Updated and it's interesting to see how some teams have moved and which have appeared/disappeared. GD is narrowing as well
I HAD to laugh when I read this article this morning - According to number two Graeme Jones, West Bromwich Albion are the "biggest side in the Championship." Let’s look at the FACTS (where’s Mikey these days??? ) 1. Albion currently sit in fifth place after beating Leeds 4-1 before the International break, five points behind leaders Norwich City. 2. Dwight Gale has scored 9 goals – Teemu Pukki has also scored 9 goals and missed several games through injury. 3. You have to score goals to win matches. Over the last 6, Baggies – GF 10 GA 9; Canaries – GF 13 GA 6 and 3 came in our last game!!! Edit - WBA are currently 16th in the form table over the last 6 games!! PS - WBA travel to Portaloo Road tomorrow evening ........
Were we to lose the next four games I am sure Mikey would rd-appeared slate the "despicable budgies".
So some interesting changes in the form table over the last month or so, with the Canaries perched proudly at the top of both the 6 and 10 game sequence and the much fancied WBA have disappeared from the 6 game sequence. The most pleasing STAT is that for once, we have a healthy GD and let’s hope we can maintain it. IF we get a convincing win tomorrow, then I’m putting a bet on that we’ll score over 100 goals this season!!! Apologies, I’ve just seen that I’ve cropped 10th place off 30/11 post!!
MB's Pink Un write up after the Rotherham game included: On breaking 40 points inside 20 games... ..."the historical Championship numbers from there are stark. In the previous 11 seasons, 15 teams have also reached 40 points within 20 games: 14 earned promotion, 11 automatically, with Brighton (2015-16) the only side to miss out despite clocking 89 points."
I only hope he doesn't end up regretting trotting out stats like that with less than half the season gone!
With two away games before Christmas, it is worth noting our away record. P . W. L . D. F . A Points GD 10 5. 1. 4 . 18 . 9 . 19. +9 We have only lost ONE game away so far this season. Quite remarkable.
Yes, I’ve found that in the past and the only way to do it is to do a ‘screen grab’ and then upload it as a picture. #mindthegap 6 points to 3rd and 9 points to 7th!!!! I can almost taste that beer FML. Top 10 finish and we're 13 points ahead of Stoke.
Sorry GE, FML and I have a bet (2 pints of beer) - IF we finish in the top ten, I win. At the moment, I'm 'odds on' to win!!
IMO, VERY worrying trends showing up in the last month, ESPECIALLY in the ‘GD’ column and as both the Archant scribes and the MFW writers have repeatedly said, we REALLY miss Leitner in the midfield. I’m sure DF is acutely aware of the issues and will be working hard to eradicate our defensive frailty. Perhaps it is time to ‘boot it into row Z ' instead of trying to always play it out of defence!!!!
So here are the fixtures until we play Leeds and as you can see, we have a pretty tough run of games -
I guess we must remember that we all have to play everyone twice. We have had a very tough start to the second half and that continues up to and including Leeds. But then it gets easier and if the first half of the season has shown us one thing it is that perhaps we are a team that can put away the lesser lights. The top teams maybe as we have seen, it's touch and go as to whether we can out score them, but them in the bottom half less likely. I still feel positive that even if after Leeds we have fallen to 5th or 6th, that we can come back from it and mount a push for the Automatic positions. Some of the players we are currently missing will also help a lot when they return. Bah!
#aintthatthetruth You’re absolutely right GM when you say that we are able to win against teams in the lower half of the table and as yesterday’s results showed, the teams around us can have ‘off days’ as well. Yes, the gap to 3rd has really narrowed, but we SHOULD have most of our injured players fully fit by the time we play the Blades (the match will most likely be rearranged from 26th, as at least one of us should be in the 4th round of the FA Cup!!)