A fortnight ago, we asked “where will we finish this season?” and the poll was met with some very optimistic (or maybe realistic?) views.
The results:
2nd – 24%
3rd – 44%
4th – 23%
5th – 3%
6th – 2%
Miss out – 4%
Only 9% of voters think we`ll finish below 4th (the position we currently occupy) with the bulk of fans believing 3rd is the where Simon Grayson`s men will end up.
Looking at our previous positions and points tally`s, this season has been a remarkable one. The past 10 seasons in League One:
05/06: 19th 53 points
04/05: 16th 57 points
03/04: 14th 59 points
02/03: 13th 58 points
01/02: 16th 56 points
99/00: 22nd 41 points
98/99: 14th 56 points
97/98: 12th 62 points
96/97: 7th 69 points
95/96: 3rd 82 points
So this could be Blackpool`s best year in those above if we win our remaining three games (which in my opinion is a real possibility) with us on course to finish with 83 points – one more than the Allardyce team of `96.
The Seasiders haven`t had a sustained run of form like this season`s for years and if Larry and co plays their cards right and Gary Johnson`s team don`t, we might not be going to Wembley after all and the players can have a longer rest, assuming Nottingham Forest drop points. However, this seems unlikely and the lottery of the playoffs is our best bet of promotion.
| Team | Pld | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | 35 | 85 | |
| 2 | 43 | 21 | 79 | |
| 3 | 43 | 19 | 75 | |
| 4 | 43 | 21 | 74 | |
| 5 | 43 | 12 | 70 | |
| 6 | 43 | 21 | 69 | |
| 7 | 43 | 5 | 68 | |
| 8 | 43 | 17 | 66 |
Looking at the promotion picture, Bristol have Carlisle United and Millwall to play away from home and Rotherham on the final day at Ashton Gate. Drop points there maybe? In third place, Nottingham Forest have an easy final three on paper – with Crewe, Leyton Orient and Bournemouth to face.
The underlining point is that if ‘Pool win at Cheltenham on Saturday (Town can`t win two on the bounce against promotion chasing teams can they?) they will definitely be in the playoff mix cum next month. Surely at the beginning of the season we`d all have taken this, and the possible disappointment of not catching Bristol hopefully won`t deter us in the playoff shake up.
for me play off’s it is! Just can’t see Brzzle losing enough points. Tho still think Carlisle will beat ’em Sat!!
Yeovil and Carlisle making up 5th and 6th IMO, despite trip fancy Yeovil rather than Carlisle, though as TP said in Forum…prefer to play Gumps over 2 games than at Wembley!!
Play off’s for me too. shame realy so close we will be for auto promotion.
UP the POOL