When will our competitors start dropping points?

GodalmingYellow · Post by **GodalmingYellow** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:33 am

&quotAncient Colin&quot wrote:Why do you keep doing this to yourselves?!

You're fooling no one

theox · Post by **theox** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:33 am

&quotboris&quot wrote:For me the problem is that even if we win all our remaining games, because we've played so many more than the teams around us our fate is not in our own hands. I still think that we're not going to do it, but I couldn't help but feel a little, very weird, pinch of optimism after last night's result.

Stop it Boris, stop it!!!

I just hope that, if we do miss out, we miss by more than 5 points.....

Swissbloke · Post by **Swissbloke** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:19 am

Anyone else want to lock themselves in a dark room until the middle of May?

boris · Post by **boris** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:23 am

&quottheox&quot wrote:
&quotboris&quot wrote:For me the problem is that even if we win all our remaining games, because we've played so many more than the teams around us our fate is not in our own hands. I still think that we're not going to do it, but I couldn't help but feel a little, very weird, pinch of optimism after last night's result.
Stop it Boris, stop it!!!

Don't worry, I'm sure all my nascent optimism will be destroyed over a couple of hours in Stevenage on Saturday.

Matt D · Post by **Matt D** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:28 am

&quotAncient Colin&quot wrote:Why do you keep doing this to yourselves?!

because if we didn't, we wouldn't have nights like last night.

horrible, nervy stuff, but the release with clist's goal was worth it all. and now we've earnt the opportunity to go through it all again on saturday at stevenage - and i, for one, can't wait.

stevenage might have 'dropped' points last night, but how many people have come away from histon with something? it's going to be tough.

on the performance last night: hardly vintage stuff, but it's an away win. foster was tremendous, and contemplating playing some of the games to the end of the season makes you realise how slender our hopes are. carruthers needs to look up when he runs with the ball and plays it. turley, i thought, didn't help us at all in relieving the pressure - his kicking was consistently poor, and he seemed more tentative than usual. is this injury worse than we're told? he was targetted at corners, and the ref did little to help (and on that subject, burgess' corners were effective i thought, even if the rest of his game wasn't).

constable once again showed everyone the way.

oxford support: just terrific. and it made a difference - the referee seemed to take on board some of our thoughts on his handling of the game when he came over to check on foster after the rushden goal...

OUFC4eva · Post by **OUFC4eva** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:31 pm

Agree Matt - Turley is also a massive concern for me.

The guy is clearly unfit and looks very nervous too. In the first half last
night he dropped a cross (admittedly under a lot of pressure) and he failed repeatedly to come for corners that he should have done and got luckywhen Kelly's volley was not held and was spilled over the bar.

He also made Wolleaston's mind up for his goal by charging off his line when Tomlin chipped that pass over Batt.

I reckon Billy's time at the club will come to an end this summer. Father time is catching up with him (now 36) and he has had that shoulder problem for well over 16 months now. He is not cheap either.

SmileyMan · Post by **SmileyMan** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:19 pm

If that's the case, I hope he can do us proud until the end of the season. There's no sadder sight in football than a 'keeper going one game too far (c.f. Seaman in Japorea)

Kernow Yellow · Post by **Kernow Yellow** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:43 pm

&quotSmileyMan&quot wrote:If that's the case, I hope he can do us proud until the end of the season. There's no sadder sight in football than a 'keeper going one game too far (c.f. Seaman in Japorea)

And indeed Shilton at Italia '90. I'd be sad if Turley's time was coming to an end already. Sure, he makes mistakes, and I've not always been happy with some of his antics, but he's been the most regularly reliable keeper at the club since Phil Whitehead. He generally commands his box very well, and is still capable of astonishing saves. He'd be a tough act to follow.

Shoobedoo · Post by **Shoobedoo** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:54 pm

There is an amazing number of games between the top 10 still to be played.

(Wall of text follows - sorry.

