Quote Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee View Post
Coped is an interesting word. Trying to analyse our defensive performance is a bit like challenging a millipede to an arse kicking competition.

10 clean sheets was a great effort, only 7 clubs in the top flight managed more. That's got to be a huge positive.

69 goals conceded, only 2 clubs in the top flight conceded more. That's definitely not a huge positive, especially given the number of clean sheets. Put into perspective, 69 goals conceded would usually be in the worst 2-3 in a Premier league season; there are seasons where no clubs conceded as many as 69.

One curiosity with this is that there are quite a few occasions where teams keep lots of clean sheets but let in lots of goals. Bournemouth conceded more than us last season yet kept the same number of clean sheets. West Ham and Watford did something similar the season before and I could go on.
Bounced back could have been a better word. Lost 5-1 to Man Utd, kept 2 clean sheets on the bounce. It all started to go wrong at that Watford game, Warnock really dropped a bollock there. We'd won two on the spin and finally looked like we'd found a way to win. Then he completely changed it and we got hit for 5, then lost to Everton and Wolves. Curiously we never really went back to the set up that got us those wins.