Essjayess

CDM, its not what we done over the last 4 matches, but the last 44. Thru the course of the season all teams have good spells and not so good (excepting the binners), but its the two most consistent sides over 46 games that get promoted and we are one of the two. If you look at the last dozen or so games both City and Sheff Utd have been more consistent then Leeds, thats why we are the ones heading to the Prem. As it stands we have done ok in the last 4 games, having a 7 or 8 point lead with half a dozen games left can be a difficult thing for a squad who mostly have never tasted life in the Prem or been in this situation before. If we had been WWDWWDWWDWWD in the last 12 games we would have said thats one heck of a consistent run, its been WWWWWWWWDDDD, same 12 match unbeaten run, same points amount, just in a different order. As for the title,Sheff Utd must rightly fancy their chances now, but who cares?..not me..just think of last season...even the first 4 or 5 games of this season..we are heading for the Prem. Its what both clubs do in the summer , players in / out, that will tstify how both cope in life with the big boys next season. OTBC.

Being rescinded all points in a season is a fantasy scenario with zero basis in reality. Surely any worst case scenario must come with a modicum of reality, however small that may be. I dont know about worst case, but how about Ipswich being thumped by both Leeds and Sheff. Utd, allowing them both to overtake City, then we reach the Wembley play off final and get beat 2-0 by Boro.

Ok...8 wins and 3 draws..typing at half 3 in the morning is not always good for an over tired brain...time i headed to me bed.

It took until today, the 43rd game of this season, for any team to put 4 past Ipswich and youre talking 8+?...ridiculous. And Kiwi in the opening post, saying City are in "serious danger" of ending in the play offs..also ridiculous. Both Leeds and Sheff Utd somehow have to find 5 points and a better goal difference within 3 games to overtake a side unbeaten in 13 games...10 wins and 3 draws. Its easy to see where the true serious danger is and its not with NCFC. There is a chance yes..but its low...its far from being serious.

Well, it sure was a bit of a strange 3 match sequence without Emi, not winning but not not losing either. All in all weve come out of it with a 5 point lead still, so all said and done with just 3 games to go we are in a great position for promotion. Brentford away then Villa at home will surely test Leeds resolve, but in the end its ours to win or not. Just hope its done and dusted in 8 days time, dont wanna be going to Villa needing points.

Not a chance, Wigan are Jekyll and Hide compared to home and away. Besides Leeds wont be happy sitting on the same points as Sheff. Utd. We have to get promotion and even Champions the hard way, by being the best and most consistent, that means over 46 games, not 42.

I would jump at the chance of buying Jordan from Wednesday if it came up, he seems to love being here, has done a decent job when the chances have been there for him. A combo of Pukki and Rhodes is a good start but we will likely need a 3rd striker anyway and i dont know if Denis is as good as Jordan for the Prem. For sure Carlton Morris would likely need to be loaned out at the very least if we went up. Maybe if WBA dont go up we could do worse than sniff around Tyneside and ask about Dwight? I would think a trio of Pukki, Rhodes and Gayle would be a recipe for a few goals at the least, even in the Prem.

Yea really, let it go...Hughton / RVW arguments had their time seasons ago. All i know is, for once, just once, could we have enough faith and patience to hang on to a manager for more than a couple of seasons and especially if we continue to yo-yo tween Prem and Champs. At least now we have something different weve never had before...its not just a Hughton or a Alex Neil.. we have Daniel AND Webber. And unlike Huddersfield, a kind of an Academy that produces and can likely keep Webber here.

Is the Blackburn match starting at 7.30pm Saturday week? seems an unusual time for a match to begin.

Agree with most of this. One bit in your first paragraph though, about the lower reaches of the Prem. Outside of the top 6 in the Prem, are there truly any teams, with or without rich owners, with or without huge investment, that have stayed in the Prem for any considerable amount of time? Seems to be many clubs are lucky to have 2 to 4 seasons consecutively, 1 or 2 accomplish between 5 to 10, but above that hardly any. As to your last question, i dont know enough about most clubs owners to even give an answer, suffice to say ive always been satisfied to have her at the helm. "Happy" is a pretty tough word to appraise anyway when you're talking about football club owners.

