[Albion] Undefeated or a few more points?

[London Irish]

Very happy with the undefeated record - it creates real confidence and team spirit to have that - that will be worth so much as the season progresses.

Hughton has acheived a miracle to be honest, we have a good first team who have overachieved but there is not depth of quality in the squad to maintain our current position, unless we get very lucky with injuries or unless Bloom decides for his ultimate punt in January and spends some real money on quality.

 

[chaileyjem]

We'll probably go on an equally good run once we lose one. The post-match cliche will switch from "we just take one game at a time" to "it's how we respond to this", bouncebackability blah blah, ultimately reinforcing the steel.

I would look up how the defeats were spaced when Mr Lock Stock Extra did it with Newcastle, but I cannae be arsed.

In 2009/10 Newcastle Won a whopping 30 games and only Drew 12 and lost 4. Finished with 102 points.
After 17 games they had...36 points. (W11, D3, L3)

 

[Beach Hut]

Very happy with the undefeated record - it creates real confidence and team spirit to have that - that will be worth so much as the season progresses.

Hughton has acheived a miracle to be honest, we have a good first team who have overachieved but there is not depth of quality in the squad to maintain our current position, unless we get very lucky with injuries or unless Bloom decides for his ultimate punt in January and spends some real money on quality.

Bear in mind injuries and no loanees it is very clear to me unless we lose all games from now to 31st December he will twist big time in the January transfer window

 

[chaileyjem]

Coincidentally i (think) the last time any Hughton club had a 17 game (in one season) unbeaten run was the promoted Newcastle in 2009/10.
That was the last 17 games of the season mind.
http://www.statto.com/football/teams/newcastle-united/2009-2010

 

[Stat Brother]

Coincidentally i (think) the last time any Hughton club had a 17 game (in one season) unbeaten run was the promoted Newcastle in 2009/10.
That was the last 17 games of the season mind.
http://www.statto.com/football/teams/newcastle-united/2009-2010

Booorrriiinnnnggggggg

Oh god don't tell me not only do we have to sit the tedium of the first 17 games undefeated.
He's gonna stitch us up with the last 17 games as well.

When will this torture end.

 

[Machiavelli]

Another point is to realise that no other team has more points than us, at the moment.

There are a lot of points being made, both on the pitch and by posters on NSC (this one included).

 

[severnside gull]

The pressure on the team to get six points from the next two home games is immense. I'd be surprised if we got more than 4.
The longer the unbeaten run goes on the greater that pressure becomes. I'd happily lose one of QPR or Derby and win (or draw) the other to create a less pressured mindset .

 

[Bwian]

I voted for more points but the third option of more wins AND undefeated sounds even better. Why not? Let's be greedy...

 

[Megazone]

I'm not sure whether I like the 3 points for a win or hate it.

2 wins and 3 losses is better than 5 draws and no loses, which does seem unfair.

 

[chaileyjem]

If we won on Saturday and then for the rest of the season we did no worse than our form last season in the last 28 games, then we'd still have enough points near enough to make the play-offs 2 seasons out of the last 5.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

With the teams we are playing over the next month or so, I would prefer the undefeated run to a few more points.

Our next 6 games are:
Home -Brum
Home - Charlton
Away - Derby
Away QPR
Home - Middlesbrough
Away-Brentford

DWDDDD = 8 pts
LWLWLW = 9 pts

In theory the latter is a better outcome - However I suspect we would be in a better position with the former set of results.

 

[Peter Grummit]

The pressure on the team to get six points from the next two home games is immense. I'd be surprised if we got more than 4.
The longer the unbeaten run goes on the greater that pressure becomes. I'd happily lose one of QPR or Derby and win (or draw) the other to create a less pressured mindset .

Teams can respond to pressure in two ways. Either be inspired to fight to succeed, or choke on it. Which do we appear to be doing?

Got so much time for you SG, the travelling and commitment you have as a fan. But be careful what you wish for!

PG

 

[Easy 10]

The longer the unbeaten run goes on the greater that pressure becomes.

I don't really buy that. An unbeaten run doesn't heap pressure on the players, it inspires confidence. When they take to the field on Saturday, they should look at Birmingham and have the mindset of: "the last 18 teams have tried and failed to turn us over...so what makes you think you'll do any better ?"

We're going to lose eventually, maybe even Saturday. But it won't have anything to do with the unbeaten run applying any extra pressure IMO. The players will just get on with it and do what they've been doing all season regardless, and if its good enough, we'll win again. Or at least not lose.

 

[Eggman]

The pressure on the team to get six points from the next two home games is immense. I'd be surprised if we got more than 4.
The longer the unbeaten run goes on the greater that pressure becomes. I'd happily lose one of QPR or Derby and win (or draw) the other to create a less pressured mindset .

Maybe we'll get 5?

 

[sir albion]

I'm inclined to go for the undefeated, as every time we play the likes of Hull, Burnley and Wednesday, especially at their place, it is denying them a minimum of two points too.

Weird analogy as we've been seriously pegged back and there's nothing between the top 5
Great season so far and you can't complain,but wins are the key factor if you want success.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I think many underestimate how important the undefeated record is. It must make the players feel pretty indestructible. I therefore votes for the record as thoroughly believe this record / tag has already won us a few extra points we wouldn't have won if we didn't have it, crazy as it may sound... Mentally it must be a huge lift and we'd have lost one or 2 games that we've drawn without it IMO...

I appreciate not everyone will agree with my slightly crazy thoughts btw

I go slightly the other way, I worry (insofar as anyone can 'worry' about this season) that the undefeated record is taking on a life of its own and might be inhibiting our play a bit, scared of losing and breaking the run may be coming into our play thus leading to more draws?? - perhaps a fear that we'll lose the reason for our confidence - now thats a riddle for the psychologists

 

[downham seagull]

The other point to bear in mind is that, while we might get more points from not drawing games, we're also depriving opponents of more points when we draw against them. So, it might prove better to win one and draw two against our direct rivals -- such as Derby, Boro and Birmingham -- than to win two and lose one.

Brilliant post! Spot on

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I want to get to half a season undefeated.

With that in mind,

Birmingham WIN
Charlton WIN
Derby DRAW
QPR WIN
Middlesbrough DRAW
Brentford WIN

will do nicely.

 

[Machiavelli]

I don't really buy that. An unbeaten run doesn't heap pressure on the players, it inspires confidence. When they take to the field on Saturday, they should look at Birmingham and have the mindset of: "the last 18 teams have tried and failed to turn us over...so what makes you think you'll do any better ?"

We're going to lose eventually, maybe even Saturday. But it won't have anything to do with the unbeaten run applying any extra pressure IMO. The players will just get on with it and do what they've been doing all season regardless, and if its good enough, we'll win again. Or at least not lose.

Spot on.

 

[Sheebo]

I go slightly the other way, I worry (insofar as anyone can 'worry' about this season) that the undefeated record is taking on a life of its own and might be inhibiting our play a bit, scared of losing and breaking the run may be coming into our play thus leading to more draws?? - perhaps a fear that we'll lose the reason for our confidence - now thats a riddle for the psychologists

That exact point was made either by the Sky comms or someone in the pub on Sunday (i forget!) and of course is a good point. There's no right or wrong answer to this as we will never know what difference a defeat would have made at say Wolves or Bolton. All opinions