Where do you think we will finish ?

[wittonwarrior]

Right now would take the play offs and brace ourselves for the lottery that it brings. My biggest fear would be to lose the play off final

[Risso]

Right now would take the play offs and brace ourselves for the lottery that it brings. My biggest fear would be to lose the play off final

I'd be more worried about getting past the first two games than the final.  I think we'd get us ourselves for a match at Wembley, but would need Bruce to outthink another top6 manager over 2 games to get there, something he isn't always especially adept at.

[garyshawsknee]

I agree Risso, in a one off game I think he'd be ok, trying to get something from Craven Cottage and outthink to Fulham over two legs is a different matter.

[Brassneck]

As I understand it, it is highly unlikely that we will face Fulham over 2 legs. I believe that it is:

3rd v 6th
4th v 5th

With the 3rd & 4th teams playing at home in the second leg. It is almost certainly the case that ourselves and Fulham will occupy 3rd & 4th places.

[Ads]

I'd fancy us to be at Fulham at Villa Park. It's whether we can set up for the away leg right.

That said, having Kodjia, Adomah and Grealish available would give us a signifcant advantage over last time we went there. All 3 of those would walk into anymore in the league.

[Chris Smith]

I agree Risso, in a one off game I think he'd be ok, trying to get something from Craven Cottage and outthink to Fulham over two legs is a different matter.

It’s down to the players far more so than the managers in my view. If we are able to field our best players then I would fancy us against anyone in this division. I would also expect us to handle the pressure of the occasion better than most.

[ChicagoLion]

The problem is that he has shown an ability to be poor at team selection and game management too many times.
This is why we are even contemplating the play offs.
There is no guarantee that he will have the best players available either.

[Clampy]

We've also shown we can put four or five past some decent teams.

[Risso]

We've also shown we can put four or five past some decent teams.

We have, but in the same week that we smashed Wolves, we went and lost to Bolton.  It's partly why the play offs are such a lottery.  You could have a team like Millwall have a last minute dash into the play offs, draw 0-0 at Villa Park and then beat us 1-0 away.  All of a sudden you've got another small team like Huddersfield or Bournemouth in the Premier League with a £100m revenue.  On the other hand if the Villa team who beat Bristol City or Wolves turns up, we could smash everybody into oblivion.

[Steve67]

International breaks. Meh!

[SoccerHQ]

I'm the opposite. I'd back us to beat a Boro or Preston over two legs as we've been really good at VP in the crucial games this season. Something like grinding out a 1-1 in the away leg first (providing we finish 3rd-4th and don't drop any lower) and then with the crowd in good voice and behind us like in the Wolves and Bristol games, could see us winning 2-0.

My issue would be the final. 10 day build up, 200m + game, media speculating on the consquences for us if we don't go up, story might break that SB would be axed if we lost, all things that can distract or heap more pressure on a team.

Dosen't help aswell we are usually awful in cup finals at Wembley. Play offs might not be an FA cup final but it's risen to become a huge game in its own right in last 15 years.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

The truth is we've been inconsistent all season so what happens in the play-offs is anybody's guess. Would I bet the house on us being promoted? Not a chance.

[preston28]

I think we’ll go up via the playoffs. I can’t back it up with any statistics but just a feeling I have. UTV.

[andyh]

I’m fully resigned to us being in the playoffs now.
So much so that I am now planning work activites around potential play off dates.

[wolfman999]

When might we know the semi final dates? I can't understand why provisional dates aren't know by now as we know the dates of the last league games and the date of the final. Down to Sky TV maybe?