[Archived] THE BATTLE FOR PROMOTION....WON.

[RevidgeBlue]

7 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Thanks for sharing your codex. If anyone can decipher this, please let me know 

Thank God for that. Thought it was just me over the last weeks and months whilst everyone else was sagely discussing this random assortment of gobbledygook!

Would still rather be in Wigan's position but one more slip up from them will make the title race very interesting. Be nice for TM if he could emulate Sir Gordon Lee.

[Bigdoggsteel]

7 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Thank God for that. Thought it was just me over the last weeks and months whilst everyone else was sagely discussing this random assortment of gobbledygook!

Would still rather be in Wigan's position but one more slip up from them will make the title race very interesting. Be nice for TM if he could emulate Sir Gordon Lee.

I don't know if I would. They have to win a game in hand, granted its in their hands, but a different game when that pressure is on. 

An exciting run in for the neutral. Nerve wrecking for those involved! 

[Paul]

1 hour ago, Gav said:

Who has done the sums?

When are we going up?

Do we need to get tickets in the home end at Bristol Rovers or Charlton just to make sure?

Hopefully we'll go up at home so everyone can be part of it?

 

Impossible to call it GAV. We’re in a great position, can’t say any more than that.

We’ve got tickets for Doncaster and are planning to go to Charlton. I hope it can be one of those. Second half today was nervy enough, I’m not sure I can hack needing a win at home to Oxford. 

[JacknOry]

Points on board is better than a one point advantage (if you win a game in hand) in my opinion. Pressure on them.

[OJRovers]

Wigan got to go away to Fleetwood who are flying, won't be easy.

[Mike E]

Players whinging, shows they're rattled. Brilliant! Every team has had refs that shocking all season and they're only noticing it now so they have an excuse.

Pathetic.

[blueboy3333]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Thanks for sharing your codex. If anyone can decipher this, please let me know 

You need a better device, gobbo.

[Admiral Nelsen]

Wigan's result makes it interesting.

Still large favourites to finish above Shrewsbury, but also look like they're in real danger in surrendering top spot to Rovers.

Taking games in hand into account, looks like Rovers are the team hardest of the three to predict if we'll finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

That said, I'd still back us to finish top the way that we're playing. COYB

[47er]

1 hour ago, blueboy3333 said:

You need a better device, gobbo.

Actually,I don't know what everyone's on about. Easy to read on my MacAir. Not having a go, what's the issue?

[Tom]

I think the one thing that stands out for me now, if I was a neautral with no predisposition to thinking the sky is falling I would say Rovers position is the strongest of the 3.

Shrewsbury fans can convince themselves that the pressure is off them now but they’d swap with us in a heartbeat and Wigan need to have got their blip out of the way.

We’ll drop some points again but I think if we get the next 2 wins on the board from the next 2 games the battle over Shrewsbury is nearly won, big if mind you.

[47er]

4 minutes ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

Wigan's result makes it interesting.

Still large favourites to finish above Shrewsbury, but also look like they're in real danger in surrendering top spot to Rovers.

Taking games in hand into account, looks like Rovers are the team hardest of the three to predict if we'll finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

That said, I'd still back us to finish top the way that we're playing. COYB

For the first time this season,I believe Wigan are now just one of three. I thought they were nailed on certainties for promotion, now I think they are choking under the pressure.

Rovers and Shrewsbury to go up----suits me!

[blueboy3333]

38 minutes ago, 47er said:

Actually,I don't know what everyone's on about. Easy to read on my MacAir. Not having a go, what's the issue?

No idea. Maybe Bigdogg's Spectrum is playing up.

[FGS5635]

We are the form team of the 3. We have 1 defeat in 28. Are the top scorers. I'd say we are the easiest to predict.

We are going up....COYB!! E I E I E I O!!

[Kamy100]

Forget about everything and for now do what Mowbray and the team seem to be doing well which is focusing on the next game.  There will be plenty of twists and turns in the final 7 games.

[Paul]

Just now, Tom said:

I think the one thing that stands out for me now, if I was a neautral with no predisposition to thinking the sky is falling I would say Rovers position is the strongest of the 3.

Shrewsbury fans can convince themselves that the pressure is off them now but they’d swap with us in a heartbeat and Wigan need to have got their blip out of the way.

We’ll drop some points again but I think if we get the next 2 wins on the board from the next 2 games the battle over Shrewsbury is nearly won, big if mind you.

I think this is a very good point Tom. Next time Shrewsbury kick off they could conceivably be 7 behind us and 5 behind Wigan - that starts to look like a big gap at this stage of the season. 

If this weekend was a turning point, which I think it may have been, then by 10.00pm April 10th we could have very clear idea of who is going up.

Win our next two games and Shrewsbury fail to win at Bradford and I think we’re up.  Gillingham is the one to worry about. I have a bad feeling about this game - I’d take a point now.

[47er]

Looking at Wigan's previous 4 results before today, they won 4, scored 9 goals and conceded precisely none! And only one of those games was at home! That is promotion form by any normal standard.

