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Brendo

Play offs - realistic?

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I am delighted with our start to the season, just as everyone else is.

At the start of the season I was against what many said, in that the play offs was a very realistic aim, and would have thought it would be very unlikely to reach top 6. Yes it is early days, but I now do believe it is realistic. Many teams have done suprisingly poor, such as Leicester, M''boro and Forest. I actually think, realistically, any of about 15 teams could finish in the play offs this year.

So bottom line is - I think play offs is actually realistic, but still unlikely.

You?

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We''ve had a ''triffic'' start. But, in my opinion we haven''t really played anyone that''s going to challenge yet, with maybe the exception of Forest. I think once we start playing the better teams, we''ll see our chances. No doubt a class start that we''re all delighted with though. When I say nobody that''s going to challenge, that includes Swansea. I don''t rate Brendan Rogers at all.

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I agree with everything you have said Adam. [Y]

I forgot to add that bit to my OP, we haven''t played anyone real decent, so let''s not get carried away.

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I''m increasingly optimistic about the season not only by the way we''ve started but also by looking at the other teams in the league.

Last year you had to fancy Newcastle and (to a slightly lesser extent) West Brom from the start but I can''t really see anyone this season who you would really fancy to win/get promoted. QPR and Cardiff look strong but again I don''t see either of them being like a Newcastle. Although you would expect them to be amongst the top 6.

Other than that I think it''s pretty wide open. You''ve got potentially a couple of big sides to come up the league, if they can find some form.

We''ve got a side that''ll give anyone a game and we''ve got some strength in depth, as long as we''re nearer top than bottom when we get to Christmas then I think we''''ll have a real shot of making the top 6.

 

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I think we are in with a good shout and if it looks likely at Christmas the board may just find a couple more quid to strengthen the squad.I would, however, be happy with a comfortable mid table finish this year, the sooner we get to 50 points the better.

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I think we have a chance but we don''t have enough pace or flair in the side to beat the top teams imo, we look a fairly solid unit that won''t lose to many games but we lack a Huckerby type player that makes things happen. Mcnamee is ok but I don''t see him winning us as many points as Hucks did if he was a regular starter. While we have looked good in patches we haven''t seen a particularly exciting game thus far, if we are to beat the better teams even at home we will need to be much sharper up front than we were yesterday. Martin scored a cracking goal but did very little else and Holt is either still struggling with his fitness or is struggling against the better defenders he is now coming up against.

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[quote user="Brendo "]

I am delighted with our start to the season, just as everyone else is.

At the start of the season I was against what many said, in that the play offs was a very realistic aim, and would have thought it would be very unlikely to reach top 6. Yes it is early days, but I now do believe it is realistic. Many teams have done suprisingly poor, such as Leicester, M''boro and Forest. I actually think, realistically, any of about 15 teams could finish in the play offs this year.

So bottom line is - I think play offs is actually realistic, but still unlikely.

You?

[/quote]

im not. IF we won eveyr game then yeah delighted but losing the 1st game is not good especially against a poor watford. Its also embarrasing that leeds are above us [:P]

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Nothing has changed how I felt going into the season, anybody in this league can do something this season and nobody really stands out although QPR & Cardiff look really strong at the moment, all 5 games have been tight and it''s a case of coming out on the right side and grinding out results more often that not. If we do that we''ll be up there.

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Yup, as I put money on us before the season started, on the basis that there are no outstanding teams in this league, and I thought that under Lambert we would put in consistently good performances. I have not been disappointed.

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Were you at Forest kdncfc? That was a terrific game. Best I''ve seen us play in a long time.

I''ll still be please with anything 12th and above this season but am very pleased (and if i''m honest pleasantly surprised) with our start to the season and some of the football we''re playing. Would be great to pick up 4 or 6 points from these next two away games. Do that and everything is looking very rosey in the Canaries garden.

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[quote user="CallsignViper"]Were you at Forest kdncfc? That was a terrific game. Best I''ve seen us play in a long time.

I''ll still be please with anything 12th and above this season but am very pleased (and if i''m honest pleasantly surprised) with our start to the season and some of the football we''re playing. Would be great to pick up 4 or 6 points from these next two away games. Do that and everything is looking very rosey in the Canaries garden.[/quote]No wasn''t at Forest, my assumption is purely based on all the home games. Maybe we''ll up the ante a bit when we play the better sides here. Forest are on paper the best side we have played so hopefully we''ll rise to the occasion when the better teams come here.

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I also begrudgingly think Ipswich will do really well this year. Just got a decent squad and a fairly good manager, and to be honest, am dreading going there. [:(]

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I think we''ve made an excellent start, we had a decent set of fixtures to kick off.  That Watford game aside, where we had 6 new signings, i think we''ve equipped ourselves really well.  Its a big loss losing Surman for a few months but we do have enough depth in the squad.  The team seems to be the fittest they''ve been for a while.  Players like, Ruddy, Ward and Crofts have settled in really well and look excellent additions, and Barnett has done well, would be good if we could keep him, Nelson and Zak would be good backup when fit, think JBA will be on his way in January. 

I think nana is being a little critical, and as for Leeds, who gives a t0ss what they do?  So long as we keep winning, it doesn''t matter.  Play offs are a definate possibility.

Oh and Ipshit do not have a good manager...

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[quote user="jed exodous"]

Oh and Ipshit do not have a good manager...

