You say we will be on 10 points if we win the next 2. Currently on 5 now so that does not compute and will affect your formulaic prediction will it not?

You are of course right and I am ed ! I meant 9 , so that's 9 points from 9 games , it gets worse as 27 points from 27 games at the end of the season won't get you much - and you can take that to the bank

slightly.....

Nothing to get vexed about as you could get a draw against HKR and you are back on track. When did a drawn game at home against Rovers last occur?

Not wanting to big up your chances or anything but didn't you lose the first 7 or 8 games the year you got to the GF?

We won the first two games in 2006 then lost five out of the next six. After eight rounds we were 7th out of 12.

In 2007 after eight rounds we had only five points and were 10th out of 12 - we eventually finished 4th mainly due to signing Mathew Head and winning eight from the last ten regular season matches.

The seasons in the past were not as level as today. Teams at the bottom can win more games etc

The whole idea of Salary Cap is to bring the comp closer every year and 2013 is a lot different to 2007 !

Also we had a coach change in at least 1 of those seasons I believe , that is a catalyst that can truly alter a season.

My thought is we won't change the coach and thus we will play to type for most of the season. Meaning if we are on 9 points after 9 games , then there is a slim of getting to 32 points after 27 games or at least 34 is a near maximum based on the strength of SL at the moment and injuries ( this weekend we have Aaron H , Tickle , Yeamo , Ellis out just for starters).

However 34 would or should get us to at least 5th based on 2012/2011 seasons.

BUT if we are on 9 from 9 how do we get to 34 from 27 games ?

Top 8 is achievable but Top 5 ???????????

Not strictly true, in 2006 Catalans finished bottom with 16 points from 28 games (29%), in 2007 Salford were bottom with 13 points from 27 (24%). Both better records than the bottom teams in 2011 and 2012.

I can agree to some extent etc

My 'gut' feeling is that we will not have a catalyst event and thus as the game is VERY tough and ruthless then we can hardly expect to do much better than the 1st 9 games.

Giants , Leeds , Wigan and Wire don;t look like giving up TOP 4 this season. Then Dragons and Saints make it very difficult to wrestle 5th or 6th , leaving us with Bulls/Rovers/ for 7th , sounds familiar.

How long will AP look at this scenario ? He knows the Top 3 in 2015 will be Aussie bound for a potential WCC .

How long will FC fans wait ?

Unless you can come up with a credible argument for us being Top 3 next season , 2014 , under Gentle ?

I honestly feel people are getting abit carried away lately. Does anyone look at the league table properly or just look where fc are??

From 3rd - 11th, the difference in point is 2.

There's still games to be played and with warm weather (hopefully) coming, players returning from injuries and finally gelling ya never no.

This applies to ALL teams obviously

Ok yes it does. But still, from 3rd to 11th the difference is 2 points.

6 points from 8 games so far , when we have played 9 games I have said many times you will get a great idea where we will finish , give or take 2 positions up or down. We had BETTER beat Rovers.

Are the players afraid of Gentle ?

They appear to afraid of the opposition's try line.

Using the weather is a weak excuse, England is a cold country, a good quarter of the season is played in freezing weather every year, and we should be prepared for it. While our lighter forwards will be better in warm weather, how many games last year did we play in warm conditions? I can only recall the Magic Weekend.

also we have some good players sat in the stands, but apart from Holdsworth none of them will bring much needed attacking flair to the team, Ellis for example is a fantastic player but his game is about strength and work-rate, he isn't going to sort out dire kicking game out etc