superniko

Leeds went something like 53 games without a penalty a season or so ago.

The Chelsea semi-final a big one i think given how long it's been since we've been in an FA Cup final. Felt gutted (but proud) leaving the ground as we fully deserved something from that game.

Is Lenihan back next game? i was also going to ask, what has Buckley done to get dropped after a great performance at Charlton and solid at Brentford. (Then gets a red card - Tony won’t play him for the rest of the season now).

Let’s be honest today isn’t the issue. Drawing at home to Swansea and Stoke is. We should be in the top 6 already.

No reason to hate the man. Not his fault he keeps getting picked. He isn’t good enough but I don’t understand how fans can say stuff like that, albeit in the heat of the moment.

There was a Rugby match on Sky a Sports yesterday which had possibly the worst kit clash I’ve ever seen

Hull do look absolutely shambolic. Madness to think they were 250/1 for relegation the day they sold Bowen to West Ham!

Millwall certainly have the easiest run in too. Nobody in the Top 6 left to play, with ourselves being their toughest remaining fixture.

Another 20 points is 2 points per game. Sounding a lot less likely like that.

Thought Brereton looked decent when he came on. Danny Graham offered nothing, found it strange that he took the penalty considering his limited playing time lately and Armstrong scoring against Brentford. Thought we missed midfield creativity, a game where Buckley could have looked decent, first half especially. Tony certainly does think throwing a Striker on will solve all problems. 4-2-4 2nd half! There was no linking between defence and attack at all. 2 points from 2 home games as decent favourites is v.disappointing. We’re still in the mix, but let’s be honest, we should be in 6th place now, and 2 winnable games have past while Preston have played 2 very tough games and still sit in 6th

They've gone from 'god awful' to 'meh' and we've gone from 'okay' to 'wow'. Yet over the last 15 games we only have 1 more point than them (and we're being praised as this really in form team).

Per Game stats is my exact point around a small sample size. I don’t mean sample as in more players, I mean sample as in games played. Say I’ve played 3 games and in one had 4 shots and the other two I had 1. I’m averaging 2 shots per game but the 4 could be the anomaly. It’s meaningless and pointless to compare at the moment. Buckley has start 5 league games for us in his career.

Fulham’s next 5 games: Swansea (H) PNE (H) Bristol City (A) Brentford (H) Leeds (A) Makes me think how valuable a 0-0 would have been against them the other week at Home. I really think they’re the team that could drop like a stone. Hoping we don’t let this opportunity slip, and get an early lead to control the game against Stoke. These next two are ones which playoff hopefuls grind out. Win them both, and I’d imagine we go close to odds on for a Top 6 finish.

Full time whistles now would be even better!

Full time whistles now would be nice!!

Extremely small sample size on this just throws it out the window. How many minutes has Buckley played for us in the 1st team?

Huddersfield strong favourites over Bristol City. City are rated poorly on all statistical fronts. (They were 9/1 vs Leeds away the other week which was the same as what Wigan and Reading were) QPR also favourites against Derby. Preston is the big one for me, as they have Fulham away on Saturday, a defeat tonight for them and it heaps a bit more pressure on that fixture

So we had the hardest match of all our rivals this week. Same distance from Fulham, Brentford and Forest. 1 point closer to Bristol City 2 points further from PNE Pulled 1 away from Millwall and Cardiff. Swansea closed the gap by 2

Leeds look like they’re going up top 2 and have thrown away plenty of leads (3-0 up against Cardiff I think it was). We didn’t deserve to be 2-0 they missed a load of chances, it was a false score line. They then score a worldie and we’re under the cosh. We would have all taken a draw beforehand, leads change in football, it’s part of the game. Win our home games next week is what’s required.

My better half is from Tipp town so we’re back for the weekend, usually always come back for the Ire v Eng 6N match. On the result....everyone knows its upsetting losing a 2-0 lead, but I think that majority would have taken a draw before the match, brentford were the better team throughout, and given they had a 62% chance winning beforehand we have to take this as a positive. That was our hardest remaining game of the season. A win against Stoke..... we’d all have taken 4 points from the 2 games.

Our issue is keeping hold of the ball and possession. Replacing Buckley with Bennett will not solve that at all! If we hold on here I’ll be amazed, feel like we need another. Missing being there as I’m over in Tipperary, Ireland, but managed to ensure the pub has it on over then Chelsea game! COYB

Derby for me. I think we’ll be above Fulham by the end of March.

I’ve attached the league table for the past 6 seasons at the 33 game point. This year is the lowest points total for 3rd, 4th, 5th AND 6th at this point! The last time 6th had only 53 points at this stage it took just 73 points for 5th and 72 points for 6th (we finished 8th with 70 points) This is our best chance yet, I think something as low as 70 points could do it when you consider how many teams have to play each other and the lower than usual total so far. The Stoke and Swansea games are massive!

A decent article on it here: https://talksport.com/football/fa-cup/659667/brentford-data-revolution-england-smartest-club-championship-leicester-fa-cup/ They're owned by Matthew Benham, professional gambler, and clearly one of the smartest in the game. Very well run club, who go about everything the right way.

I think we’ll have a clear picture after the Swansea game. PNE have to play WBA and Fulham Cardiff have Forest and Brentford Bristol C have WBA and Millwall. Basically everyone is playing everyone around them so points will be dropped. If we can come out with 6+ points I’d be delighted. Expecting 4 though. Anything on Saturday for me is a bonus.