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Given our impressive performance today against a team higher up the table than us, and adding in our other very impressive results against teams pushing for promotion (Norwich, Brentford, Bournemouth (x2) Watford (x2) Cardiff (x2), is it reasonable to be peed off at losing to Derby and Birmingham? I am not suggesting we win every game, Barnsley were better than us, Preston had nil,nil written all over it, and in December, we couldn't buy a goal,so (with the possible exception of Millwall) we didn't look like winning too often. But those two games still rile me, because they were both decidedly winnable and 49 points instead of 43 is quite significant at this point in the season. Or am I expecting too much from a team, clearly in transition?
I think Birmingham was a case of giving the game away with sloppiness. We were so totally in control, and gave away two entirely preventable goals, and I was extremely peed off about that one.
Derby not so much. disappointed, but not peed off, don't forget they were on a similar run of form to us at the time with Rooney having turned thing s around.
That’s just football, really. We were pretty fortunate to get the 3 points against Bournemouth (and, arguably Brentford as well) so I thought we were probably due a game where we didn’t get the points that the balance of play probably warranted - and that was the Birmingham game. Derby were also in a really good run of form when we played them, and considering how packed the fixture schedule has been there were always going to be a few sub-par performances mixed in,especially considering we don’t have the depth of squad that many other 2nd tier teams have.
If you take the last 12 games, even the most optimistic of us wouldn’t have predicted we’d get 23 points, especially considering we’ve played 6 of the top 8 in that run of games - but that’s promotion form.
As ever, I refer back to the Championship as 24 shades of average. Small changes in quality, be it management, coaching or playing staff, can make a big difference in results. We've upgraded right through the spine of the team through Austin, Johansen, Field and now De Wijs, and the improved results are the consequence.
Funnily enough, losing to Brum was I feel a big blow, Three points spaffed away that would have seen us go close to sixth place in the final reckoning.
The thing with the Championship is most teams seem to go on losing runs and empty stadiums play their part although I did wonder who chucked the missile at Dickie today as he celebrated his goal.
Norwich have won 7 in a row as have Barnsley, Rotherham won 4 in a row and then lost 5 in a row, Sheffield Wednesday have lost 6 in a row, Bristol City have lost 5 in a row at home, Birmingham went 4 months without a home win.
Blackburn were on a good run then a couple of defeats, us being one of the sides to beat them, they then went 7 games without a win, Brentford went 21 unbeaten and then lost three in a row. Preston have lost 9 games at home and Cardiff change the manager and go 10 games unbeaten.
It is such a barmy league that you can go 8 games undefeated and then not win any of the next 8. It is extremely difficult to ever say you have turned a corner in this league.
I don't know if this helps explain why we lost to Derby and Birmingham!
I think it is a bit unreasonable to expect us to not have some poor results, like the top six sides we've beaten recently might think they did against us.
I also agree with Warbs a bit with his fine margins. Like whether the ref gives that as a foul against Kane, then they don't score, etc.
But more because it's the earlier part of the season that's more frustrating for me. If we'd just got all three points against Sheffield Wednesday or Wycombe that we certainly should have and that this team definitely would.
On the other hand I can see all the reasons why we didn't: missing experienced players, having players who hadn't started in the Championship before and/or hadn't played together, not having any time on the training pitch to rectify this, etc, etc.
We've got more points in this league after 33 matches then any QPR team since the 2015/16 season, which I think with a largely scratch team, no fans, and losing Wells, Eze and Hughill from the team is a hell of an achievement.
Do I feel disappointed when we lose, yes. Do I expect us to lose sometimes, yes. Do I think this team is largely overachieving on budget and expectations (mine), yes. Are there other teams that are overachieving more (Barnsley), yes. Are there some players that aren't quite making it yet, yes. Have I given up on them, no. Are there others that are a pleasant surprise, yes.
Not having a pop at you Myke because it's a reasonable question to ask, but I do think that some fans have unreasonable expectations at this stage and I find that far more frustrating than whether we are beaten by (a massively on form) Barnsley, lose to Birmingham (poor result but it happens), or draw against Preston away in midweek (not a huge surprise).
Frustrated that we wasted half a season in what is the worst Championship in living memory.
Norwich and Watford were awful last season and not much better this season. Barnsley were a revelation but I’ve yet to see a genuinely good side.
We can only hope we’ve learnt a lot this year. Our defence was crying out for a back three, now we’ve done it. We needed wing backs not full backs, we’re getting there on that. Please god we secure Johansen and Field and Charlie. And the rest of this season we do everything to find the best solution behind or alongside Charlie and cease plugging that round hole with square pegs.
We are close if we don’t meddle with the bits that actually work.
If we play like we did yesterday then we will get in the play-offs but we wont play that well every game and play against such poor opposition.....I have said for a long time now, with the squad we have and the Management Team that we have we should be getting into the top 10 as a minimum.
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