Most liked posts in thread: Remaining Fixtures/Results/Points/Position Predictions

Diddums. At least you only had to spend 2 minutes checking the result on Ceefax last night.
Some of us didn’t get home until 2am.

Out of interest, if we’d have played the Crewe game and won, we’d be in 4th place , 3 points behind Northampton with a better goal difference and still to play them next week.

Would it still be over then or would you be seeing things differently?

 

You have conveniently shown highlights of one of Cook's rare off nights. How about putting together a clip of his season's highlights overall.

A striker doesn't fluke his way to 27 goals with the worst first touch in the league.

 

The Mansfield result is a good one for us, well done Orient with a weakened side and down to 10 men after 62 minutes.

 

When I was a kid, I used to be able to see impossible scenarios for us to win promotion or make the play offs even when 10 points or more in arrears.

As a realist I can point to about 10 points we have dropped which would pretty much have us over the line already.

2 Points from 9 from the bottom 3 teams makes up 7 of those points (5 of which were from winning positions). Mansfield at Home, Swindon at Home, Gillingham at Home is another 6 points dropped from winning positions due to our inability to hold a lead. Swindon was possibly the most out of our control due to the referee awarding a soft pen but look at the other two and you already have 10+ points thrown away at home this season.

That is why the autos isn't on, and that is why our position in the play-offs is in doubt.

 

I can't see Hughes playing the kids (no matter what the result at Crewe) the last home game is always special and playing the kids against the Champions of league two aint gonna happen.

 

I wonder if he’d dare do that against Cook, Smallwood or Stubbs! It was really rat behaviour and one of the biggest problems in professional football.

 

The next month see us play 6 games are against teams in 3rd, 14th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 22nd. 3 at home and 3 away.

4 wins is a realistic target.

In the same period Stevenage have Carlisle, Salford and Northampton.

2nd and 3rd are officially up for grabs here. We would be second if we hadn't surrendered 6 points to crap like Barrow and Rochdale.

 

Automatics or bust for me! *

*because if we make the playoff final, I've promised the whole family we'll go and it'll cost me a bluddy fortune!

 

14 wins out of our last 47 games at Valley Parade. I dont hold alot of hope.

Just when you think weve turned a corner a shite side comes to VP and goes home with something.....

It really is unacceptable.

 

You might want to get back on Tinder

 

Remaining fixtures for us, Northampton, Stevenage & Carlisle. I think it's 2 of these 4 that get automatically promoted.

City:
Swindon (A)
Gillingham (H)
Northampton (A)
Crewe (A)
Orient (H)

Northampton:
Sutton (A)
Harrogate (H)
City (H)
Tranmere (A)

Stevenage:
Doncaster (H)
Mansfield (A)
Swindon (A)
Grimsby (H)
Barrow (A)

Carlisle:
Stockport (H)
Barrow (A)
Salford (H)
Sutton (A)

Might get shot in the foot with this but I dont think Carlisle have the bottle to do it, or the fixtures. They don't play anyone lower than 10th for the rest of the season and have just 1 win in 6, scored just 2 goals in those 6 and in 2 of those games the opposition had 10 men. Carlisle won't make it.

Looking at the others, I reckon Northampton will take one spot because their fixtures are just easier. Sutton are in free fall, Harrogate look poor and Tranmere have nothing to play for, they'll pick up points unless they have a meltdown of pressure. They probably need 7 points to secure it.

I think it's a shootout between us and Stevenage, the game in hand teams to get there, with 10 points probably ending up being enough. In the reverse fixtures of the 5 coming up for City, we got just 1 win against the 5 coming up and 5 points from 15. Stevenage reverse against their 5 lead to 11 points from 15, with 3 wins and 2 draws. Evans' experience of this level might be key, as they shown yesterday they can win and play poorly. But.... there's no way to count out these underdog Bantams at the minute. When Stubbs signed we were 9th and 16 points off the automatic spots, we are THAT team that always goes on the charge every season. Going to the wire this one.

 

I bet you £1000 that Andy Cook absolutely doesn’t want 3 extra games.

 

Northampton are a very different team to the one that schooled us at VP, due to their injury list, but so are we. The current team have shown no fear or nerves for the last month or so, something we’ve not had for a long time

 

I'm alternating between moments of extreme confidence and abject terror. It's playing havoc with my insides.

 

Why don’t we just see where we are after Northampton. If we find ourselves 3 points behind then the Crewe game becomes massive.
Until then, Saturday is massive.

 

Get a grip! You was the only one before last night still wanting Orient to lose so we could win the title, now we can’t even make the playoffs! Some have such a defeatist mentality I’ll never get it. We go again Saturday, with the game in hand over Salford we are more or less guaranteed a playoff spot if we win. Mansfield also have Stevenage so after our game in hand we could be 5 points above both with a game to go. As for cheated, it’s football, they weren’t advertised as league 1 season tickets. There is a chance they will be in either division and no you aren’t cheated.

 

A mindset of winners. Its what we’ve lacked all season.

And fair play to Steve Evans. Whatever people think of him personally he’s outperformed Hughes by a distance this season, when you consider the starting point and backing both managers have had.

 

My predictions for weekend games.
Northampton 0 City 2
Stevenage 1 Grimsby 1
Carlisle 1 Salford 1
Orient 2 Stockport 0
Mansfield 3 Harrogate 1

This would put us 6th , four points behind autos prior to the Crewe game.

we beat Crewe to go 4th , a point behind Stevenage and 2 behind Northampton.

leaves us needing a win on last day and EITHER Stevenage / Northampton failing to win at Barrow / Tranmere.
A draw isn’t good enough for either.

so I conclude the autos are still on

 

I think it’s highly likely that we’ll finish 4th or 5th and it’ll be either Salford or Carlisle in the semis with the away game being first.
Our away form has been great, probably the best I’ve ever seen from a city team so I’d expect us to be going into the home leg at least level.
Then we beat Northampton 3-0 at Wembley just like 10 years ago.