Season so far- Who looks like promotion/relegation candidates and why?

[Westbars_Spireite]

If we get our injured players back and keep them fit there's no way we should get relegated. Best team I've seen this season is Scunthorpe but in general what I see and hear tells me the standards are poor and getting poorer.

 

[Fuzzyvalefan]

I think the top 4 now will all be at least top 6 at the end of the season, albeit we outplayed Scunthorpe earlier in the season but given their record that must have been an off day for them.

In terms of relegation, Oldham have got to be favourites but they always seem to find a way to scrape over the line so who knows, Shrewsbury look absolutely dire as do the franchise- i mean christ, if we can win away against you, you've got to be shit. Coventry looked good against us and I think they have more than enough quality to pull out of it- just need to find a reliable goalscorer. Bury are falling like a stone and as a club are in a right mess. I can quite easily see them in admin before the end of the season which would knock 10 points off straight away and see them doomed.

If i had to pick 4 for the drop now, I would say Oldham, Shrewsbury, Bury and the franchise.

As for the mediocrity cup, we are dead shoe-ins, brilliant at times, woeful at others = mid table mediocrity.

 

[Andy Proctor]

Scunthorpe shef utd bradford to go up. Its tough to pick who is going down as theres that many poor and inconsistent teams. However i will take a guess at shrewsbury bury oldham and coventry. Even though i thought they would struggle at the start of the season i also think fleetwood could be a surprise top 6 team.

 

[Lancs@(Bantam)]

Gonna get very tight near top over xmas, Scunny have 4 tough looking fixtures coming up while sheff U / Bolton are closing in, are the Iron finally on a sticky patch?

 

[Andy Proctor]

Bookies will be right vale will go down.

 

[07.05.16]

Bury are half gone already. Shrewsbury seem dog.
Sheff United look nailed on for promotion. Hard to say whether Scunny will stay in the top 2.
Charlton or Millwall will hit good form and get in the top 6.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Sheffield United have been totally dominant for a while now playing some really good football too.

For example in our last 5 home matches according to the BBC web site
We've had 117 shots - 54 on target and 61 corners.

So the average per game in those matches is 23.4 shots, 10.8 on target, 12.2 corners.
In those 5 matches we've also had 4 goals disallowed and missed penalties.

It's the forward line that is the weak link at the moment because averaging 23 shots a game then you would expect to score at least 6 or 7 at some point. The strong area is the midfield 3 of Coutts, Fleck and Duffy who are all very comfortable on the ball and always dominate passing and possession.

Regards promotion there ALWAYS a team that is in the top 3 at Xmas then dips badly in the 2nd half and a team that starts badly then goes on a great run 2nd half.

It's hard to say but Scunthorpe have 4 really tough matches coming up where it's possible they won't pick up a single win, might draw a few though. This could affect their confidence (which is key) meaning results against the weaker teams also suffer. So we'll all know about Scunthorpes credentials at the turn of the new year.

Teams in the bottom end that I expect to make strong runs for the playoffs are Charlton and Millwall.

 

[3Loggerheads]

Shrewsbury seem dog.
.

Gas next for Shrewsbury

 

[07.05.16]

Gas next for Shrewsbury

Yep. We should win, on paper, but with our defending you never know.

 

[Hedonist Puncture]

It's hard to say but Scunthorpe have 4 really tough matches coming up where it's possible they won't pick up a single win, might draw a few though. This could affect their confidence (which is key) meaning results against the weaker teams also suffer. So we'll all know about Scunthorpes credentials at the turn of the new year.

Teams in the bottom end that I expect to make strong runs for the playoffs are Charlton and Millwall.

Indeed, we have some tough games coming up. Millwall & Peterboro at home and Bradford & Bolton away and we will be into the New Year. We are not playing well and have not been doing for a while now. We were lucky against Oldham and Oxford and only got past Morecambe after penalties. Our confidence is already down and we were mauled at Rochdale on Saturday, although the actual result does not reflect that. I expect us not to be in the top 2 after the the above 4 games. Somewhere we have to find our early season form and if we do, then we will be challenging for automatic promotion again.

 

[3Loggerheads]

Yep. We should win, on paper, but with our defending you never know.

We are a little more hopeful these days, having conceded 33 goals in 19 league and Cup games under Micky Mellon, since Paul Hurst has come in we have only conceded 6 goals in the last 9 games which included 6 clean sheets.

Hopefully the trend continues but it is goals we need to score now, however I note Gas have conceded more goals this season so maybe on paper a home win would not be a surprise!

 

[Sheffsteel]

Indeed, we have some tough games coming up. Millwall & Peterboro at home and Bradford & Bolton away and we will be into the New Year. We are not playing well and have not been doing for a while now. We were lucky against Oldham and Oxford and only got past Morecambe after penalties. Our confidence is already down and we were mauled at Rochdale on Saturday, although the actual result does not reflect that. I expect us not to be in the top 2 after the the above 4 games. Somewhere we have to find our early season form and if we do, then we will be challenging for automatic promotion again.

Agree, confidence is such a massive factor and can have significant on performances.

Every club (even those finishing top) has a bad spell of results
And it's how a team bounces back and has the character to overcome doubt.
December and January will be make or break for Scunny. Could go either way.

 

[UTS]

Just stuck £10 on Bury to finish bottom. Will win £75 when it comes in. Will I get my bet refunded if we go bust before then?

