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Following on from my long waffle back in early January about Birmingham's Promotion season in 2008/09: http://www.wearetherangersboys.com/f...ad.php?t=85809 - I thought I'd write a an update about their season compared with ours but before I do that I thought I'd give a few thoughts on recent reactions.
After every match I view this board to gauge the reaction and then make a decision as to whether to comment or steer clear for a few days. For a team which has lost just 3 games all season its amazing how many times I've decided to keep my distance rather than getting involved in debate with people who don't want to listen. I'll keep you an example of what I mean; nine days previous to the Forest match we went down to 10 men and were the only team who scored in that match. The same thing happens to our opponents but somehow its an absolute disaster that we did a "Reading".
Short term memory folks.
We went down to 10 men against Norwich with 40 minutes to go and they failed to score during that time, we went 10 men down at home to Reading and won the rest of the match 2-1 (3-1 overall). It happens. But why when we fail to score against 10 men just like Norwich and Reading did do we forget this? I'm not saying everyone is guilty of this but time and time again people rush to moan on this board before looking at the facts.
Another fact: 3 losses. Not the 12 that we'd already had suffered this time last season. 23 points more than last season. This time last season we were 29 points behind Newcastle. No everything isn't perfect. And of course you, me and everyone else will be disappointed if we don't go up automatically. Most, including myself, will have to seriously think about next season if we fail to go up. Why bother you might ask? The perfect opportunity to win promotion is infront of us and if we fail to do so you'd have to think long and hard as to what would make next season different. But that's for another day.
Right now we have points on the board. The likes of Forest and Cardiff might well have caught up slightly when they play their games in hand but that isn't guaranteed. As others have pointed out Forest and Cardiff both can't win at the weekend and neither can Leeds and Norwich. The season is ours to lose. Yes Hulse didn't play well and has disappointed all season and why did we play Miller on the right wing and why did we continue with two holding midfielders? But we did. That's not to say that we shouldn't debate those points but we should remember what we did against Reading. We shut up shop and tried to hit them on the break. If Forest had had that extra man on Sunday one team would have won. Forest played very well and arguably were the best we've season at LR this season. With 11 men they attacked us which created space at the back for Smith, Taraabt and Routledge. With 10 men those same men had nowhere to run. Forest had the quality to beat us and against 11 we would have had the space to beat them. It happens. It's a point that come May could potentially mean a lot as are the bonus two points against Reading when most people would have been happy with a point (especially at half time). Last couple of points on this subject: six points clear, best defensive record in the division, fewest losses, equal most wins, 3rd highest scorers (Leeds may have scored seven more than us but they are eight points behind us, Watford have four more goals but sit 17 points behind us).
Rant over. This is your forum just as much as it's mine and if you want to let off steam or rant than do so but please put things into context and remember incidents that didn't happen that long ago - it makes your argument much stronger.
Anyway, Birmingham. I previously talked about them because of their lack of goals that season (just 54 goals the whole season - we've scored 50 to date) and how people thought that we'll only go up if we score a gazillion goals. Birmingham had a tight defence and a top scorer who scored just 1 more than Taraabt has. As previously mentioned Hulse has disappointed, as has Clarke, Agyemang and even Helguson but Birmingham's strikers didn't have a free scoring season that year and still went up. After 31 matches they sat 3rd with 57 points, two points off Reading in 2nd and six behind eventual winners Wolves. Birmingham finished the season in 2nd with 83 points. If Forest and Cardiff win their games in hand 2nd would sit with 59 points and 3rd with 57 points the same as the teams in 08/09. Birmingham picked up 26 points from their remaining 15 games. A similar amount this season should be enough.
What happened to Reading though?
They won just 4 games from their remaining 15 matches and finished 4th and lost to Burnley in their Play Off Semi. 59 points after 31 matches and still managed to finish in the top 6 with just 4 wins from 15. Birmingham won just 7 matches and started 3 points behind where we start now. They managed 1.57 points per game away from home - we currently average 1.67. The managed 2.04 PPG at home and we currently average 2.19.
