Rival Watch

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Now 2-0.....anyone can beat anyone in this league

[windermereROYAL]

Can`t be any coincidence we`ve both come up with below par performances after the high tempo game during the week.

[South Coast Royal]

Can`t be any coincidence we`ve both come up with below par performances after the high tempo game during the week.

And yet Barnsley had a very hard FA Cup game against Chelsea on Thursday
Maybe it is just soft southerners who need their beauty sleep and rest.

[windermereROYAL]

Can`t be any coincidence we`ve both come up with below par performances after the high tempo game during the week.

And yet Barnsley had a very hard FA Cup game against Chelsea on Thursday
Maybe it is just soft southerners who need their beauty sleep and rest.

Yea forgot about that.

[tidus_mi2]

Can`t be any coincidence we`ve both come up with below par performances after the high tempo game during the week.

And yet Barnsley had a very hard FA Cup game against Chelsea on Thursday
Maybe it is just soft southerners who need their beauty sleep and rest.

They did but those were their only 2 games this month while that was Brentford's 4th.

[Stranded]

If boro and Cardiff average 2 points a game they will finish on 74 points, (bear in mind only the present top two are averaging that this season so it`s a very big ask) we need 27 points from 17 at 1.59 points a game.
9 wins, 8 wins and 3 draws or whatever combination, it`s not looking all doom and gloom just yet unless we turn into relegation candidates all of a sudden.

Since the opening 8 games, we've picked up 26pts from 22 games. If we keep up that rate, we get to 70.

Over past 12, we've taken 18. Keep that up, we get to 74.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

70 could well be enough - from 7th down to 15th there are 3 points difference, and all these teams have mid table records so in my view Cardiff are no ore than a threat than say Preston, they've just picked up some points from winnable games.

Outside the top 6 the league is very mediocre

[Orion1871]

Can`t be any coincidence we`ve both come up with below par performances after the high tempo game during the week.

And yet Barnsley had a very hard FA Cup game against Chelsea on Thursday
Maybe it is just soft southerners who need their beauty sleep and rest.

A game we could have been their opposition in and possibly advanced into the quarter final for a very winnable chance to get in the semis again. But no, once again we disrespected the worlds oldest oldest and most prestigious cup competition and didn't take it seriously.

[JR]

70 could well be enough - from 7th down to 15th there are 3 points difference, and all these teams have mid table records so in my view Cardiff are no ore than a threat than say Preston, they've just picked up some points from winnable games.

Outside the top 6 the league is very mediocre

That could increase the risk though - a bigger pool of clubs that a winning run could come from.

[Stranded]

70 could well be enough - from 7th down to 15th there are 3 points difference, and all these teams have mid table records so in my view Cardiff are no ore than a threat than say Preston, they've just picked up some points from winnable games.

Outside the top 6 the league is very mediocre

That could increase the risk though - a bigger pool of clubs that a winning run could come from.

It could but it will be tough for any side to go from form of under 1.3PPG to go at over 1.8 just to get to 70.

If we as a fan base are writing off autos based on a 9pt gap, then surely we are also good for the play-offs based on an 8pt one?

[Pepe the Horseman]

Wins for Stoke, Boro and Cardiff tonight, making our win all the more important. McNair sent off for Boro, so will miss the game on Sat.

[Hound]

Yep was hoping to see a few of those sides drop points tonight

[Pepe the Horseman]

Maybe not our rivals yet, but PSG beating Barca 4-1

[Stranded]

Big pressure on Bournemouth tomorrow night now. Lose and they are only a win clear of the pack.

Bournemouth v Cardiff is a week tomorrow.

Cardiff follow the Bournemouth game with a game at Boro which would be a great 0-0 from our perspective.

[URZZZZ]

Barnsley Blackburn tonight too - whilst not being a huge game, bears some relevance to us as both can close the gap to 6 points by winning both games in hand. Therefore, a draw would be preferable here, followed by a Barnsley win because of goal difference

Noticed Swansea have three games in hand (one being tonight), as far as I’m aware, we play three games a week every single week now until the International Break in March (barring one week) so looks like Swansea will be playing catch up pretty late on

[windermereROYAL]

Really, Barnsley could be a serious consideration for a late run for the POs they have lots of very winnable games between now and the end of the season.

Home to: Blackburn, Stoke, Millwall, Birmingham, Derby , Wednesday, Us, Boro, Rotherham, and Norwich.

Away to. Bristol city, QPR, Bournemouth, Wycombe, Luton Coventry, Huddersfield, and PNE.

Just three games against the current top six out of their 18 remaining fixtures, we need to keep on eye on them for sure.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Blackburn/Barnsley draw would be perfect tonight

[From Despair To Where?]

Can`t be any coincidence we`ve both come up with below par performances after the high tempo game during the week.

And yet Barnsley had a very hard FA Cup game against Chelsea on Thursday
Maybe it is just soft southerners who need their beauty sleep and rest.

A game we could have been their opposition in and possibly advanced into the quarter final for a very winnable chance to get in the semis again. But no, once again we disrespected the worlds oldest oldest and most prestigious cup competition and didn't take it seriously.

In an already congested season, with a squad that has spent large portions of it bedevilled by injury, all for the prestige of a semi final in front of 90,000 empty seats, I don't blame the club for doing that in the slightest.

[Sutekh]

Blackburn/Barnsley draw would be perfect tonight

Odd side Barnsley. Very good squad and difficult to play against if you don’t approach the game with the right mentality but very up and down with results and do not draw many games (current form from the last 21 league games is 11 wins, 2 draws and 8 defeats). 5 of the last 6 league games though suggested they were falling away as they only managed 2 points from the 5 games, then they travelled down to Brentford....

[Stranded]

Barnsley Blackburn tonight too - whilst not being a huge game, bears some relevance to us as both can close the gap to 6 points by winning both games in hand. Therefore, a draw would be preferable here, followed by a Barnsley win because of goal difference

Noticed Swansea have three games in hand (one being tonight), as far as I’m aware, we play three games a week every single week now until the International Break in March (barring one week) so looks like Swansea will be playing catch up pretty late on

Swansea are playing Saturday/midweek/Saturday from 23rd Jan to 20th March - two months without a blank midweek - essentially all the way up to the international break. Their game in hand (after tonight) is against Blackburn in that time.

They still have to find a gap for the Wednesday game - that will likely be 13/14 April.

In comparison we play Sat/mid/Sat from 6th Feb to 6th March - so a month (well 4 weeks exactly) before we have a 7 day rest.

If Swansea get through 2 months like that without slipping off the pace then fair play.