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Not tempting fate , but the play off's


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If..............

 

We were to make the play off's and even though given MK spanked us 7-0, I'd rather face them than Swindon over 2 legs. Then batter Sheff Utd at Wembley.

 

Who would you want in the play off's and who in the final?

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Huge IF in this disucssion, but if we are going down the route of planning our potential Play-off opponents then my thoughts.

 

There is an argument that whichever of the top 3 teams fails to get an automatic promotion is a good team to face from a psychological point of view. After putting themselves heart and soul into getting a top two spot they will inevitably be feeling flat.....and come up against a team that has been in a massivley close fight for 6th spot and feel elated.

 

Of these I think that I would prefer to play MK Dons depsite the thumping. It would give us a massive point to prove and potentially have them feeling over confident. Bristol and Swindon have seen us play up to our potential level this season (4 points of Swindon and a good but narrow defeat to Bristol).

 

 

Of the other teams that could be in the mix then I'd say Chesterfield / Rochdale would be good to face - unlikely to have huge supporter backing and genuinely think we are better than them.

 

Bradford - would almost put them in the group above but their cup matches over the last few seasons means that they are accustomed to big occassion games and can raise their performance accordingly.

 

Preston / Sheffield United - decent teams with decent followings and on paper bigger and more expensive squads.

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Given that it's them two we'd be odds on to face you can start fearing now

 

Currently 5th, would see us face 4th place team.....Preston at the moment (and given 10 point gap could be there at the end).

 

Then the winner of Swindon/Bristol/MK vs 6th. Going to say that 6th gets through due to the difference of moral (missed out vs snatched last play-off spot).

 

 

So Preston over two legs followed by Sheffield United or even Dale (who people seem too keen to write off)

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Huge IF in this disucssion, but if we are going down the route of planning our potential Play-off opponents then my thoughts.

 

There is an argument that whichever of the top 3 teams fails to get an automatic promotion is a good team to face from a psychological point of view. After putting themselves heart and soul into getting a top two spot they will inevitably be feeling flat.....and come up against a team that has been in a massivley close fight for 6th spot and feel elated.

 

Of these I think that I would prefer to play MK Dons depsite the thumping. It would give us a massive point to prove and potentially have them feeling over confident. Bristol and Swindon have seen us play up to our potential level this season (4 points of Swindon and a good but narrow defeat to Bristol).

 

 

Of the other teams that could be in the mix then I'd say Chesterfield / Rochdale would be good to face - unlikely to have huge supporter backing and genuinely think we are better than them.

 

Bradford - would almost put them in the group above but their cup matches over the last few seasons means that they are accustomed to big occassion games and can raise their performance accordingly.

 

Preston / Sheffield United - decent teams with decent followings and on paper bigger and more expensive squads.

 

I wonder what's the record of the play off contenders as regards league position?

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Teams win their games in hand and we're a fair way out of the play-offs

If teams win their games in hand we would be one point outside the play-off. Hardly a "fair way".

 

Not sure I get the big love in with Swindon after last night. They looked a decent side in the 2nd half but I thought that over 90 minutes we shaded it. After the way that we blew them away early on they would dread facing us in the play-offs.

 

I may be proved wrong in a couple of weeks but I don't think Preston are anything special so I would be happy enough to play either Swindon or Preston.

 

That said, there is a long way to go and whilst we are in a good position, I think that Sheff Utd will put together a run and take 5th meaning that there will be about 10 sides battling it out for the final spot. We are as good as any of those sides but it will all boil down to who can show a bit of consistency

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Both Sheffield United and Preston have terrible records in the play offs and playing them over 2 legs the pressure would all be on them to beat us the crowds would be nervous. One of Bristol, MK or Swindon will be disappointed to be in the play off so if its us and all of them then we go in as the underdogs I'd quite like us to have that tag.

 

Just getting there would be a massive achievement. If we were to do a league table by player salary budget I would imagine we would be nowhere near 5th we would more likely be in the bottom 6, that's not to say that we shouldn't be aiming at the promotion from here on and we should be going into these big home games knowing we can beat the big teams coming here.

 

Knowone is going to like coming to Boundary Park in the run in.

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Im not even contemplating the ideas of play offs.

 

Im enjoying it whilst we're in there, and we thoroughly deserve to be but as for planning who to play - even walsall scunthorpe doncaster could end up there and not us. Let's just keep plugging away and picking up these 3 points eh

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Don't want to think about it. We're Oldham. Things are never easy being an Oldham fan! Whatever happens now is an achievement compared to recent years and Lee Johnson has done a fantastic job bringing in players on such a tight budget and keeping the squad together. However, there's a game to be won on Saturday and it's a big one. Hopefully we get above 6k there but It could flop and just bring in another 500.

