[silverbaggie]

DD IS BACK......he's just posted on his usual thread.

So all is not lost after all.

[St Charles Owl]

On the subject of lack of posts, you have to remember the season is effectively over for you guys, you are not fighting for anything other than pride now and every season whether it be on here or on the old site we see a drop off in posts and threads.  Maybe we would have normally expected a thread discussing the merits of keeping or ditching Pulis as well but to be right that has pretty much been done to death on here and every other Albion site no doubt, now you are all just waiting to see what will happen, and when that is known I am sure threads will pop up again.

As an fyi, today so far you have 2 new threads on the Albion page on here and 15 new posts.  Not sure what you expect or what is the norm but for the number of posters that is not too bad for a "down" day.  Of course you are still some way behind us Owls , but then we have playoffs coming up so still lots of interest!!!

Good luck in those   who does it look like you will be playing over two legs ?
Confident ?

Boro play Brighton tomorrow, winner goes up, loser has to travel to play us next Friday.  Hillsborough is already sold out for the game, so probably 36-38,000 there depending on away fans and segregation.  

Are we confident?  It's a bit of a lottery now isn't it!!  We have not beaten any of the top 6 all season, but of the three likely other teams in the playoffs we haven't lost to them either!!  Two draws against each of Hull, Derby and Brighton!!  We finished 6th, so no pressure or despondency in our team, whoever loses that Boro v Brighton game will be gutted to miss out on autos, we have to play on that!!

[drewks]

On the subject of lack of posts, you have to remember the season is effectively over for you guys, you are not fighting for anything other than pride now and every season whether it be on here or on the old site we see a drop off in posts and threads.  Maybe we would have normally expected a thread discussing the merits of keeping or ditching Pulis as well but to be right that has pretty much been done to death on here and every other Albion site no doubt, now you are all just waiting to see what will happen, and when that is known I am sure threads will pop up again.

As an fyi, today so far you have 2 new threads on the Albion page on here and 15 new posts.  Not sure what you expect or what is the norm but for the number of posters that is not too bad for a "down" day.  Of course you are still some way behind us Owls , but then we have playoffs coming up so still lots of interest!!!

Good luck in those   who does it look like you will be playing over two legs ?
Confident ?

Boro play Brighton tomorrow, winner goes up, loser has to travel to play us next Friday.  Hillsborough is already sold out for the game, so probably 36-38,000 there depending on away fans and segregation.  

Are we confident?  It's a bit of a lottery now isn't it!!  We have not beaten any of the top 6 all season, but of the three likely other teams in the playoffs we haven't lost to them either!!  Two draws against each of Hull, Derby and Brighton!!  We finished 6th, so no pressure or despondency in our team, whoever loses that Boro v Brighton game will be gutted to miss out on autos, we have to play on that!!

Yeh, the playoffs ARE a lottery.....and also, in my opinion, unfair, and a money making exercise.

I do get the fact that it keeps the season alive potentially for a few clubs, but a quick look at the Championship table shows the team finishing 3rd (Brighton)  playing the one finishing 6th (Owls). Brighton finished 15 points ahead of Wednesday. 15 POINTS!!
Surely, if the playoffs are to be kept they should reward the teams who have been best over the whole season? IMHO one way to do this is to give Brighton (in this case) a 2 goal start; after all, they HAVE earned it?!!
(This could be done on a sliding scale in relation to the teams' points difference).

Nothing against you Owls, Charlie - in fact I hope you make it - but IMO, fair's NOT fair at the moment!

[St Charles Owl]

I get what you are saying Drewks but have to disagree!! I think the playoffs are the best innovation to happen to football!!! I certainly don't think they are unfair, every team knows what position gets what at the end of the season, so unfair seems the wrong word to me. While this season there is a big gap, when it was three up, three down, wasn't it as "unfair" when the 4th place team missed out on GD? Again, I don't think that scenario is unfair, maybe unlucky but not unfair. If Brighton are truly 15 points better than us then they will beat us over two legs but yes there is the element of luck that will at some point have its say!!

I also don't think the playoffs are all about money either. They are designed to keep the season alive for longer for more teams, and in this sense they invariably succeed. Every division has something to be decided this season on the last day, and I think that is great for football across the board. We will see many clubs with inflated attendances this weekend because of the playoff and while that generates much needed income, it doesn't make them all about money!! Being all about money to me is something that happens to those teams that already have the money and then make a change to get even more - The Champions League for example where its no longer just the champions who qualify!!

[Zinman]

One change I'd like to see would be to do away with the lottery of penalties in the play-offs. If scores are level then the team that finished higher should go through.

[4evaabaggie]

St Charles, although I agree with most things you post but I have to disagree about the play offs being unfair, rarely do the third best team get promoted, I agree that everyone knows the rules before the season starts and sign up to them, when we were in division three ( old money ) Port Vale finished eight points above us, they beat us home and away, they were the better team but we won at Wembley three nil, I was there I would not change it for the world but that does not make it fair. Look where we are now and where they are, they may not have done what we have achieved but surely they deserved the chance. The three beat teams should get promoted.

Losing out on GD is not the same, you scored less or conceded more ...... therefore the better team finished higher.

Good luck non the less ... it is a lottery and the winning ticket is worth £170 million.

[St Charles Owl]

St Charles, although I agree with most things you post but I have to disagree about the play offs being unfair, rarely do the third best team get promoted, I agree that everyone knows the rules before the season starts and sign up to them, when we were in division three ( old money  ) Port Vale finished eight points above us, they beat us home and away, they were the better team but we won at Wembley three nil, I was there I would not change it for the world but that does not make it fair. Look where we are now and where they are, they may not have done what we have achieved but surely they deserved the chance. The three beat teams should get promoted.

Losing out on GD is not the same, you scored less or conceded more ...... therefore the better team finished higher.

Good luck non the less ... it is a lottery and the winning ticket is worth £170 million.

I did some stats for our board a couple of weeks ago, out of the last 23 playoff seasons, the team in 3rd place reached the final 15 times and went on to win the final 8 times, both numbers are higher than any other place.

I do agree it is a bit of a lottery, but that's what I love about them anyway.  I still think they are the best innovation we have seen  and they given a financial boost to football in places that needed it like all 3 of the FL divisions, that in itself is against the norm of the top teams getting all the money!! 

[4evaabaggie]

St Charles, like I said I agree with most of your posts, but your stats prove the unfairness of it, only a third of the time has the third best team been promoted, yes it prolongs the interest for teams that may have been out of the race weeks before season end, yes it spreads wealth that the greed league has stifled but of all its good points fairness is not one of them.

[St Charles Owl]

4eva, I did those figures not to disprove you, like you said they do back up what you say. I just think the benefits the playoffs provide outweigh the negatives, of which fairness seems about the only one.