PokingFun

Reading messed up at the start, West Ham had a dodgy spell, Birmingham were on fire and but now aren't and this is their second run of below best form, Blackpool were there for a bit and dropped off now, Middlesborough have had a bad spell and dropped out of the play-offs at one point. It happens to ALL teams and usually involves a spell without key players etc. The run we had for a short period of the season was caused by several injuries and suspensions to key players. No team is immune from such issues and neither are we. Promotion is well and truly in our hands like it was last season and the little bit of dodgy form we had in L1 didn't cost and probably won't this time. Reading still have a lot of tough away games left to play and also have to play teams in and around the top 6. Those teams playing each other will mean they will inevitably drop points regardless of their form. If we carry on as we are at 2 points or so a game we will be promoted unless some team has a miraclulous run of form and should that happen then I would wish them well as it will have been a huge effort. Last night was simply down to a bit of poor finishing (which were not usually guilty of at all, especially at home) and a bit of bad luck (their keeper making some decent saves and a deflected equaliser). Not time to push the panic button yet .....

yep, see what you mean and misread what he had said so my bad on that but I still remain happy with my opinion being valid. Thank you for pointing out my error.

Personally I would love to finish 1st too but that was not the OP question. In seven out of ten seasons a team gaining 81 points would beat third and finish second. As it happened teams finishing second ended up with a couple more points than 3rd but it wasn't necessary to do so therefore it is perfectly credible that 83 points might get us up. It's an opinion, obviously not one you agree with so we have to agree to disagree. It's a shame you come across as a pedantic knob CB Fry. I'm guessing you do football analysis for a living ...... I bow to your superior judgement and won't bother posting in future as it's jerks like you that think you know everything but know **** all that make this site worse and worse.

The original question was asking for an OPINION around how many points posters think we MIGHT need to go up automatically. Now the correct answer is of course more than the 3rd placed team as that will ensure second place however that is an easy answer that requires no justification or thought whatsoever. What I have attempted to do using logic and statistical evidence is come up with an estimate of what I think we might need to gain in terms of points to beat the other contenders for automatic promotion. At no stage did I ever say that we would DEFINITELY go up if we got a certain points total, as being an individual that has intelligence and vast experience around the subject of numbers I also understand that it is POSSIBLE that 2 other teams may gain more points than us and thus we would end up in the play-offs. What I have provided is my best guess, backed by some logic and evidence of previous trends, which is accepted practice in most areas of any business where the final outcome or result is determined by a number. The reason historical third placed teams is used is because that is in fact the number a team has to BEAT to gain a promotion from this division. To go up you only have to BEAT third place and 81 would have been enough in the last 4 years and in my opinion the reason this figure is lower is simply becuase the division is now more competitive than it ever was. Therefore my logic for suggesting the number I did as an OPINION is based on recent trends and my own feeling that the division remains as competitive as the last four seasons, maybe even more so. Whether you like or accept that logic is up to you but please don't label the post as moronic, nonsense, idiotic to coin just three terms simply because you don't agree. You are more than welcome to read and move on if you have nothing constructive to say. What you have written above makes absolutely no sense at all and just because you highlight some things in bold really does not cut much ice. To put you straight, if you pass a man in third before the finish line you finish second. Happy to help.

Apologies, post above meant to read 7/10 years > 80 points has been good enough.

I have had a quick look on Soccerbase and it suggests that in the last 10 years > 80 points has been good enough to secure 2nd spot as 3rd placed teams were under this figure. In the remaining years it has been 85, 86 and 87 required but that high a figure has not been needed for the last 4 seasons. Last four seasons have been a requirement of 81, 80, 81 and 76 to beat 2nd place. The numbers suggest that a figure in the region of 81+ would be quite difficult to overhaul assuming the trend continues this year as with prior years (I have no reason to believe it won't). My punt is therefore a requirement of 83 points which factors in a bit of contingency over previous seasons.

Maybe they're not as good as this lad?

Why would Jaidi get on the bench? Aaron Martin has been a more than able deputy for Jose while he has been injured. Slots in well alongside Jos in my opinion.

You've just confirmed you know **** all about football. Guly scores and creates ........ 9 goals and similar assists I believe which is similar to lambert if you take out the pens? Guly may be inconsistent, creative players often are .... Lallana being an example right now ..... But **** he certainly is not.

I think most of us agree but we dont play football anymore in an environment where its OK to give someone a slap or lash out which means Lambert has to accept absolute responsibility, especially seeing as he must have known the ref was on edge.

As with Guly .... fans have unrealistic expectations. I mean, we should be ten points clear in the NPC by now but aren't because apparently were really **** away from home!

But surely the converse is true then ..... we have loads of easy games to come at home as we have smashed most of the ones in the top half and have only the bottom half ones to play ...... Today shows that other teams will continue to drop points as well. Our away form is basically top eight and home form remains top of the table and some! As I've said many times before, away wins are very hard to achieve regularly. You're doing well if you can win a third and draw a third of those games and we will do that I'm sure. We remain in a fantastic position and all of our competitors will have their problems too. We had similar comments last season and were in a far less envious position and came through. People should have more faith.

