Rival watch

[owls maniac]

The next three games are pivotal. If we don't take at least 7 points I think it could be pretty much all over. 

 

Weve been sleep walking for months and now the pressure is being cranked up. Carlos has to up his game and fast. 

[Bluesteel]

21 minutes ago, TheEnchanter said:

 

Honestly would agree with that statement if it wasn't for the fact I checked this last night. Out of the top 9 teams in the league we have gained the least points away and we have played more away games than all of them by 1. For me we are to scared even away from home.

 

We've had 4 away wins in 15. Two against top 6 teams but against the rest to say we've only beaten Wolves and Blackburn from 13 other games is pretty dire. 

 

We must've been worse last season then because we usually seem to get something 

[Bluesteel]

39 minutes ago, debram said:

Quality of the league, look at QPR tonight, played really well.

 

Its unusual for so many teams to win continuously though, we've only lost once in a long time yet we've lost ground on everyone around us in recent weeks.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Bluesteel

[Flat Owl]

Even if we win the the next 5 games, we will only be able to catch up 5 points on the teams around us if they maintain their playoff form during that time...

 

Most are playing at promotion form levels of 2 points per game.

 

Anything less than relentless will see you drop out of the playoff picture.

 

In order to have a chance of being relentless you need to take more risks than the opposition - risks we are unwilling or unable to take for some reason.  We have done it before even when teams have come to defend and the only reason I assume we are not now is down to instruction.

 

why the change - I have no real idea.

 

why we haven't strengthened at CB or added cover for Lee is also odd.

[scram]

31 minutes ago, Bluesteel said:

 

Its unusual for so many teams to win continuously though, we've only lost once in a long time yet we've lost ground on everyone around us in recent weeks.

 

 

Its not unusual for teams to win continously - as i said this division is usually relentless

 

Last season probably lulled us into a false sense of security - but last seasons points haul would have seen us about 10th the preceding season - it was a poor points haul for a 6th placed team

 

Having only a pathetically weak Cardiff was an easy task - now there are 4-6 teams who are all pushing hard for the play offs

[owls maniac]

Big game Friday then.

[Bluesteel]

2 minutes ago, scram said:

 

 

Its not unusual for teams to win continously - as i said this division is usually relentless

 

Last season probably lulled us into a false sense of security - but last seasons points haul would have seen us about 10th the preceding season - it was a poor points haul for a 6th placed team

 

Having only a pathetically weak Cardiff was an easy task - now there are 4-6 teams who are all pushing hard for the play offs

 

Its not unusual for so many teams to win week in week out? It's pretty much the whole top 10.

 

I agree it's harder this season and was always going to be, but I think this has swung the other way and seems more relentless than usual. 

[Owl_in_Oz]

Our away form is definitely one of our biggest causes for concern.

 

With the way we play it doesn't matter who we play away from home, I never feel confident of a win. 

 

Wigan, Rotherham, Blackburn, Bristol on a losing streak... whoever it is, we seem to put in turgid, scared performances that belies all the talent we have on paper. 

 

28 games in and we've yet to see a convincing 3 nil win.  That's very disconcerting. 

 

As things stand you'd be a brave person to think we'll finish top 6.  Fulham and Norwich are coming home strong so we'll do well to finish top 8 on current form.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Owl_in_Oz

[Flat Owl]

11 minutes ago, Bluesteel said:

 

more relentless than usual. 

 

 

 

 

[Flat Owl]

5 minutes ago, Owl_in_Oz said:

Our away form is definitely one of our biggest causes for concern.

 

With the way we play it doesn't matter who we play away from home, I never feel confident of a win. 

 

Wigan, Rotherham, Blackburn, Bristol on a losing streak... whoever it is, we seem to put in turgid, scared performances that belies all the talent we have on paper. 

 

28 games in and we've yet to see a convincing 3 nil win.  That's very disconcerting. 

 

As things stand you'd be a brave person to think we'll finish top 6.  Fulham and Norwich are coming home strong so we'll do well to finish top 8 on current form.

