So then, Wednesday and Blunts - Can Steve Give Us A Brucie Bonus?

[ricardo 7,384]

1 hour ago, SwindonCanary said:

I'm predicting a draw

Top Man😀

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

Someone should check Hectors contract, called him as decent after 60 mins to mate i was watching with, he just got better.

Know nothing about him other than what i saw,  potentially very strong.  gonna look him up now.

[westcoastcanary 173]

Just now, It's Character Forming said:

United will be glad to have that local derby out the way...

 

shame they now have Rotherham and leeds coming up. The results of those games 1st time? A draw vs Rotherham and defeat to Leeds 

That's my boy ICF. Tonight's result means that United have already dropped 2 points on their first meetings with their remaining opponents. They actually need to improve quite significantly on the earlier results, rather than match them. They've a lot of work to do.

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

ok, wiser now,26, on loan from chelsea. Interesting.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

3 minutes ago, westcoastcanary said:

That's my boy ICF. Tonight's result means that United have already dropped 2 points on their first meetings with their remaining opponents. They actually need to improve quite significantly on the earlier results, rather than match them. They've a lot of work to do.

Yep they’ve got a pretty tough run of games coming up .... until they play 1p5wich in the penultimate game 😎

[Daz Sparks 1,151]

16 minutes ago, ricardo said:

Behind the settee now🙃

You'll have to set your self up some survival supplies behind that settee Ricardo, you spend quite a bit of time there recently, and I reckon there'll be plenty more times before the season is over.

[ricardo 7,384]

10 minutes ago, Hairy Canary said:

Win for Leeds against them would be massive

I'm still of the opinion that a draw, 2 red cards and long list of injuries for each team would be even better.

[ricardo 7,384]

3 minutes ago, Daz Sparks said:

You'll have to set your self up some survival supplies behind that settee Ricardo, you spend quite a bit of time there recently, and I reckon there'll be plenty more times before the season is over.

Dunno why I pay for Sky, I spend most of the games too scared to watch😎

[Daz Sparks 1,151]

I went for a pee with 88 mins on the clock,  got back in the room to see 2 mins on the board, was set fair from then on in.

[ricardo 7,384]

3 minutes ago, Daz Sparks said:

I went for a pee with 88 mins on the clock,  got back in the room to see 2 mins on the board, was set fair from then on in.

Takes me a lot longer than 2 minutes😀

[Drazen Muzinic 1,445]

5 minutes ago, ricardo said:

Takes me a lot longer than 2 minutes😀

How far away is your kharzi Ricardo?

[PurpleCanary 5,557]

Sheffield United don't have any obviously easy away games left. Of the five the lowest-ranked team they play are Stoke, in 16th place. But they do have Rotherham, Millwall and Ipswich at home.

[CANARYKING 637]

If its a Leeds win it will be a two horse race

[lake district canary 4,531]

Nice boost for us tonight, but we still have to do the business ourselves.

[Essjayess 307]

37 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

Nice boost for us tonight, but we still have to do the business ourselves.

True, but all we need to is continue as we have for the last 30 games. Always tough at the top, especially in this division, but our consistence really has pushed us away nicely from the 4th to 6th spots now, so carry on with our form since End of August and it should grind either Leeds or Utd away to, point by point. Suddenly to, once the matches left get into single figures, oppurtunities to overtake higher placed teams becomes harder naturally. City have been magnificent for 30 games, its like a final countdown...we really are getting close now, what a season its become.

[Drazen Muzinic 1,445]

Yes, that little gap is widening nicely so at least we won't have the sort of table we had at this stage in 2015 - that must've been nerve-wracking for Bournemuff fans...

[splendidrush 700]

8 minutes ago, Drazen Muzinic said:

Yes, that little gap is widening nicely so at least we won't have the sort of table we had at this stage in 2015 - that must've been nerve-wracking for Bournemuff fans...

I see Derby stuffed up again 😁

[Drazen Muzinic 1,445]

2 minutes ago, splendidrush said:

I see Derby stuffed up again 😁

As sure as night follows day!

[Mason 47 1,376]

Its almost strange to see a different number in front of the word 'Ipswich' now 

[splendidrush 700]

So now that former player Bruce has done his bit, I wonder if our former Manager Lambert will step up.😏

[westcoastcanary 173]

11 hours ago, westcoastcanary said:

That's my boy ICF. Tonight's result means that United have already dropped 2 points on their first meetings with their remaining opponents. They actually need to improve quite significantly on the earlier results, rather than match them. They've a lot of work to do.

