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Play-Off watch


SNSUN
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With us all bar mathematically out of the race for autos, we cast our eyes to our potential play off rivals.1543800853_Screenshot_20240420_191707_SamsungInternet.thumb.jpg.419e1bf757f3be5c46821cb5ed3b99b7.jpg

Below us, Coventry have games in hand but are heavily relying on teams above them to win. Probably won't make it, similar to our chances of autos! Hull win their game in hand and they're only 3 behind the other two. Norwich have caught WBA up. Obviously also one of the top 3 will end up third.

So really we are the only ones definitely in the play-offs. So there's that. 

Personally I'd rather play WBA over two legs as I think they're the most beatable.

Who would you rather play in the semis/final?

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3 hours ago, LGTL said:

I’d rather get WBA as it will be much easier to get to on a fucking Monday night than Norwich for the away leg.

Norwich on a monday night would be horrendous 

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Would prefer WBA in the semis, then possibly Ipswich or Norwich in the final (I think Norwich may win that).

But I fear we’ll beat Leeds in May keeping them down, only to lose to them at Wembley.

We don’t fall foul of fuck-ups at Saints we breed our own. 

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Be nice to get back to winning ways at Wembley.

I'm excited, I must say. I think the fact that everyone still has clear mememories of the last time we were in the playoffs says it all, that was over 15 years ago. This could well be another memory-maker.

Despite my excitement, I am a bit worried about our tendency to 'bottle' high-stakes games. Whether that is a sliced finish, a poor choice of pass or a defender's brain turning off at a key moment.

We have enough in attack to put teams out of it in the first leg, if we bring our shooting boots.

West Brom or Norwich, both very much beatable.

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Given Saints inability to stick the ball in the net with just the 'keeper to beat I'm hoping it doesn't go to penalties. Come to think of it, have we had many this season.

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39 minutes ago, obelisk said:

Given Saints inability to stick the ball in the net with just the 'keeper to beat I'm hoping it doesn't go to penalties. Come to think of it, have we had many this season.

Four I make it. 2 in the 4-4 vs Norwich, 1 late consolation in the 3-1 defeat at Bristol and 1 in the 4-2 win against Sunderland.  All scored by Armstrong.  Can't remember missing any (so far!)

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On 21/04/2024 at 15:38, mikec said:

Four I make it. 2 in the 4-4 vs Norwich, 1 late consolation in the 3-1 defeat at Bristol and 1 in the 4-2 win against Sunderland.  All scored by Armstrong.  Can't remember missing any (so far!)

Didn't Charly miss one? Blackburn at home maybe? 

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2 hours ago, SaintNewForest said:

Didn't Charly miss one? Blackburn at home maybe? 

Yep, tried a Panenka like an idiot.

He did make up for it with the 4th or 5th goal deep into stoppage time though.

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7 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Yep, tried a Panenka like an idiot.

He did make up for it with the 4th or 5th goal deep into stoppage time though.

Statistically, the keeper is most likely to dive one way or another, so above waist height straight down the middle is the most likely place to go in. A miss is a miss, whether he puts it wide of the post or over the bar, it just looks worse.

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1 hour ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Is it just me that doesn’t want West Brom, because law of averages suggests we won’t beat them another two times having done it twice already?

I think it’ll be Norwich anyway.

It’s irrelevant, we won’t win the play offs anyway. We crumble under any pressure, can’t defend and blow hot and cold in front of goal. 
 

We’ll get knocked out over 2 legs to all 3 of the potential sides we will play. 

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1 hour ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Is it just me that doesn’t want West Brom, because law of averages suggests we won’t beat them another two times having done it twice already?

I think it’ll be Norwich anyway.

But we can lose one of them and win the other, and still go through. 

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1 minute ago, Dr Who? said:

But we can lose one of them and win the other, and still go through. 

 But we won’t.

the system has been found out and the manager is not good enough to make required changes.

 

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I am very worried about our midfield for the playoffs.  Currently we could field Downes/Smallbone/Aribo.  

Rothwell looks like a hamstring, and we know Stuey is out.  Aside from Charles, that leaves us very short of options and game changing energy I think.

Could Arma or Brooks play there?

