Recently by Marco 4J

Watching yesterday's pantomime finish to the Premiership season led my mind to wander to other tight finishes we've seen in the league in our time. I've already documented the Cardiff City battle in 1924/25 (which I would maintain remains the most exciting last day in history, but then I would say that) so I thought I'd update that with a few last days that I can remember the drama of. I ought to point out here, I was also inspired by the beyond excellent OnGoalsScored, which I can only recommend - there's some stunning stuff on there, even about Town. You'll can even see a graphical representation of last season's Survival Sunday - something I will use as a base for a couple of graphs here.

Looking back through the season's end-points lead me to the inescapable conclusion that they are often built-up in the press beyond the level they need to be. Think of the end of the Championship this season - there was never any doubt that Southampton would be promoted, but West Ham found themselves at the centre of a media whirlwind which was then used as an excuse for not tipping them in the playoffs. There is a flip side of this. The last game of the season is the one that completes the set, and it isn't the last game that promotes or relegates, its just the last chance to ensure the set ends the way you want it to. That's something I want to look at, too - a 'what went wrong/right' for the season.

The league tables in the first post were something interesting, and I thought it was worthwhile posting them on here, but it was the information that they give that was the reason I worked it all out.

Town travel to MK Dons tomorrow, as I'm sure you're aware. I wanted to see if there was any defining trends that the teams had in how their matches pan out. It seems obvious that - particularly in away games - Town tend to lead but then sit back and get caught out and end up level; I would say that trend has been seen less lately, but mainly because without goals - and they have become more difficult to find, the team can't lead.

Now we've finished our forty-six matches, we've got a full data set from League One in 2011/12 to play with, which is exciting stuff (for me, anyway). As such, I can begin to draw some conclusions about what we've seen and what we haven't seen. Of course, its nice to be able to draw a few conclusions about things that might come to pass in the end of season spectacular known as the playoffs.

To that end, I've taken inspiration from rather awesome video from the Championship and worked out detailed League One tables as if the games ended at ten minute intervals. I'm not sure how revealing this will be; if matches occurred as you'd think, it would just be a parade of draws until the better teams scored, and the worse teams conceded, so any graphs would be smooth and regular. Football, as I'm sure you're aware, is not 'regular', so I hope to find more revealing things.

So, here we are again. It's the four team shootout to see who can bring the best of themselves to the table for three cup finals in a row. It's the League One playoffs. I refute the term 'lottery', because it isn't anything like a lottery. The team that goes up isn't just lucky, they're good. Good enough to be in the top six teams in the division (five in 1994/5, and various numbers before the 90s in the wilds of the 1980s playoffs) but flawed enough not to be in the top two. All four teams can win games, but all have lost games, too. That's why they're there and not popping the champagne already. Winning isn't a lottery, it's the teams that can raise themselves over a fortnight and make the most of their situation.

The thing with winning the playoffs is that most teams don't do it. Every year there's a 75% failure rate. As such we've got exactly 75 examples of how not to win the playoffs, and only 25 examples of how to do so. I can only really look at League One playoffs for this, because the pressures of the other two divisions' playoffs are very different; the teams, though trying to do the same thing, are doing it differently. I'd rather watch the League Two ones, I think, of the three.

Peter Clarke, Antony Kay, Jamie McCombe, Sean Morrison. Four names that have filled the two positions for more than 90% of the appearances Huddersfield centre-backs have made this 2011/12 season. I'm sure, if you've seen more than one combination play, you'll have a favourite pairing. I certainly do, and putting my cards on the table early it would be Morrison and McCombe; I think McCombe came back from his spell at Preston far more confident in himself, and with Sean Morrison next to him, there's a level of solidity that I find appealing.

I want to have a look at how effective each pairing has been, however, and how see if I can come to a conclusion as to which two defenders should be pulling on the stripes in the playoffs that are now confirmed to be coming up. Back to the numbers, then, and familiar ground.

As League One meanders to a close, I'm drawn to review it. Expect posts with all sorts of numbers and conclusions at some point after the end of the playoffs - hopefully detailing reasons to be optimistic in the Championship next season. Until, then, though, I'll leave my spreadsheets updating but the ideas gathering a bit of dust and do things another way.

I was washing up the other day, and blurted out the chorus to Finest Worksong by R.E.M. It can happen from time to time, but I hadn't heard it for a while, so I popped it on my playlist for this morning. Of course, later on in Document, one finds It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). It isn't - as you're no doubt aware - the end of the world. It is the end of the league, though. So here is my take-off of that song, hopefully describing Town's season 2011/12 and equally hopefully scanning as well for you as it does for me. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: don't read this post for serious analysis of Huddersfield Town's season to date.

I've been writing here now for the best part of a season and contributing to a few other sites from time to time, and have recently been re-arranging my draft copies of articles - I was tickled by a couple of things I'd written about Jordan Rhodes in the last couple, and the flowery text with which I had described him. As I read through my drafts - because these are the bits I generally excise and replace, I noticed a few more unpublished 'highlights'. It does creep into my statistical posts from time to time, but you'll more often see it in the match reports - me having a bit of fun with generally disappointing third division football matches. Here's my favourite few from the season - don't take any of them too seriously, I know I didn't.

The managerial post at ten different League One clubs has seen different incumbents during the course of the 2011/12 season (as well as a good number before it, too). I've long been an advocate of patience - even when it involves going backwards to go forwards - so I'm always happy to see a manager get a chance to prove himself; John Sheridan at Chesterfield, for example, despite their probably relegation, is still the man in the seat, and they can clearly still play a bit - the Football League Trophy resides in their cabinet at the moment.

Of course, the appointment of Simon Grayson hasn't brought the immediate results it was hoped. Naturally, I'm intrigued to see whether the other changes of manager had a positive outcome on their clubs, as to whether it was as good an idea as it seemed at the time. I was surprised and disappointed when Lee Clark was sacked; not outraged, that would be a liberty, but I was disappointed that the stability, even if it had hit a stumbling block, was being upset. I did a post not long after that, saying Simon Grayson was the best man for the job, but I think - as I read somewhere not long afterwards - that Lee Clark was probably the best man for the job. I hope that isn't too revisionist - I wanted Grayson to come in at the time, and I was excited at the prospects, but all the momentum I hoped to gain has gone elsewhere, and Town feel even more stagnant than before.

My inbox went red hot on Saturday afternoon, and I'm sure you can all guess why; J0rdan Rhodes scored a penalty. Now, obviously I wasn't at the game, you'd be getting a sarcastic report describing Huddersfield as a soul-less ghost town if I had been, so I was watching Sky Sports News.

HUDDERSFIELD T 1-0 CHARLTON A (RHODES PEN 14) it said; I pointed at the television screen, bewildered. A minute later, I was still pointing, bewildered, at the screen when two things happened. Firstly, my arm started to cramp a little. Secondly, the 'alert' light on my phone started flashing. The nightmare was over. The penalty had been scored. The floodgates were opened.

If you're familiar with American Sports, you'll be familiar with the MVP, given to the most valuable player in each sport, or sometimes game, like a man of the match or season award. You might, legitimately, think that if I turned my eye to League One 2011/12, that Jordan Rhodes is the only candidate.

I want to open a window onto something else that has been happening in the division, almost without me noticing.