Form of the 6 title contenders

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Just been looking at the recent form of the 5 teams at the top, and I would be staggered if some of them continue in the same vein.

Southend

4 wins 2 draws and 3 defeats from the last 9 games, which is 14 points (which really isn't that shabby!). This did include a run of 4 without a win, so hopefully the Gillingham win on Monday and the with fixtures coming up of Crewe (H), Aldershot (A), Morecombe (A) and Burton (A) should see a reasonable return of points.

Although 3 of the 4 games are away our away form is great and only Crewe are on any decent run of form out of these sides with Morecombe and Burton being on horrendous runs.

Cheltenham

Cheltenhams form over the last 9 games is identical to ours, and they are also on a run of 1 win in 5 (same as us), however the win was 3 games ago, so they are winless in 3. There next few fixtures are even easier on paper than ours with Daggers (A), Wimbledon (H), Burton (H) and Northampton (H)

This could see them turn their recent poor run around a bit.

Torquay

7 wins in a row, 25 points from the last 9 games with just the 2 draws and 1 defeat in 16 games. (Wow!)

9 of those wins have all been by 1 goal and after 3 x 2-1 wins, the last 4 games have all been 1-0 wins

The fact that they aren't winning games by big margins seems to me to say that they are having a bit of luck, built on a solid defence. Hopefully this luck will turn a little, just like ours did. Their upcoming games are Bradford (H), Gillingham (A), Crawley (A), and Aldershot (H).

Swindon

Won 6 in a row, 1 defeat in 17 and picked up 22 points from the last 9 games.

Pretty good form, and as we know they are a good side. Hereford (A), Shrewsbury (H), Accrington (H) and Burton (H) doesn't look like it is going to de-rail Swindon too much.

Crawley

3 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats over the past 9 games means only 13 points so Crawley are the team in worst form of the top 6. This also includes only 1 win 5 (their only home game over that period).

Upcoming games after their FA Cup exploits are Morecombe (H), Shrewsbury (A), Torquay (H) and Southend (A)

This is a tough run of games with 2 difficult away trips and the FA cup as a distraction, could also see Crawley drop off the pace a little. Their away form is poor with only 5 wins to date.


Shrewsbury

4 wins from the last 5 (although 3 of them at home) and 17 points from the last 9 games. Reasonable form, however their away form is pretty poor being 13th best in the division with only 5 wins.

Upcoming fixtures with 3 away from home and given their away form are tough with Barnet (A), Swindon (A), Crawley (H) and Crewe (A)

Could hopefully see Shrewsbury drop off the pace a little.

 

[dannypav]

Seem to be saying this over and over again , but our game on Saturday is really crucial.
Would have been better if Crewe were stuck in mid table mediocrity , rather than having a sniff at the play offs , but such is life.
Just hope the crowd is supportive and we don't start getting on players backs if things start to go wrong.
If we can win on Saturday , I'm sure we can get 6-9 points out of the 3 away games.
Come on you Blues.......................

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Just goes to show how important that Flood light failure game could prove - we would be 3 points clear now and with a win on saturday could of seen us pull away from 2 out of the 5 chasing .

Please don;t let that game come back to bite us on the a$$$$$e

 

[MK Shrimper]

Just goes to show how important that Flood light failure game could prove - we would be 3 points clear now and with a win on saturday could of seen us pull away from 2 out of the 5 chasing .

Please don;t let that game come back to bite us on the a$$$$$e

Not necessarily Duncan, we could have gone onto lose it, but I'd still take 1-0 up at half time.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Not necessarily Duncan, we could have gone onto lose it, but I'd still take 1-0 up at half time.

I'm not sure about that. Aldershot had their pants pulled down by half time. Second half we would have entered.

 

[MK Shrimper]

I'm not sure about that. Aldershot had their pants pulled down by half time. Second half we would have entered.

Trouble is we'll never know. They could have come out rejuvinated like Gillingham did on Monday or like when we threw a 2-0 lead away against Plymouth.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Trouble is we'll never know. They could have come out rejuvinated like Gillingham did on Monday or like when we threw a 2-0 lead away against Plymouth.

True. I personally would like to think we'd have put it to bed as we hadn't 'hit the wall' at this stage and were a team full of confidence.

But as you say, we'll never know. Hope we stuff them next week.

 

[Shrimper2thecore]

The Aldershot away game is huge!