[/quote]As much as I hate the opinion I have, that''s just the way I feel. He did wonders with Sunderland, and if he could turn a few of the draws from last season into wins, Ipswich would have finished quite respectively. I for one would take : Fulop, Scotland, Leadbitter, and a few other of their signings. As much as I hate the cunt, I just think he''s a half decent manager. Obviously nothing on Lambo though. [:D] Also, just noticed Ipswich have 11 Irish players in their squad. [:O]

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Let''s not get our hopes up. We can do it but I would still be happy with mid table security. The side have relatively no pressure this season so that''s only going to benefit us. Just look at the start that fellow promoted teams Millwall and Leeds have had.

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Solid start which i''m pleased with. 3 wins from 5 was handy. I''m still taking it game by game til Xmas though.

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[quote user="Brendo "][quote user="jed exodous"]

Oh and Ipshit do not have a good manager...

[/quote]

As much as I hate the opinion I have, that''s just the way I feel.

He did wonders with Sunderland, and if he could turn a few of the draws from last season into wins, Ipswich would have finished quite respectively.

I for one would take : Fulop, Scotland, Leadbitter, and a few other of their signings.

As much as I hate the cunt, I just think he''s a half decent manager. Obviously nothing on Lambo though. [:D]

Also, just noticed Ipswich have 11 Irish players in their squad. [:O]
[/quote]

Yeah, but look at the money hes had at his diposal...  hes always spent lots on transfers and not that many have been successful.  He done a decent job in his first season at Sunderland to get them promoted, but since then i dont think hes done anything to suggest hes anything special.  Fulop is alright, nothing special, not even at this level and i dont think hes much better than Ruddy.  Scotland had a couple of decent seasons but got found out in the prem and has hardly set the champ on fire.  Leadbitter is decent though. 

Realistically, and being unbiased, the only players i would take from Ipshit are Wickham, Leadbitter and maybe Carlos Edwards, he used to be decent.

Looking at their squad, it is very average, but when you think they spent around 4 mil for bo leadbitter and Edwards as well as 1.7 for Priskin, will be 1 mil for delaney, thats more than our entire squad cost.  This league is very average and if we can continue this decent run, we can be right up there come May.

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The only teams i fear playing are QPR and Cardiff. It just depends how often we play to our potential.

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It''s too early to call anything yet-yes, we''ve had a good start, and I am not sure about the "haven''t played anyone decent yet" argument-I don''t think there look to be any poor teams in this league, rather very good ones, good ones and the rest-and am hoping we are one of the "good" ones, or can prove ourselves to be.

Cardiff look good, QPR have had a great start, Millwall, Leeds as well. Think Sheff Utd and Reading will be up there in the top six sooner or later as well.

Doncaster is going to be our hardest game yet I think. But yep, tough to call-we could be top 6, we could be bottom 6. Going to be a really interesting season in this league.

And yes, Ipswich will have a decent season as well, top 6 certainly not beyond them, ditto Leeds.

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I''ll put my neck on the line and say we will win at Doncaster & Preston, then follow that up with wins in our next two home matches.

We will be top in 4 games time. I doubt we can maintain that, but with a bit of momentum, anything is possible.

Of course we need to take it game by game, but I genuinely feel the next few matches we can press home an advantage. After that will come the real test when we come up against the likes of QPR/Bristol City/etc.

Overall, play-off spot is possible. We could do better, we could do worse.

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Surman is a massive blow..... lets hope Lambo dips into a lon signing of pure quality. Lets see what happens...... it''s september and its starting to sound like Canary call.

"Allo Neil, I thought we looked amazing today against Barnsley. I think that Mcnamee could play all day better than Wes. Prem next year Neil, no doubt - up the city Neil!"

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Our only defeat so far, and by the end it was very narrow, was when we "gifted" goals to Watford.

Subsequently, the defence has tightened up, and it now seems to take a dubious penalty or a return to defensive slackness to conceded goals.

Unless we have even more injuries among the defence, I think that we shall be as good as most teams defensively. I am slightly surprised at this, and we have Smith (S) and Zak to come into consideration yet.

Scoring goals may be a different matter. At the moment our strking rate is fairly average, so unless the strikers improve we may be borderline play-offs,

We have now played five established Championship sides, and not looked second best. The big test will come when we have to meet the top teams (or the bottom ones, who have a habit of undoing us.)

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"And yes, Ipswich will have a decent season as well, top 6 certainly not beyond them"Without a pot to pee in, sales in January to raise more cash and the squad padded out by youngsters and loanees there is not the wherewithall to sustain anything but another struggle.Check last seasons league positions after five games and see how it changed by the end of the season - Preston were 4th, we were 12th (League 1)

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Cautiously optimistic, but no more than that. We''ve had a very good start and we seem to be getting the rub of the green and picking up some extra points from games we could quite easily have let them slip out of our grasp. This bodes very well for our season, but it''s still far too early to tell if we have enough in the tank to go for it. We may not even know until January when the window re-opens. It''s quite possible we could be either towards the top or the bottom end of the table by that point only for form to swing in the opposite direction sending us to the other end.  

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"picking up some extra points from games we could quite easily have let them slip out of our grasp"therein lies why so many of us are quietly confidentI''ve seen some pretty ordinary teams play fpr City, and I''ve also seen those ordinary teams achieve some extraordinary results. The promotion team of 71/72 looked nothing specia,l but they rgularly ground out results, kept the mistakes down to a minimum and had a sense of total self believe.I believe that''s what Lambert has brought to City - and that is more often than not more important than ''star; players. Its also why some managers are successful and some ''big name'' managers are not.We will be there come May. Whether that means winning in the playoffs or not will be determined as much by financial constraints elsewhere as it will be by our own endevours.

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