Too soon to be looking at the table?

[therealhantsram]

10 hours ago, Tamworthram said:

I don’t think you should read too much into the league table after just 5 games.

Let’s just keep our feet on the ground and not get carried away after a very decent start.

Of course you are right, just wanted to give a more positive slant on the same data!

We've had two away games against top 4 teams.  We will know better how the season will pan out when we have had a couple of away games against teams in the bottom half of the table. 

But with the next 2 away matches against Sheff U. and Sunderland, it won't be until start of November that we will have any idea if we can pick up points on the road. 

[Duracell]

Hoping this is finally the year we remember not to read anything into pre-season.

Thrashed by Chesterfield.

Cashin looked like he was playing on 4 pints.

Utter dross performances.

Tinkering with formations that involved having no CMs at all.

And that translates to 8th in the Championship.

 

[Srg]

All about maintaining or extending that gap to the bottom 3. It’s looking good, and it’s been a decent start. 

A few tough fixtures to come. 

[FindernRam]

Just means we need another 40 to be fairly sure of avoiding relegation and 61 to make playoffs. Nothing more or less.

 

[Crewton]

36 minutes ago, Duracell said:

Hoping this is finally the year we remember not to read anything into pre-season.

Thrashed by Chesterfield.

Cashin looked like he was playing on 4 pints.

Utter dross performances.

Tinkering with formations that involved having no CMs at all.

And that translates to 8th in the Championship.

 

I've always said that I pay little heed to preseason games - until I moved nearer to Derby I didn't even go to them.

That said, we've exceeded my expectations so far. I thought 5-6 points would be a very solid start for us to build on, but 9 points from 3 home games and not a single goal conceded sets us up nicely and tells other clubs that a visit to PP will be a tough day out. Now, if we could just get our away tally going with a point in one of the next two games and be competitive in both games I think that would set us up perfectly for the season.

[Tamworthram]

4 hours ago, therealhantsram said:

Of course you are right, just wanted to give a more positive slant on the same data!

We've had two away games against top 4 teams.  We will know better how the season will pan out when we have had a couple of away games against teams in the bottom half of the table. 

But with the next 2 away matches against Sheff U. and Sunderland, it won't be until start of November that we will have any idea if we can pick up points on the road. 

I agree and understand your point. All I was trying to suggest is that the away games we have played so far may not be teams that remain top 4 as the season goes on. As the table stands at the moment, Luton look like an easier opponent but I’m not sure they will be.

Edited Sunday at 11:49 by Tamworthram

[ram59]

1 hour ago, Tamworthram said:

I agree and understand your point. All I was trying to suggest is that the away games we have played so far may not be teams that remain top 4 as the season goes on. As the table stands at the moment, Luton look like an easier opponent but I’m not sure they will be.

There can be a little bit of luck with the timing of fixtures, all teams have better and poorer runs through the season, hopefully you play them when they're on their poorer runs.

[Day]

4 hours ago, Duracell said:

Hoping this is finally the year we remember not to read anything into pre-season.

Thrashed by Chesterfield.

Cashin looked like he was playing on 4 pints.

Utter dross performances.

Tinkering with formations that involved having no CMs at all.

And that translates to 8th in the Championship.

 

This forum has been online since 2009.

I am confident in saying, every summer will be the same.

It’s almost like the football fans have a brain reset yet retain the we’re massive mindset and expect us to steamroll every club perceived to be under us.

[Duracell]

1 hour ago, Day said:

This forum has been online since 2009.

I am confident in saying, every summer will be the same.

It’s almost like the football fans have a brain reset yet retain the we’re massive mindset and expect us to steamroll every club perceived to be under us.

I know, I know. It’s amazing how little it takes for the brain to reset. We’re talking about 3 weeks without football…

[IslandExile]

[jimtastic56]

Couple of tricky away games out the next 3 , possibly without Ozoh . Where we are after those will tell us a lot more  .  But you can still get 160-1 on Rams to get up and Florists to come down .😜

[WystonRam]

Yes it is way too early.

[Dimmu]

We know that there's a pattern of how Warne's teams tend to have a slow start to the season. Let's hope that's the case this time around as well.

For example, last season's points per game were like this:

First quarter, 12 games: 1.5

Second quarter, 11: 2.54 🤪

Third quarter, 12: 1.67

Fourth quarter, 11: 2.36

Over the season

Home average 2.13

Away average 1.87

 

It would be interesting to know, what kind of point target our squad has been made this season. Has anybody heard something?

