Where do you think we will finish ?

[tomd2103]

3-6th play off I am afraid - our earlier draws will.come back to haunt us

We're 3 points off 2nd with 18 games to go!!  Not sure how you get to that conclusion!!

If we come third, 1 or 2 or 3 points behind second, our earlier draws will have come back to haunt us.  Simples.

At the moment, we are 3 points behind Derby and have drawn the same amount of games as them.  They are 3 points ahead of us because they beat us before Christmas. 

I'd agree about the draws if we were talking about potentially catching Wolves. 

[Damo70]

I have felt for most of the season that we would finish in a play off position so that is what I have gone for. However, we seem to be getting stronger as the season goes on and with recent results and momentum currently on our side I am starting to genuinely believe we can take second spot. None of the teams below us particularly worry me (I think both Bristol City and Sheffield United are starting to run out of steam) and I don't think Derby or Cardiff are better than us. I am quite happy to cheer Wolves on all the way to the title if they can beat Derby, Cardiff, Sheffield United, Fulham, and Boro on the way.

[adrenachrome]

Our current league form feels more like a groove than a spree to me, and I think we can carry this forward barring spectacular misfortune

2nd seems very possible now.

[JUAN PABLO]

2nd   easy

[Havencheese]

Barring important injuries, I'm confident we'll finish second with the slim chance of giving Wolves a run for their money even. I don't think catching the dogheads is out of the question but highly unlikely.

After the next loss, it'll be interesting to see how the team bounces back. It'll be this that defines us.

[tomd2103]

Our current league form feels more like a groove than a spree to me, and I think we can carry this forward barring spectacular misfortune

2nd seems very possible now.

I agree.  A big 'if' I accept, but if we can get a decent forward in this month to compete with Hogan and we remain largely injury free then I can't see why we can't go on and get automatic promotion.

[johnboy]

Play offs. A further review at the end of February

[mattjpa]

Villa can't do anything the easy way and I therefore don't think we will finish in the top 2 - sorry. 

So far this season  it's been like we are on crack, one moment on a high  the next head in hands.  We have yet to play the likes of Fulham, Sheffield United away, have Bloose at home and need to ride our luck in one or two other fixtures.

I still don't think we were that great yesterday, certainly not second half.

This leads onto the issue of what happens if we reach the play offs.  On paper  with the experience of Taylor, Chester, Hutton, Terry, Snodgrass, Elmo we should walk them, but you just know we won't.  A lot of pressure on us and a good percentage of which we put on ourselves.

Hard to disagree with any of that.

One of the big contributing factors of our gradual improvement has been the experience we have in closing games out and in game management. You would have to hope that with Terry being in god knows how many finals, Elmohamady winning Afcon and being a play off and FA cup finalist, Snodgrass winning a play off final and Terry/Taylor with their recent euro experience we would not be daunted. To this day, Grealish' biggest performance was at wembley as well. I just think that if we get there, we will take 40k fans, make a load of noise and we will go up comfortably

[Breezeblock]

Fuck it, we're gonna win the league!

[chrisw1]

It's in our own hands.  We have the deepest squad and I'm sure the other top 6 hopefuls will be very worried about us.

With Derby, Boro & Fulham all strong teams it will be very difficult, but we absolutely have as good a chance of second as anyone else. 

[Ads]

As somebody else remarked, mathematically it's in our hands now for the first time (a 2 goal swing needed hypothetically against Derby).

I feel the squad depth is the ultimate weapon and the more games that pass the more this feels like our level of performance or effectiveness rather than an upsurge.

Hogan suddenly coming to life and looking like a £12 million player is huge.

Perhaps the most comforting thing from Wyness was the comment about Agnew and Calderwood focusing on their specialisms. It seems to work. We look balanced, better at flooding forwards, better at moving off the ball and by and large very solid defensively.

We're a big beast and we cast a long shadow. Derby fans are worried and rightly so.

There's a raft of goals on midfield. If a forward can catch fire and bag 15, then we're on our way.

[andyaston]

Have Derby, Wolves or Cardiff had injuries on the scale that we've had to put up with so far?

[Ads]

Wolves and Derby no. Wolves fans remark that their front man is looking shattered mind.

Cardiff have had a few.

[wittonwarrior]

Dan bardell from the villa view is more optimistic than me thinks 2nd is achievable. I would be so happy but amazed if we did it

[cdbearsfan]

If we sign another forward we can finish second. We still could do, even if we don't sign anyone, but it would be a gamble.