looking on the bright side

Nesty · 16 Dec 2018, 14:16

we are "a mere" 6 points behind Northampton and Port Vale in 14th/15th place with a game in hand (that would have been only 3 points behind Port Vale had we hung on yesterday) which is a dramatic improvement on where we were a few weeks back.I am definitely in the glass half full camp. The futures bright.............. its red and white

MSB · 16 Dec 2018, 14:33

I think it's showing that Duff's plans are beginning to come into fruition. It took its time, but we really were in a mess at the start of the season and the team is starting to look like they can control games now.

We're really desperate for a goalscorer. The fact we're nearly at Christmas and our top scorer is a centre back shows we are lacking in that department. Will be interesting to see how quickly we can get players in. I wonder if MD has already made arrangements for some of his former teams players to come down here.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 16 Dec 2018, 15:03

MSB wrote:I think it's showing that Duff's plans are beginning to come into fruition. It took its time, but we really were in a mess at the start of the season and the team is starting to look like they can control games now.

We're really desperate for a goalscorer. The fact we're nearly at Christmas and our top scorer is a centre back shows we are lacking in that department. Will be interesting to see how quickly we can get players in. I wonder if MD has already made arrangements for some of his former teams players to come down here.

Boyle has three League goals. Varney is top scorer with four. That inaccuracy aside, I completely agree.

Also agree with Nesty - we should look up, and had we kicked the ball clear yesterday we would have been as close to twelfth as we were bottom.

Hopefully events like yesterday won’t come back to haunt us and we can keep up the win rate required to keep above those below and catch those above.

The only nagging doubt is we are not yet in a position where we can afford a bad run of three or four games.

Shade · 17 Dec 2018, 12:43

An away point at Vale is still a good point.

Varney has only scored in two league games, and it our top scorer...it's a miracle we're not bottom really based on that stat alone.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 17 Dec 2018, 14:21

Shade wrote:An away point at Vale is still a good point.

Varney has only scored in two league games, and it our top scorer...it's a miracle we're not bottom really based on that stat alone.

Failure to convert games like the Vale one into wins and we may be bottom in two games time.

Shade · 17 Dec 2018, 14:32

I don't care where we are in two games time. It's where we are in 25 games time that I'm concerned about.

17 Dec 2018, 15:01

I'd bite your hand off for third from bottom, right now...

17 Dec 2018, 16:58

Shade wrote:An away point at Vale is still a good point.

Varney has only scored in two league games, and it our top scorer...it's a miracle we're not bottom really based on that stat alone.

Is it a good point, surely sides like Vale (floating lower mid-table) represent those sorts of games where we should target three points.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 17 Dec 2018, 18:23

Robin wrote:
Shade wrote:An away point at Vale is still a good point.

Varney has only scored in two league games, and it our top scorer...it's a miracle we're not bottom really based on that stat alone.
Is it a good point, surely sides like Vale (floating lower mid-table) represent those sorts of games where we should target three points.

They are certainly games where we have the opportunity to get three points.

Essentially, as we all know, to stay up we need to make sure that between now and the end of the season we need to make sure two of the sides below us don’t score more points than us. This means that each game against the likes of Vale we don’t win, the more likely we will reach a stage where we have to beat top of the table sides in order to stay above of the teams below.

Shade says he doesn’t care if we are bottom in two games time. Maybe not, but such a situation would give us 23 games to make up two places, whereas had we beaten Vale the worst case scenario would mean we would only need to make one place. The last thing we need is going into games at the bottom with the fear and pressure of knowing that if we don’t win we could get more adrift.

We can’t afford too many more missed opportunities.

Shade · 18 Dec 2018, 14:11

The next 3/4 games aren't going to make or break our season. The second half of the season, once the window has opened and we have a lot of the bottom half teams coming to Whaddon Road, is where it's going to be decided. Anything we get before then is just a bonus in my eyes. I fully expect us to comfortably reach 50 points + by the end of the season, given we've only really turned up for half of the games we've played so far and are looking upwards.

On the other thread, RCS, I said about 3 wins before Christmas 6 weeks ago. Well, that's already been achieved, so I can't now say that it's panic stations because we only got a point away at Port Vale. I believe we only need 2 more points from the next 3 games to meet your pre-January target, too?

theidlerich · 18 Dec 2018, 15:07

.......and going back to the thread post title.... we have M Duff esq in post luckily as ...'the special one [not]' has come available!