thorpie the sinner Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 I don't want this to come across as a 'Happy Clapper' daring to fight against the 'wrist slitters' post! Yes, tonight was a really bad night at the office, but look at the facts, we were always going to struggle without Adam, Ricky, Chappers, Jose and latterly Jos. Any team would struggle losing the spine of their team!! As we stand tonight, we are still second and well placed considering the team we can pick at the moment! With Ricky back, hopefully Adam and chappers too, we can put this game behind us against Cardiff next week! Indeed a win will put us 4 points clear of third again! The team probably can't play this badly again and I would hope we would be well up for it esp with key players back! Add Tad to the equation and maybe a new signing or two, and we could all be feeling differently next Weds. The bottom line is, we are in control of our destiny, and we all need to unite as one! I am not saying we will get promoted, but with a fair wind, and bit of lady luck, it is in our hands! FWIW, I believe we will go up, but I respect the opinions of other posters who probably feel differently! I do trust NA, but everyone has bad days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Nice post. You're right though, any team without their spine is going to be weaker - and when you have such poor replacements for them it's going to be even worse. In the first half of the season when we had everyone fit, the team tonight is pretty close to our reserve team. That's how stretched and depleted we are at the moment. So let's hope we get over these injuries quickly, get players back fit and get the spine back into this team. I still feel we need better backup though as the ones we have clearly aren't good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpturner Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 I think just avoiding defeat against Cardiff will be a good result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
um pahars Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 I don't want this to come across as a 'Happy Clapper' daring to fight against the 'wrist slitters' post! Yes, tonight was a really bad night at the office, but look at the facts, we were always going to struggle without Adam, Ricky, Chappers, Jose and latterly Jos. Any team would struggle losing the spine of their team!! As we stand tonight, we are still second and well placed considering the team we can pick at the moment! With Ricky back, hopefully Adam and chappers too, we can put this game behind us against Cardiff next week! Indeed a win will put us 4 points clear of third again! The team probably can't play this badly again and I would hope we would be well up for it esp with key players back! Add Tad to the equation and maybe a new signing or two, and we could all be feeling differently next Weds. The bottom line is, we are in control of our destiny, and we all need to unite as one! I am not saying we will get promoted, but with a fair wind, and bit of lady luck, it is in our hands! FWIW, I believe we will go up, but I respect the opinions of other posters who probably feel differently! I do trust NA, but everyone has bad days! Fair enough Thorpie, but I would probably counter that our recent form plus the injuries we seem to be picking up, which in turn exposes our threadbare squad, means that I don't think we will go up automatically. I think our air of invincibility, confidence and riding the crest of promotion has worn off and we're finding it hard to replicate the confidence and success of earlier in the season. A couple of decent signings might change things, but for now I see a play off place at best. Even then, my worry is that we would go in to the play offs on the back of a relative slide. Not moaning, because I think we'll beat my top 10 finish I had us down for, just perhaps a tad deflated, something which I think the team and even Adkins seem a bit as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpie the sinner Posted 23 January, 2012 Author Share Posted 23 January, 2012 I think just avoiding defeat against Cardiff will be a good result. Looking at Jos's tweet, the players know thay had a shocker! With a few boys back, I am hoping they come back in style! This is way bigger than a pointer! Win and 4 points clear of third, lose and we are third! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpie the sinner Posted 23 January, 2012 Author Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Fair enough Thorpie, but I would probably counter that our recent form plus the injuries we seem to be picking up, which in turn exposes our threadbare squad, means that I don't think we will go up automatically. I think our air of invincibility, confidence and riding the crest of promotion has worn off and we're finding it hard to replicate the confidence and success of earlier in the season. A couple of decent signings might change things, but for now I see a play off place at best. Even then, my worry is that we would go in to the play offs on the back of a relative slide. Not moaning, because I think we'll beat my top 10 finish I had us down for, just perhaps a tad deflated, something which I think the team and even Adkins seem a bit as well. Well reasoned post and I agree about the lack of depth! hope it doesn't haunt us, but I have to keep the faith! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 it take a strong squad to last the distance - a full season - and get promoted. That's a good if not great first 11 and another 11 good players to take their place if and when they are injured, banned or out of form. We don't have that. We're short a centre back, a centre forward not to mention 2 wide players and a right back - oh and a goalkeeper! we have used most of our luck up already this season and so far failed to seize the opportunity we've been given by strengthening in the transfer window we are now looking at the play-offs. West Ham and Cardiff aren't going to lose too many games from here on in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpie the sinner Posted 23 January, 2012 Author Share Posted 23 January, 2012 it take a strong squad to last the distance - a full season - and get promoted. That's a good if not great first 11 and another 11 good players to take their place if and when they are injured, banned or out of form. We don't have that. We're short a centre back, a centre forward not to mention 2 wide players and a right back - oh and a goalkeeper! we have used most of our luck up already this season and so far failed to seize the opportunity we've been given by strengthening in the transfer window we are now looking at the play-offs. West Ham and Cardiff aren't going to lose too many games from here on in. I have to say, I would settle for play offs as it would still give us a chance of going up! I also hope NA has a couple of aces up his sleeve, time will tell I suppose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward. If the players are aware of how bad the display was tonight that hopefully it get's a positive reaction. Personally I never actually thought we would get promoted this season - but we have got ourselves into a great position to challenge. Who knows - tonight might actually turn out to be a stepping stone to another good run of results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born In The 80s Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Nice, encouraging words, but unfortunately haven't felt good about our chances up until xmas, i feel we have now TOTALLY run out of steam. What you say is correct in theory. On the face of it, we are very well positioned as 2nd in the league with a chance to go 4 clear next Tuesday. However, so much of football is played in the mind - especially at the top. As a collective unit, the entire squad looks mentally drained. They are playing like a team at the end of a long hard season, and have been since early December. Injuries occur when players are mentally and physically drained. I refuse to blame any of players, as no side can legislate for having 5 of your best players sidelined at one stage. However, i have to question why improvements (back ups) weren't brought in immediately at the start of the month. Loans should have been lined up in december. Anyone that says their aren't any players available clearly doesn't know much about premier league football. Several, decent, solid premier league players are stranded on several PL sidelines, that would love the chance to prove themselves at the club at the top of the championship and maybe earn themselves a contract. We've instead persued totally unbelievably players and tried to better what we already have (a virtually impossible task in January, when you're top of the league and don't wish to spend over 4 million). A few loan signings to freshen up the squad would have been like huge and it's very disappinting that the management hasn't recognised this. Unfortunately, i feel the top 2 is beyond our reach now. Momentum, as we've seen over the past 18 months is enormous, and with the squad dropping like flies, i can't see us turning this round. This is the time of the season where a couple of teams will make charge. Birmingham for me, look like a side that is ready to go on a big winning run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooh it's a corner Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 I'm with you young fella. We weren't very good tonight, but look at the chances we created. Conolly was gifted a beat the keeper from 25 yards and fluffed it. Hammond nodded wide with the keeper nowhere. Cork blazed over from 8 yards, even if Spiderman should have hit it himself. Schmiecal made an excellent save second half from under his own bar. Guly shot wide with the keeper beaten Holmes shot wide with the keeper beaten On another day we could have had a few. We didnt deserve them today, but I get the impression that NA is looking purely at the goals for column, and challenging the team to say, go and get me two goals every game and we will get promoted. Which I think is a pretty sound bet, if we can achieve it. We didnt get two goals today, but I bet the manager feels like we should have done. Lambert coming back, Chaplow back sooner rather than later, Lee on his way, I fancy our chances of getting another 38 goals in this season's campaign. keep the faith and stop going home in your droves if we're losing. Stay until the end, it makes such a difference... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the saint in winchester Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Yes, we are second still ... but our current form is woeful, injuries are piling up and we have to play our promotion rivals in the next few weeks. Things don't look good. I haven't given up hope, but I do have a feeling of sinking in quicksand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 No need for long winded explanations. We're second in the league. That fact alone means promotion is not only within our grasp - it's in our own hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born In The 80s Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 No need for long winded explanations. We're second in the league. That fact alone means promotion is not only within our grasp - it's in our own hands. Far too simplistic way to look at the situation. Form isn't something you can turn on and off like a tap. Coming out of a rut like this is very difficult and to get ourselves going again we're going to need to grind out 1-0 wins to regain our confidence. Unluckily for us, our next few opponents will make that very very difficult with the state our starting XI is looking like at the minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cascadia Saint Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 I'm with you young fella. We weren't very good tonight, but look at the chances we created. Conolly was gifted a beat the keeper from 25 yards and fluffed it. Hammond nodded wide with the keeper nowhere. Cork blazed over from 8 yards, even if Spiderman should have hit it himself. Schmiecal made an excellent save second half from under his own bar. Guly shot wide with the keeper beaten Holmes shot wide with the keeper beaten On another day we could have had a few. We didnt deserve them today, but I get the impression that NA is looking purely at the goals for column, and challenging the team to say, go and get me two goals every game and we will get promoted. Which I think is a pretty sound bet, if we can achieve it. We didnt get two goals today, but I bet the manager feels like we should have done. Lambert coming back, Chaplow back sooner rather than later, Lee on his way, I fancy our chances of getting another 38 goals in this season's campaign. keep the faith and stop going home in your droves if we're losing. Stay until the end, it makes such a difference... Totally agree. The chances were there, even if we didn't deserve them. There is still half a season to play, and we all need to be behind the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 I remember a large percentage of the people on here writing off our automatic promotion chances last year too, when there was even fewer games remaining and an even bigger uphill struggle than we currently face. Our best players will return from injury and we have a fairly kind run-in. If we can get through the next half dozen league games with pride intact (and ideally 10-12 points) we'll still be able to have a fair go at it. Management of expectations is bloody important at this stage. Realistically we've never had the strength in depth to challenge for the league in the event of injuries/suspensions to our best players. Our squad players lack the presence and ability to step into some very big shoes. Come on - we've been relatively spoilt for the last couple of years and we're still in an amazing position, you've got to be realistic. With our best XI on the pitch we can match any team in this division, but it's not always going to go our way. The hissy fit that some 'supporters' threw at St. Mary's last night was plain embarassing. Fickle fans that have been spoilt and are forgetting what real hardship is. Get behind the lads and let's see where this ride's taking us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Beat Cardiff and we go up,lose and its the play offs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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