Be Grateful Championship

[Cjay]

For some reason opposition fans when we dont win then trot out the line "well there no Wolves, fulham, Cardiff etc".

This is true, we havent been given a Champions League captain and 20 30 40mil worth of talent on loan.

But we all have a moan and a grumble about things, tactics, player selections etc.

Having said all that teams are afraid of us, look no further then WBA, the leagues top scorers, at there ground they sat back and hit us on the break, it worked but its a tactic of fear.

And we sit on 39 points in 20 games, that would put us 3rd last season, 4 points behind Cardiff and 8 points behind Wolves.

But how would things have worked out if we hadnt lost Hernandez, Roofe and Bamford at practically the same time during September, 6 games in total for the former pair.

Or what about losing Cooper in the warm up vs Swansea and ending up with no recognised cb that day.

Or had we not lost Ayling and Berardi around the same time.

Or the other injuries, Jansson, Douglas, Forshaw at the start of the season etc.

Think its very conceivable had Wolves lost Jota and Bonatini for 6 games in September or Cardiff lost Hoilett and Mendez Laing during that time then they both would have dropped plenty more points by now.

Or Matt Doherty and Barry Douglas or Connor Coady and Willy Boly or Michael Morrison and Sol Bamba.

Thats the sort of players we have been losing consistently since September.

As pessimistic as we (me) can be its a pretty amazing achievement that we are where we are and one that i really doubt these past teams would have matched tbh.

Other fans can compare us to them negatively.

But if they looked at it logically they should be extremely grateful.

We are 2nd on 39 points despite losing key players all season.

How many points would we have had if we hadnt.

MOT

[SG90]

Good post CJay.

Who cares what others think? They're just bitter and jealous of us, always has been the case. They all told us Bielsa would be sacked in September and that we wouldn't be able to grind out wins and do the ugly stuff blah blah blah.

I'm glad we're not Cardiff thank you very much. Colin's hoofball, no thanks.

[1964white]

Cjay I reckon Ayling, Berardi, Jansson, Cooper, Douglas, Hernandez, Roofe, Bamford & Forshaw between them have missed around 70 to 75 games. I'd be very surprised if any club in the championship could achieve 2nd position after sustaining so many injuries. Bielsa has achieve nothing short of a miracle so far !

[SG90]

Cjay I reckon Ayling, Berardi, Jansson, Cooper, Douglas, Hernandez, Roofe, Bamford & Forshaw between them have missed around 70 to 75 games. I'd be very surprised if any club in the championship could achieve 2nd position after sustaining so many injuries. Bielsa has achieve nothing short of a miracle so far !

It's funny, I keep hearing opposition fans claim we won't cope when we get big injuries. Obviously they haven't been paying attention.

Let's see how Norwich, Derby, West Brom, Boro etc cope when they get as big an injury list as us.

[1964white]

I reckon we have dropped at least eight points due to our injury crisis

[Cjay]

Good post CJay.

Who cares what others think? They're just bitter and jealous of us, always has been the case. They all told us Bielsa would be sacked in September and that we wouldn't be able to grind out wins and do the ugly stuff blah blah blah.

I'm glad we're not Cardiff thank you very much. Colin's hoofball, no thanks.

Same with Boro, whenever ive seen them there is such a feeling of gratitude that we dont have to sit through that.

[Cjay]

I reckon we have dropped at least eight points due to our injury crisis

3 games stand out imo.

Millwall, Wednesday and Birmingham.

Absolutely convinced had we had Hernandez, Roofe and Bamford in those games we'd have won.

No way would they have missed the chances we did imo.

So thats 7 points I'm convinced we'd have had.

[1964white]

3 games stand out imo.

Millwall, Wednesday and Birmingham.

Absolutely convinced had we had Hernandez, Roofe and Bamford in those games we'd have won.

No way would they have missed the chances we did imo.

So thats 7 points I'm convinced we'd have had.

Maybe the Boro' game at ER

[Dalton]

Good posts all round chaps.
I think about the players who are punching well above their weight this season and also the ones who are doing a decent job or are improving

KP obviously and Roofe/Klich and Cooper (when fit)
I think BPF is doing ok considering and Clarke doing well when he comes on.

Recently Halme and Dallas have helped us through 3 wins and 3 clean sheets.

1 major omission though above is Saiz.....not exactly sure where he figures right now. At least he is keen when he comes on

As for Alioski....basically poor

[Cjay]

Had a look at clubs in the top 6 records vs teams currently in the top half plus QPR and Bristol City who are 1 win away from the top half so could conceivably be there this time next week.

Leeds 21
WBA 18
Derby 16 still to play Bristol City.
Boro 15 still to play QPR
Norwich 15 still to play Bristol city
Sheff utd 13 still to play QPR

There are games to be played still, us vs Villa, a few others.

But as it stands we are the only side to have taken 20 points or more off of our top half rivals, we are joint top with Derby not including QPR and Bristol City.

[BGwhite]

As already mentioned, Leeds would have been out of sight had they not suffered such a continual run of long term injuries and they deserve great credit for their progress made and maintaining the top 2 position. I look forward to the day when MB has a full complement of players to choose from but God help the opposition !

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

[dezzy]

Some great points Cjay, it’s a rollercoaster season, we have a coach with a philosophy and ideas that revolve around good football, strong work ethic and a strong team spirit.
He has faith in the squad and they seem to have faith in each other, total change in attitude to last year, a player can come in, knows what is expected of him and gets the backing, the benefits of a small close knit group, where everyone is involved and up to speed, people are right to want a few players in January, but could that take away from the spirit that’s been built?

[Chilli D]

When you think about it, the number of injuries we have had this season may have actually helped MB keep everyone happy.
Bamford and Brown are just about back which strengthens the squad and they will obviously be happy just be getting a place on the bench for now but when you add Beradi, Ayling, Cooper, Dallas, Roberts and Pearce to it, that's a lot of players to keep happy. If we keep winning some of the more experienced, established players may have to bide their time.
For me, we need another experienced CB because at the moment my heart is in my mouth every time Jansson goes in for a tackle. We simply must keep him fit.
And an experienced keeper which hopefully the powers that be are already making enquiries about.
It looks as though MB is going to let the players that have got us this far, try and take us the rest of the way so let's hope we have better luck with injuries for here on in.

Chilli