What's the best case scenario?

[General]

Having played all three of the teams around us recently and about to play west brom too we're essentially gauging the playoffs already.. games have been close, exposed our vulnerabilities but also has the others and we've come out of the games (aside from brentford) so far with confidence but it had to be earned. For me that's a healthy place to be as it gives us confidence but doesn't allow for complacency. Although it can have a tendency to galvanise the other teams at least we will know we can get a result and score goals. More confident against Cardiff admittedly.

With west Bromwich coming up what's the ideal score and line?  If west Bromwich draw then there's a good chance they'll be in the playoffs with us and could either feel like a wounded animal and it may affect them to fold and feel sorry for themselves or galvanise them.

So with the idea that we may have to play them again, the last thing we want is to lose, perhaps or win too heavily and give us room for complacency etc..

What are your thoughts?

Or do we thrash them (unlikely) and assume the dominant position going into the playoffs and hope that the team has enough.

For what it's worth west broms attack and gd is so significantly different to ours I can help but think we're the underdogs to go up.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Win, win and thrice win.
Winning becomes a habit, as does losing become a habit.
You must ask yourself are you a Door Mat or a Matador.
Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.
We never lose, we either win or we learn.
You must want to win every time you enter the field of play, including winning the toss, never contemplate anything but a victory.

[David Allen Crankshaw]

If we beat West Brom  and Brentford win their last three matches Brentford will finish second as they will have a superior goal difference to WBA. We could therefore face WBA in the play-offs. A far better prospect than facing Brentford.

[St Eve]

We need to now finish 3rd and take on whoever it is in the final

[Luka]

I do not want us to face Brentford in the playoffs. Beat WBA and let Brentford romp on to automatic promotion is my preference.
Finishing  3rd  or 4th makes little difference to me but with Brentford out of the picture, we have a much better chance of promotion.

[One Martin Thomas]

I do not want us to face Brentford in the playoffs. Beat WBA and let Brentford romp on to automatic promotion is my preference.
Finishing  3rd  or 4th makes little difference to me but with Brentford out of the picture, we have a much better chance of promotion.

I agree ! I would prefer 4th and play Forest ! I don't fancy any of the teams looking for 6th; especially Derby

[rebel]

Brentford aren't invincible, they have some stand out players, a manager who has set them to play in a certain way which is very effective. They always have a player ready to receive the ball, a very pacey team going forward, players who know how to find the back of the net. It's finding ways to neutralize their play. They remind me of Joka's Promotion Team in their passing, very slick. Definitely the best passing team in the Championship. They are on a run.

They've lost 11 times this season, so doubling up on their stand out players. Break up their play , I thought Swansea did that well for most of the match against Leeds.

[Finnans Right Peg]

Best case is we stuff west brom and the fall apart .Preston beat Brentford .west brom lose again and we go up automatically  079.gif

[Andy S]

I don't fear any of the reams in the play offs whoever they are. We have experience of them two years ago. That is an advantage as is playing your opponent twice. Brentford will be desperate to go up because they will want to start their premier games at their new ground. That can lead to mistakes. There are so many scenarios you cannot judge any team before the game. Brentford never beat us we beat ourselves and owe them

[Pieter A’dam]

Not afraid for Brentford if we play them in the play off final. Can't see we loose to them 3X in one season, moreover a couple of weeks ago We were equal to them up to 85th minute. I believe we have more experience in the squad which is very important, let the media make them the favourites. I can live with that, we just need to keep momentum.

[filham]

Just 3 games to go and possibilities for us are:-
1. Automatic promotion means beating West Brom tomorrow plus winninglast two matches but even then we stay below them if they win one and draw one of their last two matches, that is not going to happen ,we really can forget automatic promotion.

2.Third place would be nice as it would mean we meet the 6th place team in the semi final play off match. The 6th place spot is wide open to any team right down to half way in the table and would present us with possibly the best chance of reaching the final. To reach third place however we have to overtake Brentford and they are on top form right now so that seems unlikely.

3. Our most likely finish seems to be 4th or 5th place with a tight semi final against Forrest and if we can beat them over two legs an exciting final against Brentford at Wembley.

