Play-Offs

[Chrisb]

if this time next week arrives with us having six points a few trams a around us have dropped a few points I will start believing.

We have some crazy luck with the results going in our favour alot lately. We just have to keep wining and we will be there.

A tall order, but we’re taller……..

Always good when a nearby tram loses points.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Always good when a nearby tram loses points.

especially this one!

 

[Thundersley Blue]

Would be good if we could make 4th or 5th, guarantees 1 home match. Not impossible, but there will be more games like this afternoon.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Altrincham 0 Barnet 1.

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

Injury update from Halifax:::::::::

Sam Johnson - 'Keeper, plus Smith, Harper, High and Wright are out for the season after today.

I'll tell ya, the planets are aligning!

 

[RHB]

The Altrincham game was very competitive, played in atrociously wet conditions, so well done Barnet for turning Altrincham over. If I could I'd love us to have Barnet's away shirt as our home one next season.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Injury update from Halifax:::::::::

Sam Johnson - 'Keeper, plus Smith, Harper, High and Wright are out for the season after today.

I'll tell ya, the planets are aligning!

I'm not convinced until Tangled comes on and says we have a chance. He's been saying for months we have no chance. That's the last planet that has to align.

 

[RHB]

I'm not convinced until Tangled comes on and says we have a chance. He's been saying for months we have no chance. That's the last planet that has to align.

You know what they say about Barna's Uranus!

 

[kentblues]

Would be good if we could make 4th or 5th, guarantees 1 home match. Not impossible, but there will be more games like this afternoon.

And now we are being greedy :-)

 

[rigsby]

I'm not convinced until Tangled comes on and says we have a chance. He's been saying for months we have no chance. That's the last planet that has to align.

We want Tangled to keep repeating his nonsense…..He has a great record on here of proving himself wrong….The club needs him for those vital 8 games

 

[jarvisyeh]

I'm not convinced until Tangled comes on and says we have a chance. He's been saying for months we have no chance. That's the last planet that has to align.

I've been on SZ long enough to know that it Tangled says they believe we can make it, we should realise it isn't going to happen.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Good news guys. It is with great pride and happiness, that today I'm announcing that we will make the Play-Offs.

 

[40yearsafan]

I'm sure I'm not the only one. After 57 years of watching us, I still think; I don't believe it I'll wait for the next result. Altrincham have done us a favor, let's wait and see what Tuesday brings.

 

[Bar na bas]

We want Tangled to keep repeating his nonsense…..He has a great record on here of proving himself wrong….The club needs him for those vital 8 games

And the three after that!

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Just shy of 6000 already for next week.

About 6,750 then. Always add on 750 for the other areas not included in the counter.

 

[* ORM *]

We want Tangled to keep repeating his nonsense…..He has a great record on here of proving himself wrong….The club needs him for those vital 8 games

There’s still the other usual suspects persisting with the Maher crab, negative football tripe.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Points achieved last 6 games ......

Barnet - 18 points

York -10
Forest Green Rovers - 8

Oldham - 9
Halifax - 10
Gateshead - 1 (yes, one)
Rochdale -11

Southend - 10
Altrincham - 3
Tamworth - 14 (yes, fourteen)

Carry on like this & it will be Tamworth moving into the play-off places ...............

 

[Tony Allen]

We have the momentum at the moment and some of the teams in contention have lost theirs so going forward a draw on Tuesday would not be a disaster. If we can get to the point of still having a chance with 2 games to go that would be great. My main concern is the defensive mindset that creeps in - with our inferior goal difference we need to win most of these games. We've nothing to lose now by going for it

 

[Suffering shrimper]

In the last 15 games we’ve took 29 points carry on that ppg and we’ll nick that last playoff place

 

[Bar na bas]

Quite often, those who do not believe that we can make the play-offs (quite yet) comment about our lack of consistency. Early on in the season, we were admittedly pretty consistent, 21 points from the first 18 games indicates that. That 18th game was the 2-0 defeat at Altrincham, a sign perhaps of how we were failing to measure up against teams battling for the play-offs.

We have had too many draws, some have said. We don't attack enough, others (perhaps the same people) have said. Maher will never get us out of this division, etc, etc.

Well, here we are this evening, in 8th spot, one point (and a few goals, admittedly) outside the play-offs. And on a 9 match unbeaten run. Ah, but too many draws.... (oh, hang on, we have had that one already).

So, back to that consistency thing. Over the last 20 league matches, starting with the entertaining and deserved home draw against Forest Green Rovers, 4 months ago tomorrow, we have won 9, drawn 8 and lost 3 (admittedly all abject in their way versus York City, Barnet and Maidenhead). But that is 35 points in 20 matches, which equates to 80 points over 46 games. To me, that is pretty consistent "higher reaches of the play-offs" form over the last twenty matches.

Another often-stated comment in these pages. "Well, we have played mainly teams we should be beating". Yes, that 20 game spell included wins against Ebbsfleet, Braintree, Fyle and Dagenham, and some draws in matches we may have felt we should win, but it also includes wins against Halifax (twice), Altrincham and Eastleigh (all play-off rivals) and Aldershot who are on a decent run of form, and 3 draws against other play-off rivals (Forest Green twice and Rochdale) and another against Tamworth, who again are in good form. So that form is pretty good, as well.

And set against that consistency at the business end of the season, some of our rivals are imploding. Here is the latest "last ten game" form guide.


Where are Oldham, Gateshead, Altrincham, Sutton United, even Forest Green Rovers? In the bottom half of the form table is where....



We are in a far better run of form than a number of our rivals, in particular Gateshead and Altrincham, and potentially, if we can win on Tuesday against Boston United (who despite their good recent form, have a home record of played 18, won 2, drawn 7, lost 9), and Rochdale fail to beat York City, that would take us above them in the table, into the play-offs for the first time this season. If Barnet continue their winning run against Gateshead on Saturday, we could be kicking off against Oldham with the chance of going above Gateshead, which seemed incredibly unlikely a few short weeks ago.

I have said before that I am generally an optimist, although realistically, I thought the play-offs were a long shot. But the odds are improving. Here's the latest projected points and positions, based on points per game over the last ten matches.



It is already looking better than when I first posted a table like this, a week ago. Play-offs are looking possible.

Then all we have to do is stay there.

Oh, and win them....

Enjoy your weekend!!! Up the Blues.... E-I-E-I-O....