Our 6 games all vs teams in the current top 12. They all came above us last season apart from Cambridge who finished one place behind.
We've made a good start. And we have some entitled whiny fans who are currently stamping their feet because we’re not top right now.
not to mention a (mini?) cup run which is basically unheard of
we have also seen some flipping cracking goals already - a couple of youth players coming through and making a real stamp on the first team... I am massively encouraged by this start - the foot stampers are sounding more and more like the "massives" every day
I find it a bit strange to say weve done well so far, as we have played 6 matches ,the bulk having been above us, last season To my (fading) memory lwe did pretty well against higher teams last season, Sunderland is just one, that springs to mind, but generally rubbish, against lower teams and those around us. As things go, Yes its a positive start but still too early to asess And as mentioned ,some excellent youth products coming along,(to sell on, no doubt) But if we are rubbish ,against those below and around us, by years end, then forget promotion.I am not ultra pessimistic, but if we dont strengthen up front very soon,then get used to Div One. I don't think there has ever been a sucessful team, that has relied soley on attacking mid fielders, for their goals
Is that because we tried to match them physically, but often came unstuck, whereas this season we’re more likely to play around them with our new fangled possession football, rather than descending to their level?
I’m going to hold off judging the team until we’re 10 games in, but personally I think we dodged a bullet in the Derby game. We were woeful in that first half, and had the buried the chances they had I think we would all be a lot more on edge.
But that’s kinda football, they didn’t bury their chances and we came back strong the second half and won the game. That happened to us loads last year where we would dominate the first 20+ minutes, especially under Adkins, and then fade.
Football games ebb and flow all the time and similar stuff happen in every game across the country.
Our 6 games all vs teams in the current top 12. They all came above us last season apart from Cambridge who finished one place behind.
We've made a good start. And we have some entitled whiny fans who are currently stamping their feet because we’re not top right now.
not to mention a (mini?) cup run which is basically unheard of
we have also seen some flipping cracking goals already - a couple of youth players coming through and making a real stamp on the first team... I am massively encouraged by this start - the foot stampers are sounding more and more like the "massives" every day
I find it a bit strange to say weve done well so far, as we have played 6 matches ,the bulk having been above us, last season To my (fading) memory lwe did pretty well against higher teams last season, Sunderland is just one, that springs to mind, but generally rubbish, against lower teams and those around us. As things go, Yes its a positive start but still too early to asess And as mentioned ,some excellent youth products coming along,(to sell on, no doubt) But if we are rubbish ,against those below and around us, by years end, then forget promotion.I am not ultra pessimistic, but if we dont strengthen up front very soon,then get used to Div One. I don't think there has ever been a sucessful team, that has relied soley on attacking mid fielders, for their goals
Is that because we tried to match them physically, but often came unstuck, whereas this season we’re more likely to play around them with our new fangled possession football, rather than descending to their level?
I'm not convinced yet we can cope with teams making it difficult for us to play. Cambridge game was example of that. You have to adapt to this and can't just play nice patterns all the time.
Although style of play has never bothered me, as long as we win the game and the manager can adapt against different teams and change it when it goes wrong.
Ipswich have had by far the easiest first six games of anyone in the top half, with the average league position of their opponents being 17th. Next easiest average is 14th for Exeter, Accrington and Wycombe.
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
Ipswich have had by far the easiest first six games of anyone in the top half, with the average league position of their opponents being 17th. Next easiest average is 14th for Exeter, Accrington and Wycombe.
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
So us and Bolton will swap places if we beat them but not if they beat us?
Our start will become harder if we lose but easier if we win?
Ipswich have had by far the easiest first six games of anyone in the top half, with the average league position of their opponents being 17th. Next easiest average is 14th for Exeter, Accrington and Wycombe.
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
So us and Bolton will swap places if we beat them but not if they beat us?
Our start will become harder if we lose but easier if we win?
I understand there's pitfalls with doing this kind of analysis so early. That's why I wanted to compare us against others, not ourselves.
I actually expected that the teams lower in the table would've had harder fixtures, but on the contrary a few teams towards the bottom if the list above have actually had "easier" fixtures so far. You'd have expected the opposite to be true if it was simply a case of "easier when we win and harder when we lose".
Let's go even further with a hypothetical and imagine that all our draws had become wins (by a single goal) and our loss was a draw. Our average opponents position would only drop from 7th to 10th and we'd be top of league. So top of the league and still equal second hardest start, if we had won 5 and drawn 1.
We've had the hardest start but only lost once. It's not as if all these teams we've played against are in and around the top six because we gave them three points.