Last season it was two points per game and we nailed it. In recent years 70 points have often been enough to get to the playoffs, let's have an ambitious scenario of how this could be reached.

If the home PPG would stay high, let's say 2.0. It would mean 14 W, 4 D, 4 L and 46 points.
That means we would need 24 points from away games which is just over a point per game. We know that Warne is not aiming for draws, so roughly we should win every third away game.

I'll try to remember to take a peek at this after 12 games as IT'S TOO EARLY TO BE LOOKING AT THE TABLE YET!

[Millenniumram]

It’s still very early days yet, and the table can change drastically in just a few games at this stage in the season. But you have to say it’s been an excellent start from us on our return to the Championship.

I’m not his biggest fan as everyone knows, but hats off to Warne and everyone else involved behind the scenes - we look far more competitive at this stage than most of us thought. 9 points after 5 games ain’t far off promotion form, yet alone avoiding relegation! I don’t think for a second we’ll quite keep that up, but such a strong start really puts us in good stead for the rest of the season.

Wouldn’t say we’ve had the most difficult start having avoided the really big hitting parachute clubs so far, but equally we’ve not faced many teams who are total crap yet so it could’ve been easier too. We’ve done a very good job so far given our resources compared to the rest of the league.

Id still argue we’ve got one of the bottom three squads in the league, so to be so high up at this stage is a testament to the coaching staff for getting the best out of what they have, and outacting their opposing numbers. Our home form in particularly has been spectacular - get the away form going a bit and we’ll be laughing! Have to be careful not to get heads of ourselves though, we still need a lot more points before we can think of anything other than securing safety. Let’s get to that 50 point mark ASAP.

Keep it up everyone, enjoying this season far more than I feared I would do after the Blackburn game. 

[europia]

We are playing quite well and picking up points, so looking at the table is OK 👌🏽

[MaltRam]

Might be a grim read in 2 months. Might nor.

But.

Enjoy it while you can. Comfortable for a week (or two) at least!

Edited Sunday at 22:15 by MaltRam

[Jourdan]

Very encouraged by the start, but it is also only a start. Let’s see where we are in mid-December after another 15-16 games. I think the picture will be a lot clearer at that point when we are discussing our prospects.

We have seven home games (Norwich, QPR, Hull, Plymouth, Swansea, Wednesday, Portsmouth) between now and Christmas. If we can win four or more of them, then we’ll be in a very strong position.

We also have nine away games including trips to Millwall, Stoke, Oxford and Preston, so you would hope we would get some away points on the board sooner or later. It’s really those games that will be telling for our prospects. If we can win two or three, absolutely we’ll be looking up the table.

So much remains to be seen, but there’s definitely a platform there for us to build on.

[ariotofmyown]

14 hours ago, Duracell said:

Hoping this is finally the year we remember not to read anything into pre-season.

Thrashed by Chesterfield.

Cashin looked like he was playing on 4 pints.

Utter dross performances.

Tinkering with formations that involved having no CMs at all.

And that translates to 8th in the Championship.

 

Can this be pinned to the pre-season thread for next year please.? If we are playing Matlock or Madrid, the result, and performances, do not matter.

[Ghost of Clough]

7 hours ago, Dimmu said:

We know that there's a pattern of how Warne's teams tend to have a slow start to the season. Let's hope that's the case this time around as well.

For example, last season's points per game were like this:

First quarter, 12 games: 1.5

Second quarter, 11: 2.54 🤪

Third quarter, 12: 1.67

Fourth quarter, 11: 2.36

Over the season

Home average 2.13

Away average 1.87

 

It would be interesting to know, what kind of point target our squad has been made this season. Has anybody heard something?

Last season it was two points per game and we nailed it. In recent years 70 points have often been enough to get to the playoffs, let's have an ambitious scenario of how this could be reached.

If the home PPG would stay high, let's say 2.0. It would mean 14 W, 4 D, 4 L and 46 points.
That means we would need 24 points from away games which is just over a point per game. We know that Warne is not aiming for draws, so roughly we should win every third away game.

I'll try to remember to take a peek at this after 12 games as IT'S TOO EARLY TO BE LOOKING AT THE TABLE YET!

I swear Warne said we were targetting 2 points a game at home. Logically, you'd therefore expect us to be targetting at least 1 point a game away.

Having spoken to one player (and without them giving too much away), it seems the more realistic expectation would be in the 55-60 range.

[SKRam]

Tables are always susceptible to change…. Sort the away form out we’re rocking