THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

Was having a chat with a mate over the weekend and we had different views on this so I'm curious to see what others think.

Regardless of the opponent, do you think it's better to go into the play offs by missing out on an automatic spot on the last day despite a good win and confident performance on that last day (eg. Plymouth 2022), or to miss out with a couple of games to go such as this season.

I leaned toward the latter, mostly for the extra preparation is gives for mindset. I think that the mental knock you get from giving everything on the last day, to do everything right just to miss out, hits you knowing you then have to roll your socks up and go again for 2-3 games. However, my mate said that to miss out with a few games to go (and therefore to have a not as good end of season, form wise) is worse as you cannot carry what is potentially a good run of form into the play offs.

I don't think it matters, I think what matters is how you deal with the situation. If you lose out on the final day and go into the plays feeling gutted and drained about being so close, then you'll not fair well. If you turn that that feeling into a 'We came so close, we have to do this now' kind of attitude, then you'll do well.

It's all down to the players and staff to instill the right mindset, regardless of how the league played out.

The play offs is over 2 legs, so really, the best team should be winning. Based on the table, that is us by some distance. Although I'd be lying if I said Doncaster's form didn't worry me.

It's a bit like the Underdog mentality - it can go two ways.

We have nearly always gone into the play-offs thinking we would/should make it to the final because we'd either had the better season or thought we would safely win over 2 legs. That was clearly bollocks.

I just want us to have practised a plan a,b and c based on what the other teams did in the games where we conceded 4 and 5 goals, because that is what our play off opposition will be doing.

Yup. May be wrong but haven't we been favourites pretty much every year we've gone into the play offs? We almost feel like we have one foot into Wembley already, yet haven't made it once.

I'm really struggling to envisage anything other than what happened to us in the first leg against Wycombe, if anything I feel it'll be worse based on how we've been away from home this season. There is already this massive drive for 'Don Your White' (which I am not against and support the effort) but I massively worry the tie will be over by then already.

I think we need to promote the away leg in equal measure and get as much support as possible. That is when they REALLY need us.

Agree 100% with this, if we are to get to Wembley the first leg is where we need massive support , just hope it’s not Barrow ,Bradford or Doncaster .

There wasn't a feeling of disappointment on and off the field at Plymouth, quite the opposite. Everyone was incredibly excited and positive, not feeling like we missed out - Rotherham had Gillingham who were going down so it was, despite a tough game, almost unlikely we'd go up and relying on Gills to help us more than us doing our bit and failing. We did our bit.

I think it can work both ways and doesn't really matter. It's about how you handle the game(s) on the day, not about how you got into the position to play them. We'll have wrapped our head around playoffs by now so no excuses on nervousness etc.

_________________
#DonYourWhite

Turn Stadium MK WHITE In The Playoffs

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Yeah, I think we’re in the best position mentally, we don’t have to scrap it out on the final day, in a physically and psychologically draining game, we have already started the preparations for the play offs, the others are still jostling for positions and won’t have the luxury of resting players to keep them fresh.

I’m pretty chilled out with the situation we’re in

They 'really' need us in both games. We don't know the state of things yet. In all liklihood we'll take a good crowd to the away game, and once tickets are out we'll promote them - it's Bank Holiday Monday and there's a chance for short trips to Crewe or Crawley, which won't be too hard to sell our allocation. It's easier to promote a campaign when it's on your doorstep and we know when and where the game will be played

_________________
#DonYourWhite

Turn Stadium MK WHITE In The Playoffs

https://donsaction.co.uk/

GET THIS SEASONS HOME SHIRT FOR £16.50 ↓↓↓
https://shop.mkdons.co.uk/collections/23-24-home-kit

We also have an issue about getting to whoever we’re playing, rail strikes confirmed for May 6th by ASLEF.

60k a year apparently isn’t enough to drive a fucking train

Do you know why they are striking? A quick Google shows they haven't had a pay rise since 2019 and have been in dispute since, the cause of the strike seems to be that the Government tie the hands of the companies to prevent them agreeing pay deals.
If you think being a train driver is so great I am sure you can apply!
Trade Unions are a huge driver (no pun intended) for wage rises in this country, without them pushing for public sector workers to get pay rises wages across the board would be suppressed.