Last year / this year

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 9:00 pm

It's a good job everyone keeps saying that we have a far better team this season.

Gandalf · Post by **Gandalf** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 9:16 pm

You should know by now that we can't be negative. The football we are playing is much easier on the eye. The fact that we don't garner as many points and have the the 2nd worst away record in the league after Blackpool (just) is inconsequential. Plus, we don't have McCormack scoring 30 goals, and ruining our formation.

Post by **1964white** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 9:47 pm

Lets have a look at that table come next May as McDermott's team picked up only 27 points in their last 27 matches starting from this weekend at this time last year

We are a decent side at ER only losing to Brighton (Hockerday) & Wolves (Milanic) this season, so i do expect us to gain plenty of points at ER.

Away results have been our downfall for the last three seasons, i think we've won about a dozen games in that time something we need to address if we are to progress

I expect Cellino to bolster the squad up in the January window....we are probably three players short in vital positions.
A big strong pacy centre-forward, a combative midfielder & a dominant centre-back would be on my wish list, in other words three big, strong players as we lack height right through the spine of the team

Gandalf · Post by **Gandalf** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:10 pm

1964white wrote:I expect Cellino to bolster the squad up in the January window....we are probably three players short in vital positions.
A big strong pacy centre-forward, a combative midfielder & a dominant centre-back would be on my wish list, in other words three big, strong players as we lack height right through the spine of the team

General concensus seems to be that we will be under a transfer embargo in January, so we may be stuck with what we have got.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:13 pm

I'm not entering the 'negative or not' discussion but we patently aren't yet doing the business. I can only rely on reports from those who can see the play, but in January this year we entered a phase of winning 3 in 16, with all the stability of a runaway lift. As long as we don't get results like these again I'll be OK and assume it's still a work in progress -

1-Jan-14 Leeds 1-2 Blackburn L
4-Jan-14 Rochdale 2-0 Leeds L
11-Jan-14 SheffWed 6-0 Leeds L
18-Jan-14 Leeds 0-1 Leics L
28-Jan-14 Leeds 1-1 Ipswich D
1-Feb-14 Leeds 5-1 Hudds W
8-Feb-14 Yeovil 1-2 Leeds W
11-Feb-14 Brighton 1-0 Leeds L
22-Feb-14 Mbro 0-0 Leeds D
1-Mar-14 QPR 1-1 Leeds D
8-Mar-14 Leeds 1-5 Bolton L
11-Mar-14 Leeds 2-4 Reading L
15-Mar-14 Burnley 2-1 Leeds L
22-Mar-14 Leeds 2-1 Millwall W
25-Mar-14 Bournemouth 4-1 Leeds L
29-Mar-14 Leeds 1-2 Doncaster L

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:17 pm

Sorry Leon, you made my point for me. I'm not arguing against Martyn's point but I feel there are still reasons for a little optimism. We shall see.

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:21 pm

Norm wrote:Sorry Leon, you made my point for me. I'm not arguing against Martyn's point but I feel there are still reasons for a little optimism. We shall see.

I wasn't making a point, nor was I being negative. I was just posting a factual comparison.

Sadly, relegation is not decided by whether a team plays pretty patterns but by the points it gathers - or rather doesn't.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:23 am

Martyn wrote:

I wasn't making a point, nor was I being negative. I was just posting a factual comparison.

Martyn, my comment on your submission had no basis in disagreement and I never accused you of negativity. You were, rightly, making a very valid point about our respective stats last year to this. I was merely articulating my own hopes for this season as against last by highlighting when last season really went south and hoping this season would not be a repeat.

if, in your opinion, i erred in my stated goal, I apologise.

Sadly, relegation is not decided by whether a team plays pretty patterns but by the points it gathers - or rather doesn't.

A fact which also I cannot ignore and share a concern.

Post by **1964white** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 8:39 am

Our home form will see us through this season nevertheless I am concerned with our weak away performances

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 11:28 am

Just to balance the mood, I've included our relegation season of 2006-07.

We may be 10 points worse off than last year, but we are still 3 better off than the year we went down

John in Louisiana · Post by **John in Louisiana** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 1:26 pm

Last year, early on, I always had the feeling we were playing above our heads.

This year I get the feeling we're not yet playing up to our capabilities.

Will bookies in England take a bet on whether we finish with more points than last year? I'd wager a few quid on that.

weasel · Post by **weasel** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 3:34 pm

My hope and view of things would be that -

Last season we were a team in decline - punching a bit above our weight at the start but being found out and capitulating as the season wore on.

This season we are a team on the up. We have been a bit inconsistent, finding ways to lose games that we were winning but improving and as such the results should improve.

As such I have optimism for the rest of the season but it would be nice if we could go on a bit of a run and pull away from the bottom end of the table, even if it is just to mid-table mediocrity.

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 3:48 pm

weasel wrote:My hope and view of things would be that -

Last season we were a team in decline - punching a bit above our weight at the start but being found out and capitulating as the season wore on.

This season we are a team on the up. We have been a bit inconsistent, finding ways to lose games that we were winning but improving and as such the results should improve.

As such I have optimism for the rest of the season but it would be nice if we could go on a bit of a run and pull away from the bottom end of the table, even if it is just to mid-table mediocrity.

On the contrary weasel, I think we've been remarkably consistent. We go into an early lead and then capitulate.

weasel · Post by **weasel** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 5:09 pm

12 matches this season where we have gone ahead - 6 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses. I would term our record of results when taking the lead in matches as inconsistent.

Accrington - W
Middlesborough - W
Bradford - L
Bolton - W
Huddersfield - W
Rotherham - L
Wolves - L
Charlton - D
Blackpool - W
Blackburn - L
Derby - W
Ipswich - L

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 5:28 pm

Don't agree - no team should lose over 43% of matches in which they take the lead; that is consistently poor.

Our second half slumps are also very consistent.

The Subhuman · Post by **The Subhuman** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:20 pm

lies...damned lies and statistics

vision is required, ...

relegation is not an issue.

weasel · Post by **weasel** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:32 pm

So you term consistent as an event that is happening less than half the time (5/12 or 42%)

As regards second half performances I agree with you in that they are worrying (although statistically we have only performed worse 9/22, or 41%, which again is less than half) and feel that perhaps we are lacking a plan B or that opposing managers are able to see weaknesses in our team.

In our 22 matches we have performed

Worse in the 2nd half: 9
Same: 9
Better in the 2nd half: 4

However both analysis do point towards inconsistency as for something to be consistent you'd really be looking at something that happens at least 66.67% of the time. So the only consistent thing here would be to say we consistently do not improve in the second half as this only happens 4/22 or 18% of the time.

Post by **hector** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:38 pm

You win Weasel..... You're closest...

gessa · Post by **gessa** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:42 pm

hector wrote:You win Weasel..... You're closest...

But if I disagree with you, that means he's only 50% right, which means he's neither consistently right or wrong.

weasel · Post by **weasel** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 7:47 pm

But if you are wrong 70% of the time should your vote really count to the same value as others?

For me we are simply inconsistent. If we take the lead it is a toin coss as to whether we will win or lose. Ipswich are consistent, the teams that finish at the top are consistently picking up points, we are capable of picking up points but equally capable of throwing them away.