We are (hopefully) staying up: the opposition

[BWFC_Insane]

Its still there for us. Sadly I can't see where the next goal comes from, let alone the next point.

Any side that scores 8 in 14 is more than likely to go down.

[Bijou Bob]

If, IF we survive, it will now only be because 3 other teams perform worse than us over the next 3 weeks. I do think one win would be enough, but all I can see is a maximum of 2 points out of the last games we have. It will go down to the last match mathematically, it's bound to, but the worrying thing is that our goal difference is awful. We need Brum to get at least one good spanking.

The thing is, that if at the start of the season, we thought we wouldn't be in the bottom 3 and we were in still in the race to survive, I reckon most of us (Realists) would have taken that. At Christmas, I reckon everyone would have taken that.

[BWFC_Insane]

If, IF we survive, it will now only be because 3 other teams perform worse than us over the next 3 weeks. I do think one win would be enough, but all I can see is a maximum of 2 points out of the last games we have. It will go down to the last match mathematically, it's bound to, but the worrying thing is that our goal difference is awful. We need Brum to get at least one good spanking.

The thing is, that if at the start of the season, we thought we wouldn't be in the bottom 3 and we were in still in the race to survive, I reckon most of us (Realists) would have taken that. At Christmas, I reckon everyone would have taken that.

The form over Christmas was good. I think at that point survival was a real prospect.

After game 11...sure.

Worry is if we stay up, its same again.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Worry is if we stay up, its same again.

If we go down, it's worse.

[BWFC_Insane]

Worry is if we stay up, its same again.

If we go down, it's worse.

Except we'll be even with our limited finances more competitive in that league.

I DO NOT want to go down. It would be a disaster. But the worry is until Ken finds investment we're living on borrowed time. And another season like this one won't be fun at all.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Worry is if we stay up, its same again.

If we go down, it's worse.

In my 'Panic Fairy' avatar, if we go down weez Dommmmmmmmed!
Ken won't be bankrolling us. Our players that can play will move for peanuts, just keeping the wage bill from going ultra-red. Attendances will decrease. Less money will come in. We'll keep, a by now demoralised and struggling, Parkinson as manager. And Hello Division 2, then 'Conference', and Lancashire North Premier League. Bankruptcy and Dissolution will occur.

Unless, some third world despot/drug baron snaps us up at a bargain price and has gazillions of ill-gotten gains to wash...

In my 'Overtly Optimistic' persona, Elon Musk will buy us. Between matches the stadium renamed BoltonX, will host twin descents of reusable rocket stages, and Pepe will resign (with Jose volunteering as his assistant) in order to be our manager...

[BWFC_Insane]

Worry is if we stay up, its same again.

If we go down, it's worse.

In my 'Panic Fairy' avatar, if we go down weez Dommmmmmmmed!
Ken won't be bankrolling us. Our players that can play will move for peanuts, just keeping the wage bill from going ultra-red. Attendances will decrease. Less money will come in. We'll keep, a by now demoralised and struggling, Parkinson as manager. And Hello Division 2, then 'Conference', and Lancashire North Premier League. Bankruptcy and Dissolution will occur.

Unless, some third world despot/drug baron snaps us up at a bargain price and has gazillions of ill-gotten gains to wash...

In my 'Overtly Optimistic' persona, Elon Musk will buy us. Between matches the stadium renamed BoltonX, will host twin descents of reusable rocket stages, and Pepe will resign (with Jose volunteering as his assistant) in order to be our manager...

If we stay up and have no buyer/investment....that won't be grim, it will be beyond grim.

Frankly it feels like we're at the point where little else matters but finding someone to finance the club at least to some extent.

[Bruce Rioja]

Well, I've started to make contingency plans. One of my colleagues lives around the corner from Accy's ground. She says I can park on her drive when we play them there.

[Prufrock]

I dunno, I back Parky, he got us competitive in this league without ever paying a transfer fee or signing a player outside embargo. You'd think the wage bill will go down again this summer (bye bye Darren and hopefully Ben!). Being able to get in and fight for the freebies without added restrictions has to help. We saw what he was able to do with a shithouse like Nadine (0 goals for Cardiff btw). There will still be most teams will can't compete with financially, but there's a big gulf between a Scott Hogan and Aaron Wilbraham. Plenty in between we can get.

It'll be tough, but I think he's capable of doing it.

[Whookam]

If we stay up and have no buyer/investment....that won't be grim, it will be beyond grim.

It will be the survival of the club. Another season on Championship money to cut our cloth accordingly and get rid of the dead weight, maybe we can sell a player or two at Championship value.

