Promotion Rivals Watch

[Kernow]

36 minutes ago, Thameram said:

Went to watch this yesterday peterboro were awful oxford could have had 10 

wouldn't want to play oxford in play offs they had brannagan and moore missing as well and looked good 

Oxford are a good side, the blip when their manager changed and a load of injuries at one time with no squad depth just ruined their season.

I think they’ll finish above Barnsley and the semis will end up as Bolton v Barnsley & Peterborough v Oxford.

[Carl Sagan]

After yesterday's results:

• Bolton 1 Portsmouth 1
• RAMS 3 Orient 0
• Oxford 5 Peterborough 0

we now have 

Bolton play their game in hand on Tuesday at home to Shrewsbury, with Peterborough at home to Fleetwood the same night. You'd expect them both to win, but if Peterborough don't and if Bolton lose, a win for us on Saturday would secure promotion.

[Ram-Alf]

8 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

After yesterday's results:

• Bolton 1 Portsmouth 1
• RAMS 3 Orient 0
• Oxford 5 Peterborough 0

we now have 

Bolton play their game in hand on Tuesday at home to Shrewsbury, with Peterborough at home to Fleetwood the same night. You'd expect them both to win, but if Peterborough don't and if Bolton lose, a win for us on Saturday would secure promotion.

 There is probs only a couple of posters on here that don't know that, Oldben and ap04 😁

[Comrade 86]

On 13/04/2024 at 18:14, Crewton said:

Oxford scored 5 goals with 30% possession against Peterborough 😂

That stat rather leapt of the page didn't it! 😂

Also noted the six shots on target, scoring with 5 of them. Ouch! One hopes the Steer family cat survived the night.

I think that while both Bolton and Posh are sometimes quite easy on the eye, they don't always convert possession to points. Posh seem to dominate games or do very little and actually make us look ultra consistent. Bolton are probably the best footballing team in the division, but they seem to score in clusters and can be frustrated by defenders who maintain shape and discipline. 

The more I think about this league, the more I think that for teams to succeed, they have to be adept across the board, in the top percentiles for all key metrics. We're slightly light off 'excellent' in the total goals scored column and in a season where we've bungled so many chances from open play, our set pieces and defensive qualities are what has really kept us in the hunt, especially in the final quarter of the season.

Points Accrued: 2nd
Goals Scored: 5th
Goals Conceded: =1st
Goal Difference: 1st

Interesting to note that the top two in the table are equal top in the goals conceded charts and by clear water too. Not a coincidence IMO.

Edited April 14 by Comrade 86

[Ghost of Clough]

1 hour ago, Comrade 86 said:

That stat rather leapt of the page didn't it! 😂

Also noted the six shots on target, scoring with 5 of them. Ouch! One hopes the Steer family cat survived the night.

I think that while both Bolton and Posh are sometimes quite easy on the eye, they don't always convert possession to points. Posh seem to dominate games or do very little and actually make us look ultra consistent. Bolton are probably the best footballing team in the division, but they seem to score in clusters and can be frustrated by defenders who maintain shape and discipline. 

The more I think about this league, the more I think that for teams to succeed, they have to be adept across the board, in the top percentiles for all key metrics. We're slightly light off 'excellent' in the total goals scored column and in a season where we've bungled so many chances from open play, our set pieces and defensive qualities are what has really kept us in the hunt, especially in the final quarter of the season.

Points Accrued: 2nd
Goals Scored: 5th
Goals Conceded: =1st
Goal Difference: 1st

Interesting to note that the top two in the table are equal top in the goals conceded charts and by clear water too. Not a coincidence IMO.

Lincoln are also tied with us for goals conceded.

[Comrade 86]

7 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Lincoln are also tied with us for goals conceded.

Well spotted, but we remain =1st all the same. It also somewhat underlines the point made, in that their sub-par metric and the reason they have fallen short, is goals scored; even with their mad recent run, they've netted 13 fewer than Derby and 18 fewer than #1 ranked Posh. We're slightly profligate in front of goal, but that aside, we are a strong side by every salient metric. 

[TigerTedd]

36 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Well spotted, but we remain =1st all the same. It also somewhat underlines the point made, in that their sub-par metric and the reason they have fallen short, is goals scored; even with their mad recent run, they've netted 13 fewer than Derby and 18 fewer than #1 ranked Posh. We're slightly profligate in front of goal, but that aside, we are a strong side by every salient metric. 

