What final position would you take now?

Does anyone think we're good enough to keep this run going?
Yes I think we are. Having seen Archer in his first full game I think he gives us an extra dimension and this lad Barlaser seems to have a tremendous range of passing. If these 2 are the only ones we bring in this window then I'd be happy with that. I think they definitely improve the squad and we can actually get better. Having said that it's still a huge task to overhaul Sheffield and they would need to drop off as well. Lets see where we stand after we have played (and hopefully beaten )them. I'm not giving up just yet.
 
2nd is doable. like said above if we win our games and then beat them. all they have to do is drop 3 points and then lose to us and its 6 points. but they will have a game in hand. that must surely have them nipping after being miles clear for so long. the pressure late season does funny things to teams. it could go the other way though. they could continue to grind out wins and beat us leaving an 18 point gap. but i actually think because of the way this division is. that is not going to happen. the champo is never that cut and dried so early.
 
Considering all the things that have happened to get us to this position I think that it’s possible to lose sight sometimes of what’s at stake and that is automatic promotion and perhaps settle for the next best thing.

I still think the door is ajar for the second spot although it’s a long shot, but stranger things have happened and im sure that’s the motivation from the coaches etc.
 
Yep anywhere in the playoffs, would be nice to have a go at 2nd but knowing how quickly it can change in this league you’d be daft not to take a playoff spot.
Ask us in 6 games after berge has gone and Sheff utd have also played us….then they play millwall, Watford and Blackburn (!) no less….in 6 games we’ll know so much more
 
Anywhere in the top 6 will do me you have to also win a game at Wembley to win the playoffs. Derby managed to get past Leeds with the 2nd leg at Elland Road

We'd only be giving the pitch invasion prevention team more to do having home advantage in the 2nd leg 🤣
 
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3rd or 4th is an advantage in the playoffs, but it all depends on who we play rather than where we finish I think.

I don't think Sheff Utd are within reach, Berge will be a miss, but he's already missed plenty of games for them this season.
 
Sheff United wouldn't be the first team to wobble from what looks like an unassailable gap, let's be honest a few injuries and they only need to draw a few games and then they come back to the pack.

That wouldn't surprise me but I also think its unlikely that we keep this form going, I think we are starting to look like a decent team but the likelihood is we won't catch them. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try though!
 
Anywhere in the play offs. If you look below us, its still very tight, one/two defeats and suddenly your closer to mid table again.

Given the start we had, the play offs would be a remarkable achievement and i think we are good enough to make it.
 
sheff utds form is better than ours at present, only by a point but they would be hard to catch, but its what we got to aim for, we are 3rd but played a game more, and they are teams in form also like luton who have 2 games in hand on us, so them play off positions are far from nailed on, but we doing great at the moment, cannot deny it.

sheff utd not being able to bring anyone in may well help them instead of bringing some players in who upset the balance of what they are on with.
 
Maybe one for the statisticians to argue:

Is it easier to overtake one team who are 12 points ahead, or 5 teams, each of whom are 6 points ahead?

If we were 6 points off 2nd, with 5 teams we had to overtake, I think we'd automatically feel we have a better chance than we do now.

However, I'd argue it's actually easier to catch 1 club 12 points clear. You're only relying on one team having a meltdown after all.

look at the form table, in the last 5 games the gap has increased by 1 point in their favour.
we haven't caught them up at all and they have a game in hand.
hard to imagine them having a melt down based on their form this year. and maybe between us and burnley we can claw 6 points back if we maintain our form, but we would have to continue to keep winning game after game after game, which is something they appear to have no issue with also
 
There's much more chance that any of the 7 teams below us now come above us than we end up 2nd.
yeah we have the benifit of playing and extra game and everyone other than watford has 1 to 2 games in hand on us, luton could be on 3 points more than us by the time they catch up to the same amount of games played and their form is on par with ours too, blackburn and norwich have a game in hand as well and could move up the table, although their last 5 games form looks like they are trending down for luton and possibly WBA
 
Need to hope we can hold on to 3rd or 4th, and I'd take that now. There's a lot of teams pushing for the play offs and the likes of Blackburn and Norwich (currently 5th and 6th) would be tough, and expect WBA could get there if they keep playing the way they are. I'd fancy us over 2 legs against anyone though, especially if the second leg is at home, under the lights.

Carrick has done an absolutely fantastic job, better than anyone could've expected. I think credit has to go to Woodgate and the coaching team too.
 
Play offs as well for me. I just can't see us catching Blades. Yes, we're on a great run but so are they. I'd put their squad ahead of ours as well. We've been VERY fortunate with injuries so far, again - I'll be surprised if that continues.

Playoffs, regardless of outcome, would be a fantastic achievement for this season. I still think there's quite a bit of surgery to do with the squad. Probably another 2-3 windows before it all comes together.
 
Play offs as well for me. I just can't see us catching Blades. Yes, we're on a great run but so are they. I'd put their squad ahead of ours as well. We've been VERY fortunate with injuries so far, again - I'll be surprised if that continues.

Playoffs, regardless of outcome, would be a fantastic achievement for this season. I still think there's quite a bit of surgery to do with the squad. Probably another 2-3 windows before it all comes together.
I'd agree with the Playoffs being a fantastic result considering our start.

However I don't think it would take 2 or 3 windows worth of surgery on the squad tbh. I believe contrary to what "Wilder said" we already have an excellent side capable of achieving promotion playing Carrick's way especially IMHO with the 2 lads brought in this window, it's just unfortunate that we played with the Wilder Handicap this year in terms of points accrued.

The hardest parts for me regarding "surgery" needed on the squad over the next season should we not go up this one would be retaining our stand out performers (Akpom, Hackney, Lenihan, Forss) in the face of massively tempting offers, turning a decent amount of our loans into perms (Giles, Archer from what I've seen so far) or getting like for likes in for them if this isn't possible.
 
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