That second place is still up for grabs……

I fully expect to be 10 points adrift once Bolton have played their 2 games in hand. Thats a hell of a catch up
 
BestTrip said:
I fully expect to be 10 points adrift once Bolton have played their 2 games in hand. Thats a hell of a catch up
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Whilst there’s still quite a few teams in the mix there’s going to be a lot of dropped points between now and May. With our squad and an owner who I believe will strengthen if needed we could easily make top two…..let’s hope that handbrake stays off 👍🏼
 
think we’d need 88-90 points for 2nd. 55 points from 25 points is a massive ask. All guess work but the bottom of the league is very poor, however all the top 8 can beat each other on their day and hopefully 6/7/8 placed teams put away the 2/3/4 placed teams going forward
 
Bolton away was a missed opportunity, we weren’t proactive enough in the game, frustratingly so.
This squad is capable enough to be higher up the table.
 
Still think Pompey and Noblot will still comfortably finish first and second.

Bolton have 2 games in hand on most clubs around them us included.

Like Pompey after we inflicted that defeat Bolton are a very strong team so they’ll get over this little blip.
 
I don't think anyone in this league has a stronger squad in depth than us and that could be vital over the next few weeks.
We beat Portsmouth comprehensively away and were unlucky not to get something from the Bolton game imo.
We need to get a good run going though and see where we are in January.
 
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BestTrip said:
I fully expect to be 10 points adrift once Bolton have played their 2 games in hand. Thats a hell of a catch up
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This is why its important to keep winning over the whole Xmas period.

Other teams will drop points when playing each other obviously, but they will also have the odd slip up, maybe even bad run for some, like Oxford have had.

We need to keep winning.

The next games are

Cambridge A
Bristol rovers H
Burton A
Port Vale A
Lincoln H
Leyton Orient A
Exeter H

There are many similar quality teams to those we beat recently like Carlisle, like Shrewsbury. Northampton too but we just didn't turn up at all.

So if we're anywhere near at it and can put the best run of the season so far together, we'll gain some ground on many and be in a very interesting position.
 
Bolton would have to have a sticky patch for us to get near them. Their games between now and the end of January look less than challenging, all against bottom half sides apart from Lincoln on boxing day. They've only dropped 18 points this season (we've dropped 30), so we really have an awful lot of must win games coming up.
 
In 1996 we threw away a 12 point gap in 7 games! Evatt's teams tend to have dips in form. If you put a run of results together a gap can be eradicated. And Pompey obviously weren't at their best against us but we looked better than them, on their patch. Optimism and positivity. Believe!!!
 
I think we won't do it but one team might. Unfortunately we blew too many points pissing about and worrying too much about mediocre opposition up to November.
 
Will say we will fall short, maybe playoffs, need a couple of players better than we have in key areas. Hope Saddler spends or cracking loans.
 
Peterborough will be in the top two, hope we make the top 6, 3 wins from the last 4 is more like it, we need to put together runs of 10-12s games unbeaten. Second place is not beyond us, but we cannot afford to not be at it in games like the Cobblers.
 
I’ve no doubt we will make the play-offs at the very least.

Automatic seems too much of a stretch at this point.
 
My head says 4th, but December is everything.

Only teams that concern me for the play offs are Peterborough and Bolton.
 
We’re not going to make that top six Northampton who came and spanked us at home have played a game less and are only 6 points behind us Peterborough derby Bolton all schooled us we’d only lose if we did get there which we won’t.
 
5 way tussle. Blackpool Pompey Bolton Derby Posh. We've given the other 4 a head start but there's a long way to go.

Will Stevenage keep going? What will Oxford and Barnsley do?

In the last 4 games:
- Bolton have dropped 5 points.
- Derby have 4 straight wins.
- Posh have a +12 goal difference
- we have a +10 goal difference
- Pompey 3 wins without conceding since we stuffed them.
 
No chance of automatic and we still have a fair bit to do to get a play off spot. Bad start has cost us and if Rhodes goes back we have got a problem.
Squad is good enough for promotion though. We will see
 
Mark_GT said:
I think we won't do it but one team might. Unfortunately we blew too many points pissing about and worrying too much about mediocre opposition up to November.
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If we can make it to the PO's then we can make No 2 spot. The big factor that could stop us is the in game approach as you say for November. That's why I want a No 2 who has some exp of how to handle games and when to stick or twist. I fear all the coaching staff are on the same page when it comes to this.
 
JJpool said:
This is why its important to keep winning over the whole Xmas period.

Other teams will drop points when playing each other obviously, but they will also have the odd slip up, maybe even bad run for some, like Oxford have had.

We need to keep winning.

