Relegation watch

[WhiteHorseRam]

38 minutes ago, minesahartington said:

I think the current crop of players lacks the character/team spirit/togetherness needed to fight out of this one. Really hope I am wrong.

Every time you see a really tight relegation battle you often get that scenario where team A 'just has to win' and a couple of very predictable other results have to happen.

What happens is they draw, team B pulls off some miracle win (against some team just outside the play-offs, already thinking about the beach) and the trap door suddenly opens below A. Good Night Vienna.

We have to avoid relegation at all costs. It won't be a jolly season-long tour of atmospheric little grounds before we go straight back up, we would be down there for a good long time. 

The next three games are crucial - need 6 pts out of 9.

[TheresOnlyWanChope]

I am expecting Rotherham to win some of their games in hand. We are in an awful position. I expect Rotherham to survive, hopefully we can get 2 wins at least but I have no confidence anymore. Playing nicely is all well and good but we need wins. 

[TigerTedd]

42 minutes ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

They don’t really have a “squad” , they have a small pool of players . It seems very possible the players will be fatigued and pick up injuries. This will be the test for them with so many games in a short space of time 

Just noticed next Saturdays games are being rescheduled for the funeral, that’s going to cause Rotherham even more of a headache, one way or another it’s going to reduce some rest time to the next game, or from the previous game.

[r_wilcockson]

7 minutes ago, TigerTedd said:

Just noticed next Saturdays games are being rescheduled for the funeral, that’s going to cause Rotherham even more of a headache, one way or another it’s going to reduce some rest time to the next game, or from the previous game.

I imagine that the games will just get moved to Sunday / later kick offs on Saturday. Rotherham are already playing on Sunday anyway, so won't have any impact. 

[Spanish]

15 minutes ago, TigerTedd said:

Just noticed next Saturdays games are being rescheduled for the funeral, that’s going to cause Rotherham even more of a headache, one way or another it’s going to reduce some rest time to the next game, or from the previous game.

If they move all the games to Sunday it is an advantage for them in that we will all have the same rest time before the next game

[RadioactiveWaste]

Time for a 'rona outbreak in south yorkshire and few forfits from rov?

[Tyler Durden]

9 hours ago, ram59 said:

This is the championship, all games are winnable for all teams, likewise, all games are losable for all teams. Teams who have something to play for will beat you because they're trying, or lose to you because they're edgy. Teams who have nothing to play for will beat you because they're relaxed, or lose to you because they're 'on the beach'.

Unfortunately, I think that the next few weeks are going to be a rollercoaster, unless the next 11 days produce a perfect set of results, for Derby.

Someone needs to tell Rooney that all games are winneable cos he's just not getting it.

 

[RoyMac5]

13 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

Someone needs to tell Rooney that all games are winnable cos he's just not getting it.

All teams are created equal? Lol. Of course he gets it.

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

15 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

Someone needs to tell Rooney that all games are winneable cos he's just not getting it.

 

Im sure he knows that already,the problem is that wayne is unable for whatever reason to achieve that aim.....We will know next season for sure whether it's his lack of ability as a coach or not,when he has the funding to create a squad in his image.

[Jourdan]

10 hours ago, kevinhectoring said:

Don’t get all this hand wringing over home and away. Our form is patchy, we need two good performances. As likely to happen home or away, pretty much,  and I don’t give a monkeys which it is. I think we’ll do it. 

Our form since January suggests otherwise.

Of course if we draw against Blackburn and beat Preston, we’ll take it.

But all the signs point to that being a struggle.

[Tyler Durden]

32 minutes ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

Im sure he knows that already,the problem is that wayne is unable for whatever reason to achieve that aim.....We will know next season for sure whether it's his lack of ability as a coach or not,when he has the funding to create a squad in his image.

I meant that Rooney doesn't seem to set his team out to try and win games so the default outcome is nul goals and an invariable defeat. 

Look at the run Birmingham have put together since they axed Karanka for example with effectively the same group of players. 

I genuinely hope the new owner has already watched enough games himself to make his own informed decision and acts accordingly despite what he's said recently publically.

