First 10 / Second 10 league games

[Redalert1970]

First 10 games

Played 10
Won 4
Drew 2
Lost 4
For 17
Against 14
Points 14 / 30


Second 10 games

Played 10
Won 1
Drew 2
Lost 7
For 12
Against 28
Points 5 / 30

Why as it gone so so wrong in the 2nd lot of ten games ????

DISCUSS

[black morse]

First 10 games

Played 10
Won 4
Drew 2
Lost 4
For 17
Against 14
Points 14 / 30


Second 10 games

Played 10
Won 1
Drew 2
Lost 7
For 12
Against 28
Points 5 / 30

Why as it gone so so wrong in the 2nd lot of ten games ????

DISCUSS

Loss of Sam with no one stepping in to replace him is a major factor. Also a promoted team usually start with a bounce.

[ianmcm]

Difficult to say. Cratering confidence would seem to be an issue however. Teams have certainly worked out that if they stop Stockton scoring, no-one else is very likely to, which makes Morecambe easier to handle. Other sides are hitting mid-season form and momentum. The squad is light three or four players with the sort of experience required. There may be issues developing in the group - that's total speculation however. Any or all of the above, plus some other stuff probably.

The defence (including the 'keepers) are definitely struggling but the midfield doesn't seem to be providing much of a shield at the minute so that's a problem.

[KenH]

Opposition teams/management didn't know us for the first few games so we could catch them out. After a few games, they could see our strengths (Cole) and weaknesses (defence).

[RedRedWine]

Its since we started selling chips in the home end. Things will never be the same again.

[RedRedWine]

In all seriousness - I'd look at the first 10 opponents vs the next 10. Look at who we got our points against, and where they now are in the table. I've not done this in much detail myself, but I know we have taken the vast majority of our points against the teams around us in the table - so the distribution of when these fixtures were played will skew the points totals within the 10 game blocks.

Yes our form has dipped, but that has also probably coincided with games against a higher caliber of opponent.

With this in mind, the next 3 home games against the following are very important for our chances of staying up:

Fleetwood H
Crewe H
Doncaster H

We need to continue to do well in this type of fixture - unfortunately we will not be able to strengthen the squad ahead of them.

We have a very difficult end to the season, and need to get points on the board ASAP.

[Keith]

I
Fleetwood H
Crewe H
Doncaster H

Nine points. Nothing less.