Settle an argument for me please?

[snudge27]

Hi everyone!

I'm having a bit of a debate with some people on another forum I frequent, and I feel that bias is informing some of the opinions. So I'd quite like an independent input.

The graph below shows the "rolling form" of a football team (taken from the last ten games played at the first of each month (Sep-Jun)).

Please could you look at the graph below and answer these two questions:

1) Over the course of the data, is the team improving, getting worse or staying the same?
2) Is the team currently improving, getting worse or staying the same?


Cheers!

James

[snudge27]

Sorry!

The graph shows position in a 'form-league' based on the previous 10 games. So as with any football-based table, a lower number is better, with 1 being optimum

[Sam]

This looks very much like Yeovils would. Yo Yoing all season(s) long

[al]

I would say over the course of the season they have become slightly worse, but have currently plateaued and are not doing much in particular.

[snudge27]

I would say over the course of the season they have become slightly worse, but have currently plateaued and are not doing much in particular.

Cheers, Al.

Seeing as the graph actually covers ten years, should I take that to mean that they've got worse over the ten years, but have reached some stability at the moment?

[al]

Yes, just replace Season with period. Whilst relegation is not looming, neither is victory!

[jamesthegill]

This looks very much like Yeovils would. Yo Yoing all season(s) long

Or Yeo Yeoing?

[Sam]

This looks very much like Yeovils would. Yo Yoing all season(s) long

Or Yeo Yeoing?

Oh aren't you the funny one

[Soup Dragon]

I would say that over the course of the data the team is getting worse, however, currently the team is getting better.
That's my take on the data and is in no way an informed opinion.

[Root]

Pshh, I was just about to post, and then Soupie writes almost exactly the same thing as I had written. So I won't bother!

[Wanstead]

1) Overall trend is clearly gently downwards.
2) However if 'recently' is taken to mean the last 12 months, they're on a small upward swing.

[Starkey7]

What they said. Actually, I think that they may not have seen that 30 is at the bottom, not the top, so you may want to invert all of our answers.

[jonny]

But he said that 1 was optimum, and 30 would be the worst? So it's double-bluffing us :p I don't think the answers need inverting though.

I agree with what's been said - getting worse over the entire period, but better at the moment relative to the 'immediate past'.

[Mitchell&BrownLook]

Can I be nosey ask who the football team in question is?

For the record I also agree with the above sentiments, especially Soupie's precise and concise answer.

[snudge27]

Ipswich Town