 

Agree entirely.

 

we're  going to have to fundamentally change our approach to games if we are to prevent Jordan Rhodes looking like a spare pr*ck at a wedding for the next 18 games.....

[scram]

17 minutes ago, Bluesteel said:

 

Its not unusual for so many teams to win week in week out? It's pretty much the whole top 10.

 

I agree it's harder this season and was always going to be, but I think this has swung the other way and seems more relentless than usual. 

 

I don't think it is - we just compare it to last seaons pathetic league which was historically poor below the top 3

 

It generally is an attritional division - and its looking that way again this season

[WatfordOwl]

Starting to look like we are going to be fighting for 5th and 6th place.

 

Leeds might be primed for overtaking Newcastle at the rate they are going, Reading also in with a shout of doing the same - part of me hopes Newcasltle do drop out the top 2 and carry bad form into the playoffs.

 

Have to say that Leeds have got it right with Monk's appointment, the transformation of that club since the back end of last season is remarkable - even if we all do hate them.

[ash60s]

championship is so difficult but we must up the tempo to end of season - starting @ Wigan!!! uto wawaw

[Athelwulf]

Carlos is a nice bloke and he's got charisma. He's one of the few managers we've had that even our rivals like. For that reason I think many fans support him when otherwise they probably wouldn't. Were it Dave Jones at the helm at the present time, I think the reaction from the supporters would be very different indeed. Carlos benefited from the element of surprise last season, but that card's been played now. Managers who've taken this job in recent years have all hoped that they'd be the one to be in charge when we modernized and a big-money man came in. But their luck was out, and it was Carlos who was the first manager in our history to actually work under a chairman with big money to spend. I can't help but wonder what Dave Jones or Stuart Gray would have done with the players we have now. Dave Jones is a very good manager. He proved that with that blistering run which swept us to promotion, something which is largely forgotten by our crowd. But in this division he'd nothing to work with. Ditto Gray. He saved us when we were dead and buried and somehow managed to get us to mid-table with a side which really should have been down at the bottom, not least as we'd just sold Antonio, our best player. Gray did what all good managers do, namely get results better than you would expect with the players at his disposal. Like Monk's doing at Leeds, or Stam's doing at Reading. Carlos isn't doing that here, I'm afraid.

[just visiting]

7 hours ago, charmer said:

Another great win for Leeds tonight.  Not quite sure how they got to where they are in the league but fair play to them. 

After a very dodgy opening six games ( 4 points from 18), Monk quickly figured out the weaknesses in the squad, stopped forcing square pegs into round holes and settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation which suited his best players.

 

Since then, the balance of the team has improved greatly and that has been helped massively by some very astute recruitment by Monk and his team.

 

Ayling, Bartley and Jansson at the back have been fantastic additions and addressed our Achilles heel of conceding too many goals whilst popping up with some crucial goals themselves.

 

Bridcutt should be playing in the PL and O'kane playing next to him is producing the form he did when Bournemouth went up from this division.

 

Hernandez, although 31, is a quality player but finds the games coming thick and fast a problem but Monk uses him wisely, he is bringing on Roofe's game as well.

 

I think that most of our rivals fans are probably under estimating the quality of player we have assembled this season because we've not hit the transfer fees hard, we're probably in a positive nett spend, but as the season draws to end and if we can keep the same form going, I certainly wouldn't want to play us over two legs in the play offs.

[ChinaOwl]

8 hours ago, Bluesteel said:

 

Its unusual for so many teams to win continuously though, we've only lost once in a long time yet we've lost ground on everyone around us in recent weeks.

 

I think this also. I think the Championship has changed this season when compared with others. The mantra (especially on Owlstalk) has been "everyone can beat everyone in this division". Of course that is technically still true but there is little evidence of it happening. What I am seeing is the top ten teams rack up win after win and the rest of the division get cut off or buried out of sight.

