"PASITIVE" (Optimistic?) THOUGHTS

We went nine games unbeaten at the start of the season it is not inconceivable we could do the same for the last nine.

Sat 19 Mar  BISHOP'S STORTFORD H      Win 2-1
Fri 25 Mar  Maidenhead United A      Draw 1-1
Mon 28 Mar  WESTON SUPER MARE H      W 2-1
Sat 2 Apr  Chelmsford City A      D 1-1
Sat 9 Apr  Concord Rangers A      D 1-1
Sat 16 Apr  EASTBOURNE BOROUGH H      W 2-1
Tue 19 Apr  WHITEHAWK H      W 2-1
Sat 23 Apr  Hayes & Yeading United A      W 1-0
Sat 30 Apr  MARGATE H          D 1-1

19 points would give us a total of 56 and probably a top half position.

Realistically its 2 wins and 3 draws for me. We need to remember we have only won 3 games since last August - that's quite a thing!

I admire Beau Nash's optimism!

I think we definitely need to beat Weston, Chelmsford and Hayes - if we could do that along with a couple of draws we should be okay. Would be nice if we could beat Bishop's Stortford this Saturday to get some momentum going before then.

It would be tight but 46 points has been enough in recent seasons? Agree on need for that early win. Luton Roman said we need to learn how to win again!

I agree with Luton Roman! And it would help enormously if we could score more than the solitary goal.

Perhaps if we hadn't got rid of our second highest scorer last season.......who else in the squad was going to offer goals if Pratt lost his scoring touch?

How did Kington score so many for WSM?

Honestly you have to wonder where the goals are likely to come from.

Whilst I agree that had Stearn stayed we'd probably not be in the position we are, but he wanted to leave so that was that.

And I think we had an as good, if not better, replacement in Jon Davies so losing him was a bigger blow. And, from the outside, there didn't appear to be anything the club could have done about that.

BenE wrote:Honestly you have to wonder where the goals are likely to come from.

I have it on good authority that McCootie will be available very soon...

comrade powell wrote:

BenE wrote:Honestly you have to wonder where the goals are likely to come from.

I have it on good authority that McCootie will be available very soon...

I don't follow your logic.  So where do we think the goals will come from?
NB. 5 goals in 18 starts for "striker" McCootie

You didn't follow my sarcasm either!

yuffie wrote:Whilst I agree that had Stearn stayed we'd probably not be in the position we are, but he wanted to leave so that was that

Why did he want to leave though?

yuffie wrote:And I think we had an as good, if not better, replacement in Jon Davies so losing him was a bigger blow. And, from the outside, there didn't appear to be anything the club could have done about that.

I have to disagree there. Davis really didn't impress me at all.

I agree that after the first couple of games (plus a very impressive pre-season) he was a let down. It seemed that his confidence dipped and then he didn't want to play at this level. I still think we'd have got a very good player if he had stuck it out.

Marc Monitor wrote:

yuffie wrote:Whilst I agree that had Stearn stayed we'd probably not be in the position we are, but he wanted to leave so that was that

Why did he want to leave though?

I would guess to start more games which he has done at Sutton. Though it is interesting to see that he that he has scored fewer goals for Sutton despite this, suggesting he is better as an impact sub. I can fully understand why he wasn't happy in this role though.

More money? Full time contract?

19 points is very optimistic. I think we need to get at least 10 in order to stay up, but looking at the fixtures I can only see us scoring 5   - a win against Chelmsford, a draw against Weston and perhaps another draw in the remaining games.

Bishop's Storford - results have swung wildly over the years.
Maidenhead United's league position has surprised me. I've not seen many wins at their ground.
Weston-super-Mare are immune to relegation. Bound to get at least one point off us.
Chelmsford City - we are their bogey team.
Concord Rangers - other than Chelmsford, we don't have much joy in Essex
Eastbourne usually beat us.
Whitehawk - most likely to be out-muscled by them for whole 90mins, if their squad hasn't changed much.
Hayes & Yeading United - an annoying team that do OK against us
Margate - not seen them, so no idea how that is going to go

are we allowed to mention Stearn again?  

Tbh I think the less said about that sorry saga now the better. Whatever your thoughts about Howells there seems to be a better feeling at the clurrb which can only be a good thing. This, in spite of Owers' record of just one league win so far. I think people will more forgiving with Owers in charge as he thinks and speaks with more ambition and evidently wants to take the club in the right direction. Less talk about how much money everyone else has and more about doing the right things.