As I said when the fixtures were released - we had a horrific start to the season. The fixture list was not friendly and to be where we are is impressive. We just need to build in that
Ipswich are the opposite playing all the bottom teams!
be interesting to see how this affects the season as we go on
As I said when the fixtures were released - we had a horrific start to the season. The fixture list was not friendly and to be where we are is impressive. We just need to build in that
Ipswich are the opposite playing all the bottom teams!
be interesting to see how this affects the season as we go on
I think at home we’ll spank a few sides down the bottom, away I’m not as sure, but what we’ll need to do is grind out points as we have done when the opposition turn it into a battle rather than a football match.
Down in the trenches of league one there’s plenty of points to be had to keep you in the hunt even if you spend your season beating the shit teams and drawing against the fancied teams.
Ipswich have had by far the easiest first six games of anyone in the top half, with the average league position of their opponents being 17th. Next easiest average is 14th for Exeter, Accrington and Wycombe.
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
One of the reasons Ipswich's oppositions are lower is because they lost to Ipswich.
Ipswich have had by far the easiest first six games of anyone in the top half, with the average league position of their opponents being 17th. Next easiest average is 14th for Exeter, Accrington and Wycombe.
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
One of the reasons Ipswich's oppositions are lower is because they lost to Ipswich.
Clutching at straws.
Or the fact they’re Forest Green, Burton and Shrewsbury are will clearly struggle this season.
Our 6 games all vs teams in the current top 12. They all came above us last season apart from Cambridge who finished one place behind.
We've made a good start. And we have some entitled whiny fans who are currently stamping their feet because we’re not top right now.
not to mention a (mini?) cup run which is basically unheard of
we have also seen some flipping cracking goals already - a couple of youth players coming through and making a real stamp on the first team... I am massively encouraged by this start - the foot stampers are sounding more and more like the "massives" every day
I find it a bit strange to say weve done well so far, as we have played 6 matches ,the bulk having been above us, last season To my (fading) memory lwe did pretty well against higher teams last season, Sunderland is just one, that springs to mind, but generally rubbish, against lower teams and those around us. As things go, Yes its a positive start but still too early to asess And as mentioned ,some excellent youth products coming along,(to sell on, no doubt) But if we are rubbish ,against those below and around us, by years end, then forget promotion.I am not ultra pessimistic, but if we dont strengthen up front very soon,then get used to Div One. I don't think there has ever been a sucessful team, that has relied soley on attacking mid fielders, for their goals
Is that because we tried to match them physically, but often came unstuck, whereas this season we’re more likely to play around them with our new fangled possession football, rather than descending to their level?
I'm not convinced yet we can cope with teams making it difficult for us to play. Cambridge game was example of that. You have to adapt to this and can't just play nice patterns all the time.
Although style of play has never bothered me, as long as we win the game and the manager can adapt against different teams and change it when it goes wrong.
Exactly. We often do worse against the humdrum uninspiring teams of this league.
Ipswich have had by far the easiest first six games of anyone in the top half, with the average league position of their opponents being 17th. Next easiest average is 14th for Exeter, Accrington and Wycombe.
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
So us and Bolton will swap places if we beat them but not if they beat us?
Our start will become harder if we lose but easier if we win?
I understand there's pitfalls with doing this kind of analysis so early. That's why I wanted to compare us against others, not ourselves.
I actually expected that the teams lower in the table would've had harder fixtures, but on the contrary a few teams towards the bottom if the list above have actually had "easier" fixtures so far. You'd have expected the opposite to be true if it was simply a case of "easier when we win and harder when we lose".
Let's go even further with a hypothetical and imagine that all our draws had become wins (by a single goal) and our loss was a draw. Our average opponents position would only drop from 7th to 10th and we'd be top of league. So top of the league and still equal second hardest start, if we had won 5 and drawn 1.
We've had the hardest start but only lost once. It's not as if all these teams we've played against are in and around the top six because we gave them three points.
Also Ipswich and Wednesday have both beaten MK Dons, who are currently in the bottom half. Probably because they have played both Wednesday and Ipswich?
Ipswich have had by far the easiest first six games of anyone in the top half, with the average league position of their opponents being 17th. Next easiest average is 14th for Exeter, Accrington and Wycombe.
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
One of the reasons Ipswich's oppositions are lower is because they lost to Ipswich.
Clutching at straws.
And like I said, if we had five wins and a draw instead of two wins, three draws and a loss, our average opponent would still be 10th while Ipswich's is 17th. There is so far a clear difference in strength of opponent.