An injury to Aribo in the final two games and we are screwed.

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19 minutes ago, chownie20 said:

I am very worried about our midfield for the playoffs.  Currently we could field Downes/Smallbone/Aribo.  

Rothwell looks like a hamstring, and we know Stuey is out.  Aside from Charles, that leaves us very short of options and game changing energy I think.

Could Arma or Brooks play there?

An injury to Aribo in the final two games and we are screwed.

Fear not. Jack Stephens in a hybrid Stones/Rodri/Foden role can fill any gaps in midfield. 

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25 minutes ago, chownie20 said:

I am very worried about our midfield for the playoffs.  Currently we could field Downes/Smallbone/Aribo.  

Rothwell looks like a hamstring, and we know Stuey is out.  Aside from Charles, that leaves us very short of options and game changing energy I think.

Could Arma or Brooks play there?

An injury to Aribo in the final two games and we are screwed.

I'd like to see Brooks 1 of the 3 in midfield, and Fraser starting out wide. SAA and Edozie as back up. Rothwell won't be missed for me. 

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43 minutes ago, egg said:

I'd like to see Brooks 1 of the 3 in midfield, and Fraser starting out wide. SAA and Edozie as back up. Rothwell won't be missed for me. 

I thought this last night when Rothwell went off. The senible play would have been to stick Brooks in the 10 - almost in a similar role to KDH. Way to much fulidity for a control freak like Martin though. 

McCarthy 

KWP THB Bednerak Manning

Charles Downes 

Fraser Brooks AA

Adams 

is the side i'd go with for the next 2 and if it works, playoffs. 

 

Although, I do wonder if he'll revert to a back 5

Edited by Dman
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2 hours ago, chownie20 said:

I am very worried about our midfield for the playoffs.  Currently we could field Downes/Smallbone/Aribo.  

Rothwell looks like a hamstring, and we know Stuey is out.  Aside from Charles, that leaves us very short of options and game changing energy I think.

Could Arma or Brooks play there?

An injury to Aribo in the final two games and we are screwed.

The midfield has worried me all season, I think we have generally been short there all year and it's shown up massively whenever we lose a single player. 

Downes is our only experienced defensive minded midfield player. Rothwell, Aribo, Smallbone, Armstrong etc are all more advanced midfielders and are too weak to play a disciplined role as we've seen. That only leaves us with Charles to play that role if Downes is out and he's playing his first season of pro football.

A big cockup in the summer for me. I think Charles was ok last night, but I think we'd have been better off spending £5m on a Gruev type player rather than a kid.

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12 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

 But we won’t.

the system has been found out and the manager is not good enough to make required changes.

 

Our home form will be enough I think to get us through to the final.

Even if we're 1-0 down after the first leg, I'd back us to come back.

And then hopefully we can muster up a display against Leeds like we managed in September.

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14 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Our home form will be enough I think to get us through to the final.

Even if we're 1-0 down after the first leg, I'd back us to come back.

And then hopefully we can muster up a display against Leeds like we managed in September.

The real issue is I can see us being 2 or 3-0 down going into the home leg. 

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Well that's Coventry out of the reckoning. I'd rather not have to play Hull, I think they're a good team.

That said I'd rather not have to play Norwich, WBA, Ipswich, Leeds or Leicester either but we have to play one of them.

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What does it matter? It’s going to be very very tough to get through to the final, then our bunch of bottlers somehow have to pull another miracle off. RM is not tactically astute enough to coach or set the team up for one important game, let alone a series of games.

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I think just getting to the play-off final will be a buzz and will invigorate the club.

(So that's us basically out before we even get to the second leg of the semis...)

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15 hours ago, SNSUN said:

Well that's Coventry out of the reckoning. I'd rather not have to play Hull, I think they're a good team.

That said I'd rather not have to play Norwich, WBA, Ipswich, Leeds or Leicester either but we have to play one of them.

or even two of them

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On 24/04/2024 at 07:44, chownie20 said:

I am very worried about our midfield for the playoffs.  Currently we could field Downes/Smallbone/Aribo.  

Rothwell looks like a hamstring, and we know Stuey is out.  Aside from Charles, that leaves us very short of options and game changing energy I think.

