Johnnyrotten

If we're counting Barnsley as a big game, Peterboro would have to included too given they are above them. So make that 7 😀 (Clarke Harris header). The positive is we equalised in all 4 home games and didn't lose any, which to me feels like an improvement on previous seasons. Its the away form that hasn't improved yet (against the better sides).

Another good post, agree with every word. I remember thinking "how could he not get a better connection/direction with that"? It looked harder to do what he did than make the keeper work. But I wasn't surprised as such, when he went up to head it I never thought for a second he would bury it, he just doesn't possess that technique, unlike for eg Toal or Iredale. Santos was fantastic defensively but he's never going to be a threat from headers offensively, he's another Zat Knight in terms of direction and conviction.

Agree with this post, and like you I respect anyone saying they saw the game differently and that Maghoma was poor, as long as its not one of those posts just slating a player because they don't like them. But yes, I loved watching Maghoma yesterday, full of invention, close control, trickery, and a couple of fantastic tackles. He did drift out of the game the longer it went on but overall he added to that game and performance, and he looks undroppable to me for now, we really need him on his game for the last few matches.

Goosebumps first half.

You're coming across as a bit odd, with respect. I spoke about positives and negatives, as I do every game if applicable. Great game, we can play better. Enjoy your evening.

Can't disagree with that, nothing against Vic at all, just not having it that Bod is a downgrade on him. The other factor is that some results when Vic started were secured by the intro of Bod as sub, who generally did a great job when he came on. Nobody can prove anything at all based purely on stats, naive to think otherwise. Agreed its not a shit league, yes a few "easy" games but no more than last season. But I have sympathy with the viewpoint that its weaker than last season at the top, in that Derby look like finishing 2nd and no way are they the standard of Ipswich or Sheff Wed last season.

Yes it felt like a play off 2nd leg game, never mind 1st leg. Fantastic atmosphere in first half, relentless. 2nd half less so, in fact it felt a bit flat atmosphere-wise, like it was a realisation we weren't going to win. But overall, a quality game of football, a pleasure to be there. Santos - wow. But as much as we played well as in 7 out of 10, I felt like some key players didn't. Sheehan as bad a first half as I can recall at home. Jones a shadow of the player I expected to see, was he fit? Looked sluggish and lacking drive. Bod generally off the pace, as he was 1st half v Reading. Our corners were shocking until Morley came on, then it was like we had someone who had taken a dead ball before, and we suddenly looked dangerous. Overall, did OK, but Derby have got away with that one because we can be better.

There are no stats that tell us how many points we would have got with the same fixtures if Vic played, or how many points we'd have dropped if Bod had played instead of Vic in 1st half of season. All guesswork. The fixtures have got harder - so obvious, not sure why I'm repeating it. The points per game in the first half or 2 thirds of the season was never a true reflection, given our record against the better sides, who we had hardly played at that stage. And with Vic hardly playing, we've got the longest unbeaten home run now since god knows when, that's not a dig at him, but makes a mockery of us struggling without him, we've also started scoring more. Yes, less away points, but not comparing like with like. Some disappointing performances of course, same as 1st half of season, without the embarrassing Wigan/Carlisle type defeats. FWIW I was as disappointed as anyone with Bod's miss in 2nd half and he didn't have a great game. I do think he's lost a bit of zest and I'd have no problem with Charles starting on Tuesday in his place.

That could be the understatement of the century.

The one was at Lincoln, so none against 11 men then 😀 Never mind, the season starts here, fresh start, none of the previous games against top half clubs count one bit any more. 3 home wins and 1 away and its all done.

Imagine how pleased the Blackburn manager will be to know a massive 6 pointer is being played with 7k away fans and not many more home fans than them. And we complain when its 4k away fans in a crowd of 20k+.

We've never shown we can beat top of table have we? I'm not checking, but I don't remember the last one. We haven't had any "big" league wins with Santos, without Santos, with Charles, without Charles. Hence we aren't currently in the top 2 because our results against everyone else have been generally great. So whether Santos plays or not isn't a deciding factor, we need to improve with or without him. We could have any of the squad in defence, anyone in midfield and the worst referee of the season, we just have to do something we haven't done and get a massive performance and maybe a bit of luck and do it. If we as a club/fans aren't up for this one we never will be. Bring it on.

Hopefully its made Derby even more edgy for their games against teams they "should" beat!

Last 4 games played by top 3 in championship this week: 2 draws, 2 defeats, Scored 0. Leicester lost last 3 aways all 1-0 against bottom half teams. Possession stats mean nothing, as we all know!

They were biggish crowds for that season, most crowds were around 15k including Blackpool. Just had a look at fixtures and I may as well have missed that season for all the impact it had on me. I'd forgotten how detached I'd become from the club in that period. Went to the games, came home, moved on, it was routine and lacking passion, even winning 5-1 at Leeds felt relatively flat.

Yes I agree. Ashworth has good quality, especially on the ball, not necessarily a top quality defender but which of our LWBs are, they rarely get tested on the wings in this league. Championship football a different kettle of fish so pointless speculating about next season's recruits or retained list etc till we know our fate.

I remember the games you refer to in the Prem years when playing Blackburn didn't seem like a big deal at all, with small away followings at both grounds. But the same was true of Wigan, they used to bring about 1k. I remember when Rodrigo scored one of his few goals for us (2010-11), we drew 1-1 on a freezing night. Attendance 18,852. Average attendance for the season 22k, the only other crowd under 20k was Birmingham. Playing Wigan was viewed the same way as Birmingham or Charlton, didn't even feel like an important game. Obviously that's all changed now.

Probably more to do with their fixtures being miles easier ie we've got 2 very tough games

Derby and Posh can still get 92, so they need 3

And can we not have the ref we had at Blackpool in any of the last 4 games please. And please can Derby not have him too.

I'll settle for just us winning Saturday, whatever anyone else does, but that scenario would mean Posh not being able to get top 2 by beating us (if we beat Shrewsbury of course). How big is Saturday?

Magnificent. Winning all 4 sounds a tall order but forget the last one for now, just get the 3 homes won and last day will take care of itself. BTW Pompey needed 4 points to go up this morning, now they only need 3. If we beat them they still only need 1 win or 3 draws, they've gained a point tonight. Saturday is as big a game as we've had barring last day promotions/relegation deciders.

I've just had a bet on Derby to win at 12/5, that should do the trick

Definitely. The same is true of any player in this league. If we had a home game this week with no Baxter, Santos, Sheehan and Charles (the supposed irreplaceables), against anyone outside the top 4 or 5, I'd fully expect us to win, that's what this squad can do 4 times out of 5. We'd replace them with Coleman and probably Forrester, Dempsey and Collins or Bod. If it was Wigan, Blackpool or Derby away, whether they are playing or not, we have a problem scoring goals and those 4 don't necessarily make the difference. FWIW Baxter is the only one I'd be really concerned about if it was a play off match, the others, less so but Santos probably 2nd and Sheehan 3rd.

Do those stats say anything either way? Only 5 league wins out of 10, and none were exactly stand out wins, all by 1 goal, some lucky and only 1 clean sheet (at Vale). 4 draws (3 at home including conceding 3 to Charlton) and our worst home result of the season (Carlisle). Cup games totally irrelevant given the opposition for every win were so weak. We are better with Santos in the team for me, not sure what the stats show though?