Leads me to think that this season is a freak, A while ago, we were saying 2 points a game and promotion is certain. It won't be enough will it, this time round?

Nail-biting times!

[blueboy3333]

27 minutes ago, Kamy100 said:

Forget about everything and for now do what Mowbray and the team seem to be doing well which is focusing on the next game.  There will be plenty of twists and turns in the final 7 games.

Its a message board pal, it's not the same as being in the team or being the manager. 

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, blueboy3333 said:

No idea. Maybe Bigdogg's Spectrum is playing up.

The format is all over the place on my Samsung mobile, unreadable.

Looks like a science formula written in Sumerian.

Obviously my device can't handle the high IT needed to show letters and numbers.

Thanks for the effort as I would have liked to see it.

[Mike E]

4 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

The format is all over the place on my Samsung mobile, unreadable.

Looks like a science formula written in Sumerian.

Obviously my device can't handle the high IT needed to show letters and numbers.

Thanks for the effort as I would have liked to see it.

Ditto, though it's simply that the spacing between words/numbers on one line get pushed to the next line which make it look a mess.

Not your fault or the poster's, just unfortunate.

[matt83]

We are the leagues form team from last 5, 15, 20, 25 and 30 games. Only Plymouth ahead of us in last 10. Just that bloody awful start otherwise we’d be home and dry.

Shrewsbury are like the terminator. Just when you think they’re dead they come back. Kind of respect that. 3 dominant teams in the division but I don’t think any of us would win the playoffs. 

[Paul]

7 hours ago, Kamy100 said:

Forget about everything and for now do what Mowbray and the team seem to be doing well which is focusing on the next game.  There will be plenty of twists and turns in the final 7 games.

I don’t think we can afford any twists and turns. It needs to be dead on 100% concentration. Wigan I’m not so worried about but Shrewsbury just don’t seem to know when they’re beaten.

We need to win six from seven to be certain of promotion. Winning the next two and Shrewsbury’s result next Thursday are a real turning point. Two wins for us and a draw or loss for Shrewsbury changes it and prospects will look very good.

[blueboy3333]

7 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

The format is all over the place on my Samsung mobile, unreadable.

Looks like a science formula written in Sumerian.

Obviously my device can't handle the high IT needed to show letters and numbers.

Thanks for the effort as I would have liked to see it.

Same on my samsung mobile. Like mike said its just the spacing. Its fine on the laptop i did it on. 

[JHRover]

We've got ourselves into a great position and automatic promotion is within our own hands. That is all I ask for. I'd like it to be much more comfortable and the relentlessness of it is hard to believe in comparison to the other divisions and previous seasons at this level but the fact remains that if we carry on doing what we've been doing we'll go up.

The Easter weekend went very well for us. 6 points from 6, no major issues and a defeat each for Shrewsbury and Wigan. Possibly would have preferred a defeat for Shrewsbury yesterday rather than Wigan but we've now got to a stage where Wigan's one time massive lead over us has now been reduced to a point, assuming they win their game in hand, so no room for slip ups from them and the title is up for grabs.

 

[JHRover]

I still can't get over how much higher the total points for automatic promotion is going to be in comparison to last season. I know it's ultimately irrelevant but still interesting to compare.

After 46 games last season Scunthorpe finished 3rd on 82 points. We're already on 82 off 39 games. Bolton finished the season with 86 points - 25 wins, 11 draws and 10 defeats - but only needed 83 to secure automatic promotion. We've already got 24 wins and 10 draws, but only 5 defeats. We've already scored 74 goals, Bolton only scored 68 last season. To match Sheffield United's total we'd have to win 6 and lose 1 of our remaining 7. Doable but probably won't happen.

Another 15 points from 21 puts us onto 97 for the season with a strong goal difference. Surely that will be enough.

[DE.]

If you look back throughout the years traditionally the gap between 3rd - 4th/5th/6th has been a lot smaller than it is this year. You could argue that the other teams don't really deserve a playoff and that third should just go up automatically with a gap this large, but that would upset Sky. 

To compare the last three seasons points totals at the end:

16/17 season:

3rd 82
4th 82
5th 79
6th 73

15/16 season:

3rd 84
4th 81
5th 80
6th 74

14/15 season

3rd 89
4th 79
5th 71
6th 69

As it stands 17/18 season:

3rd 80
4th 66
5th 61
6th 61

3rd place being Wigan, who have 2 games in hand on 4th & 5th and one game in hand on 6th. 

For what it's worth in 14/15 Preston came 3rd with 89 points but did promoted via the playoffs. We could be looking at 3rd place this year being on well over 90 points, maybe as much as 20 points ahead of 4th but still have to contest a playoff. You can't say that's fair, I do wonder whether there should have been a rule implemented stating that if the gap between 3rd & 4th is greater than 15 points then 3rd goes up automatically. You can't say any of the teams below have really earned a playoff spot being so far behind over the course of the season. But, dat playoff drama I guess.