Completely agree that he was poor yesterday (but overall he deserves his place) but disagree that everyone was great. As a mate of mine who is a Pompey fan summed up ... to quote "I was over the moon with a point and just pleased you didn't bring your A game" Personally, I thought we were below par again and have been for a few games now. Not just a Guly thing but the whole team seem to have dropped a little compared to the early season form although its probably more to do with the fact that our start was nothing short of amazing and I expected a down turn sometime. Just hope we can snap out and regain some momentum in our next 2 league games. Hope you're hangover is not too bad Jack!

I think you completely missed my point but nothing new there for you really Dune, you're more concerned with ticket taxes than football.

You obviously have no clue at all. By all means criticise the guy for having a bad game, thats fair enough, but to say all he does is pull a trick once every five games is astonishing and plain wrong. Whatever anyone thinks about his heading, touch etc, you cannot deny that he creates and gets into space to make good chances for himself and his team mates. Against Blackpool he put RL clean through for 2-0 and game over yet RL missed for a change. Yesterday while having a bad game he was the only one that found space in the box other than one set piece from which RL scored. I am amazed that people cannot see the bigger picture and understand that the guy's strengths are his movement and ability to unlock a defence. He is also not a bad finisher, hence the reason he has one of the best goals / assists record in the NPC. Basically, he's ****e in the air and sometimes shows a bad touch but for me what he creates by far outweighs his weaknesses even though its sometimes frustrating to watch. It also surprises me that Lallana gets off scot free for slowing attacks down constantly by not moving the ball quickly enough and trying his tricks which are not coming off. To be fair to him I wouldn't want to criticise him too much either but it just seems fans favourites like AL are untouchable because it looks like they run around a lot. I suspect that if AL was on that post and did the same then everyone would shrug their shoulders and say "well, hes not really a defender"

How about realising that most people want to be able to travel to a game by their own means rather than being herded like cattle etc etc. Just because people decide not to attend does not make them soft mincers or whatever phrase you choose to use. I suppose you're going for a scrap then, is that it?

No-one other than saints and pompey fans will give a toss about empty seats. Its not exactly the most important thing in most people's lives funnily enough.

Why?

Excellent summary, pretty much summed up my view and saves me a lot of typing :-)

Ha Ha Ha, see what you did there Alps ..... :-)

Yeah of course because that would be really clever of any of our players ..... getting sent off just to appease fans that want to see opposition players hurt! The Ben Thatcher incident was one of the worst ever seen on a football pitch in the professional game and I would not wish it on any player regardless of who they play for. I really don't get the love-in our fans have about signing players because they are "fans" and will apparently run through brick walls for Saints. I really don't think it will matter a jot when it comes to how they play for the side as they will play according to how NA wants them to play and how they are capable of playing. At the end of the day, if the lad will improve us or provide well above average cover for our strikers then get him in, otherwise don't bother regardless of his allegience.

Now I don't care if people sing or not (personally, I just watch the game rather than feel the need to sing to support - I'm sure that makes me a bad fan) but to suggest that it was a reason for Saints players being put off their game is probably more laughable and "cringetastic" than any of the songs I have heard. Basically, De Ridder was putting himself off as he is trying to make an impact and is maybe trying a little too hard rather than relaxing. This sometimes means he mis-controls the ball or forgets to take it with him. Nothing to do with any song being directed at him.

I went and we had plenty of possession but no cutting edge up front. If Lambert had played up front I think we would have won that game against Palace even though our performance was not that great. In addition, it is simply not easy to win away from home for any team in the country I'm afraid.

Yes I did, defensively he was sound enough I suppose but his passing and crossing was absolutely abysmal. Every cross went behind or straight into the goalkeeper's arms and I lost count of the amount of times the ball was given away. He wasn't the only one but I expected better from such an experienced player even if playing time recently has been limited.

Simply to support the team and have a night out at a venue that's fairly close to us maybe? As far as wanting to win is concerned, I believe that NA wanted to win the game but he is trying to balance that with ensuring that players are fit for the main campaign and also giving our better youngsters a chance. As it happens, we were not let down last night by our youngsters, more the performances put in by Butterfield, Harding, De Ridder and Forte. Those guys are all senior players with experience of the standard and were very poor indeed hence NA's comments about fringe players not doing themselves any favours. I think he will have found out last night that we need a little strengthening of our back-up options and that the young lads involved have a decent enough future, particularly Ward_Prowse who did nothing exceptional but rarely wasted the ball when in possession and looked very composed and comfortable in midfield. Back to the subject of is it worth going? Well, that's a decision for each individual and at least the club has been up front about the fact that they would be using the competition to rotate and blood players. As that is the case, no-one can really complain about the team on the pitch last night as they could have chosen not to go. In fairness, I didn't heard too much dissent around that issue where I was stood or on the train back.