does map out that that is the case.
 
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