Final league position

[Wombles]

Get your predictions in.

7 rounds left, 4 away to;
Northampton
Gloucester
Irish
Tigers.
With 3 remaining home games against;
Newcastle
Worcester
Sale.

For me 2 rounds ago I had firm hopes top 6 and rugby champions cup rugby next season, admittedly due to our get out of jail free wins we managed. But our abysmal away form, lack of game control and ability to put in a 80 minute performance is now starting to hurt us as we reach the final part of the season.

Too many of our final opponents are playing better than us and I can only see 2 maybe 3 wins for us for the rest of the season. The team and the performances are just not there.

I would of loved Champions cup rugby next year, but realistically Challenge cup is more likely, and for me 9th will be our final placing.

Thoughts?

[Shugs]

Fifth for me but as I hit submit it registered as 13th!! Ignore that one.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Hey, somebody voted 13th .... 

[Neils]

Hey, somebody voted 13th .... 

Saw that - must be a CCFC infiltrator

[Westy68]

Before the quins game I honestly thought, with the players coming back, that we could start a big push for top 4, unfortunately I was surprised and disappointed on how poor we were against Quins and especially against Bristol. Our intensity was very disappointing and watching players taking far too long to get back into position and getting to the breakdown.

I look at our away games and think/hope we can beat saints, then I'm struggling to see where our next win will come from against Glouster, Irish and Tigers. I can see us winning 2 of our 3 home games, which I hope gets us 7th at worst 8th.

For me Lee has no more excuses, he needs to start getting us playing as a team and increase our intensity on a consistent basis. We do have a good team, so if things don't improve and we get less then the 3 wins then for me, I can't see how lee is the guy to get us challenging for trophies and next season will be another disappointing season with us finishing towards the bottom end of the league.

[Rossm]

Before the quins game I honestly thought, with the players coming back, that we could start a big push for top 4, unfortunately I was surprised and disappointed on how poor we were against Quins and especially against Bristol. Our intensity was very disappointing and watching players taking far too long to get back into position and getting to the breakdown.

I look at our away games and think/hope we can beat saints, then I'm struggling to see where our next win will come from against Glouster, Irish and Tigers. I can see us winning 2 of our 3 home games, which I hope gets us 7th at worst 8th.

For me Lee has no more excuses, he needs to start getting us playing as a team and increase our intensity on a consistent basis. We do have a good team, so if things don't improve and we get less then the 3 wins then for me, I can't see how lee is the guy to get us challenging for trophies and next season will be another disappointing season with us finishing towards the bottom end of the league.

And just what would you have considered acceptable, Westy, before our previous tranche of games?

[Westy68]

Before the quins game I honestly thought, with the players coming back, that we could start a big push for top 4, unfortunately I was surprised and disappointed on how poor we were against Quins and especially against Bristol. Our intensity was very disappointing and watching players taking far too long to get back into position and getting to the breakdown.

I look at our away games and think/hope we can beat saints, then I'm struggling to see where our next win will come from against Glouster, Irish and Tigers. I can see us winning 2 of our 3 home games, which I hope gets us 7th at worst 8th.

For me Lee has no more excuses, he needs to start getting us playing as a team and increase our intensity on a consistent basis. We do have a good team, so if things don't improve and we get less then the 3 wins then for me, I can't see how lee is the guy to get us challenging for trophies and next season will be another disappointing season with us finishing towards the bottom end of the league.

And just what would you have considered acceptable, Westy, before our previous tranche of games?

Because of all the injuries that's a difficult call to make. We don't have that excuse now and we do have a good team and we could easily win more then 3 games. I personally believe we can beat anyone with a full strength team. The thing I'm not sure about is how well coached we can be

[HDAWG]

I voted 8th.

Our brief form we won some games, but it seemed exhausting for them to continue. I also never thought we looked good as we won, compared to Leicester, Quins or even London Irish.

I think we're going to get better, and be capable of continuing form. And hoping we also look more convincing simultaneously.

Hence I think we'll just be behind the big boys, but it's not the end of the world. Just need to sort it for next season.

[Mellie]

8th is good enough for Heineken Champions Cup qualification if we don't make top 4, which is looking unlikely now. Even 9th could be enough if we win the Challenge Cup, which we are still in.

I know the higher we are the better the draw, but if you're good enough to win it you have to beat the best teams anyway.

[Rossm]

I voted 7th. We're just a bit too erratic at the moment for me to vote any higher. However no team will want to play us as we can beat anyone on the day - as we've shown recently.

[RogerE]

I also voted 7th, my reasoning being same as Rossm.

[mike909]

I voted 8th.

Our brief form we won some games, but it seemed exhausting for them to continue. I also never thought we looked good as we won, compared to Leicester, Quins or even London Irish.

I think we're going to get better, and be capable of continuing form. And hoping we also look more convincing simultaneously.

Hence I think we'll just be behind the big boys, but it's not the end of the world. Just need to sort it for next season.

+1

I'll add that I do think that we've been running on reserve tank for too many players for too much of the season and that will continue to catch up with us.

[13thWarrior]

I voted 5th as I think the recent downtick in form is just that, and that and after the big wins some rebound was always likely. Somewhat surprised this puts me in the join most optimistic category however...

[Andywasp50]

I've gone for 10th as I think we may keep above the sides from 11th down, but have flattered to deceive in recent results. Late comebacks against Exeter and Bath (who were down to 13) have saved face somewhat, but 50 mins of the games have been shabby. Thoroughly dismal at Bristol to follow that up.

I think Umaga is a better 10 with Robson at 9 and vice versa - they compliment each other and we play better as a team. Atkinson doesn't offer Robson much to work with, particularly at the breakdown and so the 9/10 creative pairing isn't working. I fear Lee's blindspot with Charlie means he'll stay at 10 for the remainder of the season with Umaga at 15.

I'm not Umaga's greatest fan, but apart from a fall off tackle for their third try, he was a different class from Atkinson at Briz.

[JF]

I voted 9th. We could well finish higher but our lack of (good) consistency could kill us.