Our home form is shocking !!!

Is it as simple as the onus being on us to attack at home? Away from Plainmoor, when teams are more inclined to pressure us, we're adept at getting results. But at home, when many sides are evidently satisfied to take home the point they start the game with, we're unable to break them down? I've seen it suggested recently that we are as direct this season as we were last. I personally don't think that's the case. I think we do offer more variation in our attacking play this year - but evidently not enough. When it's not working (such as yesterday) we need a different option. Throwing Robbo up-front (as has happened in two recent home games) gives the impression of a degree of desperation. And whilst he makes a good job of putting himself about (and was unfortunate in several penalty appeals yesterday), i think that should be a 'last resort' rather than a regularly used option.

vinny I would agree based on our current form we may struggle in a play-off semi final as we all know its so often the form team who go on to win the final and promotion.

I would still be more worried if we were not in a play-off spot and might then feel our season could end with nothing to show for it.But as I said we have a spot and its up to us to keep it and hopefully start to find the form we will need to win the final should we get there.

Its all there still to play for and we can only keep believing things will improve and not give up hoping that this is the season we get back to where we know we really belong.

We are only 6pts worse of at the same stage as last season. So why does this year have so many doubters??

Did we lose our belief in the 4 defeats out of 5 at the start. The great unbeaten run would have most fans on top of the world but now it feels almost that it didn't happen. We all know Burton are gone and it is all about picking up in April. Last year we wrapped up he Play Offs with great wins against Oxford & Stevenage and then coasted for 5 games, we all know how that cost us.

Now I wouldn't mind not securing a Play Off spot until 2 games to go (couldn't face a last day battle) keep the players competitive. The season will come down to a 8 games season and that when we strike.

Oh dear, I feel a chart coming on.....



For what it's worth, the graph shows last season's and this season's points accumulation to date (34 games).

You can see last year's wonderful consistency which started to tail off after defeats in games 32-34 against Grays, Aldershot and Halifax.

This season it's pretty much as you'd expect. You can see the poor start followed by the recovery which - by the York and Lewes games in November - had narrowed the deficit on last season to five points.

This position slipped with the games against Woking, Cambridge and Eastbourne (9 Dec), since when we've kept pretty close to what is required of a team in our current position. You can see the importance of the last four results - DWWD - in the process.

It's all a bit obvious but I'm happy to keep this graph going if it helps.

We're currently on track for 81 points which is the total achieved by 5th place (Burton) last season. 78 was enough for Exeter in 2006/07, the first year Conference teams played 46 games. City got 83 points last year, Torquay 86.

As I keep saying, and I do get knocked back for it, we haven't had the rub of the green for a number of games and so to be in our position, considering our poor start to the season, isn't anywhere as near as doom-laden as some would think. It's easy to say we make our own luck but to be honest there have been at least three games where if we had, hypothetically, had the game re-analysed after by a referee and the correct decisions given we would have that 6 points. I realise people will say that is only 'what-ifs' and we don't have those points but what it shows is we are well on course for the play-offs and our performances in this league are good enough to get us there. And then the lottery begins. Let's enjoy it...

I do find it a bit sad that so many fans seem to have the downers at the moment and I have been trying to try and see if I could find a reason, yes I know our home form has not been as good as we would have liked it to be. I know there has been games that we really should have won, but ended up only getting a draw, or even a defeat.

Leigh feels we have not had the rub of the green of late, that maybe true but as Fonda said over the whole season these things always equal up and anyway I'm a firm believer that you have to make your own luck in anything you do.

I found myself making my day much longer today as I spend time talking with a season ticket holder in Bridgwater at lunchtime, he does not live there but he works for a parcel company and his round is in Bridgwater. He lives in Tiverton and sits in the family stand. but you would think we really were the worst team in the BSP and doomed forever to listen to him.

When he talks about a game he always seems to want to included what those who sit with him think as well, its like by doing so he wants to show me his views are shared by so many others. He said that we blew any chance of over taking Burton and going up as champions on Saturday by only getting a draw, but even if we had won, just what chance would we really have of doing that anyway.

The only way we could is for Burton to have a very bad run, but Burton winning the title is in their own hands and we could win all the games left to play and if Burton matched our results, they will still be going up as champions.

I tried to make him see,that we need to stop concerning ourselves about trying to catch Burton, yes it would be great if we could, but we need to concentrate on what is in our own hands and that is keeping our play-off spot. We have one now and only we can throw it away, but as long as we grind out results and hopefully find the form we did in our record run before Christmas, then getting a semi final play-off game will be ours.

Yes we would have to win that game and then try and win the final, that game could end in tears of joy, but also tears of sorrow.We do not know how its all going to end really, but surely its far better to be positive than negative? being negative will get no one anywhere and there is a song that maybe we should be all singing.

No not the c word song, thats going to be history soon, the one I was thinking about was Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life We should because we need to look at the whole picture, see all the good and hard work people at the club are doing, to try and make mine and yours dreams come true.

We have had our last two seasons end in tears and had salt rubbed in our wounds, maybe thats the problem really, fans are so afraid its going to end in tears this season again.

It could but then again you may end up dancing naked in the streets as we celebrate going back to the football league. I have no crystal ball, but what I have is the ability to keep believing and keeping the faith that TUFC will go up one day. Should it be the case that we failed this season, then I will be sad for a while, but I know I will still have a club to support and the same people I trust to take the club forward will still be there next season, to try again. My mother always said if you don't succeed try and try again, that is what the club will always do and we need to help them so they can keep trying for the good of our club and to fulfill everyones dreams.