Queens Park v The Pars

[weemike]

It's the tiny percentage gains that make the difference between home form and away form over the course of 36 matches. 

Facilities will make a massive difference if the physio and massage therapists etc. has no space to work at half time etc. 

Playing long range passes on a pitch your familiar with you'll be more accurate (dimensions and quality of surface) 

 

Home vs away definitely has an effect and a 100 years worth of stats back that up. 

[Superally]

Morton 1 Ayr 1, Morton pull ahead by two pts over us. A win the morn will be ideal

[Digs]

16 minutes ago, weemike said:

Playing long range passes on a pitch your familiar with you'll be more accurate (dimensions and quality of surface) 

That’s really not how passing works.

[parsforlife]

15 minutes ago, weemike said:

Home vs away definitely has an effect and a 100 years worth of stats back that up. 

I don't think anyone has denied it being an effect, but enough to change your attitude towards results? not for me.  

The stats are changing, and quite quickly. I can't remember the exact percentages but the difference between home and away performance between the introduction of away goals as a deciding factor for European games and their removal was massive.   

[Rossmcno1]

https://www.soccerstats.com/table.asp?league=england&tid=1
 

English Premier league stats so far - 44% home wins, 28% away wins.

 

While every player is different and it might not matter to a few, I absolutely believe that some players just prefer to play home matches than away matches for various reasons.  Managers talk regularly about the value of playing at home.  Cant just ignore all of that plus the statistical evidence.  How many times have we heard about teams having to adapt to different surfaces and dimensions - classic case when Alloa tightened their pitch and I’m sure we changed our game plan to try and get a result there.
 

Things may be changing slowly, but for at least a good bit longer, home advantage is in general still a thing.
 

 

[parsforlife]

33 minutes ago, Rossmcno1 said:

.  Managers talk regularly about the value of playing at home.  Cant just ignore all of that plus the statistical evidence.  How many times have we heard about teams having to adapt to different surfaces and dimensions - classic case when Alloa tightened their pitch and I’m sure we changed our game plan to try and get a result there.

 

 

 

1. A lot of what managers and players talk in press conferences is purely to satisfy fans, home games have more fans listening and they are therefore more likely to say cliche nonsense to satisfy that.

2. Different surfaces, different dimensions, different players, different tactics, all are just basic attributes you take care of as a manager week to week, home or away.

[Rossmcno1]

4 hours ago, parsforlife said:

1. A lot of what managers and players talk in press conferences is purely to satisfy fans, home games have more fans listening and they are therefore more likely to say cliche nonsense to satisfy that.

2. Different surfaces, different dimensions, different players, different tactics, all are just basic attributes you take care of as a manager week to week, home or away.

1. And the stats generally suggest that home matches are more winnable than away matches

 

2. you’re not dealing with changing dimensions or surfaces every week when you’re at home though, that’s part of the point

 

 

[GG Riva]

What about positive and negative reinforcement? 

Would anybody deny that a large, noisy home support can encourage their players to take their game to another level, thanks to the feel good factor Conversely, the away team can find the atmosphere overwhelming or intimidating, causing their performance levels to drop because their concentration is affected. 

You only need to look at some of the incredible turn arounds in European football to conclude that home advantage is not exactly a figment of the imagination. 

[weemike]

1 hour ago, GG Riva said:

What about positive and negative reinforcement? 

Would anybody deny that a large, noisy home support can encourage their players to take their game to another level, thanks to the feel good factor Conversely, the away team can find the atmosphere overwhelming or intimidating, causing their performance levels to drop because their concentration is affected. 

You only need to look at some of the incredible turn arounds in European football to conclude that home advantage is not exactly a figment of the imagination. 

I agree, football is often a game where two playing styles collide. You cannot just play to your own style and strengths week in week out and disregard the opposition. 

Likewise you cannot just play to counteract the opposition every week and have no identity yourself. 

Sometimes the best way to deal with this. Is to impose your style at home and be more reactive to the opposition away from home. 

 

Like anything it's all about balance. 

And the home away cycle helps deal with that balance 

[SanguinePar]

13 hours ago, weemike said:

Home vs away definitely has an effect and a 100 years worth of stats back that up. 

And this is the thing - while I think those arguing it makes no difference make a good case for why it shouldn't matter, the evidence definitely indicates that it does. 

Whether it's for the reasons argued here or something else, the fact remains that teams generally do better at home than away. There's too much of a pattern for it to be a coincidence.

[weemike]

I get the impression those arguing why it should make no difference would also argue that sports science or sports psychology will have no bearing on results because it didnt exist in their day. 

When the quality of the pool is in such a thin spectrum at the professional level then it is the smallest of margins that will make a difference between results. 

Years ago. The gulf in quality was more apparent. 

[Grant]

If I could weigh in here, the away and home thing IMO depends. 

And with regards to QP, it's about as "nice" an away game as you'll get, their won't be any atmosphere, you'll have a nice changing room, nice pitch well protected from the elements. Some of our team even come from Glasgow so I'm not buying the travel aspect. 

 

There's an argument that the players will prefer playing QP away than at home. 

[weemike]

20 minutes ago, Grant said:

If I could weigh in here, the away and home thing IMO depends. 

And with regards to QP, it's about as "nice" an away game as you'll get, their won't be any atmosphere, you'll have a nice changing room, nice pitch well protected from the elements. Some of our team even come from Glasgow so I'm not buying the travel aspect. 

 

There's an argument that the players will prefer playing QP away than at home. 

I suspect the squad has met up at East end and travelled through together on the team coach.  

While the pitch is nice it will be different from east end. 

But I agree it is probably one of the nicer away days. 

[Lochalsh Par]

On 06/11/2024 at 21:04, parsforlife said:

Draws in this division is an absolute killer. Need a few wins this quarter.

3 draws = 1 win. I would go all out for a win every game. I am not a manager though.

[Lochalsh Par]

On 07/11/2024 at 22:08, parsforlife said:

I can't remember the exact statistics but the gap between home and away points is getting closer and closer together across the board. I think the old concept of treating results differently depending on the venue is becoming redundant.

as a snapshot-last season's championship had 66 home wins and 67 away wins. 

Interesting