Third of the season gone .......

[Rattus Norvegicus]

I know - can you believe it - 1/3rd of the season already gone.
What to make of it so far? Out of the league cup - not surprising but we were poor. :thumbdown:

Still in the FA cup - and against a team that we could beat. :thumbsup:

Still in the League Trophy :thumbsup: - but against Brentford - so that could be a tough game.

As for the league .......... well, we have had some injuries and lack of cover in certain positions (midfield in particular) has left us exposed at times ......... and then we have played poorly at times. Then again games away against Rotherham and Cheltenham, for instance, have shown that we can play well.

Overall, I am a little disappointed so far - mainly by the manner in which we have lost games - and I think if some of the other teams in the league (such as Oxford and Bristol Rovers) weren't performing as badly as they are we would be further down the table.

But! I am quite optimistic about the rest of the season - we have midfield cover (at last!), we have a largely settled defence and we have players at the club who can score goals - so I am hoping that the next 1/3rd of the season will see us cement a place in the top 7.

 

[Neil 24]

Play offs and 3rd round of fa cup losing to united at old trafford, and a day out at wembley in league trophy

 

[Bromley Blue]

I'm hoping that we're having our poor spell in the season now and will go on an impressive run later in the year. I'd much rather it this way round than us sitting pretty at the top of the league now and throw it away at the end like we did last year.

The league table only really matters in May so as long as we're within touch of the playoffs in February/March we should be OK. If you think about how poor we've been in recent weeks and we're only a couple of points off the playoffs after one win it says a lot about the quality of this league.

 

[Jam_Man]

I know - can you believe it - 1/3rd of the season already gone.
What to make of it so far? Out of the league cup - not surprising but we were poor. :thumbdown:

Still in the FA cup - and against a team that we could beat. :thumbsup:

Still in the League Trophy :thumbsup: - but against Brentford - so that could be a tough game.

As for the league .......... well, we have had some injuries and lack of cover in certain positions (midfield in particular) has left us exposed at times ......... and then we have played poorly at times. Then again games away against Rotherham and Cheltenham, for instance, have shown that we can play well.

Overall, I am a little disappointed so far - mainly by the manner in which we have lost games - and I think if some of the other teams in the league (such as Oxford and Bristol Rovers) weren't performing as badly as they are we would be further down the table.

But! I am quite optimistic about the rest of the season - we have midfield cover (at last!), we have a largely settled defence and we have players at the club who can score goals - so I am hoping that the next 1/3rd of the season will see us cement a place in the top 7.

Totally agree. If all the teams below us had won all their games we would be bottom of the league, its not acceptable :smile:

Overall Im happy that we are playing better football than last year, but the performances against teams like Barnet etc at home were just not good enough. However we have had an issue with midfielders and hopefully that has now been addressed and we can push on.

Cant see us making automatics but playoffs are the least we should be expecting.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Playoffs an outside bet but our home form will cost us again I fear.

 

[Shrimper2thecore]

I think 8th or 9th will be ours this season.

Will go out in the next match in both cup competitions remaining. :thumbsup:

 

[eastgreenshrimper]

We are set up to play better away from home when the opposition are more inclined to attack. When at home we have little or limited ideas of how to break teams down.

Compared to last year our team doesn't have the game changers like hall or bilel.

I suspect we'll be mid table come end of season - god i hope i'm wrong !!!

 

[Derbyshire Blue]

What happens with Britt in January could be a big factor on the whole season and where we finish?

Rest of the team does look much better on paper now, hopefully it settles nice and quick and it looks even better on the pitch.

 

[eastgreenshrimper]

What happens with Britt in January could be a big factor on the whole season and where we finish?

Rest of the team does look much better on paper now, hopefully it settles nice and quick and it looks even better on the pitch.

Team looks better now ????? really ? personally don't see that.

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

Tbh it's where I expected us to be, I'm surprised we're still as close to the playoffs as we are after some of the horrific displays this season. If we could have just turned up for the games against the poor teams such as Barnet, Burton, Morcambe etc. We'd be top of the league probably.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Playoffs an outside bet but our home form will cost us again I fear.

Our negative home 'support' will cost us, but is more likely to be the difference between automatics and the play-offs rather than the play-offs and mid-table.

Sturrock's aware that we peaked too soon last season and is trying to ensure that we time our run better this season. He deliberately held back on strengthening the midfield because he didn't want to deploy his budget so soon and not have players available for the business end of the year.

The key to our season will be strengthening the midfield in January once the loanees return and BBBC staying fit.

 

[Derbyshire Blue]

Team looks better now ????? really ? personally don't see that.

"better on paper" yes, sorry I should have clarified I meant better on paper now than when we had the injuries and suspensions of late.

 

[eastgreenshrimper]

"better on paper" yes, sorry I should have clarified I meant better on paper now than when we had the injuries and suspensions of late.

Sorry thought you meant better than last seaosn - not better than this time last month !

Agreed team now looks better than a few weeks ago

 

[Derbyshire Blue]

Sorry thought you meant better than last seaosn - not better than this time last month !

Agreed team now looks better than a few weeks ago

Yeah I realised! I'd agree, we're still going to be missing some of the quality we had last season but as for this season, the squad looks like it's gradually improving.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

We have recently added to the midfield to make up for the late pre season loss of Grant, Hall, Kane, Bilel, and in a small way Sawyer. Doing this too late (umbongo) has cost us and now we may now be in a position to settle and get a run together; until/if/when the loans finish.
Defensively we are, on paper, better but it is again an area that we need to hone into a unit; especially left back.
Attackers we need to keep Britt, and get Fred, BBBC, Bomber fully (2 games a week) fit and now Gavin T has scored maybe he will hit the target more often. We have a few "spare" players such as Benyon/Martin/Spicer who will need to get themselves into contention or a loan.
Finally; we are down on my league expectations however i can see some better times ahead: with luck and some money for Bilel and Hall 2013 could be better than 2012.
I want 3rd round away at the Emirates, JPT (win) at Wembly and that all important automatic promotion spot.:smile:

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Totally agree. If all the teams below us had won all their games we would be bottom of the league, its not acceptable :smile:

Now then, Jam Man - you knew what I meant ........ even if there was some sloppy thinking in there!

And when I come to think of it, it is not possible for all the teams below us to have won all their games ...... as some of them have played each other! Touche. :winking:

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

We have recently added to the midfield to make up for the late pre season loss of Grant, Hall, Kane, Bilel, and in a small way Sawyer.

Thanks for the reminder ...... when you put the names in a list like that, it does seem like we have lost a high number of capable midfielders.

 

[MK Shrimper]

We're relying on short term loans which is going to be our undoing. Mid table at best this season unfortunately.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

We're relying on short term loans which is going to be our undoing. Mid table at best this season unfortunately.

I share concerns about how permanent some of "our" current players are - my ideal position would be to have a starting XI of permanent players ............ but looking at in in detail, then the rumours are that Britt will not be with us come the New Year - but may be Harris, Eastwood and Corr will be more than capable of filling that space? Laird may well be staying with us. If so then the loss of Mkindawire may not be such a blow after all.

 

[dan_mays]

I think 8th or 9th will be ours this season.

Will go out in the next match in both cup competitions remaining. :thumbsup:

,

then PS Has failed yet again and will have to go!!!!

Hopefully we peak a little later and have a late automatic promotion push