[Jourdan]

10 hours ago, plymouthram said:

When there's less than 6 games left to play, I don't think you can take home form into the battle of survival. Its all about who you still have to play, Whether it be teams around you or teams at the top still chasing promotion, or even teams in the middle of the table.  Sheff Wed have only 18 points to win and have an 8 point gap to close on us, plus the goal diff. Barring the Swansea game, most of their matches could be winnable but they have not much better form than Derby in their last 5 games. Rotherham have a 7 point gap to close on the Rams but have Coventry and Birmingham also fighting for survival and they still have 4 teams to play from the top 10 of  the table, where they have only registered one win all season.

It obviously does matter. The stats show that the majority of teams in the mix play better and garner more points at home.

Wednesday will be looking at their four home games as the basis of any late surge, so too will Rotherham and Coventry with their home games.

We wouldn’t want to be going to Swansea needing to pick up points, so why will it be different for Rotherham when they go to Brentford and Barnsley? Or Wednesday when they go to Boro?

It’s only really the last game or two where everything goes out of the window and teams throw more caution to the wind.

No-one is disputing that we have the advantage in terms of points on the board. Where we are at a disadvantage is our current form is poor, we’re poor in both boxes, we have several injuries, and our manager is inexperienced and struggling to find answers.

Yes, Rotherham and Wednesday would have to produce something special to claw all of those points back, but with our current trajectory, we are giving them plenty of hope.

[DCFC1388]

3 hours ago, minesahartington said:

I think the current crop of players lacks the character/team spirit/togetherness needed to fight out of this one. Really hope I am wrong.

Isnt it this current crop of players that showed all of the above to help us get off bottom to a position where wr are 7pts clear with 5 games to go?

[TomTom92]

Think we need at least 3 points from the next 2 matches. Then at the very least get 3 points out of the last 3 matches. Is 49 points enough for survival? Maybe just ?

[Tamworthram]

2 hours ago, TheresOnlyWanChope said:

I am expecting Rotherham to win some of their games in hand. We are in an awful position. I expect Rotherham to survive, hopefully we can get 2 wins at least but I have no confidence anymore. Playing nicely is all well and good but we need wins. 

I don’t think Rotherham will survive. I also fear our fate will go down to the last game of the season with us needing to win to be certain.

[Millenniumram]

9 hours ago, PendineRam said:

I'm not convinced we have the baalocks but more importantly we don't have quality upfront! 

Apart from Kaz's burst of scoring which may well keep us in this division this lot are not even 3rd tier standard as an attacking force. It will surprise me if we win another game. Let's hope the bottom three are equally crap!

Indeed, as I’ve said before, I don’t think I’ve seen many worse attacks in this division during my time watching. They really are incompetent.

[Tamworthram]

2 hours ago, WhiteHorseRam said:

Every time you see a really tight relegation battle you often get that scenario where team A 'just has to win' and a couple of very predictable other results have to happen.

What happens is they draw, team B pulls off some miracle win (against some team just outside the play-offs, already thinking about the beach) and the trap door suddenly opens below A. Good Night Vienna.

We have to avoid relegation at all costs. It won't be a jolly season-long tour of atmospheric little grounds before we go straight back up, we would be down there for a good long time. 

The next three games are crucial - need 6 pts out of 9.

I think we’ll do well to get 4.

[Tamworthram]

3 hours ago, minesahartington said:

I think the current crop of players lacks the character/team spirit/togetherness needed to fight out of this one. Really hope I am wrong.

Surely they showed they had the character etc in the second half, despite being a goal down, against all conquering top of the table Norwich? 
 

A team without the fight would have crumbled and probably conceded more rather than giving the best team in the league a run for their money. It wasn’t effort or attitude that was lacking yesterday. It was quality and decision making.

We are of course in serious poo but I was encouraged by the second half performance. If only we could create clearer chances and put them away (simple?).

 

[TheresOnlyWanChope]

55 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

I don’t think Rotherham will survive. I also fear our fate will go down to the last game of the season with us needing to win to be certain.

Rotherham have 9 matches left. I think it’s between Derby Coventry and Huddersfield but I’m starting to think we’ve had it after watching our last few matches. 

[minesahartington]

Norwich never got out of second gear. Didn’t need too. Should. Have had a pen. Roberts made a couple runs and they stood off us a bit but we created nothing really. I don’t think that will be enough against teams that are playing for something. I look for real passion and can’t see it.