Go down and it is so much worse.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Ken's much much more likely to get a buyer/investor in the second division. One season from the Promised Land...

Also no guarantee at all that we'd get back up again, just because we did last time (with a comparatively enormous wage bill).

Like Pru says, get some decent freebies, maybe one or two low-key purchases. The dead weight is almost all Parky's now, but it's on shortish contracts.

[Harry Genshaw]

At the start of last season I was prepared for a possible 10 years outside of the top two divisions, such was our financial state and the manner in which we'd been relegated.

Parky and Ken worked miracles to get us up. Relegation this season and I think they'd both be gone come august, & that ten year sabbatical suddenly become's a real prospect again.

Stay up and we're in for another year of attrition but with a bit of experience under our belts and with several new players

[nelson66]

the wheels are falling off the bus again............
I thought we'd turned the corner but.......
are there really three other teams crapper than us in this division??????

[GhostoftheBok]

are there really three other teams crapper than us in this division??????

Maybe. Sunderland and Burton are toast. Birmingham have turned it around with their new boss. That leaves Barnsley and the outsiders, Reading. We've run out of all the breathing space our decent period got us. We now look about as bad as we did at the start of the season, when we were comfortably the worst side around. Despite having two utterly diabolical periods and only being average the rest of the time, we are still above the drop with 4 games to go (unless Barnsley win their game in hand). Weirdly, we're probably better off than we should expect to be.

All we have to do to stay up is beat two really, really crap sides in Barnsley and Burton. If that'd been on offer at the start of the season we'd have taken it, I'd imagine. We either show up, or we don't.

[GhostoftheBok]

We saw what he was able to do with a shithouse like Nadine (0 goals for Cardiff btw).

If we stay up you can look forward to him coming back on loan, I suppose.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Couldn’t sleep last night, so I did some futurology. It is, by its very definition, a blend of prediction and guesswork, but here’s my thoughts.

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Sat 14 Apr

All eyes on the Roses clash straddling the dots, but there’s another six-pointer taking place either side of us. Time’s running out for Sunderland but they’ve been surprisingly impressive of late, hammering the Derby who outclassed us, and only being pegged back late by Norwich. They travel to a piss-poor Reading side who’s managed four shots on target in four games. Sunderland take an early lead and but lose it in face-punchingly late fashion. Paul Clement looks simultaneously smug and angry.

Then there’s two local derbies pitting strugglers against much better teams. Birmingham lose at Wolves, Burton lose at home to Derby.

That means that yet again none of the bottom six win against teams outside the bottom six, as has happened on nine of the last 12 ‘matchdays’. There’s a reason we’re all down the bottom.

As for us: draw. The longer it goes on, the more Barnsley will figure they can lean on their game in hand. It might even peter out somewhat. The draw, and a slightly better goal difference as Birmingham lose by 2+, means we jump a place.

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Sat 21
Misery tourists, back on the bus to the Stadium of Light, where the bottom two clash knowing the loser may well be officially mathematically finished. It’s the sort of game that suits Burton, who sit on their goalkeeper’s toes and grind out a draw which sees them relegated anyway.

We lose to Wolves, obviously, possibly heavily. Our only glint of light is that Paul Heckingbottom knows Barnsley’s weaknesses and leads his Leeds to a home win over his old team. Down the M1 at a Sheffield Wednesday team who’ve found a bit of form, Reading lose - narrowly, but welcomely. Birmingham host Sheffield United, who might well need the points to stay in the play-off hunt (they host Millwall on Sat 14th); Blues battle to a draw which sneaks them back above us. Ulp.

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[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Tue 24
Only one game: Barnsley’s spare, at Forest, who (as I type) haven’t scored in six games. Barnsley win. You know what that means.

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Sat 28
With hope in their hearts, doubt in their minds and their arses going ten-bob/threpenny-bit, nearly two thousand Bolton fans head for Burton (there’s only 1600 tickets but some lads will doubtless reckon they’ll chance it). Being relaxed by relegation will mystifyingly fail to turn Burton into Brazil and we’ll have a fingernail-hammering away win.

By that time there’ll only be one drop-slot left as Sunderland will have lost on Friday at Fulham (still battling Cardiff for autopromotion). But what of the sides above us?

Joyous at jumping two places with the midweek win at Forest, Barnsley find the going tougher against a Brentford side who’ve recently been on a good run: as I write, three successive hard-fought wins have hoisted them to within four points of the play-offs. Here’s a fact: Brentford have won to nil at every other team in the bottom seven. We’ll give Barnsley a point here but that may be generous.

