" Our Season - A Full Final Review / Stats ect "

So the curtain has come down on yet another season, but what a season, and even though the result yesterday didn’t matter to us MM was true to his word and our players did what they have been doing all season. A mad 2nd half ended with a sending off, a penalty save, a penalty scored and a pitch invasion but one thing was certain our players would keep going until the very last kick and we got the point that overall we deserved.

Congratulations to Hull on gaining automatic promotion and they do so by breaking an all time record, in a 46 match season, by being the only club to win automatic promotion having lost 15 games in a season.

Like ourselves Hull lost their main striker to long term injury but, again like ourselves, managed to share goal scoring duties throughout the team with 8 players scoring 4 or more goals, we had 10 the joint best in the division. We kept 18 clean sheets, the best in the division, whilst Hull were 3rd best with 16 clean sheets which in my opinion clearly shows we were the best two teams in the division and thoroughly deserve our promotions.

But we are the Football League Champions, sounds great doesn’t it, and after what seems like a lifetime of trying we will get to play in the top tier of the football pyramid for the first time in over 50 years. So what made the difference this year? And are there any indications in our performance statistics which will tell us how we will do next season in the Premier League.

What is truly remarkable about our performance this season is that it is generally agreed that any NEW manager needs at least 3 seasons to put his mark on a club, to develop his team and to maximise the performance of his team. This season MM, his backroom team and our players have blown that theory out of the water and as a result we find ourselves not only promoted, but promoted as Champions, in only his 2nd season in charge. In my opinion there in lies the main reason why this year we have achieved our dream, Malkay Mackay, who is in my opinion the best manager we have had at our club in the now 48 years I have been watching the Bluebirds.

Within our performance statistics for this season are actually a couple of all time records for our club.They are as follows;

We set an all time record on 10 successive home wins from the start of the season.
We set an all time record of 87 points in a 46 match season.
We equalled an all time club record of 9 away League games without defeat, for the 2nd successive season.

We have set a few best performance records since our return to the Championship. They are as follows;

We won 25 league matches beating our previous best of 22 set in season 2009/10.
We failed to score in only 6 League matches beating our previous best of 8 in season 2011-2012.
We kept 18 clean sheets beating our previous best of 15 set in season 2011/12.
We conceded only 45 goals beating our previous best of 51 set in season 2004/05.
Our average goals against fell below one per game, (0.98) for the first time since our return to the Championship beating our previous best of 1.11 set in season 2004/05.
Our opponents needed a record high of 10.87 attempts at goal to score against us beating the previous high of 9.87 set in season 2009/10.
We lost only 9 matches to equal our previous best set in season 2011/12.
We had 10 players who scored 4 or more goals during the season beating our previous best of 8 in season 2007/08.
We had a joint record of 16 players providing assists for goals to equal seasons 2007/08 & 2003/04.
We had a record goal supremacy of +0.59 beating our previous best of +0.48 set in season 2009/10.
We won on average a record number of corners per match, (6.48), beating our previous best of 6.26 set in season 2008/09.
We received a record number of yellow cards, (74), beating our previous record of 70 set in season 2005/06.
A total of 21 players received yellow cards during League matches this season which is the highest since our return to the Championship. Our previous highest total was 19 during season 2005/06 and the lowest was 16 during season 2008/09.
Our opponents had a record 89 yellow cards issued against them beating the previous high of 87 in season 2006/07, and the lowest 60 in season 2005/06.
We won a joint record 16 points from losing positions in league matches, the other being season 2003/04, our lowest being 5 in season 2006/07.