If Bristol City win their game in hand against Millwall tonight they would be 9 points clear of Wednesday making it even more unlikely Bruce's team could scrape in. Mathematically theyve a very small chance but realistically none at all.

Surprisingly results do not suggest huge wins for Leeds and Sheff. Utd. As bad as theyve been this season, Ipswich have not let in more than 3 goals in a match all season, whereas City have shipped in 4 on at least 2 occasions (albeit scoring 3 in return). Their biggest defeats have been 3-0, 3 times in 42 matches (one of those against City of course), but considering their woeful season, thats not very many in truth. But yes, we should not be looking to goa difference to settle things, points are way more important.

Of course there is no black and white opinion, was wanting to merely point out the big difference in the downtimes Delia and Michael get more than enough criticism from fans but have a great season like this one, where things have exceeded any fans expectations, that not a murmur is spoken about them. I know its human nature to hop on forums and moan and groan when things arent going right, but i for one just wanted to give them kudos and a bit of praise, after all the clubs had a massive overhaul the last couple years and we are on the up, whereas the Evans model is...well..who knows or cares where that is.

Its now almost 10 years since that momentous day, 3rd May 2009 to be precise, when City lost 4-2 to Charlton and the drop to L1 was confirmed. The fall out after that, with City on the pitch and City with its finances, was a desperate time indeed for all concerned with NCFC, none more so than Delia and Michael who, along with the board, had to deal with the huge downfall and somehow turn it around. At this time, and other times when City have been under the weather, Delia and Michael come in for huge amounts of stick from us fans. Of course City did turn things around very quickly in the next season or two, the incoming Paul Lambert building a team that gained promotion thru 2 divisions. A fair bit of that team survived thru the Hughton era well into the AN era, ironically its "well past its sell by date" tag being one of the contributing factors in seeing us relegated and in trouble back in the Champs. Once again Delia, Michael and the Board had to take pretty drastic action to stop the club sliding again, we all know the changes thats gone on the past couple years on and off the pitch. So here we are, 10 years on, once again on the cusp of promotion to the Prem, but with added delight in seeing our southern neighbours taking the drop we had a decade ago, and ironically with the same manager who was instrumental in our recovery. And of Delia and Michael? Very very few topics or posts about them through this season, typically the silence is golden when City are on the up. So i would just like to say, well done Delia and Michael and the Board for yet again giving us a great season and for having faith to put plans into action that are successful.

For any poster who keep saying Reading and Wigan were banker wins...no, i always thought they would actually be two of the hardest to win in the run in, both fighting for their lives to stay in this division...witness the same for Millwall at Sheff. Utd. Of course add in the missing Emi and it was even harder but we have got thru the 2 games with 2 invaluable points even after not playing well. It ensures that we are still top come the Stoke game and Emi's return..even if we lose on Friday and Leeds win, but please we dont really want that outcome. Krul, yet again, made important contribution to the team, he has proved his worth time and again this season. Perception is a strange thing, if our last 10 games had been more mixed, say WWWDWWWDWW instead of WWWWWWWWDD, it gives the same pointage, yet put the 2 draws at the end of the run and to some it feels different. Hey ho, 4 games to go and 7 points clear of 3rd place...an incredible position to be in.

If goal difference means anything, then Leeds are still quite a way behind us at +27 compared to our +34, but of course points are way more important. Think the pressure is all on the Blades now for sure, 3 points behind Leeds and 6 points behind City and played a game more.

Never mind cup matches, who can forget the 78-79 season for unique bizarre season..P42 W7 D23 L12. A record for City, the first and only team ever to finish a season in any of the 4 divisions with draws making up more than 50% of the final total, a record still held to this day. This season has seen some wonderful crazy moments, but that season remains unique in its bizarre statistics.