UTC

Every time he comments in the Chronicle, Owers is completely honest and does not make any stupid comments or excuses. Refreshing!

yuffie wrote:

Marc Monitor wrote:

yuffie wrote:Whilst I agree that had Stearn stayed we'd probably not be in the position we are, but he wanted to leave so that was that

Why did he want to leave though?

I would guess to start more games which he has done at Sutton. Though it is interesting to see that he that he has scored fewer goals for Sutton despite this, suggesting he is better as an impact sub. I can fully understand why he wasn't happy in this role though.

I was wondering about his fewer goals at Sutton and thought that City were probably the better fit for him, for both parties' benefit, but only if he started. Meh, we can't do anything about it now and must move forward.

Is it because Sutton have a number of people who score goals so Stearn is more effective supplying them?

I have been through the fixture list and come up with this prediction:


 

Tuesday 5th April 2016	Result
Havant & Waterlooville v Chelmsford City	1	1
Weston-super-Mare v Basingstoke Town	3
Saturday 9th April 2016
Basingstoke Town v Weston-super-Mare		3
Concord Rangers v Bath City	3
Havant & Waterlooville v Truro City	1	1
Maidenhead United v St Albans City	3
Margate v Sutton United		3
Oxford City v Hayes & Yeading United	3
Tuesday 12th April 2016
Hemel Hempstead Town v St Albans City	3
Truro City v Weston-super-Mare	3
Saturday 16th April 2016
Bath City v Eastbourne Borough	3
Bishop’s Stortford v Margate	3
Hayes & Yeading United v Concord Rangers		3
St Albans City v Havant & Waterlooville	3
Weston-super-Mare v Whitehawk	1	1
Tuesday 19th April 2016
Bath City v Whitehawk	1	1
Saturday 23rd April 2016
Concord Rangers v Havant & Waterlooville	3
Hayes & Yeading United v Bath City		3
Margate v Hemel Hempstead Town		3
Wealdstone v St Albans City	0	3
Weston-super-Mare v Maidenhead United	1	1
Saturday 30th April 2016
Bath City v Margate	3
Gosport Borough v Hayes & Yeading United	3
Havant & Waterlooville v Weston-super-Mare	1	1
St Albans City v Dartford	1	1

 

Team	Games to Play	Points	Final Points	Final Position
Bath	5	10	51	16
Weston	6	9	49	17
Havant	5	3	45	18
St Albans	5	7	45	19
Margate	4	0	44	20
Hayes	4	0	41	21

Well done, Beau, I will peruse that at my leisure when I have a minute.

UPDATE:

 
 

Saturday 9th April 2016	Results
Basingstoke Town v Weston-super-Mare		3
Concord Rangers v Bath City	3
Havant & Waterlooville v Truro City	1	1
Maidenhead United v St Albans City	3
Margate v Sutton United		3
Oxford City v Hayes & Yeading United	3
Tuesday 12th April 2016
Hemel Hempstead Town v St Albans City	3
Truro City v Weston-super-Mare	3
Saturday 16th April 2016
Bath City v Eastbourne Borough	3
Bishop’s Stortford v Margate	3
Hayes & Yeading United v Concord Rangers		3
St Albans City v Havant & Waterlooville	3
Weston-super-Mare v Whitehawk	1	1
Tuesday 19th April 2016
Bath City v Whitehawk	1	1
Saturday 23rd April 2016
Concord Rangers v Havant & Waterlooville	3
Hayes & Yeading United v Bath City		3
Margate v Hemel Hempstead Town		3
Wealdstone v St Albans City	0	3
Weston-super-Mare v Maidenhead United	1	1
Saturday 30th April 2016
Bath City v Margate	3
Gosport Borough v Hayes & Yeading United	3
Havant & Waterlooville v Weston-super-Mare	1	1
St Albans City v Dartford	1	1

 

Team	Games to Play	Points	Final Points	Final Position
Bath	5	10	51	16
Weston	5	6	49	17
St Albans	5	7	45	18
Havant	4	2	44	19
Margate	4	0	44	20
Hayes	4	0	41	21

Not sure what the difference is between 'positive' and 'pasitive' but it appears to be to ignore all the evidence. We are achieving 1 point a game. If we get 47 points from here we will have done better than the whole of this season apart from the first 6 games.

Really can't see us getting 10 points but we probably don't need to.

I think it is fair to say that both Hayes and St Albans have more difficult games than us, so if we can 'match' results with them, and not lose at Hayes of course, we should be okay. Things will no doubt have moved on quite a bit by the time we play them, so hopefully it won't turn out to be the 'must win' that it looks like at the moment.