Other key performance indicators were as follows;

We scored a total of 72 goals in League matches this season and this was our 3rd best performance since our return to the Championship. Our highest total is 76 scored in season 2010-11 and our lowest 48 in season 2004/05.
On average we scored a goal every 7.57 attempts at goal the 3rd best performance since our return to the Championship, our best was 6.93 in season 2009/10 and our worst 10.46 in season 2004/05
We scored the first goal in 29 matches which is our 2nd highest total since our return to the Championship, our best is 30 achieved in season 2011/12 and our worst being 18 in season 2003/04 & 2004/05.
We averaged 51.02% possession over the 46 League matches and this is our 6th best result since our return to the Championship. Our best result was 52.91% during season 2008/09 and our worst 49.5% in season 2004/05.
We managed a total of 545 attempts at goal during our 46 League matches this is our 3rd highest total, the highest being 574 during season 2003/04 and the lowest 462 in season 2005/06.
Our opponents managed 489 attempts at our goal which is the 5th highest since our return to the Championship. The highest is 533 in season 2009/10 and the lowest 406 in season 2004/05.
We lost 20 points from winning positions during the season which is the 3rd highest since our return to the Championship. Our highest was 29 during season 2011/12 and the lowest 10 during season 2005/06.

It is probably unfair to pick out individual players when so many of the squad have made such important contributions to our success this season but there is one player who I think deserves a special mention.

Brought to the club on a free transfer to offer support and experience to the squad Heider Helguson found himself having to lead the line in the first half of the season following the loss of Nicky Maynard. When you consider that the top goalscorer in the division, Glen Murray, scored 6 goals away from home with two of them penalties it does put into perspective the 6 away goals Heider scored for us. Overall his 9 goals and 6 assists were invaluable and for me Heider is the perfect example of the unsung hero, but this fan will never forget what this man brought to the squad this year. I don’t believe a review of the season would be complete without recognising his contribution. Where would we have been without him?

So there are lots of records which have either been broken or equalled during the season but are there any indications of how these statistics can predict how we will do next season?

Well in the last 10 years only 11% of teams promoted having lost 20% or less of their matches went on to be relegated. Only 11% of teams who failed to score in 13% or less of their fixtures went on to be relegated and only 5% of teams who had 39% or better clean sheets went on to be relegated.

So history tells us that we have every chance of maintaining our Premier League status next season although only as a bottom half team.

The coming weeks will tell us how many of our current squad will be leaving but I’m confident MM will bring in players who will add quality and fit comfortably into the ethos of togetherness and team spirit which have been at the core of his first two seasons with the club. I for one cannot wait until we set out on the Premier League journey in August.

Super write up as per usual mate!

This needs to be made a sticky!

Brilliant post as always Gary - some great stats in your write up

CB, yet again a great post(your slight wobble excepted!)

Gary once again a top read and THANK YOU

I look forward to your Premier League Reviews.

Cracking read. Thanks very much enjoyed that.

Have to mention us the fans, home and deffo away who got behind the team and cheered the players over the line

CB, yet again a great post(your slight wobble excepted!)

Must admit I did suffer from an outbreak of squeaky bum


But other than that it was never really in doubt.

Fair play mind boggling stats a really interesting read

Gary once again a top read and THANK YOU

I look forward to your Premier League Reviews.

Thinking about doing a preview for next season Annis sort of mapping out how many points we will need after 9,19,28,38 games to secure our Premier League position.

Already doing the homework on that based on the last 10 Premier League seasons.

Great set of stats and well put together. It shows how Malky has been extremelly consistent and especially how difficult we are to break down. It seems like the most important element next year will be turning opportunities into goals. I think we will be organised enough to keep teams out but without players who will guarantee to convert chances then we will get a lot of draws, which won't be good enough. I hope we can unearth a Michu from somewhere.

Excellent stats & a very interesting read. I totally agree with your sentiment regarding HeiDar Helguson too. He reminds me of Peter Thorne in the way he plays, & like wise, for me PT was an unsung hero some ten years or so ago.

Great read as usual, but do you really count every corner?

Great read as usual, but do you really count every corner?

Of course I do Tony.

Gary, again your report is superb and the stats you supply show what an amazing job Malky Mackay and his players achieved.

Hopefully next season you will be writing a report on how a team has gone up to the Premier League and beaten all others before them