Could Arma or Brooks play there?

An injury to Aribo in the final two games and we are screwed.

Even if we play Aribo without an injury we are screwd!

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1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

Does your glass ever reach half full ?

Aribo is an asset at this level. He bossed the Ipswich away match and generally holds the ball and makes things happen. I think him, Downes and Brooks would be strong, with Smallbone and Charles alongside Downes if we need to sure up. Russ won't play Brookes midfield tho.

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Back to my usual negative thoughts after feeling positive that we would comfortably dispatch Blackburn and Cardiff.

Reflecting on the last time we were in the Play Offs under George Burley.

Lost 1-0 at SMS to Derby, beat them at their place then lost on penalties, a result I was unaware of until I woke up about 2am and switched on the TV in my hospital bed after recovering from a 4 hour operation.

We then went into free fall and ended up wallowing in League One until being rescued by dear old Markus.

I fear a repetition when Sports Republic either lose interest in us or we suffer another financial meltdown.

Whatever the outcome, I dont see us ever being a force in the Premiership in my lifetime and suspect my end days will see the team return to the level I started watching them ie Third Division South (nowadays League One)
 

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27 minutes ago, spyinthesky said:

Back to my usual negative thoughts after feeling positive that we would comfortably dispatch Blackburn and Cardiff.

Reflecting on the last time we were in the Play Offs under George Burley.

Lost 1-0 at SMS to Derby, beat them at their place then lost on penalties, a result I was unaware of until I woke up about 2am and switched on the TV in my hospital bed after recovering from a 4 hour operation.

We then went into free fall and ended up wallowing in League One until being rescued by dear old Markus.

I fear a repetition when Sports Republic either lose interest in us or we suffer another financial meltdown.

Whatever the outcome, I dont see us ever being a force in the Premiership in my lifetime and suspect my end days will see the team return to the level I started watching them ie Third Division South (nowadays League One)
 

Lost 1-2 in the first leg, Surman opened the scoring with a cracker and it seemed like maybe things would work out for us before they proceeded to kick the shit out of Gareth Bale and get the result. Billy Davies the horrible little short arse cunt.

The away end for the return leg was amazing, if you want the definition of “limbs” it’s us as Rasiak scores the winner. Think I’ve just about dried out from the torrential rain as we left the ground. Just as well it was shit weather as it probably would have kicked off big time with the Derby fans goading ours at the end.

Back to this year it really doesn’t matter how we’ve performed against the fellow play off sides earlier this season, it basically becomes 3 cup finals and a case of which side wants it more and can deal with the pressure. We may have got wins or draws against the others when there’s still plenty of points to play for, but when it’s comes down to do or die games we’ve absolutely crumbled so I’ve got zero faith in this bunch of bottlers.

 

Edited by bpsaint
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On 21/04/2024 at 12:15, coalman said:

I really don't want Hull to make the playoffs. They outplayed us for their win. Would prefer West Brom to Norwich who have the players to really exploit our system.

Totally agree. They're the only team I feel we won't beat. All the others (including Leeds) it's up to us to lose.

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37 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

WBA looking like they're bang out of form but we may not be playing them. Norwich have crept into 5th. Hull play later.

Very annoying. Looking v likely it will be Norwich for us, would miles prefer WBA.

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On 25/04/2024 at 14:34, Saint86 said:

I do not want Hull to sneak in. Very dangerous side on good form post January.

Hull are my bet for promotion going up with Leicester and Ipswich 

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4 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

Screenshot_2024-04-27-19-35-04-156_com.brave.browser-edit.thumb.jpg.919f7fb182bd166a00a030199bb572b6.jpg

So which play off are we in? The early Sunday kick off or the Monday night game?

Sunday seems preferable, but that 12:30 kickoff has a real "still asleep" danger about it 

Monday night game is already moved, whoever is in that fixture play on the Sunday 2.15pm , we are guaranteed to be in that one. 

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13 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

So to confirm then, first leg is Sunday 12th May and the home leg is Friday 17th?

 

Correct, anyone needing travel / hotel etc we know home leg, just need to know where we are going away 

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