The next games are

Cambridge A
Bristol rovers H
Burton A
Port Vale A
Lincoln H
Leyton Orient A
Exeter H

There are many similar quality teams to those we beat recently like Carlisle, like Shrewsbury. Northampton too but we just didn't turn up at all.

So if we're anywhere near at it and can put the best run of the season so far together, we'll gain some ground on many and be in a very interesting position.
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Was gonna post similar 👍🏼 Put a run together over the next few weeks and then strengthen where needed in the transfer window
 
Macseasider said:
Someone's been brown nosing Mr Sadler.
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Never had a problem with Simon Sadler, we would be fooked without him. My gripe has been with Critchley’s boring style of football and three at the back which keeps putting us in trouble in my opinion but you knew that and were just being a provocative knob 🙄😘
 
55 points from 25 points is indeed a massive ask . Verging on the impossible I'd say .
Quite tough even if it was 55 points from 25 games which is possibly what you thought you'd written 😶‍🌫️
Hankey2009 said:
think we’d need 88-90 points for 2nd. 55 points from 25 points is a massive ask. All guess work but the bottom of the league is very poor, however all the top 8 can beat each other on their day and hopefully 6/7/8 placed teams put away the 2/3/4 placed teams going forward
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mull said:
55 points from 25 points is indeed a massive ask . Verging on the impossible I'd say .
Quite tough even if it was 55 points from 25 games which is possibly what you thought you'd written 😶‍🌫️
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We got 52 points from our last 25 games in 20/21. And that took some doing. 52 more points would give us 85.

Hull and Posh got auto with 89 and 87 points. We were third with 80. 4th Sunderland 77, 5th Lincoln 77, 6th Oxford 74.

I think you'd put your money on a play off place. But if we hit a groove, automatic may be possible. Aim high. We are at least as good as any other side when we don't drop our standards.
 
Martonmosser said:
Never had a problem with Simon Sadler, we would be fooked without him. My gripe has been with Critchley’s boring style of football and three at the back which keeps putting us in trouble in my opinion but you knew that and were just being a provocative knob 🙄😘
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I was only pulling your chain. 😃
 
fcblackpool said:
If we can make it to the PO's then we can make No 2 spot. The big factor that could stop us is the in game approach as you say for November. That's why I want a No 2 who has some exp of how to handle games and when to stick or twist. I fear all the coaching staff are on the same page when it comes to this.
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We need a sparkling Christmas too. Not our strong suit historically, the only old bloke with a dodgy beard we had visiting for too long was old Catweazle. Wins vs Cambridge, Bristol Rovers, Burton, Port Vale and Lincoln - or at least 12 points from 15 would go a long way to close the gap.
 
voyeur said:
In 1996 we threw away a 12 point gap in 7 games! Evatt's teams tend to have dips in form. If you put a run of results together a gap can be eradicated. And Pompey obviously weren't at their best against us but we looked better than them, on their patch. Optimism and positivity. Believe!!!
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Got pipped into 2nd by Oxford (l think) and the 2nd leg of the semi against Bradford is a memory that still won’t go away!
 
Mark_GT said:
We need a sparkling Christmas too. Not our strong suit historically, the only old bloke with a dodgy beard we had visiting for too long was old Catweazle. Wins vs Cambridge, Bristol Rovers, Burton, Port Vale and Lincoln - or at least 12 points from 15 would go a long way to close the gap.
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Why not 15 out of 15, we’re miles better than all of those teams when we go out with our best attacking team
 
Enzo said:
We’re not going to make that top six Northampton who came and spanked us at home have played a game less and are only 6 points behind us Peterborough derby Bolton all schooled us we’d only lose if we did get there which we won’t.
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You live in a different world, possibly Preston.

Schooled? Get a grip. Fine margins and mitigating factors. We'll beat them all when we play them again, and you'll say we were lucky.
 
fcblackpool said:
If we can make it to the PO's then we can make No 2 spot. The big factor that could stop us is the in game approach as you say for November. That's why I want a No 2 who has some exp of how to handle games and when to stick or twist. I fear all the coaching staff are on the same page when it comes to this.
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Which is also why, ultimately, as part of the backroom staff, we need someone who isn't afraid to 'think outside the box', when required. With one or two exceptions, I just feel, as a team, we've been a bit staid in our approach, always opting for the safe option, rarely 'stretching' or testing teams, showing little by way of flair or invention in our approach play.

Basically, what we need is someone who isn't afraid to view our current position from an entirely different angle. We've reached the stage now where we're becoming very formulaic in all aspects of our play, and, as a result, other teams know precisely the changes they need to make in order to effectively nullify whatever approach we might take, or attempt to take.
 
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