Isn't all this evaluation of opponents relative rankings meaningless after so few games. Footballing experts always say the table only begins to reflect underlying form after ten games. Reading are top of the Championship after playing six and Rotherham could be top of they win they're game in hand. Meaningless.
Isn't all this evaluation of opponents relative rankings meaningless after so few games. Footballing experts always say the table only begins to reflect underlying form after ten games. Reading are top of the Championship after playing six and Rotherham could be top of they win they're game in hand. Meaningless.
Exactly. Plus teams can come out of nowhere and put serious runs together. There's always one every season and go the other way and go on really bad run.
The start has gone about as well as it could have done really. I think Wollacott won us our first 4 points but in games since we’ve looked a bit less open but also starting to struggle creating as many chances. My concern is that we will actually struggle against the weaker teams when we play them. As they will be happy to sit back and hit us on the counter, and we will have a lot of the ball but struggle to score with less space to work with.
I’m still holding out hope for Aneke as well. I think he could really be the difference if we can get 25-30 games out of him. I feel like we are going to draw too many games but if we can get him coming off the bench he turns those draws into wins. If he’d been fit I think we’d have at least 3 more points already which shows what kind of difference he can make in jumping from around 8th into the top 6
Ipswich have had by far the easiest first six games of anyone in the top half, with the average league position of their opponents being 17th. Next easiest average is 14th for Exeter, Accrington and Wycombe.
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
So us and Bolton will swap places if we beat them but not if they beat us?
Our start will become harder if we lose but easier if we win?
I understand there's pitfalls with doing this kind of analysis so early. That's why I wanted to compare us against others, not ourselves.
I actually expected that the teams lower in the table would've had harder fixtures, but on the contrary a few teams towards the bottom if the list above have actually had "easier" fixtures so far. You'd have expected the opposite to be true if it was simply a case of "easier when we win and harder when we lose".
Let's go even further with a hypothetical and imagine that all our draws had become wins (by a single goal) and our loss was a draw. Our average opponents position would only drop from 7th to 10th and we'd be top of league. So top of the league and still equal second hardest start, if we had won 5 and drawn 1.
We've had the hardest start but only lost once. It's not as if all these teams we've played against are in and around the top six because we gave them three points.
Also Ipswich and Wednesday have both beaten MK Dons, who are currently in the bottom half. Probably because they have played both Wednesday and Ipswich?
But we have played both Wednesday and Derby and Plymouth who are in the top 6 yet we are not in the bottom half.. suggests we've done alright.
We'll know more of course over the next 4 games as that is our chance to put some wins together, and if we do things will be looking very positive.
Comments
Although style of play has never bothered me, as long as we win the game and the manager can adapt against different teams and change it when it goes wrong.
Portsmouth: 13th (lowest opponents 19th & 21st)
Ipswich: 17th (lowest opponent 22nd & 24th)
#2 Sheff Wed: 9th (lowest opponents 13th & 22nd)
Peterborough: 12th (lowest opponents 21st & 23rd)
Plymouth: 12th (lowest opponents 16th & 22nd)
Derby: 13th (lowest opponents 17th & 20th)
Cambridge: 12th (lowest opponents 17th & 24th)
#1 Charlton: 7th (lowest opponents 11th & 12th)
Exeter: 14th (lowest opponents 19th & 21st)
#3 Bolton: 10th (lowest opponents 19th & 23rd)
Accrington: 14th (lowest opponents 20th & 24th)
Wycombe: 14th (lowest opponents 20th & 24th)
Charlton have had the hardest start, with average position of opponent being 7th. Sheff Wed and Bolton close-ish behind with averages of 9th and 10th.
Our start will become harder if we lose but easier if we win?
Gggrr!!!! Skintgard, bang average mate.
I actually expected that the teams lower in the table would've had harder fixtures, but on the contrary a few teams towards the bottom if the list above have actually had "easier" fixtures so far. You'd have expected the opposite to be true if it was simply a case of "easier when we win and harder when we lose".
Let's go even further with a hypothetical and imagine that all our draws had become wins (by a single goal) and our loss was a draw. Our average opponents position would only drop from 7th to 10th and we'd be top of league. So top of the league and still equal second hardest start, if we had won 5 and drawn 1.
We've had the hardest start but only lost once. It's not as if all these teams we've played against are in and around the top six because we gave them three points.
Ipswich are the opposite playing all the bottom teams!
be interesting to see how this affects the season as we go on
Clutching at straws.
But we have played both Wednesday and Derby and Plymouth who are in the top 6 yet we are not in the bottom half.. suggests we've done alright.
We'll know more of course over the next 4 games as that is our chance to put some wins together, and if we do things will be looking very positive.