Perspective.

[Saxo1man41]

Great result v Leeds.. A really positive start to the season.. 7th place.. Level on points with 5th place.. Only 4 points short of top spot..

But..

Also only 4 points above 17th spot..!

Its a crazy congested league. My feet remain on the ground.. For now at least.

[robinrover]

Absolutely saxo
Most of us expected around mid table and despite this good spell of form I will still stay with that prediction.

[AucklandRover]

And this is exactly why the Championship is so much more interesting and exciting than the PL.

[champs95]

Great result v Leeds.. A really positive start to the season.. 7th place.. Level on points with 5th place.. Only 4 points short of top spot..

But..

Also only 4 points above 17th spot..!

Its a crazy congested league. My feet remain on the ground.. For now at least.

To balance that. I don't think we played that well yesterday. And I thought we looked more dangerous than Leeds. Teams can't break us down. We are solid. That won't change overnight, unless say we sold Dack. Which wint happen this season.
I still think we are improving every week. I still think we will get better, there is much more to come. And we have a superb squad who all fight for their place.

We caused Leeds lots of problems yesterday. They didn't cause us problems.

The main thing that sets us aside, we have a better, more assute manager. Who is tactically better than Leeds manager etc etc etc etc etc. Who pulls off masterstroke such as signing Rodwell. Who clearly wants to be part of this group.

We have a special group of players, with a team ethic and band of brothers attitude. Who will die for the cause. And a manager who has a plan which normally works.

We will be safe from relegation by about Dec/Jan. Ipswich have 9 points.

But believe me when I say nobody at BRFC is thinking about relegation. It was never discussed, nor will it even be something that affects us. We will lose the odd match, and have the occasional bad run for a game or 2 but that will be it.

There is only one direction this club is heading and it's been going that way for over 12 months now.
In that time we have lost about 4/5 games of football. One of them was after we'd won automatic promotion.

[alfinyalcabo]

And this is exactly why the Championship is so much more interesting and exciting than the PL.

Totally agree with you on that one Aucks..You are far better stopping in the Championship that getting promoted to the Premier league again,that's about Rovers level..,( And Burnley's)

[Saxo1man41]

Really my post is about comments across social media stating were nailed on for the play offs.. These folk don't realise the table at the moment isn't really worth reading to much into. 2 wins and we could be top.. But 2 defeats and we could be in a lowly position..

We are 11 points above the bottom 3 though.

[champs95]

Really my post is about comments across social media stating were nailed on for the play offs.. These folk don't realise the table at the moment isn't really worth reading to much into. 2 wins and we could be top.. But 2 defeats and we could be in a lowly position..

We are 11 points above the bottom 3 though.

The season/table is starting to take shape however. And if you are playing teams around you like we are over the next 2 games, then it draws teams closer.

Of course we will be written off over the next 2 games, like after the last international breaks difficult set if games, we'd been written off in.
We will go get 4 points in the next 2 games and that keeps those ahead closer, not pulling away. And keeps the sides below us jostling for position.

[AucklandRover]

Totally agree with you on that one Aucks..You are far better stopping in the Championship that getting promoted to the Premier league again,that's about Rovers level..,( And Burnley's)

I've banged on about this before, Alf, but I really do think a European super-league would make more sense than the current system.
How can clubs like ours be on a level playing-field with the likes of the PL top six? I know the counter-arguments, in terms of finance and "testing yourselves" against the best, but there would still be cup competitions, and the big improvement would be that the PL would no longer be about a dozen clubs battling against relegation from day one!
The way the Championship is, if Bolton (to take a random example) were to go on a run of three wins in a row, they would probably move from their current 18th place to the borderline of the top six!
That's why I like this Division - but it's also why I take nothing for granted: three defeats...and we would shoot off in the other direction. Saxo's words of warning on this topic do make sense, especially because these very close games can turn on a moment of luck or a poor refereeing decision.

[AucklandRover]

The season/table is starting to take shape however. And if you are playing teams around you like we are over the next 2 games, then it draws teams closer.

Of course we will be written off over the next 2 games, like after the last international breaks difficult set if games, we'd been written off in.
We will go get 4 points in the next 2 games and that keeps those ahead closer, not pulling away. And keeps the sides below us jostling for position.

I'm expecting the game at Swansea to be played in a different style from Saturday's. Swansea like to pass the ball about, but they haven't got a great scoring record. It could be a cagey affair. That's why I went for a single goal. (I almost chose nil-nil). I am hoping their confidence will be down at the moment, as they've only picked up five points from their last five games, whereas our confidence must have taken another big lift against Leeds.
I wonder if Rothwell will get a start. Almost certainly, if Reed isn't fit. On the other hand, TM might simply opt for same again, with Palmer slotting into Reed's spot if required.
(Having said all that, the game will probably be a 4-4 thriller!)

[AucklandRover]

To balance that. I don't think we played that well yesterday. And I thought we looked more dangerous than Leeds. Teams can't break us down. We are solid. That won't change overnight, unless say we sold Dack. Which wint happen this season.
I still think we are improving every week. I still think we will get better, there is much more to come. And we have a superb squad who all fight for their place.

We caused Leeds lots of problems yesterday. They didn't cause us problems.

The main thing that sets us aside, we have a better, more assute manager. Who is tactically better than Leeds manager etc etc etc etc etc. Who pulls off masterstroke such as signing Rodwell. Who clearly wants to be part of this group.

We have a special group of players, with a team ethic and band of brothers attitude. Who will die for the cause. And a manager who has a plan which normally works.

We will be safe from relegation by about Dec/Jan. Ipswich have 9 points.

But believe me when I say nobody at BRFC is thinking about relegation. It was never discussed, nor will it even be something that affects us. We will lose the odd match, and have the occasional bad run for a game or 2 but that will be it.

There is only one direction this club is heading and it's been going that way for over 12 months now.
In that time we have lost about 4/5 games of football. One of them was after we'd won automatic promotion.

I agree that we did a very good job of handling Leeds, but I was still quite impressed with them, and I would expect them to be in the top six in May. That was a superb goal they created, and they do have a few players out.
I don't think we are going to play many teams off the park. That's not the nature of what TM has created. As you say, Champs, it's all about effort and spirit, allied to the flair and excellence of a couple of individuals.
I don't think we should underestimate the importance of Graham in all this. He didn't take the eye - like Armstrong, Reed and Evans - against Leeds, but he doesn't give defenders a moment's peace, and he creates all-important holes and gaps.
There seem to have been very mixed reactions to Brereton's performance. I thought he did all right, actually, with his inexperience showing up a couple of times, as you'd expect. I'm still not convinced he's an out-and-out striker by nature, though. All the clips I've seen of him, and his outings with us so far, suggest he likes to pick up the ball a bit deeper and run at people. Nothing wrong with that, but I wonder if he can be converted to play as a "target-man" type, when required.