Oops, got that wrong about the derby result. Their first meeting was also a draw, so last night's result matches it rather than leaving them 2 points down. To illustrate their task, SU only accrued 17 points from the corresponding 12 fixtures earlier in the season, so simply matching those results would see them finish on 81. Last night means they remain on track for that, but a top two challenge requires bettering rather than just matching, starting with Rotherham on Saturday. 

Fixtures from whoscored.com

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by westcoastcanary
Added acknowledgement to whoscored.com

[ROBFLECK 132]

10 hours ago, ricardo said:

Dunno why I pay for Sky, I spend most of the games too scared to watch😎

Ha ha Ricky I was thinking the same last night... took me little longer to get to sleep again 

[Drazen Muzinic 1,445]

17 minutes ago, westcoastcanary said:

Oops, got that wrong about the derby result. Their first meeting was also a draw, so last night's result matches it rather than leaving them 2 points down. To illustrate their task, SU only accrued 17 points from the corresponding 12 fixtures earlier in the season, so simply matching those results would see them finish on 81. Last night means they remain on track for that, but a top two challenge requires bettering rather than just matching, starting with Rotherham on Saturday. 

Fixtures from whoscored.com

 

There's a few tough fixtures there - Brizzel, PNE, Forest, Brum - all fighting for a play-off place.

And of course Lambert's resurgent Ipswich will be keen on gaining 3 more points to move even further away from the bottom 3 to build momentum to storm the division next season.

That should start any day now.

Any day.

[Crabbycanary3 994]

'Presuming' that Sheff Utd win their next two games, then the next 4 after that look a tough block of games.

If they play like they did last night (they looked like a mid table team all night), then we don't have anything to worry about, but you definitely cannot right them off at all. A local derby? Pressure? Blip period? not sure, but that was a flat performance by their standards last night.

Good oh

[cornish sam 951]

My problem with all of this theorising about who is going to get the second auto spot (I'm finally allowing some confidence we will take one) is that I really don't want either Sheffield or leeds to come up because of their fans. I never thought I would be pulling for Pullis, bu,t out of the almost realistic pack (i.e. not including brizzle who I feel are just too far back to be realistic) I think Boro would be the least objectionable... Only advantage of Sheffield utd coming up would be that it would mean one less relegation place to worry about...

[ricardo 7,384]

My earlier statement that 89 points will be enough will become more and more prescient as the rest of the season unfolds.

[splendidrush 700]

2 minutes ago, ricardo said:

My earlier statement that 89 points will be enough will become more and more prescient as the rest of the season unfolds.

I'm with you ric, had my eye on 87 for ages but I think it'll be a little higher now. 

[westcoastcanary 173]

1 minute ago, ricardo said:

My earlier statement that 89 points will be enough will become more and more prescient as the rest of the season unfolds.

But what happened to "It's all done and dusted after 12 games" Ricky? 

[westcoastcanary 173]

10 hours ago, Essjayess said:

all we need to is continue as we have for the last 30 games

True, but easier said than done. What I mean is that, looking at each team's remaining fixtures and the results from the reverse fixtures, our games were all part of that terrific run up until Christmas; we only dropped 5 points from the 33 possible (losing to Stoke and drawing with Hull). Sheffield's on the other hand, were all part of their pre-Christmas stutter, and saw them drop 17 points from 33. Leeds were in between, dropping 9 points out of the 33 possible. 
What that means is that, were we each to match those earlier results, we would be Champions with 97 points, Leeds second with 91, and Sheffield way back on 81. Whose is the easier task: Sheffield's (improving on a poor set of earlier results), our's (reproducing what was an outstanding run, but with some margin for not quite doing so), or Leeds's (no great improvement needed, no outstanding run to match)?

[Hairy Canary 696]

Not sure what the point of predicting future points with opposite fixtures from earlier int he year is WCC. Are you using them as a likely indicator of how many points Leeds & Sheffield will get or as an idea of how tough the respective run ins are? 

As an alternative method, if we win on Friday we will be the only team that has averaged 2 points a game throughout the whole season. Sheffield need to win their next five games to just bump their average to that level. It's not unreasonable to think that similar points per games ratios will continue and therefore somewhere around 87 to 89 will be enough to take second place. Only once in the last 14 seasons has it not been. 

Six wins and a couple of draws (just two defeats) will be enough.