Matches Top 6 Race 2023/24

[Steve Gilbert]

It comes down to 3 games:

Barnsley vs Northampton
Exeter vs Oxford
Lincoln vs Portsmouth
Reading vs Blackpool

Current standings:
Barnsley - 75
Lincoln - 74
Oxford - 74
Blackpool - 73

If we win then we need to Lincoln to draw/lose or Barnsley to draw/lose

If we draw then we need Barnsley to lose or Lincoln to lose.

If we lose then we don’t make it.

 

[Manorlounger]

So these are the games left for the sides chasing the final play off spot.
I believe every team should win at least 4 of their games with Blackpool winning 5. Obviously us and Lincoln can't both come away with 3 points, same with Stevenage, so we would need at least a point in these games to keep us out of reach of them.

Oxford​	Lincoln​	Stevenage​	Blackpool​	Orient​
Shrewbury (A)	Orient (H)	Carlisle (A)	Derby (A)	Lincoln (A)
Fleetwood (A)	Carlisle (A)	Bolton (H)	Wycombe (H)	Peterborough (H)
Burton (A)	Reading (A)	Charlton (A)	Cambridge (H)	Cheltenham (H)
Peterborough (H)	Wigan (H)	Exeter (A)	Fleetwood (H)	Exeter (H)
Lincoln (H)	Oxford (A)	Barnsley (H)	Carlisle (A)	Derby (A)
Stevenage (H)	Cheltenham (A)	Burton (H)	Barnsley (H)	Fleetwood (H)
Exeter (A)	Pompey (H)	Oxford (A)	Reading (A)	Shrewsbury (A)
Cheltenham (H)

I feel it will be between us and Blackpool due to the games they have left.

We have to play Cheltenham at home again!!?? That's a bit harsh, of course, if we beat them again . .. . .

 

[Jster]

I'm guessing the extra fixture is meant to be for Stevenage, as they have the game in hand on the rest.

Stevenage play Carlisle on Saturday, when the rest don't play, so all will be equal fixture-wise after that.

 

[Roge]

I think you will find Fleetwood is at home

 

[Steve Gilbert]

After a few copy and paste teething problems I think all fixtures should be correct!

 

[Scotchegg]

I posted this on Saturday but for some reason it was merged with another thread.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Think it's more of a race for 6th place. The top 5 will be the top 5.

Lincoln are the the team to watch currently.

 

[Up The Manor]

We are only in 6th place due to the 9 wins from 11 games Manning got us at the start of season .
Other than that we are plummeting like stone and have been since Des first arrived .
I think it will take a miracle to make the play offs now .
The decline in performances and structure to our game plan in recent months has been failure of the highest order .
We are 2 poor home results away from it being a bad history statistic for another season .

 

[Steve Gilbert]

We are only in 6th place due to the 9 wins from 11 games Manning got us at the start of season .
Other than that we are plummeting like stone and have been since Des first arrived .
I think it will take a miracle to make the play offs now .
The decline in performances and structure to our game plan in recent months has been failure of the highest order .
We are 2 poor home results away from it being a bad history statistic for another season .

We are 6th because we have got 63 points over 39 games which is 2 more than the team in 7th. If we had just 9 wins then we would be 2nd bottom on 27 points.

We have been consistently inconsistent this season but at least we are still very much in the mix and have something to actually play for in the last 7 games.

 

[Up The Manor]

We are 6th because we have got 63 points over 39 games which is 2 more than the team in 7th. If we had just 9 wins then we would be 2nd bottom on 27 points.

We have been consistently inconsistent this season but at least we are still very much in the mix and have something to actually play for in the last 7 games.

Consistently inconsistent since Des has been here you mean ?
9 wins from 11 isn't inconsistent under previous manager .

 

[Chris on a Bike]

As a matter of interest UTM where did you think we'd finish this season (before a ball was kicked)?

 

[Steve Gilbert]

As a matter of interest UTM where did you think we'd finish this season (before a ball was kicked)?

According to this, 50% of this forum thought realistic progression after last season would be a play off push but just missing out. Given the season we have had off the pitch then I think even after the 1st 10 games, it can be seen as realistic progression.

Fan's View - What Is Realistic Progression?

After a few dramatic posts on here and also twitter after last night I was curious to see what people actually thought would be a good level of progression after last season. Given the rebuild needed needed not just on the field but off it too with the change in staff it would be a top half...

yellowsforum.co.uk

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Consistently inconsistent since Des has been here you mean ?
9 wins from 11 isn't inconsistent under previous manager .

Our form had already dropped off while Manning was still here though.

 

[maidenheadox]

We are only in 6th place due to the 9 wins from 11 games Manning got us at the start of season .
Other than that we are plummeting like stone and have been since Des first arrived .
I think it will take a miracle to make the play offs now .
The decline in performances and structure to our game plan in recent months has been failure of the highest order .
We are 2 poor home results away from it being a bad history statistic for another season .

I think the point of this thread was to have a discussion about the remaining games as it's quite an exciting stage of the season. We are where we are, the post mortems have been done to death .....

 

[Leysboy]

If we don’t win the next three games, the race is run. It’s looking like a tall order!

I had us down for a top 4 finish at the beginning of the season, but that was with Manning at the helm.

Under Des we look like a team that is more suitable to a Sunday league game at Florence Park.

If somehow we do win the next three games, then we’d need a win somewhere else and a draw against either Peterborough or Stevenage. If we don’t finish in the top 6 this season, then it’s been a failure.

 

[Up The Manor]

Our form had already dropped off while Manning was still here though.

I disagree we were 3 points of top spot when he left with 10 wins 2 draws and 3 defeats .Decent form after 15 games .

 

[Up The Manor]

As a matter of interest UTM where did you think we'd finish this season (before a ball was kicked)?

Top 6 all day long with the budget we have .
Nothing less is exceptable .

 

[bdodwell]

We are only in 6th place due to the 9 wins from 11 games Manning got us at the start of season .
Other than that we are plummeting like stone and have been since Des first arrived .
I think it will take a miracle to make the play offs now .
The decline in performances and structure to our game plan in recent months has been failure of the highest order .
We are 2 poor home results away from it being a bad history statistic for another season .

 

[bdodwell]

Generally yes our results have been poor under Des, however we've won 2 out of last 3 and could well make 6th. That said I can't see us getting promotion through play offs but at least it would keep us interested.

 

[NorthernExile]

Lincoln have got all the momentum. My money would be on them. I'd be delighted if we had anything to play for come Exeter.