I doubt there is a more inept club to ever grace this league than ours. Horrific discipline, horrific injury record, horrific form, horrific debts, horrific chairman. Horrific club and I'm stupid enough to support them.

 

[Bottega Don]

Why are people so quick to write us off out of curiosity? I get that we are nowhere near the size of the three clubs chasing but we've been top for almost three months now. I don't think we will win the league but it's kind of ridiculous how quick other teams are to write us off.

 

[blademan89]

Why are people so quick to write us off out of curiosity? I get that we are nowhere near the size of the three clubs chasing but we've been top for almost three months now. I don't think we will win the league but it's kind of ridiculous how quick other teams are to write us off.

I'm certainly not writing you off , any team who can score the amount you have will be up there come may. Being a bigger club doesn't mean nothing, Burton survived the chasing pack last year and they were the smallest of the lot.

 

[UTS]

Why are people so quick to write us off out of curiosity? I get that we are nowhere near the size of the three clubs chasing but we've been top for almost three months now. I don't think we will win the league but it's kind of ridiculous how quick other teams are to write us off.

Scunthorpe looked great against us (not hard in fairness) and they seem to have some great players on paper. I think they will be around the top 3 come end of season.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Why are people so quick to write us off out of curiosity? I get that we are nowhere near the size of the three clubs chasing but we've been top for almost three months now. I don't think we will win the league but it's kind of ridiculous how quick other teams are to write us off.

I'm not sure anyone is writing you off, it's just that the 'bigger' clubs may have more resources to strengthen.
The key for Scunny I feel is keeping your big players fit and not selling them in January.

 

[valefan16]

Why are people so quick to write us off out of curiosity? I get that we are nowhere near the size of the three clubs chasing but we've been top for almost three months now. I don't think we will win the league but it's kind of ridiculous how quick other teams are to write us off.

I'd say Scunthorpe are more vulnerable to injuries/suspensions losing key players to other clubs in January than the teams hunting them down but Burton proved last year it is possible for a smaller club to last the pace against big spenders so as people have said, the next 6 weeks are make or break... come through to Feb 1st in the top two you've got a half decent chance, a bad run into that and I couldn't see Bolton or the Blades being caught if they get ahead of you.

 

[joethegill]

Why are people so quick to write us off out of curiosity? I get that we are nowhere near the size of the three clubs chasing but we've been top for almost three months now. I don't think we will win the league but it's kind of ridiculous how quick other teams are to write us off.

Scunny are us from last season, we had exactly the same from other clubs. Hopefully for you, you'll go one better than we did and actually make the play-offs rather than have a clusterfuck end to the season.

 

[codaplenty]

Just stuck £10 on Bury to finish bottom. Will win £75 when it comes in. Will I get my bet refunded if we go bust before then?

I doubt there is a more inept club to ever grace this league than ours. Horrific discipline, horrific injury record, horrific form, horrific debts, horrific chairman. Horrific club and I'm stupid enough to support them.

Thats what makes a true footie fan !

 

[KetIron]

Scunny will be up there come May.

It's all well and good saying that we have a difficult December, but Bolton and Sheff U have been playing really well yet have only made a marginal impact on us. They are due a bad run too.

Not even half way through the season yet, so far too early to make a definitive judgement.

 

[joethegill]

Scunny will be up there come May.

Not even half way through the season yet, so far too early to make a definitive judgement.

Erm...

 

[Muzzle]

Scunny will be up there come May.

It's all well and good saying that we have a difficult December, but Bolton and Sheff U have been playing really well yet have only made a marginal impact on us. They are due a bad run too.

Not even half way through the season yet, so far too early to make a definitive judgement.

Understand what you are saying but we have had 5 first team regulars out since beginning of October, so potentially we are only going to get stronger when they begin to come back in the New Year. We also haven't hit anything like top form as yet. It is going to be an interesting January and reckon we will have a clearer picture then.

 

[joethegill]

Understand what you are saying but we have had 5 first team regulars out since beginning of October, so potentially we are only going to get stronger when they begin to come back in the New Year. We also haven't hit anything like top form as yet. It is going to be an interesting January and reckon we will have a clearer picture then.

I think this statement could be written by fans of around half the sides in this league to be fair. We're one of them!

 

[Muzzle]

I think this statement could be written by fans of around half the sides in this league to be fair. We're one of them!

True, just expect us to get better as we haven't played our best yet, and we are still (as of today) 3rd with players to come back.

 

[Bobbin']

We're going to finish in the play-off places.

There, I said it.

 

[bantamigo]

Why are people so quick to write us off out of curiosity? I get that we are nowhere near the size of the three clubs chasing but we've been top for almost three months now. I don't think we will win the league but it's kind of ridiculous how quick other teams are to write us off.

I don't think we'll finish above you. Of the teams above us I reckon we're most likely to catch Bolton. Just think if they have a couple of bad results then Parkinson has a tendency to dig his heels in, not change, and the run goes on for quite a while.

Agree with Charlton making a dash for the play-offs after seeing them on Saturday, they looked stronger than most teams we've faced. Their problem will be consistency I guess.

 

[KeithH]

We must be the most consistent team ever

 

[Lamby]

We're going to finish in the play-off places.

There, I said it.

What's come over you?

 

[Bobbin']

What's come over you?

I've never questioned the quality of the squad we have just the depth of it, which I still do.

Robinson, although mostly words so far has been a breath of fresh air and I feel far more confident with him in charge. January will be interesting as Lookman will be gone and we'll see how he's allowed to add numbers and strengthen.