1 defeat in 15 league games

In the words of Del Boy, outside Sothebys: "Well we've had worse days, I suppose bruv"

 

It's always been about points this season - and with our recent history at this level you can see why. Val says himself that the secret is clarity of purpose and instruction. That shows on the pitch. Our consistency of approach is impressive. I, like some others, would prefer less of the aimless hoof into space but there's no way I'm going to reject the outcomes of the style this season. I watch games now knowing I'm not going to see a spectacle of slick one touch pass and move, but the awesomeness comes from admiring the relentless implementation of Val's style and the appreciation of just how well this style suits this squad's skill levels. The addition of Morris and Dike to the fontline was a recruitment masterstroke. 5th in the league within a point of 3rd, shouts "never mind the quality, count the points"!

 

Think they don't mind losing it because they know it'll come back pretty quickly. Further up the leagues you go and this will get punished - at the moment it suits us.

 

Do you not think that further up the leagues you go the poorer teams attempting tiki-taka gets punished more?
Surely Burnley have only cemented their Premier League status by playing to the strengths of their players. Norwich went down last season playing great football. Not saying one approach is better than the other, but compare our two games against Chelsea this season.
One we were ripped apart and one we were still in the game all the way through.

 

So to put it onto perspective from a calendar point of view we have lost once in the league since after January the 19th.

 

Giving the ball to the opposition and then hoping to get it back ...no I don't. We tried playing to our strengths when we came up last year and had to adapt. Think we would have to do that if we went up again

 

I think what is quite remarkable about this season is the fact we got off to a shocker , something like 4 points after 7 games, with the thoughts of reaching the magical 50 points seeming light years away & now we have reached a point that if we do not reach the play offs then some of the more critical amongst the throng will be very disappointed , its amazing how expectancy levels change amongst the fan base & hopefully the expectancy levels as a club change as well as we hopefully continue to progress , we will see .

 

Would people be critical though? I mean there may be frustration and expressions of venting from some if we failed at the number of stages left before what would be the most incredibly and unlikely promotion from how we started the season, but I don't recall anyone being critical of the team, management or ownership if we just missed out on the playoffs or lost in them. I'd have taken 21st this year, even moreso after the start.

In my mind its an absolute free hit. Though i do think it's true if we do miss out on promotion, we'll likely face more pressures to break up this squad than we did last close season. And progress is never linear.

 

I completely agree with you & we are singing from the same hymn sheet but I tend to think that there is an element amongst most fan bases that cannot handle disappointment & we have more than our share , for example I was looking on facebook yesterday before the game & after & there were a lot grumbling about team selection which I understand as we all have our own thoughts & opinions but some of these comments were quite over the top ,but I read after the game where some were having a pop at Mowatt as captain for not taking the penalty yet I can guarantee that the same fans would have moaned if he had & thus denying Dike the opportunity to get his hatrick , my point is that the more you get near to achieving things the more the pressure builds & this seems to reflect fans reactions & if we fail to get to the play offs whilst most of us would be disappointed there would be a section of fans who would find it hard to handle .