I've just looked at the run in to the end of the season and a top six finish is well within our grasp. My own thoughts at the start of the season was to consolidate this season and build for next season. However Duffy as performed miracles this season and is starting to get the very best out of some of the players this season. My thoughts after watching a very good first 45 minutes yesterday was ,is the top 2 a possible chance now ,looking at the fixtures in April. There's no reason why this can't be acheived if we can grind some decent results in the next month ,March. Some tough games in there ,however looking at the bench and the players coming back we do have a strong Squad now for the final run. After last Saturday seeing some atmosphere coming back to Oakwell ,I think we could see a fantastic season from the reds . We do need the 12th man from now till the end of the season to see us acheive the unexpected. Well done Duffy a Davos for getting us into this position. A Great all round efforts from all at the club for turning this desperate position around. Long may it continue.
Sorry but we are in a league where teams below the top 8 are desperate,think top 2 chance comes tumbling down in run of matches against top teams ,least we got April against the dreggs to try and get into play off spot
It's Wycombe that keeps chucking the spanner into the works. Like one of those clingy people that no matter how hard you try you just can't get rid of them. We've recently seen off Shrewsbury and Pboro but with our next few games they will fancy their chances of clawing back the gap. Now IF we beat Derby, which is going to be one hell of a task (similar to Bolton at home) then we may have one or two free hits later if we maintain a points gap that is just beyond the chasing teams' reach.
Imho we are in the strongest position we have been in all season....players are now bedded in and our squad now looks healthier, with our coach implementing his ideas. I would still argue that our weakest position is up front (as it has been all season) although Norwood looks like a young gazelle at the moment! We can only play what's in front of us but we will know more when we play the better teams in this league how good we are....that starts against Derby, who I do believe we will be very effective against. Fingers crossed we get all our players back too. Said this last week but the inclusion of Thomas at the back has made our defence 50% more effective...a class act who can organize and releases other players to be better going forward.
genuinely don't think we're top 2 material. if we were, we'd be there already, or a lot closer than we are. I think march determines whether we are serious play off contenders, rather than automatic. obviously if we win all our games in march, we probably will find ourselves in auto territory because of the teams we're playing...but I don't think we will. 5 points from our games this season against pompey/plymouth/derby/wycombe/wednesday/ipswich
I don’t think the top 2 is realistically on though we should be aiming for it of course. Will be disappointed if we don’t make the playoffs. I think it’s 4 from 5 for those unless one of the chases goes on an incredible run like we did a few years ago but I think that’s Wycombe this season
Absolutely but depending on the big games in March it's not out of our reach,and we are in good form at the moment.
agree we're in great form, but so are many of the teams around us. no one's really dropping enough points. if we can pick up 15 points from the next 8, I'll be well happy https://thefishy.co.uk/formtable.php?table=3
Wishful thinking to get top two I’m afraid mainly because i just don’t think we’re good enough. We need to cement a playoff place first which won’t be easy but if the squad can stay fit and healthy then i think we’ll do it.
Think we will be 10 points off top 2 but great management from Duff given the squad he’s had to work with top 6 looks achievable which is above expectations
Like others have said the next 5 weeks will be crucial, if we come out of that with 10 points - particularly if we take points of the teams round us - the run-in will be interesting to say the least.
If our form against the top 5 carries on then forget play offs. We need to compete better against the better sides. However if anyone can get them up for it it’s Duff. Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich, Plymouth, & Derby might have the better squad of players, but we have the better manager than all of those teams. That could be the difference.
Hope we're aiming for automatic, but we just need to take each game as it comes and see where we end up. I just want to get back to the Championship and if we back Michael then hopefully we can feel comfortable staying there one thing's for certain, it won't be a boring end to the season!
Our league form against the top 5 isn't that bad. Undefeated in the last 4 and the only two we lost were back in August. LLDWDW
Lost at Plymouth and Derby, drew at Ipswich and won at Wednesday (first 4 in your sequence are correct), drew in the league at Bolton, but lost 3-0 at home, after the penalty and Andersen's harsh dismissal. This makes it W 1 D 2 L 3 against the five teams above us. If you include the 0-3 v Wycombe, who are clearly very much in the that picture and breathing down our necks, our record against promotion rivals reads W 1 D 2 L 4. Clearly, we need a massive improvement on these results against the top teams, if we are to have any hope at all of automatic promotion. However, we have taken 35 points from our last 15 games (W 11 D 2 L 2). If we do as well in our next 15 games ( which is, admittedly, very unlikely), we'll have 91 points before the kick-off in our final match. We finished on 91 in 2019. I think we'll make the play-offs, but the odds against finishing in the top two are quite long.