Back on the wobble after the Wolves loss and Blades draw, Birmingham have to go to Loftus Road, where QPR have been rather good lately, whacking four past Norwich and then another four past Wednesday. Birmingham go for the win but get a point – although again, that may be more than they manage against a good team; the Blues’ three away wins thus far have come at Hillsborough, Bolton and Reading.

Speaking of Reading, Reading continue to stutter, drawing at home with Ipswich. All of which leaves Blues back below the line on goal difference.

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Sun 6 May
Bank holiday weekend, and the Sky is a-flutter. Not only do just two points separate four teams attempting to beat the drop, but two of those drop—dodgers are facing the teams in second and third, who may very well still have automatic promotion to play for (and if not, will be doing the trophy-presentation / steely-determination thing). And another

Despite Paul Clement’s best endeavours to win by looking angry, Reading lose at Cardiff; presumably Neil Warnock is very careful to shake his hand. That could mean Reading enjoy one of those relegations where you haven’t been in the drop zone until the last day, but they’re immensely glad to see that Birmingham can only draw at home to Fulham – cue, possibly, exultation all round at Cardiff while St Andrew’s is a morgue. But wait, what’s this? While Barnsley may only need a draw at Derby to stay up, Mr Adventurous Jose Morais sees his team caught on the counter by a home team gearing up for the play-offs.

While all our rivals have to play someone with skin in the game, we win against a flip-flopped Forest – this year’s Peterborough. On to the pitch, Sweet Caroline, and a massive exhalation through puffed-out cheeks. Let’s get to 46 points quicker next season, eh?

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[Lost Leopard Spot]

If we fail to beat Barnsley it matters little who wins between Reading and Sunderland. If we beat Barnsley I'd pray for Sunderland beating Reading every single time.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Tue 24
Only one game: Barnsley’s spare, at Forest, who (as I type) haven’t scored in six games. Barnsley win. You know what that means.


0428.png


Sat 28
With hope in their hearts, doubt in their minds and their arses going ten-bob/threpenny-bit, nearly two thousand Bolton fans head for Burton (there’s only 1600 tickets but some lads will doubtless reckon they’ll chance it). Being relaxed by relegation will mystifyingly fail to turn Burton into Brazil and we’ll have a fingernail-hammering away win.

By that time there’ll only be one drop-slot left as Sunderland will have lost on Friday at Fulham (still battling Cardiff for autopromotion). But what of the sides above us?

Joyous at jumping two places with the midweek win at Forest, Barnsley find the going tougher against a Brentford side who’ve recently been on a good run: as I write, three successive hard-fought wins have hoisted them to within four points of the play-offs. Here’s a fact: Brentford have won to nil at every other team in the bottom seven. We’ll give Barnsley a point here but that may be generous.

Back on the wobble after the Wolves loss and Blades draw, Birmingham have to go to Loftus Road, where QPR have been rather good lately, whacking four past Norwich and then another four past Wednesday. Birmingham go for the win but get a point – although again, that may be more than they manage against a good team; the Blues’ three away wins thus far have come at Hillsborough, Bolton and Reading.

Speaking of Reading, Reading continue to stutter, drawing at home with Ipswich. All of which leaves Blues back below the line on goal difference.


0506.png


Sun 6 May
Bank holiday weekend, and the Sky is a-flutter. Not only do just two points separate four teams attempting to beat the drop, but two of those drop—dodgers are facing the teams in second and third, who may very well still have automatic promotion to play for (and if not, will be doing the trophy-presentation / steely-determination thing). And another

Despite Paul Clement’s best endeavours to win by looking angry, Reading lose at Cardiff; presumably Neil Warnock is very careful to shake his hand. That could mean Reading enjoy one of those relegations where you haven’t been in the drop zone until the last day, but they’re immensely glad to see that Birmingham can only draw at home to Fulham – cue, possibly, exultation all round at Cardiff while St Andrew’s is a morgue. But wait, what’s this? While Barnsley may only need a draw at Derby to stay up, Mr Adventurous Jose Morais sees his team caught on the counter by a home team gearing up for the play-offs.

While all our rivals have to play someone with skin in the game, we win against a flip-flopped Forest – this year’s Peterborough. On to the pitch, Sweet Caroline, and a massive exhalation through puffed-out cheeks. Let’s get to 46 points quicker next season, eh?

Final.png

You're gonna give yourself a coronary. There's a reason why Socrates rather than Nostradamus is the base philosopher behind the rise of Science.

I think you're beginning to conflate debate and prediction.

Reason for Edit: crap English.

[Athertonian]

We shouldn't have to keep relying on other teams to enable survival, we need to get back to winning ways before anything else. It also means we must score a goal in order to do just that. I can't see where our next goal is coming from let alone a win. The team has hit a low just at the wrong time.