Championship 21/22

[1864roverite]

If I was Mowbray this morning I would be bursting with utter pride at the team.

Luton away aside, February is a huge month and I would approach it no different to the way we have approached every game since Fulham. One game at a time.

Glancing at the fixtures Rovers should aim to avoid defeats v Forest and QPR. Draws in these games are good enough whilst wins would be great.

If we can win v Millwall and snatch a results at Swansea/Sheff U i would leave the WBA as the game not to be worried about.

Mowbray said it himself, 10 wins out of 18 games is the aim, I think its lower than that, win 8 games and we are in the play off mix. Any additional wins would see us possibly cement second spot. I mean, the games against Fulham and Bournemouth are going to be great. I would hope that looking at the teams we play and we avoid a massive injury pile up/suspension list we are capable of winning at least 8 of our remaining games and probably more.

[RevidgeBlue]

48 minutes ago, RoverDom said:

Just been looking. Average points for 2nd place since the mid 90s is 87 and average for 6th spot is 74. We're on 52 with 18 to play. 

I'm confident of 6th spot  the wheels will have to well and truly come off for us not to get that and after last night I don't think that is going to happen. 2nd is a big ask with how stretched the squad. Couple of good bodies through the door will help this massively. 

 

Bournemouth aren't the biggest worry for me at the moment  but QPR seem to be quietly chipping away. Let's hope Swansea can do us a favour tonight because if they win their 2 games over us they go 2nd

Yes I was looking at how much was needed for 6th place the other day. The last 2 seasons 71 points would have secured 6th place, 3 seasons ago it would have been 74. So I'm fairly sure 75 points will secure the play offs which is "only" 23 points from 18 games. Surely doable.

That should be the bare minimum target though and really we should be targeting something like 88 points which ought to secure 2nd especially if Bournemouth continue to falter.

Two points a game.

 

[only2garners]

Big blow for West Brom, with Daryl Dike being sidelined for around 8 weeks with a hamstring injury.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

I’m torn on QPR as I’ve said in this thread. Part of me thinks, ‘good teams win matches late, they’ll not be going away’. But then the stats and viewpoints from their fans would suggest they’re getting very lucky to pick up the recent wins that they have, so the bubble may well burst. Concerningly though, they do have a pretty great set of fixtures coming up apart from Boro at home.

With stats though, they paint a false picture. We was told last season that the "data" was better than the results and there was an implication that the results would eventually improve, but they didn't. Conversely, our stats are supposedly much poorer this season. In many of the games in our last few months, I have never felt unduly fearful of an imminent goal for the other team. The stats favour teams who hog possession, and also if a team tends to score and see games out, the other team will naturally create chances trying to equalise.

[RoverDom]

44 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Yes I was looking at how much was needed for 6th place the other day. The last 2 seasons 71 points would have secured 6th place, 3 seasons ago it would have been 74. So I'm fairly sure 75 points will secure the play offs which is "only" 23 points from 18 games. Surely doable.

That should be the bare minimum target though and really we should be targeting something like 88 points which ought to secure 2nd especially if Bournemouth continue to falter.

Two points a game.

 

8 wins from 18 should do it so agree with you that should be the bare minimum. 8 wins means we can lose 10 times over the remainder of the season so we can have a pretty awful couple of months and still be in with a shout of the play offs. 

[Admiral Nelsen]

1 hour ago, only2garners said:

Big blow for West Brom, with Daryl Dike being sidelined for around 8 weeks with a hamstring injury.

 

I briefly made them favourites to grab second once I saw they signed him. That really is a blow - happily means that he'll be missing for when we play them too. 

[bazza]

Isn't our last game Bournemouth at home? That could be a decider as to who gets 2nd place.

[islander200]

9 minutes ago, bazza said:

Isn't our last game Bournemouth at home? That could be a decider as to who gets 2nd place.

It's our last home game, second last game of the season.We play big club Birmingham on the last day.

Bournemouth play Fulham the week before us

[rigger]

13 minutes ago, bazza said:

Isn't our last game Bournemouth at home? That could be a decider as to who gets 2nd place.

