10-match segments 2025/6

Now is the winter of our discontent... Well, I hope not. But with yesterday's loss turning what could have been a good segment into a middling one, we can be at least mildly peeved.

1st 10: 7-2-1, 18-11, 23
2nd 10: 3-5-2, 11-9, 14

Home: 7-2-1, 17-9, 23
Away: 3-5-2, 12-11, 14
Total: 10-7-3, 29-20, 37

Leading at HT: 5-1-0, 13-6, 16
Drawing at HT: 4-5-1, 10-6, 17
Trailing at HT: 1-1-2, 6-8, 4

Leading at any point: 10-3-1
Trailing at any point: 2-1-3
(0-0: 3)

Both led and trailed in same match: Stockport (A), Wimbledon (H), L. Orient (A)
* * * * *
I suppose this second segment is more like what I was expecting for the season: mid-tableishness. Thanks to the first segment, however, we remain in an excellent position overall. The defence, for all our concerns about individual players, is doing its job; the attack needs improvement. (That seems to have been a constant over the past few seasons.) That said, we are getting more goals from midfield and even a few from defenders.

No surprise though that after that enthusiastic start, some old weaknesses in players and approaches have come to the fore again. We'll see what we get in the January window, but I wouldn't expect major upgrades before the summer. I'll be happy if the club proves me wrong in that expectation.

RCB

 

A very middling segment.

1st 10: 7-2-1, 18-11, 23
2nd 10: 3-5-2, 11-9, 14
3rd 10: 5-0-5, 10-13, 15

Home: 11-2-2, 24-12, 35
Away: 4-5-6, 15-21, 17
Total: 15-7-8, 39-33, 52

Leading at HT: 8-1-0, 17-7, 22
Drawing at HT: 6-5-1, 12-6, 23
Trailing at HT: 1-1-7, 8-19, 4

Leading at any point: 15-3-1
Trailing at any point: 2-1-8
(0-0: 3)

Both led and trailed in same match: Stockport (A), Wimbledon (H), L. Orient (A)
* * * * *
Our strong start is still working in our favour, but these last two segments show how much tougher it gets when -- amongst other things -- you go from scoring almost 2 goals per match to just 1. Maybe today will be the start of a recovery in this area; at least we were creating chances. (But it did seem to be a rather bold move to start the match with no recognised/established goal-scoring forward in the line-up....)

We remain good at home, and with a lead; we remain poor when trailing -- no change there.

With 52 points, it's safe to say we'll at least be in this division again next season. A side did get relegated with 54, and a few others with 53 and 52, but those were decades ago, in the 80s and 90s.

RCB

 

A third upper-mid-table segment in a row, but that brilliant first segment keeps us well in the playoff hunt.

1st 10: 7-2-1, 18-11, 23
2nd 10: 3-5-2, 11-9, 14
3rd 10: 5-0-5, 10-13, 15
4th 10: 5-1-4, 11-11, 16

Home: 15-3-2, 30-14, 48
Away: 5-5-10, 20-30, 20
Total: 20-8-12, 50-44, 68

Leading at HT: 11-1-0, 23-8, 34
Drawing at HT: 8-5-2, 16-9, 29
Trailing at HT: 1-2-10, 11-27, 5

Leading at any point: 20-3-2
Trailing at any point: 2-2-12
(0-0: 3)

Both led and trailed in same match: Stockport (A), Wimbledon (H), L. Orient (A), Reading (A)

1st 10 matches home: 7-2-1, 17-9, 23
2nd 10 matches home: 8-1-1, 13-5, 25

1st 10 matches away: 3-5-2, 12-11, 14
2nd 10 matches away: 2-0-8, 8-19, 6

* * * * *
A Jekyll & Hyde team if ever there was one. Champions-level results at home (2.4 points per match), relegation-threatened results away (1 point per match). Champions-level results when leading at the half and at any point in a match, relegation-level results when trailing at the half and at any point in a match. Champions-level results in the first segment, comfortable upper-mid-table results in the next three segments.

That second 10-match sequence away (Mansfield onwards) has made things so dicey: both offence and defence failed. (At home, the offence declined but the defence got even better, and so the segment was even better than the first.)

69 points has been the lowest points total for a Div. 3 playoff team since 3 points for a win began. But it's only happened twice; mid-70s will usually get the job done.

We are a good side, but not an auto-promotion side. To get there, keeper, defence, and midfield need tweaking, but offence needs wholesale improvement, whether by way of tactics, or players. Still, we've done far better than I expected.

RCB

 

I was expecting a mid-tableish season of consolidation; I'm very happy the club has torn my expectations to little bits and jumped up and down on them (until they could think up something worse to do to them....) I suppose winning the playoffs would qualify!

1st 10: 7-2-1, 18-11, 23
2nd 10: 3-5-2, 11-9, 14
3rd 10: 5-0-5, 10-13, 15
4th 10: 5-1-4, 11-11, 16
last 6: 2-3-1, 8-7, 9

Home: 15-5-3, 32-17, 50
Away: 7-6-10, 26-34, 27
Total: 22-11-13, 58-51, 77

Leading at HT: 12-1-0, 25-9, 37
Drawing at HT: 8-7-3, 19-13, 31
Trailing at HT: 2-3-10, 14-29, 9

Leading at any point: 22-4-2
Trailing at any point: 3-5-13
(0-0: 3)

Both led and trailed in same match: Stockport (A), Wimbledon (H), L. Orient (A), Reading (A), Wycombe (A), Barnsley (A)
* * * * *
Another excellent home season, and now the away line looks much more respectable too. Can't grumble too much about the defence, but it would really be a lot better for all our nerves if we could just score some more. Whatever division we end up in, that has to be addressed.

By my reckoning, some nice round numbers have come up: that was our 1800th win in the League, and we've now scored 6800 League goals. A ways to go yet before we get to having more wins and goals_for than losses and goals_against, but at current levels of performance that might just be only a few seasons away. We also had an average attendance over 20,000, the first time we've done that since the 1920s.

On to the playoffs!

RCB

 

Ta. It is, and it's nice to be able to throw out some facts when needed. I was keeping track of City stats already years before Frost's book came out, and ever since, using Frost as a base, I've been keeping things updated and adding a few bits and bobs of my own. After all, I can't spend all my time annoying the neighbours with my punk rock electric guitar!

RCB