Newportonian wrote:25+ points from a possible 39 points I believe will see us in the play off’s

Unless I've misread things, we have 42 points available, of which, we may take 21...more would be nice but not sure we'll do that in reality.

newgroundrodney wrote:

The NCFC Hippy wrote:One thing for sure , is if we are to do it, we will have to do it the hard way. remaining games (not in order - current league positions): with 5 of the next 14 games against teams below us in table, mostly away when they could be fighting for their lives.

Homes:
Oldham 11th
tranmere 9th
bury 2nd
lincoln 1st
carlisle 7th
swindon 14th
cheltenham 18th

away:
mk dons 4th colchester 6th northampton 16th yeovil 22nd cambridge 19th Macclesfield 23rd morecombe 20th

having said that, from the spring in our step against notts county i'm putting my chin on the line and saying we just make the play offs. UTC

Some would say, " It was only Notts County. Wait til you come up against someone that can actually PLAY the game!"....
Seriously though, I think looking at who we've got to play, and where they are in the table, is not what I do. I look at the numbers in relation to all other teams. Remember, like horses in a race, some of the other teams will be working in our favour too.
We only need a relatively slight improvement to reach the Play-Offs as it stands.
To be clear, I don't think we'll quite do it.

"Only Notts County" recently picked up 7 points out of 9 against Mansfield, Forest Green and Lincoln.

Puts our result into perspective.

With the County enjoying a week of warm weather training ... in South Wales, I reckon we can regroup and sort ourselves out for Saturday.

Away matches at Colchester and Northampton follow. I think that we will know what there will be to play for this season after these three games.

It would be massive to beat both Carlisle and Colchester.

Up the County!

Play offs depend on our away form if County have the same mindset for 'The Great Escape' run of points we can make the play offs. If Labadie plays most of the remaining games and the side have the performance levels for our FA Cup run yes the top seven is reachable.
Strikers fill me with confidence and I think Azeez will add to the goal tally, defence can be tight and sound but the midfield hold the key if they improve their performances and levels 70 pts could be reached and squeak into the play offs.

Statistically speaking, we're the 12th best team in the division, needing to find an extra 14% to occupy the lowest Play-Off spot at season's end.
A sustained run of form would probably do it for us. But we DO need to get a wiggle on!

Today's match is a must win against our so called potential play off contenders. With Colchester away next week away who have hit form at the right time and look certs for the top seven then away to Northampton who are still in contention. 6 points from these 3 games is the minimum imho for us to still be in the mix.
The key is keeping Labadie fit because more often than not we win when he is involved.

See I the Argus that Flynny is targeting 9 wins from the next 13 games. By my reckoning our last 13 league games have produced 3 wins.
What magic formula had he found to produce that upturn in results.
Really hope I'm wrong but I believe the season will fizzle out a bit now and we will finish about 10th.
That in itself with our playing budget is a huge achievement. With an increased playing budget for next year on top of keeping a few of this season's squad, playoffs next year should be a minimum target.

For me, while they are challenge, the play-offs are on. This is our best squad in recent history - in my opinion.

Clearly today's match against Carlisle is important and I hope Labadie is fit but Flynn should not put him in if he's not 100% we have another week to get him fit for the Colchester game.

Good luck today lads.

Up the County.

Dave John wrote:For me, while they are challenge, the play-offs are on. This is our best squad in recent history - in my opinion.

Clearly today's match against Carlisle is important and I hope Labadie is fit but Flynn should not put him in if he's not 100% we have another week to get him fit for the Colchester game.

Good luck today lads.

Up the County.

There is no doubt Labadie is a quality player at our level. But the best players don't necessarily make the best team. I wonder how many points per game County accumulated before Joss signed and how many after.

Dave John wrote:For me, while they are challenge, the play-offs are on. This is our best squad in recent history - in my opinion.

Clearly today's match against Carlisle is important and I hope Labadie is fit but Flynn should not put him in if he's not 100% we have another week to get him fit for the Colchester game.

Good luck today lads.

Up the County.

Labs took full part in training yesterday and was looking sharp, I think you may well see him in the starting 11 today.

llanwern exile wrote:

Dave John wrote:For me, while they are challenge, the play-offs are on. This is our best squad in recent history - in my opinion.

Clearly today's match against Carlisle is important and I hope Labadie is fit but Flynn should not put him in if he's not 100% we have another week to get him fit for the Colchester game.

Good luck today lads.

Up the County.

Labs took full part in training yesterday and was looking sharp, I think you may well see him in the starting 11 today.

Was yesterday the open training day?

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote:

llanwern exile wrote:

Dave John wrote:For me, while they are challenge, the play-offs are on. This is our best squad in recent history - in my opinion.

Clearly today's match against Carlisle is important and I hope Labadie is fit but Flynn should not put him in if he's not 100% we have another week to get him fit for the Colchester game.

Good luck today lads.

Up the County.

Labs took full part in training yesterday and was looking sharp, I think you may well see him in the starting 11 today.

Was yesterday the open training day?

Yes it was.

.[/quote]There is no doubt Labadie is a quality player at our level. But the best players don't necessarily make the best team. I wonder how many points per game County accumulated before Joss signed and how many after.[/quote]

Labadie returned from his injury to feature against our Checkatrade match against Cheltenham on 4th December. Prior to that, in the league (without him), we had played 20 matches gaining 1.75 points per game in the process, having scored an average of 1.55 goals per game with 1.55 goals per game against.

Starting with Swindon away on 8th December we have played 13 league games and amassed 11 points, which is 0.85 points per game with averages of goals 0.92 for and 1.53 goals against.

Draw your own conclusions as to the reasons for the drop-off in our results, but for me the cup run affected us more than whether or not Labs played..

Papajohn, I agree with you, the cup run for me, distracted the team, clearly it was great for the club though.

In my opinion, Labadie remaining fit for the rest of the season is key to our play off chances.

Great result today - all of a sudden we are 5 points off the play offs with a game in hand.

Up the County!

I recall after the Notts County win many people seemed to congregate around the figure of 74 points for the last play-off spot. At that time it required 28 points from 14 games to get to that total. If that figure is still true then it's now 25 points from 12 games.

If you take the form over the last 8 games then maintaining that sort of form would accrue around 20 points, which possibly could leave County around 9th in the final table. It is certainly possible that if County could string a few wins together that they could gain sufficient momentum and belief to achieve the extra 5 points or so to sneak into the play-off picture.