League title - is it a one horse race ?

[AT67]

Just wondering on people's thoughts about the league.

Coventry have a number of games in hand over Nottingham and a gap in points between them and Belfast and us.

Do you think the title will go to Coventry this season ?

Reasons why or why not please.

I know it may be too early to call but, if it is not Coventry - who do you think will beat them to the title ?

 

[kettdevil1]

Coventry's great strength is their consistency. They rarely have an off game and tend to play to a set level. Hence, they don't tend to lose out to a team you would imagine they should beat. Hence, that is why I think they will be league champions.

Strangely enough I don't actually think that they are the best team in the league and that is why I don't think that they will win the playoffs. On any given night Nottingham, Belfast and the Devils could beat them, the thing about all three of these teams though is that they also can lose to any team on any given night. In a one off game I would back the Devils but over a season it is Coventry's consistency that we aspire to.

 

[wildthing74]

On paper Nottingham and Belfast are probably the strongest squads especially with the extra imports they are somehow able to carry within the wage cap.
Coventry have the main advantage in that they have a good non playing coach.Thommo does a good job and reckon will win the league again.
All his players stick to their jobs and he seems to replace players easier each year than other coaches.

 

[Finny]

The title is there for Coventry to win. As has already been said, they have had a pretty settled squad over the past couple of seasons and it has led to the return of consistency this season as well as confidence.

Though Nottingham and Belfast aren't that far off them points wise, Coventry have quite a few games in hand. For me the title race is over, for Nottingham to blow this now would be incredible. I don't think any team other than ourselves really has the self-believe that they can beat the Blaze consistently.

 

[Wannabe2]

Dont you mean for Blaze to blow it now would be incredible.????????? :?

 

[Finny]

Yeh. My brain is getting tired and making me look stupid again.

 

[Wannabe2]

No Comment. :lol:

 

[J.B]

I wouldn't say incredible. 4 games in hand with 24 left to play is a good position but hardly impossible to turn around. Just wish I took wannabe's bet now :lol:

 

[Wannabe2]

I wouldn't say incredible. 4 games in hand with 24 left to play is a good position but hardly impossible to turn around. Just wish I took wannabe's bet now :lol:

Dont believe you would take money of a very poor welshman.

 

[AT67]

Some excellent posts.

On home form alone there is very little between the top 4 teams, the big difference SO FAR is the away form of the top 4.

Coventry certainly have championship winning away form with 70% of the available points.
Nottingham and Belfast are hovering around the 50% mark.
Cardiff are around 26% which has SO FAR damaged our championship aspirations.

Coventry certainly have an advantage at this stage but there is a long way to go.

We have gained 3 wins out of 5 (5 out of 7 including cup) against Coventry including wins at the Skydome.

We have 3 more games against Coventry, so the possibility of seriously narrowing their advantage is in our own destiny.

Coventry notoriously have a late season stumble and if things start to get tighter at the top, there is every possibility of another team pipping them at the post.

As mentioned Cardiff's away form needs to improve to improve our chances of getting in the mix at season end and I believe we have the opportunity to create the platform now.

Our next 5 away games are against the 4 teams with the worst home records. THIS is our opportunity to significantly improve our away form and transform our belief that we can win consistently away from home.

We also need to continue our excellent home form.

Though this will not be easy, it is certainly within our capabilities, our own destiny and within reason within our own control.

By the time we meet at Coventry on 18 Feb, we will have the opportunity to seriously narrow the gap on the top 2 teams.

The pressure will have increased on them and the momentum will have been gathered by us, they have everything to lose - we have everything to gain.

By the time of Stoney's testimonial we could seriously be in the challenge cup final and within 6 points of the top team with 9 games left.

It's a tough ask, but this is very possible. It certainly needs belief, confidence, composure, focus and determination.

With those in mind now we have to bring it down to playing one game at a time, one period, one shift at a time and playing in the moment.

We can only be in control of the game we are playing, what other teams do to each other may be to our benefit or not.

 

[Anonymous]

Id say a 2 horse race, Blaze or Panthers, obviously Blaze are favorites but in sport you never know!!

 

[AT67]

With Coventry losing tonight, it makes things just a little tighter at the top.

Though they are still favourites and probably will be for a while.

They are not invincible and they have had end of season collapses in the past.

We have to keep the pressure on the other top teams and if the others do slip up, then we need to make sure we are there to take advantage.

 

[Koop11]

We have had some big wins of late and this I hope will install some confidence as we head back out onto the road. I personally feel a little too much damage has been caused for us to win the league title this season but I do feel we will have a big say in who does. A top 3 finish is certainly something we should be aiming for.

We’re now finally level with Coventry on games played and the gap is 12 points. If we can beat them next Saturday then that of course is whittled down to 10 points. Dare I say, with us having an ‘easier run’ going into the end of the season then there is no reason why we cannot shorten the gap but I cannot see Coventry slipping up with 5 loses and us win all out remaining games. You never know though.

The league title though is not a one horse race but I do feel Coventry are still favourites to take the title.

 

[ASHIPP]

The good news for the Devils is that the 3 teams above them are going to be seeing a lot of eachother in the next few weeks so SOMEONE is going to be losing matches! Coventry look too good to catch with games in hand over the others. Devils schedule doesn't look too bad - if they can close gap on Giants, 3rd place is possible for sure.

 

[kettdevil1]

The good news for the Devils is that the 3 teams above them are going to be seeing a lot of eachother in the next few weeks so SOMEONE is going to be losing matches! Coventry look too good to catch with games in hand over the others. Devils schedule doesn't look too bad - if they can close gap on Giants, 3rd place is possible for sure.

Interestingly, after Coventry next Saturday our next 8 games are all against teams below us in the league.

That is the good news, the bad news is that 5 of those games are away from home.

As they say in golf, it's time to move.