We have more points in the bag than at the same stage last season

The Disciple

The Disciple

Well-known member
Four more i think - having said that we had, or ended up with in January, a better squad than we have now. We were also pretty lucky with injuries last season, up until the last six weeks when we lost Ramsey Howson and Forss at key moments. I still think we’re in with a shot of reaching the playoff places but we will probably need two or three good loans/buys to have a crack at it.
 
We’re a difficult side to predict - one week we look organised and strong defensively, then the next we’re all over the place
 
We had an incredible run from Gameweek 18-36 last season.

15 Wins
1 Draw
3 Loss

2.42 points/game

This squad does not have the depth to replicate this consistency or get even close to replicating in my opinion.

We've got 3 real tough games coming up here. I would take 3 points from the 3 games if someone offered them now with the current injuries we have and the form of our 3 opponents. I am resigned to a mid-table finish this season to be honest which is a lot better than it looked like it was going to be after 7 games.
 
We went on an incredible run of form at this point last season, under a new manager.

I think that injuries to many key players, and an inferior strike force, is going to make it hard to manage anywhere near that run this time around.

We've still got as good a chance as any for the play-offs if our luck comes in, but it's a tougher ask than last season.
 
I dont see us as a play off team this season - maybe as an outside chance if we get a goal scorer in jan, injured players all back and we find a bit more consistency - but thats all unlikely to happen.

We havent bought finished articles, so its natural it will take time for them to develop - by next season Coburn could well be a great striker, Silvera, Rogers, Engel will all be better, if we can keep Greenwood and somehow do a deal for OBrien we could be up there, but not this season.
 
B_G said:
We had an incredible run from Gameweek 18-36 last season.

15 Wins
1 Draw
3 Loss

2.42 points/game

This squad does not have the depth to replicate this consistency or get even close to replicating in my opinion.

We've got 3 real tough games coming up here. I would take 3 points from the 3 games if someone offered them now with the current injuries we have and the form of our 3 opponents. I am resigned to a mid-table finish this season to be honest which is a lot better than it looked like it was going to be after 7 games.
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You are right we did have a very good spell last season. You may well be right that we cannot reproduce that this season, given our injuries. However, it is the same squad that beat Leicester, with all the same injuries.

Consistency would be the key rather than the squad itself.
 
Laughing said:
You are right we did have a very good spell last season. You may well be right that we cannot reproduce that this season, given our injuries. However, it is the same squad that beat Leicester, with all the same injuries.

Consistency would be the key rather than the squad itself.
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A good team can produce top performances but it needs a strong squad to produce consistency.
We have the first but I don't think we have the latter.

We played brilliantly against Leicester but let's be honest, that performance was in the top 3 performances of our season and a draw would have been a fair result. If we played them 10 times, we'd do well to beat them 3 times in my opinion.

Last season, for 19 successive games, we put performances like that in almost every match. If it wasn't working for Akpom then Archer was on fire. Or Forss would pop up with a goal. Or Crooks would come off the bench and make things happen. Or McGree would score a worldie. Or Ramsey would be terrifying defences. Giles would be providing 3 or 4 quality balls into the box every game. There were so many different options for where that quality would come from. And that's where consistency comes from.

Leicester have that this season. It was evident against us. They had 4 or 5 different players who really looked like they could make things happen. In the end, it didn't quite go their way. We were saved by the post and Dieng made a couple of great saves, but you could see why they have been consistent and why that result was a rarity for them.

We are hampered by injury without a doubt, but we are also lacking 2 or 3 quality players to challenge at the top end over a season. Players who were our squad players or our Plan B last season are now our Plan A.
 
B_G said:
A good team can produce top performances but it needs a strong squad to produce consistency.
We have the first but I don't think we have the latter.

We played brilliantly against Leicester but let's be honest, that performance was in the top 3 performances of our season and a draw would have been a fair result. If we played them 10 times, we'd do well to beat them 3 times in my opinion.

Last season, for 19 successive games, we put performances like that in almost every match. If it wasn't working for Akpom then Archer was on fire. Or Forss would pop up with a goal. Or Crooks would come off the bench and make things happen. Or McGree would score a worldie. Or Ramsey would be terrifying defences. Giles would be providing 3 or 4 quality balls into the box every game. There were so many different options for where that quality would come from. And that's where consistency comes from.

Leicester have that this season. It was evident against us. They had 4 or 5 different players who really looked like they could make things happen. In the end, it didn't quite go their way. We were saved by the post and Dieng made a couple of great saves, but you could see why they have been consistent and why that result was a rarity for them.