Christoph..all 5 games ahead will be tough, that means Wigan and Blackburn to. But all 46 games are tough, its a long tough marathon. And to the poster who said last nights match was a banker...no it was not. I had pointed out before that Reading had managed to pick up 9 draws away from home this season, so a 10th for them came as no surprise to me. Also the 2-2 against Reading should be no surprise, our home form has been built on mostly sqweezing wins from very late in the game goals, just edging out other lowly sides like Bolton and Millwall, but on the odd occasion, such as the 4-3 loss to Derby at xmas its been the opposition thats won out. Yet again we scored twice late in the game to grab something, but Reading managed the latest of late equaliser's, but this season at Carrow Road such things have become commonplace. But its created one heck of a ride and entertainment in shedloads, which has been lapped up after the dourness of last season at home. Our away form though has been majestic, our travelling fans only seeing two losses in 20 games...quite remarkable and absolutely awesome for the away fans. One things certain, we will be finishing in the top 3..im sure all of us wouldave grabbed that with both hands last Summer.

Agree with this. As someone pointed out, City are marginally in an even better position than on Saturday morning and its 2 games closer to the line for all clubs. I would say the only scenario i'd hate to have is for us to have only a 2 or 3 point lead and a very similar goal difference to both clubs going into the last game, Villa away. To be top on the final match day and finish by dropping to 3rd would feel like the world has fallen in to the club and its fans. But the run in has not changed any and its neither easier or harder than it was before last night. In a way our games can be broken down into two clumps of 2 games, the next 2 without Emi, then the following 2 with Emi. That takes us to the Villa game. But anyway, its amazing how 1 drawn game can get all us fans pontificating and examining a 100 different scenarios, any of which could happen. Its just that...we are soooo close now....so very very close..that is probably the worst thing of all.

I think, with justification, because its football, quite a few posters on here, and quite a few fans in general, thought tonight may have been a hiccup and so it proved. Why? because we had won 8 on the spin and were due to drop points, plus Reading at home looked on paper the easiest of the last 6 games and football so often tells us that the easiest looking game does not turn out that way. Sheff Utd may have also drawn to, but it was a very good point indeed, one if not the, toughest of their games left. 6 points clear at the top with 5 games left is massive and 7 points from 3rd to. But the job is far from done. Wigan are very good at home so City will be have to be at their best to win. Stoke away and Blackburn at home may be the best games for 2 wins, nick a point or two at Wigan and against Wednesday should see us home.

This is absolutely untrue. Since Sheff. Utd drew with us here 2-2, including that game they have only lost once in 12 games, the 3-2 home defeat to Bris. C. Their last 12 games then are almost on a par with City's record. Its Leeds that have certainly lost a few in that time, but was a time not long back when they went 4 or 5 points clear of us, but now find themselves some points behind us due to those defeats. But Sheff Utd have been as consistently unbeaten as us in last month or two.

Im thinking Sheff Utd will beat Brum tomorrow night, its a hard ask for any team to beat both Leeds and Sheff. in the space of 3 or 4 days. Both Yorkshire clubs are up there for a reason so dont expect either to drop to many points in the run in...especially Wilder's lot. City have a nice cushion but they cannot afford to drop to many points. Keep on doing as theyve done and they should be ok. Reading, on paper, look there for the taking, but they do sneak a good number of away draws, so will they park the bus? We will see.

I kind of agree with Lakey, but for me its more about who will become Champions. I really think Leeds will not come to close to us now, they have a very sticky run in. But Chris Wilder will get his Blades team pumped and looking at their run in, can see them closing the gap to us quicker than some may think possible. Lets say, im very optimistic we will get promoted and fairly optimistic about us being Champions, but even with a current 7 point gap, we need to grab points in nearly all the final 6 games.

Was obviously sad for Emi himself to lose out on the next 3 games, but not to great a worry for City in reality. Im sure the likes of Mo, Mario and Todd are all chomping at the bit for gameplay, theyve all had to sit on the bench a lengthy time of late. They individually may not give what Emi gives, but they all have traits to give that Emi does not have. But he will be back for the final 3 games im sure, by which time we may be very very close to promotion. But i feel Sheff Utd will close the 7 point gap, so both he for the last 3 games and whoever comes in for the next 3 will all all need to keep on their toes and keep producing the points.

One stat that has been completed today...City are now mathematically gauranteed to finish in the top 6. That makes this season a resounding success already, although of course, much much more is seemingly our way in the next few weeks.