 

[wally4pm]

Fag paper between all the teams at the top right now. Delighted that the Creepies have Shrews, Torquay and the mighty Shrimpers coming up soon as they will undoubtedly drop points. Lets hope that somehow they draw against Stoke and have another game to rearrange. Injuries and bookings will soon mount up for them.
I think I'm going to start a campaign to get Di Canio as the next England Manager to derail Swindon who seem irristable right now. I think that Cheltenham are now feeling the pressure and I'm sure that Lingy's luck cannot hold out for much longer.
Must get 3 points on Saturday to keep the pressure on the others.

 

[Jam_Man]

Trouble is we'll never know. They could have come out rejuvinated like Gillingham did on Monday or like when we threw a 2-0 lead away against Plymouth.

Dont forget they had ten men as well. I doubt they would have done a Shrewsbury on us.

Whats also a shame is that game could have kicked our confidence off again, but we will indeed never know.


Swindon and Torquay (where did they come from?) are the teams to beat.

Crawley even though they have games in hand look like they may have trouble getting back into the top 3 over the next 4 games.

 

[leeblue]

as jam man points out above, Torquay ??????? looked like complete toilet now on a massive run

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Both Crawley (FA cup) and Swindon (JPT final) are going to have 3 or 4 games more to play than all the other contenders, and are going to have bonkers busy March and April's.

We have 16 games to fit in over the next 12 Saturdays, those two will have 18 league games to fit into 11 Saturdays, that is 2 games a week from now until the end of the season every week apart from 3.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Good read but Swindon in "pretty good form" ?? i'd like to know how they could've improved on their run of 6/6 for that to be in amazing form, likewise Shrewsbury being in "reasonable" form with 17 points from 9 games which equates to something like 87 points over the season and automatic promotion guaranteed if not the title

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Good read but Swindon in "pretty good form" ?? i'd like to know how they could've improved on their run of 6/6 for that to be in amazing form, likewise Shrewsbury being in "reasonable" form with 17 points from 9 games which equates to something like 87 points over the season and automatic promotion guaranteed if not the title

I was basing it on the last points from the last 9 games, with Torquay picking up 25 and Swindon 22. Shrewsbury's return of 17 whilst promotion form as you point out, is only 3rd best of the bunch.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

I was basing it on the last points from the last 9 games, with Torquay picking up 25 and Swindon 22. Shrewsbury's return of 17 whilst promotion form as you point out, is only 3rd best of the bunch.

Well yes of course basing it on the form of those other two i see the point you were making now :blush:

 

[BILLERICAY BLUE]

Both Crawley (FA cup) and Swindon (JPT final) are going to have 3 or 4 games more to play than all the other contenders, and are going to have bonkers busy March and April's.

We have 16 games to fit in over the next 12 Saturdays, those two will have 18 league games to fit into 11 Saturdays, that is 2 games a week from now until the end of the season every week apart from 3.

Wouldn't be sorry to see Crawley draw thier FA cup game then, and win the replay...

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

This is how the bookies see it.

Swindon 1 1 10/11 1 10/11 1 1 1 1 1 1 18/19 1 20/21 1 1 1 9/11

Crawley 9/5 15/8 15/8 9/5 15/8 15/8 7/4 15/8 15/8 2 15/8 7/4 7/4 2 17/10 15/8 7/4 2

Shrewsbury 10 8 8 10 8 8 10 9 10 8 9 9 9 9 9 10 9 42/5

Southend 10 10 8 9 8 9 10 8 9 8 8 10 9 9 9 10 9 19/2

Torquay 12 12 12 11 12 11 10 11 12 10 11 12 9 11 12 11 12 13

Cheltenham 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 18 16 16 16 12 16 14 18 14 29/2 24

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Southend 101089891089881099910919/2

Blimey thats gotta be worth a sneaky fiver :smile:

 

[Davros]

at least we are 13 points clear of 8th place!

 

[PhilipH51]

I'm planning on coming to Burton as it's so close to me, though if we now go on a winning run I'll have to review that. I have a 48yr run of seeing very few away wins and once travelled the 300 miles to Barrow to see us lose 1-0!
I would also bring the fantastic 'good luck omen' Tom who (apart from the wonderful youth win at Derby) has seen (and in this order) 0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-3 and 1-4 for his 5 southend matches. (We missed the goal in the 1-4 by the way - it was after 2 mins and the parking was impossible!). So no wins and no goals for him. Anyone want to pay us to stay away!