We are hampered by injury without a doubt, but we are also lacking 2 or 3 quality players to challenge at the top end over a season. Players who were our squad players or our Plan B last season are now our Plan A
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We’ve won 9 of our last 12. Absolutely no reason why we can’t make the playoffs. Especially with so long left to play.
 
Andybarca said:
We’ve won 9 of our last 12. Absolutely no reason why we can’t make the playoffs. Especially with so long left to play.
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We'll see. You are right, there's plenty of time left in the season and we are close enough if good enough.
I just don't feel like we are.
 
B_G said:
A good team can produce top performances but it needs a strong squad to produce consistency.
We have the first but I don't think we have the latter.

We played brilliantly against Leicester but let's be honest, that performance was in the top 3 performances of our season and a draw would have been a fair result. If we played them 10 times, we'd do well to beat them 3 times in my opinion.

Last season, for 19 successive games, we put performances like that in almost every match. If it wasn't working for Akpom then Archer was on fire. Or Forss would pop up with a goal. Or Crooks would come off the bench and make things happen. Or McGree would score a worldie. Or Ramsey would be terrifying defences. Giles would be providing 3 or 4 quality balls into the box every game. There were so many different options for where that quality would come from. And that's where consistency comes from.

Leicester have that this season. It was evident against us. They had 4 or 5 different players who really looked like they could make things happen. In the end, it didn't quite go their way. We were saved by the post and Dieng made a couple of great saves, but you could see why they have been consistent and why that result was a rarity for them.

We are hampered by injury without a doubt, but we are also lacking 2 or 3 quality players to challenge at the top end over a season. Players who were our squad players or our Plan B last season are now our Plan A.
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Exactly this - the three that came down have the squad to endure a long hard season and i think they will take the top three places come May. Even last year we struggled at the end when players got tired and injuries to key players kicked in. It’s such a long hard season the championship that you need that squad depth to last the distance.
 
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The squad is not a lot worse than last season - certainly at the same point of the season. Obviously we have a lot more injuries this season.

Some might like to argue with me, but I would say Greenwood is more effective then Mowatt, Dieng is better than Steffan, Hackney is clearly playing better than he did last season. Either Latte Lath or Coburn are better than Muniz.

We will never have Akpom's goal tally or Giles assists this season, but by the seasons end our defence could be better than last season's and we are now averaging 2 goals a game since mid September so there is still goals in the team. The Summer signings now look much better than they did in August and some of them are growing by the game (RVDB, Engel, Rogers).

Archer and Ramsey were quality additions in late January, but whose not to say a couple of quality signings can't be picked up in January.

I ma upping me prediction for the season from 10th to the very edge of the play offs.
 
Redwurzel said:
The squad is not a lot worse than last season - certainly at the same point of the season. Obviously we have a lot more injuries this season.

Some might like to argue with me, but I would say Greenwood is more effective then Mowatt, Dieng is better than Steffan, Hackney is clearly playing better than he did last season. Either Latte Lath or Coburn are better than Muniz.

We will never have Akpom's goal tally or Giles assists this season, but by the seasons end our defence could be better than last season's and we are now averaging 2 goals a game since mid September so there is still goals in the team. The Summer signings now look much better than they did in August and some of them are growing by the game (RVDB, Engel, Rogers).

Archer and Ramsey were quality additions in late January, but whose not to say a couple of quality signings can't be picked up in January.

I ma upping me prediction for the season from 10th to the very edge of the play offs.
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But you've pretty much hit the nail on the head then. The majority of the squad is on par. But we don't have the very top end quality players.

We've essentially gone from
Akpom to Crooks
Giles to Engel
Archer to Lath/Coburn
Ramsey to Greenwood

We might strengthen in January but it would need to be 2 or 3 really top quality players to give us enough to challenge for promotion as that's what it will take to provide the consistency required.

Boro do keep surprising with me the odd top quality performance but at the moment there are too many poor ones in between.
 
B_G said:
We had an incredible run from Gameweek 18-36 last season.

15 Wins
1 Draw
3 Loss

2.42 points/game

This squad does not have the depth to replicate this consistency or get even close to replicating in my opinion.

We've got 3 real tough games coming up here. I would take 3 points from the 3 games if someone offered them now with the current injuries we have and the form of our 3 opponents. I am resigned to a mid-table finish this season to be honest which is a lot better than it looked like it was going to be after 7 games.
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We're 7 points ahead of where we were at this stage last season but as you point out we were just about to go on an incredible run.

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