Top Ten Finish

[smithyman]

With Northwich beating Telford and Accrington away to Exeter in what will be a must win game for Exeter if they are going to stand a chance of getting in the play offs, we have a really good chance now of finishing 10th if we beat Northwich.

 

What a great achievement that would be after our start of one win and six defeats in the first seven games. Then to finish the season on a twelve game unbeaten run will make looking forward to next season one of huge optimism.

 

That said we won't get those 3 points just for turning up so we have to approach the game with the right attitude and go out and do the business.

 

For different reasons we have had cause for celebration at the end of the last two seasons and for yet another reason I think it's the same this season.

 

Well done to Andy, his staff and the team - the stormclouds were building up last October/November but now the sun is well and truly shining.

[FleetFanatic]

Just to take a little bit away from those sentiments. Isn't it annoying / amazing that if you take those first seven games & the 'couldn't win' spell a couple of months later, you get these statistics:

 

P 16 W 1 D 7 L 8 or something similar.....

 

.....my point? IF just five (more probably six), of those draws or defeats had been victories, we'd be in the playoffs right now!

 

I'm not complaining, just looking forward to next season with eager anticipation!

[smithyman]

Agreed. If I remember rightly in those dark days we lost about seven points through last(ish) minute goals and a penalty miss by Ben.

 

If you look at our last 21 games we've picked up 38 points - definitely play off form.

[Alan W (GNFC)]

The last 18 are the best period - W10 D6 L2 - 36 points at an average of 2 points per game - that form over the season would obviously have given us 84 points and a play off place.

 

As for Fleet Fanatics comments, you can look at several areas where we could have done better - the last 10 minutes, where we have effectively lost 12 points(albeit as I noted previously, we "gained" 11 points in the preceding 10 minutes), and our home form, particularly early in the season, has been poor - even if we win Saturday, we will have only earned 29 points at home and 30 away - equally, the point we gained against each of Chester, Hereford, Aldershot, and Shrewsbury, came away from home, and we lost to them at home.

 

After our first 7 games, we lost only 1 of our following 9, I believe - trouble was, we drew 6 of those games.

 

Yes, its frustrating that, had we had the squad together at the start of the season, we could potentially have pushed for a play off place, but I think we should simply take the positives out of the season and look to build on that into next season.

[Unrecognized Genius]

Absolutely.

 

The present squad could win the play offs - but would we be ready for league football next season? That's a rhetorical question.

 

EC

[jc]

Quote:

Unrecognized Genius said:The present squad could win the play offs
EC

I think we need to be a bit careful, as fans, about how high we set our expectations for next season. Even with our excellent form in the back end of this season, sustaining it for a whole season and then seeing off some of the best sides in the league in one-off games at the end of the year is still a very tough task - particularly bearing in mind that the three sides who get into this year's play-offs and miss out will be raring to go one better next season.

[Slartibartfast]

Quite right J.C. next season the full time teams will dominate as they did this season.

Mind you thats not to say we cant finish top half and have a cup run or two.

 

[Nick Boy]

I agree

[smithyman]

Absolutely J C - there could be people who have got the idea that the play offs are now within our grasp. We've shown we could do it on the basis of the second half of the season performances, sustaining it over a whole season may still be 'a bridge too far'.

 

That apart, last season we'd come close to going straight back down. At the start of this season we'd lost a couple of quality players in Jacko and Benno and had got a virtually new team of players not familiar with each other's style of play. Not a situation to inspire optimism. Next season we should be able to start with a more settled side, players with real quality and a confidence based on their performances since Christmas. I'm not sure we're ready for the play offs yet but I'm confident we won't be down amongst the relegation battlers either.

[meldrew]

It has been a fantastic season,& i thank all the players and staff for giving all of us so much pleasure since Christmas- also the fans....Dagenham away was blinding!Let`s not get too carried away for next season,a similar final position as this year plus a decent couple of cup runs would still be a success story.Our club deserves more support for the supreme effort everyone has put in this year,so lets try and get those floating supporters in next term,and really cheer the lads on!

[FourFourTwo]

Quote:

smithyman said:
Absolutely J C - there could be people who have got the idea that the play offs are now within our grasp. We've shown we could do it on the basis of the second half of the season performances, sustaining it over a whole season may still be 'a bridge too far'.

I for one, am not carried away about our prospects next season - yet!. Until I see the likes of Perkins, Walshe, Sidibe, and Owen on board the SS Fleet - a complete midfield - I will remain cautious. Plus of course we need cover for left back and another central defender. Andy Ford could still be in for another re-building job this season. One plus however, Protheroe has signed.

[mightymole]

i think we can reach play offs if we keep up the great form