Edited by AnthonyOAFC
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Don't want to think about it. We're Oldham. Things are never easy being an Oldham fan! Whatever happens now is an achievement compared to recent years and Lee Johnson has done a fantastic job bringing in players on such a tight budget and keeping the squad together. However, there's a game to be won on Saturday and it's a big one. Hopefully we get above 6k there but It could flop and just bring in another 500.

 

Im not even contemplating the ideas of play offs.

 

Im enjoying it whilst we're in there, and we thoroughly deserve to be but as for planning who to play - even walsall scunthorpe doncaster could end up there and not us. Let's just keep plugging away and picking up these 3 points eh

 

 

Don't want to think about it. We're Oldham. Things are never easy being an Oldham fan! Whatever happens now is an achievement compared to recent years and Lee Johnson has done a fantastic job bringing in players on such a tight budget and keeping the squad together. However, there's a game to be won on Saturday and it's a big one. Hopefully we get above 6k there but It could flop and just bring in another 500.

 

Part of me agrees. The part that is generally a bit of a pessimist when it comes to football, the part of me that cannot get too excited and happy at 1-0 going into stoppage time (as some fans can), the part of me that sees the games in hand and the fixtures we have to play.

 

But I am starting to realise that if you wait too long to celebrate and get happy about things in case they go wrong, it doesn't make the dissappointment when it arrives any easier. And it means that you can miss out on allowing yourself to dream and enjoy things when they are going well.

 

So I think that depbating the possible future opponents we will beat on our way to promotion is a pleasant distraction.

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Currently 5th, would see us face 4th place team.....Preston at the moment (and given 10 point gap could be there at the end).

 

Then the winner of Swindon/Bristol/MK vs 6th. Going to say that 6th gets through due to the difference of moral (missed out vs snatched last play-off spot).

 

 

So Preston over two legs followed by Sheffield United or even Dale (who people seem too keen to write off)

If we're to make the play offs it'll be in sixth, behind Sheffield. They've got two games in hand, one point behind and are historically good finishers to the season.

 

Preston will be either 4th or 5th and it'll be a shootout for second between MK and Swindon, with the loser facing 6th in the play offs

Edited by NewBlue
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If we're to make the play offs it'll be in sixth, behind Sheffield. They've got two games in hand, one point behind and are historically good finishers to the season.

 

Preston will be either 4th or 5th and it'll be a shootout for second between MK and Swindon, with the loser facing 6th in the play offs

 

If true.

 

Swindom, Sheffiled, Preston plus us. Tough but winnable?

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Part of me agrees. The part that is generally a bit of a pessimist when it comes to football, the part of me that cannot get too excited and happy at 1-0 going into stoppage time (as some fans can), the part of me that sees the games in hand and the fixtures we have to play.

 

But I am starting to realise that if you wait too long to celebrate and get happy about things in case they go wrong, it doesn't make the dissappointment when it arrives any easier. And it means that you can miss out on allowing yourself to dream and enjoy things when they are going well.

 

So I think that depbating the possible future opponents we will beat on our way to promotion is a pleasant distraction.

 

This. Just enjoy it. The fun may all be over by the end of the month (or we could have pulled in those above us). As long as LJ is keeping the players' feet on the ground then we can be getting as ahead of ourselves as we want.

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If true.

 

Swindom, Sheffiled, Preston plus us. Tough but winnable?

It will be difficult for any side in sixth, but Preston and Sheffield are very beatable from what I've seen.

 

It'so a shame (well, we'd be in the play offs so I wouldn't be moaning) that we likely won't get PNE or Sheffield, because surely we'd take a good 3000+, maybe even 4000, to Bramhall Lane or Deepdale for the away leg

Edited by NewBlue
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That said, there is a long way to go and whilst we are in a good position, I think that Sheff Utd will put together a run and take 5th meaning that there will be about 10 sides battling it out for the final spot. We are as good as any of those sides but it will all boil down to who can show a bit of consistency

I think half of those ten sides will be out of the running in three weeks time. Rochdale and Chesterfield in particular lost key players and haven't replaced them. As you would expect with so many sides, they are all playing each other too. An injury or a suspension could really hit their hopes.

 

We had four strikers on the bench last night (counting Phili), Morgan-Smith should hopefully be back in a couple of weeks. Hopefully Wilkinson is not too bad. I think we are lacking a bit of depth in midfield (for a change) but other than that I really do think we have quality players two and three deep for some positions. Especially if you consider Forte and Poleon as cover for the wing.

 

I'm quietly optimistic, but this is latics.

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