No Brum away.

[only2garners]

Bournemouth have a really tough April. After an easy start at home to Bristol City, they play West Brom (a), Sheffiled United (a), Boro (h), Coventry City (a), Fulham (h) and then us at Ewood.

[Ozz]

Edited January 25, 2022 by Ozz
Updated

[Bbrovers2288]

Anybody else feel that we kind of need to go up 2nd as we would buckle in the playoffs? I don’t see us holding up to the pressure of that personally.

who do you fear up the top?

for me Bournemouth with Parker in charge, I don’t see them getting too 2. West Brom seem to be lacking too. So for me I fear boro, forest and qpr seem to be grinding out results with lots of late winners, hopefully that bubble bursts but they seem to be able to keep it going 

[DE.]

Watching QPR Vs Swansea. Swansea remind me of us last season - tons of possession with little to show for it at the end. 

[roversfan99]

Russell Martin gets so much credit for playing that way too. Strange.

[DE.]

I think the commentator said Swansea have the highest average possession in the league with something like 66% - but they're 17th. Meanwhile according to Transfermarkt we have the lowest overall average possession in the league at just 41% - and we're 2nd. 

[Bbrovers2288]

4 minutes ago, DE. said:

I think the commentator said Swansea have the highest average possession in the league with something like 66% - but they're 17th. Meanwhile according to Transfermarkt we have the lowest overall average possession in the league at just 41% - and we're 2nd. 

Peed me off last night when the comms kept saying it’s not how mowbray wants us to play but has to because of the players we have, so much discredit to the players

[roversfan99]

4 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Peed me off last night when the comms kept saying it’s not how mowbray wants us to play but has to because of the players we have, so much discredit to the players

Why does that discredit the players? 

[tomphil]

31 minutes ago, DE. said:

Watching QPR Vs Swansea. Swansea remind me of us last season - tons of possession with little to show for it at the end. 

Well we were told  not long ago that we had to be like Swansea if we wanted to prosper in this league 🤨

[DE.]

Just now, tomphil said:

Well we were told  not long ago that we had to be like Swansea if we wanted to prosper in this league 🤨

Definitely not based on tonight's performance. It's like they've been specifically ordered not to shoot.

[oozy]

Do we need/want VAR in the championship?

Swansea had a goal disallowed which looked offside, but was actually on!

[davulsukur]

18 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Peed me off last night when the comms kept saying it’s not how mowbray wants us to play but has to because of the players we have, so much discredit to the players

I mean, if Mowbray reverted back to that possession based football when our current way has us sat 2nd, he deserves to be sacked on the spot.

[Vilesinner]

45 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Anybody else feel that we kind of need to go up 2nd as we would buckle in the playoffs? I don’t see us holding up to the pressure of that personally.

who do you fear up the top?

for me Bournemouth with Parker in charge, I don’t see them getting too 2. West Brom seem to be lacking too. So for me I fear boro, forest and qpr seem to be grinding out results with lots of late winners, hopefully that bubble bursts but they seem to be able to keep it going 

I think with us scoring the second most goals and now having the best defence 2nd place is there for the taking. 

Yes, the lottery of the playoffs would be scary.

I had £300 on us at 11/1 for promotion at the start of the season, so I'd take 2nd. 🙂

[roversfan99]

1 minute ago, oozy said:

Do we need/want VAR in the championship?

Swansea had a goal disallowed which looked offside, but was actually on!

VAR is more accuracy against less flow. People are dead against it but it is the only realistic way to see a noticeable improvement in the accuracy of decisions.

[Vilesinner]

2 minutes ago, oozy said:

Do we need/want VAR in the championship?

Swansea had a goal disallowed which looked offside, but was actually on!

Yes, some really shocking decisions this year. 

[oozy]

1 minute ago, roversfan99 said:

VAR is more accuracy against less flow. People are dead against it but it is the only realistic way to see a noticeable improvement in the accuracy of decisions.

Absolutely. Some of the decisions that have gone against us have been baffling. We did benefit against Boro with Edun, so complaints not too loud at the moment.