Will We go up?

[Dan]

...

[Koke]

Of course we will.

I'm donating my left testicle to charity if we fail to do so.

[Benji]

Of course we will.

I'm donating my left testicle to charity if we fail to do so.

As far from a fence-sitter you will ever meet

[DB11]

Of course.

[Daggers]

No.

There, I said it.

[Simi]

JPT has to be the priority.

[Joe.]

As long as we win our FA Cup first round clash with Stevenage I don't care.

[C-man]

I'm still feeling confident that we'll get promoted. I didn't think it'd be easy at the start of the season and we've proved that it won't be a doddle. As long as we give NP and his young team time and support, I think we'll do it automatically.

[Koke]

No.

There, I said it.

Glass half empty merchant.

[Daggers]

Glass half empty merchant.

My glass is almost totally empty at the moment.

Time to go back to the kitchen and get some more...

Woohoo! Half-term!

[Koke]

My glass is almost totally empty at the moment.

Time to go back to the kitchen and get some more...

Woohoo! Half-term!

You're a lightweight.

Get the wife to do it. Why else is she there for.

[Rocky Dennis]

Our inability to break down stubborn teams coming to the Walkers for a point will prevent us going up I think!

And lack of a proper captain.

[Joe.]

Our inability to break down stubborn teams coming to the Walkers for a point will prevent us going up I think!

Hate to admit it, but I think you're right.

[Daggers]

You're a lightweight.

Get the wife to do it. Why else is she there for.

She has gone to Wales - hence me drinking on 6 and soon to have a curry delivered on a Thursday.

None of which is going to help us get promoted.

We need to appoint Keegan.

[SamL]

Our inability to break down stubborn teams coming to the Walkers for a point will prevent us going up I think!

And lack of a proper captain.

If we can quickly solve this problem then I think we'll go up.

[syston_fox]

At the start of the season I expected it to be tough and had us down for about 10th maybe sneaking a play off place.... after the start we've had though, I would be disappointed if we didn't go up but if we continue to waste the chances in front of goal then my initial prediction looks to be more accurate.

Our away form has been spot on but those two draws at home have totally thrown me (and a lot of others from the looks of some posts on this site). Convert the draws to wins though and it's ours to throw away.

[Legend_in_blue]

We need to find some big hard nutcase to play in central midfield and boss games from there. We don't take control in the centre of the park and it's costing us - particularly at home. Sort that out and we might be able to pick off more teams at home. Then we'll go up.

[Lovejoy]

Home form will be crucial. I reckon yes though .

[Salieri]

We've undoubtedly hit a rocky patch but im confident will come through it stronger and push on.

Still believe we will finish top 2.

Keep the Faith!

[Thracian]

I voted No. If we were going to go up we needed to establish a significant advantage by the next transfer window and that no longer looks likely because we've wasted so many opportunities to collect the points.

Our team carried something of a fear factor, particularly with the start we had and with the inclusion of Gradel and Dyer.

Now, the videos have been circulated, opponents have a well-founded match plan while our injuries and lack of alternatives are also finding us out.

Other teams have stabilised and improved - MK Dons is a good example - and the task we face is much harder now. By the time the January transfer window opens we might further off the pace than we are now because I don't see easy or guaranteed solutions to our problems while those few fringe alternatives are limited and have had so little football.

Any January signings would have to be blended in but who's to say our opponents would not buy in just as well or even better?

In the end it might come down to Pearson's management rather than simply the ability of our players and I'm just not convinced he's imaginative enough. He's done better this season than I thought, considerably better.

But, for me, he seems predictable. Yes, he's a good judge of players generally. I like his having a settled squad and not too many of them, I like his faith in the players, I like a whole lot of what he represents as a manager. But as a cunning and a one-step-ahead type thinker, I don't know. I hope so but I'm not convinced.

He's still inexperienced as a manager and seems intelligent enough to learn but for us and this year, I think he'll just miss out because, come crunch time, we'll have all the pressure and the opposition will have all incentive to claim a biggish scalp with none of the expectations, except, perhaps, in the case of Leeds.

Many will see us missing promotion as a disaster but I've already said this club needed rebuilding from its roots and Nigel Pearson has made a worthwhile start.

However, while I would accept the building of our pathway to achievement taking two seasons, reality might not allow that because I cannot imagine the likes of Dyer and Gradel relishing two seasons in Division One and Fryatt will have options if he gets the 15-20 goals that seem likely.

Replacing such players, and perhaps one or two more, won't be easy. So Pearson really needs to get it right this season and that will, of course, only add to the pressures and the fear of mistakes.

I lie in hope of course but I think to tension, the fear and the expectancy will be too much. And each mediocre team that beats us, like Brighton, will offer a masive incentive to others who will emergewith the view: "If they can take points off Leicester, so can we. Pychology is so vital in football and we've lost our big opportunity to take the psychological initiative just recently.

Coupled with the crowd's embarrassing indifference at home I think the combined factors will keep us down.

[JakeShingler]

Yes but will not be easy?

[Daggers]

For anyone interested in Thracians opinion, but frightened by the size of his post, I have edited it:

I voted No.

[The Blur]

...

Yeah, make a poll about this and just go and sit on the fence!

On the second thoughts, I'll join you on the fence I cant decide!

[Monk]

Win our game in hand and we're 1 point off top. I find all this talk unbelievable I really do. I don't expect us to win every game, and we're 5th with a game in hand, that's hardly reason to boo or to call for the manager's head.

Any team who wins their home games and draws their away games will win the league by miles. We are EXACTLY on track for that benchmark, albeit on points and not on a game by game basis.

[Thracian]

Win our game in hand and we're 1 point off top. I find all this talk unbelievable I really do. I don't expect us to win every game, and we're 5th with a game in hand, that's hardly reason to boo or to call for the manager's head.

Any team who wins their home games and draws their away games will win the league by miles. We are EXACTLY on track for that benchmark, albeit on points and not on a game by game basis.

I've lost count of the people on hear who have talked about winning home games and drawing away games. We don't win our home games and never have at the Walkers really, not with any consistency.

I agree with your general sentiments though.

Our home crowd atmosphere is a major handicap. It is clear on here that certain players are favourites whatever (Kisnorbo/Dyer/Fryatt/Oakley/Powell/Tunchev/Gilbert) while others are targets given half a chance (King/Henderson/Gradel/Howard/Hobbs) and the reality is that any bad work by the first mentioned gets ignored or quickly forgotten while the latter are inevitable scapegoats.

And that's while we're at the top of the table!

It's so negative anyway but it's also misguided. All our players have their good points when played in their proper positions and with proper support and tactics while all have their limitations too. And if our manager/coaches would play to the strengths of those players instead of changing tactics just because the end of a game gets in sight, perhaps we would be a better 90-minute team.