 

The way that Sky depict recent form with green and red squares is interesting. Look at the distribution of green and red between top and bottom and it is clear that the top teams are beating the bottom teams with unerring regularity:

 

http://www.skysports.com/championship-table

 

That makes it doubly or triply important not to have banana skins against the bottom teams because we simply cannot rely on the rivals to do the same. Even draws like the one against Bristol City are taking their toll and back to back draws more or less see clubs starting to get cut off from the pack.

[sheriwozgod]

Leeds are doing what we are not at the moment.......................turning draws into wins.

[Belfast Owl 2]

29 minutes ago, just visiting said:

After a very dodgy opening six games ( 4 points from 18), Monk quickly figured out the weaknesses in the squad, stopped forcing square pegs into round holes and settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation which suited his best players.

 

Since then, the balance of the team has improved greatly and that has been helped massively by some very astute recruitment by Monk and his team.

 

Ayling, Bartley and Jansson at the back have been fantastic additions and addressed our Achilles heel of conceding too many goals whilst popping up with some crucial goals themselves.

 

Bridcutt should be playing in the PL and O'kane playing next to him is producing the form he did when Bournemouth went up from this division.

 

Hernandez, although 31, is a quality player but finds the games coming thick and fast a problem but Monk uses him wisely, he is bringing on Roofe's game as well.

 

I think that most of our rivals fans are probably under estimating the quality of player we have assembled this season because we've not hit the transfer fees hard, we're probably in a positive nett spend, but as the season draws to end and if we can keep the same form going, I certainly wouldn't want to play us over two legs in the play offs.

I

Go crawl back under your stone.

 

 

[steelowl]

4 hours ago, Athelwulf said:

Carlos is a nice bloke and he's got charisma. He's one of the few managers we've had that even our rivals like. For that reason I think many fans support him when otherwise they probably wouldn't. Were it Dave Jones at the helm at the present time, I think the reaction from the supporters would be very different indeed. Carlos benefited from the element of surprise last season, but that card's been played now. Managers who've taken this job in recent years have all hoped that they'd be the one to be in charge when we modernized and a big-money man came in. But their luck was out, and it was Carlos who was the first manager in our history to actually work under a chairman with big money to spend. I can't help but wonder what Dave Jones or Stuart Gray would have done with the players we have now. Dave Jones is a very good manager. He proved that with that blistering run which swept us to promotion, something which is largely forgotten by our crowd. But in this division he'd nothing to work with. Ditto Gray. He saved us when we were dead and buried and somehow managed to get us to mid-table with a side which really should have been down at the bottom, not least as we'd just sold Antonio, our best player. Gray did what all good managers do, namely get results better than you would expect with the players at his disposal. Like Monk's doing at Leeds, or Stam's doing at Reading. Carlos isn't doing that here, I'm afraid.

 

It's academic what other managers would do with this squad, it's more important what DC thinks of CC's performance with the squad he's paid for 

IMO other managers are doing a relatively better job with theirs ............so far ( still hoping though)

[owlZfan84]

1 hour ago, just visiting said:

After a very dodgy opening six games ( 4 points from 18), Monk quickly figured out the weaknesses in the squad, stopped forcing square pegs into round holes and settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation which suited his best players.

 

Since then, the balance of the team has improved greatly and that has been helped massively by some very astute recruitment by Monk and his team.

 

Ayling, Bartley and Jansson at the back have been fantastic additions and addressed our Achilles heel of conceding too many goals whilst popping up with some crucial goals themselves.

 

Bridcutt should be playing in the PL and O'kane playing next to him is producing the form he did when Bournemouth went up from this division.

 

Hernandez, although 31, is a quality player but finds the games coming thick and fast a problem but Monk uses him wisely, he is bringing on Roofe's game as well.

 

I think that most of our rivals fans are probably under estimating the quality of player we have assembled this season because we've not hit the transfer fees hard, we're probably in a positive nett spend, but as the season draws to end and if we can keep the same form going, I certainly wouldn't want to play us over two legs in the play offs.

 

I bloody would.