Similar records, similar positions, similar striking debates and hopefully similar outcomes.
After every match I view this board to gauge the reaction and then make a decision as to whether to comment or steer clear for a few days. For a team which has lost just 3 games all season its amazing how many times I've decided to keep my distance rather than getting involved in debate with people who don't want to listen. I'll keep you an example of what I mean; nine days previous to the Forest match we went down to 10 men and were the only team who scored in that match. The same thing happens to our opponents but somehow its an absolute disaster that we did a "Reading".
Short term memory folks.
We went down to 10 men against Norwich with 40 minutes to go and they failed to score during that time, we went 10 men down at home to Reading and won the rest of the match 2-1 (3-1 overall). It happens. But why when we fail to score against 10 men just like Norwich and Reading did do we forget this? I'm not saying everyone is guilty of this but time and time again people rush to moan on this board before looking at the facts.
Another fact: 3 losses. Not the 12 that we'd already had suffered this time last season. 23 points more than last season. This time last season we were 29 points behind Newcastle. No everything isn't perfect. And of course you, me and everyone else will be disappointed if we don't go up automatically. Most, including myself, will have to seriously think about next season if we fail to go up. Why bother you might ask? The perfect opportunity to win promotion is infront of us and if we fail to do so you'd have to think long and hard as to what would make next season different. But that's for another day.
Right now we have points on the board. The likes of Forest and Cardiff might well have caught up slightly when they play their games in hand but that isn't guaranteed. As others have pointed out Forest and Cardiff both can't win at the weekend and neither can Leeds and Norwich. The season is ours to lose. Yes Hulse didn't play well and has disappointed all season and why did we play Miller on the right wing and why did we continue with two holding midfielders? But we did. That's not to say that we shouldn't debate those points but we should remember what we did against Reading. We shut up shop and tried to hit them on the break. If Forest had had that extra man on Sunday one team would have won. Forest played very well and arguably were the best we've season at LR this season. With 11 men they attacked us which created space at the back for Smith, Taraabt and Routledge. With 10 men those same men had nowhere to run. Forest had the quality to beat us and against 11 we would have had the space to beat them. It happens. It's a point that come May could potentially mean a lot as are the bonus two points against Reading when most people would have been happy with a point (especially at half time). Last couple of points on this subject: six points clear, best defensive record in the division, fewest losses, equal most wins, 3rd highest scorers (Leeds may have scored seven more than us but they are eight points behind us, Watford have four more goals but sit 17 points behind us).
Rant over. This is your forum just as much as it's mine and if you want to let off steam or rant than do so but please put things into context and remember incidents that didn't happen that long ago - it makes your argument much stronger.
Anyway, Birmingham. I previously talked about them because of their lack of goals that season (just 54 goals the whole season - we've scored 50 to date) and how people thought that we'll only go up if we score a gazillion goals. Birmingham had a tight defence and a top scorer who scored just 1 more than Taraabt has. As previously mentioned Hulse has disappointed, as has Clarke, Agyemang and even Helguson but Birmingham's strikers didn't have a free scoring season that year and still went up. After 31 matches they sat 3rd with 57 points, two points off Reading in 2nd and six behind eventual winners Wolves. Birmingham finished the season in 2nd with 83 points. If Forest and Cardiff win their games in hand 2nd would sit with 59 points and 3rd with 57 points the same as the teams in 08/09. Birmingham picked up 26 points from their remaining 15 games. A similar amount this season should be enough.
What happened to Reading though?
They won just 4 games from their remaining 15 matches and finished 4th and lost to Burnley in their Play Off Semi. 59 points after 31 matches and still managed to finish in the top 6 with just 4 wins from 15. Birmingham won just 7 matches and started 3 points behind where we start now. They managed 1.57 points per game away from home - we currently average 1.67. The managed 2.04 PPG at home and we currently average 2.19.
Similar records, similar positions, similar striking debates and hopefully similar outcomes.
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