Safety

[Chris Black come back]

Think we will be there pretty soon.

We are currently on 40 points with 11 games still to play. Looking over the last 10 seasons in League Two, the most that has been required to stay up is 51 points, although 13/14 looks very much like an aberration.

This is what the last relegated team finished on, i.e. we would need a point (or better GD and same points) better than them to stay up:

22/23 - 43
21/22 - 38
20/21 - 45
19/20 - 24 [Macclesfield had a number of points deductions]
18/19 - 41
17/18 - 46
16/17 - 46
15/16 - 34
14/15 - 41
13/14 - 50

[dickos1]

Regardless of any other season, this season neither of the bottom 2 are going to get anywhere near most of those previous totals.
Even if we lost every game now we would stay up

[Metalmicky]

Regardless of any other season, this season neither of the bottom 2 are going to get anywhere near most of those previous totals.
Even if we lost every game now we would stay up

That's a brave statement given our end of season form over previous years.

[dickos1]

Regardless of any other season, this season neither of the bottom 2 are going to get anywhere near most of those previous totals.
Even if we lost every game now we would stay up

That's a brave statement given our end of season form over previous years.

I said even if we lost all 11 games, so that form would trump any other season poor end to the season. And we’d still stay up.

[Filo]

We are safe now in my opinion

[Jonathan]

At no point have I ever felt like we were in any actual danger of going down. But that’s not to say I’m blind to how disappointing it’s been at times.

[Colin C No.3]

I’m of the same feeling Jono except I can (at long last) see that GM & his players, are actually playing as a team & with a belief in their abilities.

We should have, on the balance of play, have come away with all three points last night. On an atrocious pitch we played some very good football especially in the second half. Lots of good passing & good movement. A month ago we would have lost that game….badly. There really has been a ‘seismic shift’ in the way the team is now playing (Walsall apart).

I’m really confident we will finish the season strongly & look forward to next season with renewed vigour.

[Pancho Regan]

Agree 100% with Jonathan and Colin.

I don't think any of us expected to struggle like we have this season but the performances have been an upgrade on the last few seasons and more recently we have stepped up a level.

Bradford City stole a point from us last night and they knew that.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

I'm positive though, we're clearly improving in performances (I expect data backs that up too), we appear to be more creative and a bit more resolute defensively.

We still have to just get some of the results (like last night) finally over the line.  Definite improvement though and we're now probably in a place where Mccann has an 11 to build from.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I'll take my hat off to anyone who never thought we were in serious danger of going down.

5 minutes into injury time away at Sutton, we were 4 points clear of the drop and playing shocking stuff - 4 points from 10 games at that point. I never thought we were favourites to go down, but I doubt any of us would have bet big money against it happening at that moment.

The improvement since then has been a delight to see. Let's hope it's pointing us in the right direction for next season.

[Jonathan]

I'll take my hat off to anyone who never thought we were in serious danger of going down.

5 minutes into injury time away at Sutton, we were 4 points clear of the drop and playing shocking stuff - 4 points from 10 games at that point. I never thought we were favourites to go down, but I doubt any of us would have bet big money against it happening at that moment.

The improvement since then has been a delight to see. Let's hope it's pointing us in the right direction for next season.

With Sutton being a London away day, 5 minutes into injury time I was still cushioned by the preceding 10 pints and somewhat desensitised to the grave danger others may have felt. So I maintain that at no point have I truly felt like we’d go down.

And even if we’d lost that game at Sutton I’d have still looked at our squad and manager and felt like we ought to have enough to finish above 23rd place.

It has been disappointing compared to preseason expectations but I echo the thoughts of others that, over the season as a whole and allowing for the odd abomination that happens most years, we have been better than in recent seasons and we are slowly turning the curve.

[Pancho Regan]

I can honestly say I never felt we were in serious danger of going down.

At the point we squeezed that late draw at Sutton we were closer than I ever expected and hoped we would be, but I absolutely believed that with GM in charge and the group of players at his disposal, we would stay up.

[mushRTID]

It’s clear I think now that Grant has “stopped the rot”.

Excited where he takes from here moving into next season where he can again shape his own squad further.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I can honestly say I never felt we were in serious danger of going down.

At the point we squeezed that late draw at Sutton we were closer than I ever expected and hoped we would be, but I absolutely believed that with GM in charge and the group of players at his disposal, we would stay up.

Well, you're a sharper analyst than me then. By that time, we'd been spiralling down to the bottom of the form table, we looked punchdrunk and leaderless and I thought we were sinking in the way we did in 15/16 out of L1. Adelakun looked like a fish out of water at Sutton and Craig didn't even get on the pitch as we laboured against Sutton. Wood still looked a shadow of the player we thought we'd signed and the consensus in here was that Anderson was now fifth choice.

Hats off to anyone who saw the abrupt change in formation and playing style that was coming. I'd not had a sniff of a clue that these players could perform like they've done in the past 6 matches, and I genuinely thought we were in serious danger of going down.

[Alan Southstand]

I think the January window turned things round for the better, but even then, it wasn’t overly evident!

The keeper signing was long overdue and then Craig came to the fore after Close got his Bradford assault. On top of that, Adelakun suddenly burst to life.

I was very worried around Christmas time that we were looking like a relegation outfit, but then the pairing of Wood with Anderson and a more commanding keeper settled those nerves.

Work still to do and the summer is going to be interesting, as we have make sure the improvement continues.

[DearneValleyRover]

The other forum I go on is still stating 36 points for safety so we should be okay although I’d like at least one more win to feel comfortable about it

[BigH]

A couple more wins I’d say.

Cotterill is having an effect at FGR. That second bottom spot could well see 40+ points.

[Draytonian III]

Have a quick look at FGR’s fixtures, they’ve got to play 7 out of the top 8 teams, only missing Barrow

[Bessie Red]

Have a quick look at FGR’s fixtures, they’ve got to play 7 out of the top 8 teams, only missing Barrow

Plus they've got Walsall (top of the form table) on Saturday

[BigH]

Fair comment but they’ve won away at Barrow and drawn with Wrexham in recent games. Their defence has tightened up considerably.

I wouldn’t underestimate them. They’ll fancy a result at our place.