Better than last season at halfway????

At the latest international break we had played 16 games and picked up 27 points, after 16 games last season we had 33 pts so that made us 6 pts worse off than then.

Now in the next 8 games last season up to the new year we picked up a dire 7 pts, which put us on 40 pts after 24 games, we then got another 40 pts in the last 22 games to give us a total of 80 which was 4 pts short of an automatic place in 2nd spot.

This year we have the same amount of games until the new year (8). Having played 3 of those games since the break and matching those 7 pts picked up as last year already that means we only got to get 6 pts more in 5 games to match what we had done at the halfway stage last season.

The games are

birmingham (h)
millwall (a)
middlesboro (h)
watford (a)
forest (a)

I believe we will pick up a minimun of 10 pts from them games which would give us 44 pts min, 4 pts better off than last season at the same stage (24 games).

My point is after boring you all with the stats is if we can at least match the 2nd half of last season IF we get a min of 10 pts in next 5 games, we would be on course for an auto promotion spot in 2nd place with 84 pts, thats what norwich finished on, i honestly believe we can at least match that or even better it under malky we are winning ugly and grinding results out unlike last season, remember march when we picked up 2 pts out of 12 losing to ipswich and palace and drawing with barnsley and millwall, i cant see malky seeing over those kind of dips in form with all the plans he has got up his sleeve, dj didnt even have a plan b to change it im sure malky got A-Z

So what does everybody else think, do you think we will pick more than 6 pts up in the next 5 games and be in a better postion than the same time last year and do you think we could then kick on and match or even better what we did in the 2nd half of last season and achieve automatic promotion????

I know alot will depend on how much funds malky is given in jan so imagine what he could do if he was backed and could bring another 3 or 4 players in up to or even better quality as the likes of turner cowie gunnerson mason etc, its frightening thinking about it, so come on the malaysians or the board or whoever, you know it makes sense promotion to the promised land is there for the taking if you really want it with this guy in charge, you know you can trust him not to get dead wood in like jet parkin jls bywater etc, SO BACK HIM NOW!!!!!!!

Birmingham - 1pt
Millwall - 3pts
Middlesboro - 3pts
Watford - 3pts
Forest - 1pt

I know it's a little optimistic but 11 points out of 15 isn't too much of an ask is it? We're looking like a team thats really hard to beat atm and Middlesbrough seem like the draw specialists this seson. And with Derby and Palace dropping off there should be a nice healthy gap between 6th and 7th place by the time the FA Cup comes around hopefully. IMO as long as we get decent backing in January then injurys will be the only thing that can stop us!
At the beginning of the season with most of our dead wood (and Bellamy) leaving, I never thought we'd be 3rd in the league and in the CC quarter finals at this point! Hopefully Southampton will carry on playing like they did against the Wurzels so we can have one of those nice automatic promotion places!

Yeah remember in march we drew 2 and lost 2. I believe we shouldve won all of them and this season we have 7 games in march...

West Ham (H)
Brighton (A)
Bristol (A)
Burnley (H)
Coventry (H)
Birmingham (A)
Millwall (H)

We can pick up at least 15 points there

Stats are just that - long season with small squad - january will make the difference in my opinion

Yeah remember in march we drew 2 and lost 2. I believe we shouldve won all of them and this season we have 7 games in march...

West Ham (H)
Brighton (A)
Bristol (A)
Burnley (H)
Coventry (H)
Birmingham (A)
Millwall (H)

We can pick up at least 15 points there

IF we can get to the CC Final they might cram an extra game in there, as the final is on the 26th Feb and we're due to play Hull on the 25th

Feeling optimistic, with a hint of caution. March could be a nightmare month for us, especially if we've made it to the Carling Cup final in Feb, as mentioned above.

I don't think any of us doubt that we need more players, so that we can have cover for injuries and suspensions. The f word is also a factor - fatigue - as witnessed at Coventry after our superb result away to Reading.

Promotion is a real possibility at the moment, but we are a long way from the business end of the season and we should be only looking at the next game.

I'll be at the game tomorrow, paying tribute to Gary Speed with everyone else, but I won't be too upset if we lose, as I'd much rather the 3 points against Brum on Sunday. If we lose, it avoids a certain amount of fixture congestion later on and that will help our league campaign, especially if we don't recruit enough extra players in January.