The Play Offs

[standupsitdown]

We’re clearly not going to catch Yeovil so the play offs are our only realistic route to promotion for which we’d need to finish at least 7th.

There are a lot of teams in contention with 9 teams below within 7 points of Torquay and an 8 point gap between us and 2nd (but we have two games in hand).
Unlike the Football League, there is a big advantage in finishing higher in the play off positions.
This is how they would work out based on the current league table.

Eliminator

Maidstone (4th) v Torquay (7th)
Aveley (5th) v Hampton (6th)

Semi Finals

Worthing (2nd) v Maidstone (4th) or Torquay (7th)
Chelmsford (3rd) v Aveley (5th) or Hampton (6th)

Final

Winners of semi finals.
Highest placed team in league at home

Finishing 7th, with 3 away games, makes winning promotion very difficult.
Even 3rd would quite likely mean an away final at Worthing.
2nd must be the target but on current form we’d struggle to make even 7th.

[culmstockgull]

standupsitdown, I admire your confidence, and how our expectations are diminshed, I remember a certain manager saying our goal is to win the league outright now we are using up all our prayers with the man upstairs hoping for a play off position, I think i will stick with a 12th or 13th position this season, I believe johnson must be hoping for a late run like last season but I do just do not see it, the team is unbalanced, the back four leak goals as if they get a bonus for that honour,Tomlinson is only ever one step from disaster and bailed out constantly by Moxey who is out this weekend, genuine midfielders are either injured, have a habit of losing the plot or they are one game in one game out, forward line ,what forward line.
That is not the team who will challenge for a play off.

[brucie]

Tomlinson is absolutely terrible. Harsh maybe and he's only young but how an earth he is rated by some people is beyond me.

He was completely all over the shop at Worthing. We've got no chance of promotion. As things stand I doubt that we will even scrape into the play offs,

Despite making the odd good save our keeper is basically still a liability. Central defence is virtually non existant. Martin/Marshall at full backs are awful. I doubt even Jarvis returning (whenever that is) will really make much difference.

Johnsons assembled squad is nothing short of a disgrace. He should hang his head in shame.

[standupsitdown]

Poor as our team is, a top seven finish should be achievable.

I don't agree about Halstead. Yes he could have done better at Worthing but generally he has OK well this season. I hope he doesn't lose form / confidence and go back to playing as he did in his first season here.

[United62]

Johnsons assembled squad is nothing short of a disgrace. He should hang his head in shame.

Oh, he'll pretend it hang his head in shame for the 'interviews' (sic)... then have a massive grin on his face when he turns away.

It seems like he's only here now to top up his pension pot. Period.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love us to get promoted this season (albeit through the lottery of the play-offs) but with Johnson's 'squad' I don't envisage cancelling any time off once the normal season finishes.

[standupsitdown]

I'm going to be optimistic.
Tuesday's performance at Maidstone was a turning point.
We will beat Slough today.
We still have two games against Taunton which really ought to be 6 points and both Aveley & Hampton to play at home.
We have played 7 of our 8 games against the top four.
We will qualify for the play offs - winning them with a finish that isn't 2nd or 3rd is another matter.

[brucie]

A losing team losing another match isnt a turning point - thats just nonsense.

[standupsitdown]

A losing team losing another match isnt a turning point - thats just nonsense.

The turning point in a bad run can come with a poor performance but lucky win, or a good performance but defeat.

[WestLondonYellow]

The turning point in a bad run can come with a poor performance but lucky win, or a good performance but defeat.

it's time to start looking at the relegation zone, forget the play offs

[TommyGunn]

We are bottom of the form league. 14 wins and 14 defeats. Lost the last 4 games and conceded 15 goals.

The play offs are looking unlikely now.

https://www.flashscore.co.uk/standings/ ... /overall/5

[standupsitdown]

Sorry, I was hopelessly optimistic.
What a sorry state of affairs when we can't even match the likes of Slough, Aveley and Braintree.

[Gull1899]

Even if we miraculously made the play offs we wouldn’t do anything in them as our away form (& home form now !) is atrocious. We can’t defend.

We don’t deserve play offs until we have a change in a lot of ways at our club

[standupsitdown]

Even if we miraculously made the play offs we wouldn’t do anything in them as our away form (& home form now !) is atrocious. We can’t defend.

We don’t deserve play offs until we have a change in a lot of ways at our club

If the owner wanted us to make the play offs he would sack Johnson but even with a change in manager the best we're likely to get is 6th or 7th and as you say then winning three away games is very unlikely.

[standupsitdown]

I’ll put this in the play off thread but that doesn’t mean that one win says it’s suddenly a realistic possibility and in the hope that we don’t need a relegation thread.

With ten games to go, assuming the club still exists in its current form, we could theoretically be in one of three different leagues next season.

Looking upwards, based on pro rata points, before today we needed to win 9 of our last 11 games to make the play offs. Now it’s 8 from 10.

Looking downwards, if we have 10 points deducted we’d be 4 points above relegation. Taunton would have 4 games in hand but we’d be 3 above Dartford having played the same number of games and with a much better goal difference.

[SuperNickyWroe]

I’ll put this in the play off thread but that doesn’t mean that one win says it’s suddenly a realistic possibility and in the hope that we don’t need a relegation thread.

With ten games to go, assuming the club still exists in its current form, we could theoretically be in one of three different leagues next season.

Looking upwards, based on pro rata points, before today we needed to win 9 of our last 11 games to make the play offs. Now it’s 8 from 10.

Looking downwards, if we have 10 points deducted we’d be 4 points above relegation. Taunton would have 4 games in hand but we’d be 3 above Dartford having played the same number of games and with a much better goal difference.

They have a lot of games to play now in a short space of time.....
Think they will struggle with those games tbh....