The statistics that damn Peterborough United's start to the League One season

Seven points from the opening 10 matches is the second lowest tally for a season in the bottom two divisions in the club’s 65-year Football League history, after converting all records to 3 points for a win.

The 1972-73 Fourth Division side picked up the equivalent of five points from their opening 10 matches, a record that left them rock bottom of the entire Football League. It needed Noel Cantwell to turn up and push them clear of re-election trouble. Posh finished 19th.

Not even the miserable campaigns of the 1980s and the troublesome years under Barry Fry’s management did Posh start as poorly as Darren Ferguson’s side has managed.

What has gone wrong? Has anything gone right?

Here are some thoughts in talking points to cover the opening 10 matches…

1) There is no doubt Posh have a better first choice starting XI now than on the first day of the season at Cardiff City. Only Archie Collins and Brandon Khela from that first game played in a humbling 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Lincoln City on Saturday. The rest have been upgraded, but the fact that was deemed necessary (it certainly was) is a comment on how badly Posh dealt with their retained list and with their initial summer recruitment. Keeping hold of so many players who were clearly destined to struggle at League One level was a mistake and adding to the squad with players who were far from oven-ready for the third tier was another one.

2) A plus mark for the Posh hierarchy for responding quickly to the above rather than stubbornly digging their heels in, although some of the justifications for the original plan have been worthy of a political party.

3) Posh have used a staggering 29 players in the opening 10 matches of the League One season, including three goalkeepers. That’s the most in the division, two more than Port Vale. No wonder Posh are struggling to deliver cohesive performances when there has been so much chopping and changing. Posh are a ‘ghost’ goal at Plymouth away from having won just one of their opening 10 games. AFC Wimbledon, most people’s favourites for relegation, have used the fewest players (19) and are now sixth.

4) Despite the above Posh started the same XI for the third game in a row against Lincoln yesterday. In the two previous games Posh scored first and managed to win. They created some chances on the break. Conceding first against Lincoln led to a different result, although Posh did create the best two scoring opportunities of the game for their in-form striker, but unfortunately JJ Morgan missed them both. Posh have scored seven League One goals so far, the joint second-lowest in the division. Only bottom club Burton Albion have fewer and they have played two fewer games. They might not be as effective as a physically powerful and well-organised Lincoln side, but upcoming opponents will have noticed how Posh struggled to sustain any pressure after falling behind. The chances yesterday created by Matt Garbett and then Tom O’Connor came out of the blue. Posh have more mobile strikers now, but one of them, £800k signing Harry Leonard has been on starvation rations in front of goal.

5) Northampton Town have also scored just seven goals, but they sit 10 places and 6 points clear of Posh because they’ve only conceded eight. Posh have conceded 18, the most in the division alongside Plymouth Argyle. Goalkeeping issues haven’t helped and Alex Bass managed to follow a superb performance at Plymouth with a couple of worrying moments yesterday.

6) We are now approaching October and still we are being told some players are not fully match fit. No matter the mitigation, this is an astonishing position for a professional football club. Posh had a free week to prepare for yesterday’s game compared to their opponents who had a high profile cup match with Chelsea four days earlier. And yet Lincoln looked fresher and sharper throughout whereas Posh completely lost their way in the final quarter when you might have expected them to come on strong.

7) Posh have used substitutions effectively in the two games they won, but yesterday’s changes made them worse. How on earth did Jacob Mendy play for so long on the right hand side in the second-half when all he did in possession was to turn back and pass the ball over short distances with his left foot? It’s wrong to say Posh had no plan B because they turned it to a couple of alternatives late in yesterday’s game. They were just executed appallingly. Lincoln’s squad is impressively deep. The Posh squad strength has been weakened further by an untimely injury to Cian Hayes.

8) The four lowest average possession stats in League One belong to Lincoln City (37%), AFC Wimbledon (41.8%), Bradford City (43.1) and Stevenage (43.7) according to Fotmob. They are currently 3rd, 6th, 1st and 2nd respectively in League One. The current top three presumably don’t play endless square and backwards passes between defenders and a goalkeeper at a walking pace tempo. Is Ferguson’s preferred style of play outdated? It’s certainly pretty tedious without explosive wingers who can create danger by running in behind and by having the strength and skill to turn past opponents no matter how closely they are marked. Incidentally top 6 in the highest possession stats in League One include Bolton (3 wins in 10 games), Orient (currently 17th) and Wycombe (currently 20th). Posh have the 9th highest percentage (51.6). Quote these figures at anyone who tells you possession stats are an indicator of anything important.