You made me have a look. It’s stark the difference between the top 6 goals scored and all the rest. The top two are the lowest scorers in the top 6, strangely. But even pompey, the lowest scorers, are 9 goals better off than the next highest outside the top 6. Posh are 17 goals clear!

and those next highest scorers are reading and Charlton right down in the bottom half, which is a bit weird. 

as much as we all like free flowing, high scoring football, I think the evidence shows time and time again that it’s the teams with the best defences that win things. 

[Chellaston Ram]

9 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

You made me have a look. It’s stark the difference between the top 6 goals scored and all the rest. The top two are the lowest scorers in the top 6, strangely. But even pompey, the lowest scorers, are 9 goals better off than the next highest outside the top 6. Posh are 17 goals clear!

and those next highest scorers are reading and Charlton right down in the bottom half, which is a bit weird. 

as much as we all like free flowing, high scoring football, I think the evidence shows time and time again that it’s the teams with the best defences that win things. 

As the saying goes, goals win matches ,defences win leagues

[ap04]

12 hours ago, Comrade 86 said:

We're slightly profligate in front of goal

The opposite has been the case and by a long way, Wycombe was the 8th game we've scored less than we should have and we've scored more in 19(!)

Creativity is the area we've lacked compared to others -maybe down to conservative tactics not quality- rather than taking the chances.

[G STAR RAM]

55 minutes ago, ap04 said:

The opposite has been the case and by a long way, Wycombe was the 8th game we've scored less than we should have and we've scored more in 19(!)

Creativity is the area we've lacked compared to others -maybe down to conservative tactics not quality- rather than taking the chances.

How on earth do you score more than you should have?

[Mucker1884]

1 hour ago, ap04 said:

... Wycombe was the 8th game we've scored less than we should have and we've scored more in 19(!)

 

[RadioactiveWaste]

Anyone able to devine what the vibes are at Peterborough and Bolton ahead of the midweek games?

I'm not hopeful of a Bolton favour but it's sitting on them to do with the game against Shrewsbury.

[G STAR RAM]

1 hour ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Anyone able to devine what the vibes are at Peterborough and Bolton ahead of the midweek games?

I'm not hopeful of a Bolton favour but it's sitting on them to do with the game against Shrewsbury.

Last chance saloon for both of them.

Pressure will be massively on them but I don't seriously expect either to slip up.

Then pressure is back on us at Cambridge...

[Carnero]

[scout's dad]

Love the Shrews

Edited April 16 by scout's dad

[Mucker1884]

Promotion rivals?

[Carl Sagan]

Congratulations to Portsmouth who are promoted as Champions after tonight's results, which were:

• Portsmouth 3 Barnsley 2
• Bolton 2 Shrewsbury 2
• Peterborough 4 Fleetwood 1

A fabulous draw by Shrewsbury means we only need 4 points from the final 2 games to guarantee promotion. Goal difference not quite enough to rely on just the 3 points. But if both Bolton and Peterborough drop points on Saturday, victory at Cambridge would see us up.

The other Saturday fixtures are:

• Bolton vs Port Vale
• Bristol Rovers vs Peterborough

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

41 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Congratulations to Portsmouth who are promoted as Champions after tonight's results, which were:

• Portsmouth 3 Barnsley 2
• Bolton 2 Shrewsbury 2
• Peterborough 4 Fleetwood 1

A fabulous draw by Shrewsbury means we only need 4 points from the final 2 games to guarantee promotion. Goal difference not quite enough to rely on just the 3 points. But if both Bolton and Peterborough drop points on Saturday, victory at Cambridge would see us up.

The other Saturday fixtures are:

• Bolton vs Port Vale
• Bristol Rovers vs Peterborough

You do realise we'll be going into the last game in 2nd by 2 goals and s******* our pants that either Bolton or Peterborough will beat one 3-0 either way as we grimly hang on to a 1-0.  It's the Derby way.

[Carl Sagan]

Has Evatt thrown in the towel? 

 

[Srg]

Looked a hell of a lot of empty seats at Bolton last night. Believe they did kids for a quid as well or something similar.