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“Optimism is a disease”, but…

…has anyone looked at our run-in and thought that it has to be one of the gentlest yet seen?

As GA regularly reminds us, “there are no easy games in this division”, but the final 6 are all against teams either likely to be in the relegation dogfight (FGR, Cambridge, Morecambe), or challenging hard for pure mid-table mediocrity (Lincoln, Chelts, Pompey - ok there’s an outside chance the latter pull round and challenge for the playoffs too, but I can’t see it).

It can also be argued that games against relegation strugglers should be amongst the hardest, if those teams are going to be fighting to stay up - but we have an additional level of quality that those teams don’t have.

So there’s obviously a long way to go before April, but if we manage to keep up with the play-off chasing pack until then, I think we’ve got a decent chance.

(cue horrendous slump in form, etc)


10 Apr

Forest Green Rovers

15 Apr

Morecambe

18 Apr

Cambridge United

22 Apr

Lincoln City

29 Apr

Cheltenham Town

7 May

Portsmouth

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Comments

  • We dropped points against Wimbledon and Gillingham in the run in last season despite having the quality in our team to put them to the sword. Expect the run in to be just as difficult this time around

  • These kind of runs scare me more than hard fixtures against other top teams tbh. We have no opportunity to take points off teams around us, and the other teams are either fighting for their L1 status or can play without any pressure, both of which are dangerous.

  • edited January 2023

    Whichever team we're playing, we still have to win. Sometimes that's easier said than done.

    But you're correct, a run in of Ipswich(A), Sheffield Wednesday (H), Plymouth (A), Bolton(H), Derby (A) would look more testing.

    Our games against Derby & Bolton next month are, I feel, going to be very influential in our final table position (obviously). Two wins and it's definitely game on for the play-offs.

  • You can never tell what's going to be a comfortable game and what isn't.

    On "that" day, if Bristol Rovers could have handpicked a game they needed to win, a home game against a mid-table Mansfield who had even forgotten their kit would have been more or less to of the list.

    I think the fact that we went through all this last year counts massively in our favour

  • It really is "the hope that kills you"

  • edited January 2023

    Let's hope we're still in the mixer by then.

    Last night's results weren't good for us, and I think even Gaz knows we're in about a 6 or 7 team battle for 2 places.

    I suppose we all accept the top 3 are gone, but Derby at 4th now look a bit out of sight.

    Bolton and Barnsley will be tough to get past.

    Bolton winning, despite having a man sent off (hilariously the wrong one, but I dare say @ReturnToSenda will have been all over that yesterday on a thread somewhere), and still winning with 10men for 60mins is not a good sign!


  • Portsmouth are only four points behind us with two games in hand - if we are in the play off mix, so are they at present at least.

    Forest Green have just sacked their manager.

    Cheltenham are far from clear of the relegation race.

    Who knows what will happen - (which at the end of the day is what makes football fun.)

  • Last season we struggled in the run in at Wimbledon but beat both Plymouth and Sheff Weds.

  • Last night's results were fantastic for us. We won and that's all we can do at this stage

  • Barnsley's two games in hand are Oxford (A) next week and Exeter (A) TBC. Both tough games so hopefully results go our way and they don't pull too far in front of us.

    Fundamentally though, along the lines of @Twizz above, it'll be the home games against Bolton, Derby and Barnsley that will go some way to defining where we finish.

  • edited January 2023

    Welcome @PBo to the Wycombe Wanderers play-off charabanc. I can't guarantee the destination yet, but we're all in for a great ride.

  • Today I learned the word "charabanc".

  • At worst, I’m pretty confident we’ll have plenty to play for right till the end of the campaign, which surely is the best way to be.

    You have to go back to the 15/16 season , and our 13th place finish (thank you Soccerbase) for the last time we hit true “on the beach early” mediocrity.

  • Maybe my memory is playing tricks, but it feels like even 15/16 we were still mathematically in it until quite close to the end.

    Kids today will find it hard to believe, but weren’t there a couple of seasons where our hopes were ended by defeats at the Kassam? Quite late in the season.

  • FmGFmG
    edited January 2023

    Even then we were fighting for playoffs until the final 3 games, but form of 0-4-4 (!!) in the last 8 games ended those hopes.

  • After our defeat to PLymouth on 1st October, I was thinking we were going to struggle massively. Up popped 3 wins against Oxford, Posh and MK Dons.

    I then thought, we've cracked it and have some games against easier looking opposition. We then lost to Cambridge, drew with Morecambe, drew with Port Vale and lost to Cheltenham. With a solitary win against Forest Green squeezed in. 5 points from 15.

    I'd rather have a mix of teams to play in the run in, and also some teams around us where a win can really hurt them. Appreciate that could equally hurt us.

    I look at the table and think, how the hell are we in the mix with these historical clubs who've played a lot in the top flight of English football. I really have to pinch myself. Bolton, Derby, Weds, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Barnsley and a little further down the league in Charlton. It's mad really!

    Heart says play-offs, head says 7th or 8th.

  • Our result was indeed fantastic.

    But Bolton winning was anything but.

  • It appears in the song 'Peaches' by The Stranglers. And nowhere else.

  • Always wondered what he was saying there, but never quite enough to look up the answer.

  • *Sigh* for other teams this would be the case.... but for us..... we always seem to play better against the top of the table teams, and lose out to the teams we all assume we will beat 🤔🤐🤫😅

  • It's funny how much it has changed! It wasn't too long ago we seemed to fail to beat the top teams but handle business against everyone else.

    In the 17/18 L2 promotion season we only lost to one team who finished in the bottom half: Morecambe, who did the double over us. But of the other six teams in the top seven, we beat Luton away but lost at home, Accrington and Coventry did the double over us, drew twice with Lincoln, lost at home and drew away with Notts, and drew both with Exeter.

    P12 W1 D5 L6

  • Saw The Stranglers play at Nottingham Theatre Royal for a Central TV broadcast show. They were rather good, very good musicians.

  • No idea why but I have this feeling that Plymouth will collapse spectacularly, Ipswich will fall away, Derby and Sheffield Wed will get the automatics and we will be in the playoffs.

  • I think Plymouth might actually do it this year, looking pretty strong

  • If anything were to happen to their keeper Plymouth would be finished. He's genuinely the difference between them challenging for top two and missing out on the play offs

  • edited January 2023

    He's the best in the league. They leave themselves pretty open - hence he's so busy - but they have been extremely clinical too so far. Just a case of whether that's sustainable - and losing Morgan Whittaker makes that more doubtful (although the lad they've just got in on loan from Villa seems promising).

  • I think someone already said this somewhere, but Derby look good to catch Plymouth for that second place. However, hopefully we can do Plymouth a favour next week (for our sake, not theirs).

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