The Next Six Games

[Royal With Cheese]

How you can ignore a player who has played in the champions league final,
got 18 goals last season, has already scored 2 for us in 6 games, from full-back,
one a superb free-kick, played in a defence that has 50% clean sheets...

You couldn't ignore such a player if he actually existed.

Unless Leeds really did reach a champions league final.

[Royal With Cheese]

Ooooh, TOTP. Being picky there I know.

[Horsham Royal]

1-0 Swansea
0-1 Bristol City
2-1 Burnley
1-0 Doncaster
1-0 QPR
1-0 Cardiff

So WWLWLW = 12 pts

[Snowball]

As if any stats can any more "plainly stupid" than any others. They are, as you frequently say, just statements of absolute facts.

I'll leave it for others to infer that the only reason you won't run the Williams stat is because you don't like what they say.

Why the F--- should I trot out stats for you?

When did I start working for you again? Remind me.

You're being moronic.

Williams isn't playing, so that's it, the only reason we are doing well.

Nothing to do with a serious pro like Harte coming on board, his free-kicks, penalties, great passes out of defence
Nothing to do with Kish playing and bringing his experience and class to the team
Nothing to do with Karacan improving
Nothing to do with Pearce having two very good games
Nothing to do with the (partial) improvement in Cummings
Nothing to do with the return of Armstrong
Nothing to do with super-sub HRK having two excellent appearances
Nothing to do with the team's never-give-up attitude...


Nope, it's just down to Williams not p[laying.

Yeah, right
Nothing to do with players "stepping up to the plate" now that they aren't in Gyfli's shadow

[Platypuss]

It's almost as if you are trying to draw inferences from Williams' absence or otherwise in the absence of any evidence.

You are naturally free to draw up whatever stats you wish. Just as we in turn are free to draw our own conclusions over your selectivity...

[RoyalX]

I have a feeling I am going to regret this, but here goes.

Snowball, you have, in my mind at least, fallen into the trap of thinking that correlation implies causation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to believe that your analysis provides sufficient evidence to show that the loss of Gylfi Sigurdsson has actually been of benefit to RFC.

In fact, there is no way you can say with any certainty that we wouldn't have in fact done better if Gylfi had stayed. He was involved in three out of the five goals we scored in the first four matches. You may say that we have a better goals per game ratio now he's gone; my question to you would be would it not be better if he was still here?

Football is game of many, many variables and I think you've got too small a data set to give sufficient evidence to support your conclusion. By all means, you are free to be of the opinion that the loss of Gylfi was to our benefit - but please don't claim that this "data" widely supports your opinion.

Oh, and Platypuss, FWIW:

With Williams: Played 3, Won 0, Drawn 2, Lost 1. Average points per game: 0.67
Without Williams: Played 7, Won 4, Drawn 2, Lost 1. Average points per game: 2.00

I only included the games played in the league, as I believe cup games are unreliable data sources. If we carried on playing without Williams, we'd finish the season with 88 points yadda yadda yadda...

[Snowball]

I am aware, and said so, that the number of matches is low.

It is not a case of saying that BECAUSE Gylfi left we are doing better.

It IS, however the case that DESPITE Gylfi leaving, we are doing better.

The thread was started, NOT because I believed we would do better or would not,
but because of the "hue and cry", the wringing of hands, the wailing
and the gnashing of teeth, that BECAUSE Gylfi had gone, we would do very badly.


That, I believed would NOT be so. So far, I have been proven completely right.

if we were to lose the next five games 1-0 we would then be on a points-per-game
par with the opening four games of the season


It was my opinion before, and remains so, that we had an imbalanced side and
that, to some extent, playing Gylfi, distorting the team to find a place for him
was not good for the team. His individual brilliance more than compensated for
this but his leaving allowed us to balance the side with Harte and Zurab.

And in case people forget, we still have enough money in the pot to improve the side further.