)

Games between now and the end of the season between the top 10

Burton: Kettering (h), Crawley (a), Torquay (h), Histon (h), Kidderminster (a), Oxford (h), Torquay (a).
Cambridge: Stevenage (a), Kettering (a).
Torquay: Kettering (h), Burton (a), Crawley (h), Stevenage (a), Burton (h).
Histon: Wrexham (h), Oxford (a), Wrexham (a), Burton (a), Kidderminster (h), Crawley (a).
Kidderminster: Stevenage (h), Burton (h), Histon (a), Stevenage (a), Kettering (h).
Stevenage: Oxford (h), Kidderminster (a), Cambridge (h), Crawley (a), Torquay (h), Kidderminster (h).
Oxford: Stevenage (a), Histon (h), Wrexham (h), Burton (a).
Kettering: Burton (a), Torquay (a), Cambridge (h), Wrexham (h), Kidderminster (a).
Crawley: Burton (h), Torquay (a), Histon (h).
Wrexham: Histon (a), Histon (h), Oxford (a), Kettering (a).

So I think that we can safely say that Cambridge will get to the playoffs with a noticeably easier run-in than the other teams in the top 10 (and I even see them as an outside shot for the title if Burton continue to falter).

Burton (who have been wobbling of late but are 4 points from being out of sight for Oxford), Torquay, Histon, Kidderminster and Stevenage all have tough or very tough run-ins to the end of the season and should all take points off each other. Should that happen I can see one - or maybe two - of these teams not making the playoffs.

That leaves the door open for one or two of the chasing pack - Oxford, Kettering, Crawley or Wrexham. Crawley have the easiest run-in of these four teams Kettering have the toughest. Clearly the form team in this group at the moment is Oxford.

The other factor in the race to the finish line is Mansfield - who proved at the Kas the other week that they are no mugs. They have to play Torquay (h), Histon (a), Wrexham (a) and Stevenage (h) - and every point they nick off them (I'm confident there will be some) will do us a favour.

It's still all up for grabs, is I guess what I'm saying. And I'm also happy with 63 points in the bag when you realise that a lot of the games in hand the other teams have over us are against each other.

EDIT - just noticed that A-Ro did a similar bit of analysis - sorry for going over the same ground twice!

amershamwrighty · Post by **amershamwrighty** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:43 pm

He did, but both your post and his are full of the kind of data that will keep me amused for ages.

I love all this stuff.

Take a bow, both of you.........

Dr Bob · Post by **Dr Bob** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:05 pm

&quotKernow Yellow&quot wrote:
&quotSmileyMan&quot wrote:If that's the case, I hope he can do us proud until the end of the season. There's no sadder sight in football than a 'keeper going one game too far (c.f. Seaman in Japorea)
And indeed Shilton at Italia '90. I'd be sad if Turley's time was coming to an end already. Sure, he makes mistakes, and I've not always been happy with some of his antics, but he's been the most regularly reliable keeper at the club since Phil Whitehead. He generally commands his box very well, and is still capable of astonishing saves. He'd be a tough act to follow.

For me, the clearest sign of his importance to us came earlier in the season, when he returned to the side after recovering from his operation. The way he organised the defence led to them suddenly playing much better than they had with the other temporary replacements in goal. Some of his shot-stopping is outstanding, but his organisation of the defence is as good as I have seen ever, with any of United's keepers over the last quarter of a century.

Swissbloke · Post by **Swissbloke** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:10 pm

Can we stop this now, I can't cope with being any more nervous about our run in.

amershamwrighty · Post by **amershamwrighty** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:43 pm

Relax !

When we had just been dicked by Histon back in November, and were 17th in the table, we would all have settled for going into the last 5 weeks of the season with the faint glimmer of a play off place !

Baboo · Post by **Baboo** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:35 pm

&quotamershamwrighty&quot wrote:Relax !

When we had just been dicked by Histon back in November, and were 17th in the table, we would all have settled for going into the last 5 weeks of the season with the faint glimmer of a play off place !

How do you get Relax! out of that??? These were pre-Wilder days. Expectation levels have increased out of all recognition, but lets hope they continue to be a motivational force and not a burden.

Baboo · Post by **Baboo** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:36 pm

&quotOUFC4eva&quot wrote:Agree Matt - Turley is also a massive concern for me.

The guy is clearly unfit and looks very nervous too. In the first half last
night he dropped a cross (admittedly under a lot of pressure) and he failed repeatedly to come for corners that he should have done and got luckywhen Kelly's volley was not held and was spilled over the bar.

He also made Wolleaston's mind up for his goal by charging off his line when Tomlin chipped that pass over Batt.

I reckon Billy's time at the club will come to an end this summer. Father time is catching up with him (now 36) and he has had that shoulder problem for well over 16 months now. He is not cheap either.

Rage Online

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