League 2 relegation thread 14/15

[Shrimpurh]

Dave, I think the standard of the top 5 is high, as shown by the points gap being created from 1st to 7th.

Yes Carlisle put in a decent performance last night, but be honest have Carlisle not been poor upto the last 5 or 6 games, and it has taken a new Manager and 3 signings to change the attitude at Carlisle. I expect Carlisle to find a compfortable mid table position if continueing in the same groove!

I have seen us play every team this season, and without a doubt the best 3 have been Southend, Burton and Wycombe! and with the exception also of Luton and Stevenage by some distance!

I'd second this. Our record against teams in the bottom half is P 17, W 13, D 4, L 0

 

[shoddycollins]

I have seen us play every team this season, and without a doubt the best 3 have been Southend, Burton and Wycombe! and with the exception also of Luton and Stevenage by some distance!

It's funny that, because Stevenage have been by far the worst team I've seen in this division this season. But the league table shows that was just a blip... when they came to Brunton Park we were poor ourselves, but they put in a performance of such dire atrocity that it had me stating with some confidence that they would freefall down the table and be very fortunate to avoid relegation, the Stevenage fans calling for Westley's head and Westley making smart-arse comments towards them in his post-match interview.

 

[shoddycollins]

I'd second this. Our record against teams in the bottom half is P 17, W 13, D 4, L 0

hmm... guess we did well. We were actually pretty disappointed in our performance against you that day. Maybe Graham Kavanagh really is the genuis he believes himself to be

 

[AdamStag]

We have a better record against the current top 12 than the bottom 12, collecting 6 of our 8 wins from them.

If we can keep our home form going which has seen us lose 1 out of the last 6 - we should probably be alright - but as Alan mentioned, we are certainly going to struggle and are down to the bare bones right now.

Going to be tricky

 

[Murphy]

Buckle looks set to get the sack this afternoon. Unsurprising.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Blimey, that's a short spell in charge!

 

[Leewilson]

Hartlepool are still going down unless two other teams really fall quite a way below the 50 points mark.

 

[White Army]

Give it to Edwards Cheltenham

 

[Reginald Fodstain]

Give it to Edwards Cheltenham

Think Rob's without a win in over 20 games with us and now Cheltenham.

 

[shoddycollins]

Dammit, could they not at least wait until we play them.

 

[1884 Belmont]

Hartlepool are still going down unless two other teams really fall quite a way below the 50 points mark.

I think Hartlepool will get more than 50 points. As for Cheltenham, Edwards would not be a good way to go, even in temporary charge. The guy is no doubt a good coach at youth level, but he has a fair bit to learn before he should take charge of another side.

 

[Leewilson]

I don't see Hartlepool being good enough to get another 26 points in the last 16 games. That would take a good run of form. I think they'll pick up a few wins here and there but people tend to look at the gap and think that is all they need to get when in fact they need to close it and maintain it to avoid falling back behind again.

 

[Railway Blue]

I'd second this. Our record against teams in the bottom half is P 17, W 13, D 4, L 0

Wow ... that makes our cup win at Roots Hall all the more impressive.

 

[Boz]

I don't think Hartlepool have the worst run-in of sides down the bottom, so much too early to write them off. It doesn't seem that any sides down that end of the table are capable of putting a winning run together and my guess would be that the relegated sides this season would be on a figure less than 50 points, with 47/48 being enough for survival.

The two poorest sides I've seen are Newport and Mansfield and it would be a bit unfair to judge the latter on that game, given they didn't have any fit strikers. Aside from Newport, the other sides in the top 6 that I've seen were Shrewsbury and Luton. The Shrews were a little fortunate to beat us, but it was early season and a big influx of players had yet to gel, so guessing they've improved since. Luton were marginally better than Rovers on the day, but the gulf wasn't as vast as the league placings would suggest. Didn't see Southend beat us, but they were very good apparently, along with Exeter one of the best sides to visit Prenton Park. Although the stats for Southend suggest otherwise, my view is that the sides who are at the top are more there down to consistency and in some cases depth of squad, rather than being vastly superior to those down the bottom.

 

[womble76]

I agree with this. Take maybe the top 3 and hartlepool out of it and there is imo not much difference in quality between the rest. A consistent run is what makes the difference. Plus a good bit of luck here and there.

 

[hellogregory]

I think Hartlepool will stay up.

 

[AdamStag]

It's away Hartlepool struggle, will be interesting to see how they do.

Likewise (we will lose now) we seem to be ok at home but dire away.

 

[Murphy]

No match thread for the Cheltenham game so will discuss in here. Currently 2-1 down to Bury...looking like a high scoring one.

 

[Leewilson]

I don't see Hartlepool being good enough to get another 26 points in the last 16 games. That would take a good run of form. I think they'll pick up a few wins here and there but people tend to look at the gap and think that is all they need to get when in fact they need to close it and maintain it to avoid falling back behind again.

 

[StagsForLife]

Fuck it all. Done with this shit.

 

[Murphy]

Good job, Northampton.

 

[UTS]

Cheltenham sounded decent to be fair to them. Perhaps 2-1 flattered them but oh well.

 

[Don Tonberry]

7 points clear with a game in hand now. We should be OK.

 

[daviejones]

7 points clear with a game in hand now. We should be OK.

It'd be a travesty if you went down again. Not saying any team has a god given right to be in any league, but clearly you aren't a non-league team. Still Cheltenham and Hartlepool after today for me, nobody did particularly well in the bottom 8 apart from Accrington but us and Oxford had the toughest games so both sets of fans shouldn't be too displeased based solely on today's match. If Hartlepool were ever going to get out of the mire today was a game they surely had to get at least a point from. Cheltenham bad again (shock horror) and Tranmere losing form after a good run. It'll go right to the end but at the moment Cheltenham and Hartlepool aren't looking good, they both have pretty bad teams as it is and to be in the bottom 2 at this stage won't help. Any team who pays Mathieu Manset after his record at other clubs is really asking for relegation.

 

[AdamStag]

Despite the late goal its another point, especially with tranmere and hartlepool losing.

If we can get something from Tuesday it'll be more progress.

 

[shoddycollins]

We seem to be unwilling to let this thread go... if our lack of interest at Luton was anything to do with morale issues following the Shrewsbury game then this could well be the start of a disastrous run.

 

[1884 Belmont]

Starting to feel a little sick. We have gone off the boil in the last week at just the wrong time. Shrewsbury and Portsmouth next 2 games - we could be looking at 5 without a win in no time. Very, very concerned by what was seemingly a disgraceful performance yesterday.

 

[BlueAndWhiteKieran]

I Think were garn down wycombe and Southend next up. 2 more losses, back to playing on pitches that dog shit on

 

[cufc17]

On the bright side, after this run we'll have played most of the top sides, and looking at the fixtures we have plenty of winnable games.

I think we will stay up, 3/4 teams look worse than us and we're still 6th bottom, after 2 defeats.

Cheltenham look likely to drop, but depends who they bring in to replace Buckle. Hartlepool running out of games but are still picking up wins here and there. Tranmere out of form too, losing to us and York.

 

[Boz]

Our better results have come against mid-table sides. Tend to freeze against those near the bottom,while lacking confidence and ability against the better sides. I said at the start of this month that we'd have a much better picture of how things stood by the end. With Shrewsbury and home and trips to Portsmouth and Cheltenham (where we've never done well), it's hard to see us picking up more than the odd point, which will leave us right down there.