Of course we all wanted the season to end with Fulham as runaway ,top of the tabble , winners, but really that was just too much to hope for straight after relegation. We should count our blessings for being involved in this exciting finish.

[FulhamStu]

We can do nothing about Brentford, we will avoid them in a 2 legs playoff and can only play them in the final.  A one off game with huge pressure where anything can happen.  As for where we will finish, it will 95% be 4th and a playoff v Forest who are nothing more than functional.  If we can't beat Forest we deserve to remain in the championship.

[Cambridge Pete]

I enjoy this forum. Woolly Mammoth is a philosopher. Like his post. Also I agree with Luka (pending Tuesday's performance).  Wherever we are at the end of the season I will still continue to keep the faith. Like many, over the years we have endured some awful years and one or two fantastic ones. COYW

[rebel]

I enjoy this forum. Woolly Mammoth is a philosopher. Like his post. Also I agree with Luka (pending Tuesday's performance).  Wherever we are at the end of the season I will still continue to keep the faith. Like many, over the years we have endured some awful years and one or two fantastic ones. COYW

Well, Woolly Mammoth has been here since the last Ice Age, so has had plenty of time to fine tune his craft, 'Philosophering' doesn't come easy to some of us. 

[Deeping_white]

Speak it into existence; we win tonight, Brentford lose. West Brom have a mini meltdown and lose their next game and we win meaning we go into the last game of the season in 2nd and grind a 1-0 win away at Wigan to go up in second.

[OdecaMynoT]

No flowery words to reason,

Brentford in the final,

Championship next season,

I'm off to the urinal.

[Sting of the North]

Speak it into existence; we win tonight, Brentford lose. West Brom have a mini meltdown and lose their next game and we win meaning we go into the last game of the season in 2nd and grind a 1-0 win away at Wigan to go up in second.

This. That could be considered a realistic best case scenario. It is of course several results that should go our way, but it's not as if it's completely unreasonable or almost no chance. In fact, we have a decent chance I think if we do our part.

Of course it is a big ask to finish the season with 7 straight wins, but not as big as if Brentford get 10 straight (which I don't think they will). Remember us going into the last game two years ago needing a win, coming of 23 straight without defeat. Most people would probably have tipped us for 3 points that day, but we just never really got going. It happens to all teams at some point, and hopefully it happens to Brentford tomorrow already.

It is also not unreasonable to believe that WBA might feel an immense amount of pressure should we beat them today. The automatic spot is theirs to lose after having occupied it for most of the season.

I still believe.

[H3Matt]

Unpopular opinion but I'd rather lose tonight and have WBA finish 2nd. Don't care if we have to face that lot in playoffs, I just don't want to gift them automatic promotion.

I don't care what happens. Championship is nice, I don't see the appeal of being in the Premier League and having VAR ruin everything.

[rebel]

Speak it into existence; we win tonight, Brentford lose. West Brom have a mini meltdown and lose their next game and we win meaning we go into the last game of the season in 2nd and grind a 1-0 win away at Wigan to go up in second.

I agree 100%, Parker said that all the 'pressure' is on the top two. I'm warming to that kind of speak. Remember, both Leeds and West Brom have had 'meltdowns' this season, when there was relatively little pressure on them.

[Sting of the North]

Unpopular opinion but I'd rather lose tonight and have WBA finish 2nd. Don't care if we have to face that lot in playoffs, I just don't want to gift them automatic promotion.

I don't care what happens. Championship is nice, I don't see the appeal of being in the Premier League and having VAR ruin everything.

I can understand the appeal of the Championship over the Premier League (from a theoretical point of view at least), but I can never understand wanting Fulham not to win any given game. How can a dislike for another team like Brentford be stronger than the love for your own club? We also have a chance of automatic promotion ourselves, but I understand that you don't want that so maybe that makes sense.

Also, had we had VAR last time we were in the PL, we would likely have been much closer to avoiding relegation. Frankly, even though all the bad things with VAR, I don't see why it "ruins everything". I don't have the statistics for the PL, but in a study conducted before this season involving 900 + games with VAR, it was on average only about 30 % of the games that actually used VAR. The average added time to a game was 55 seconds. Maybe the PL is much worse at using VAR, but I find it hard to believe that it has ruined everything.