At the end of February I suggested that Guy Luzon needed to get his points during March as April's fixture list looked far tougher. We proceeded to win five from six and have secured our Championship status as a result.
With a buzz about the club following a quite remarkable turnaround, thoughts are on what could be next season if the nucleus of the squad is kept together. That may be harder to do than many appear to assume. Money talks and I don't suspect sentimentality of wavering are qualities (weaknesses?) Roland Duchatelet possesses much of. He may genuinely have had or may have, a change of heart about his desire to break even as part of his network model, but, in the absence of any confirmation of that, I have to assume we will be cashing in some of bigger chips if the prices are right. It looks like Newcastle United might be first to bite with rumours circulating that they are watching Cousins and Gomez closely.
Back to April, and I have looked at those fixtures again. Four aways from six is obviously tougher than the reverse in March but we do have momentum. This is traditionally an opportunity for us to put our feet up and coast in. Guy Luzon has an opportunity to cement his position with the fans by ensuring we fight on until the end.
Millwall (A) 3rd April - Can we? There is an uncannily high level of optimism that we can beat Millwall for the first time this century but I am too old and too cynical to see anything more than a hard-fought point.
Fulham (H) 7th April - We really owe these monkeys. I said after our pasting at Craven Cottage live on Sky earlier in the season that I felt Kit Symons might not find his first season in charge a happy one and so it has proven. Time to take that smug grin off his face.
Sheffield Wednesday (A) 11th April - Wednesday are battling again and getting results. They look like they are pushing on for a top ten finish and will see this as a six pointer. I hope our players face it the same way but I will be surprised if we get anything here.
Bolton (A) 14th April - Another toughie and on a Tuesday night. A match for Chris Eagles?
Leeds (H) 18th April - We owe these charmless nerds one too. Other than the obvious, I'd like us to win this one more than the rest. It would be good to silence them early in the first half for a change.
Birmingham (A) 25th April - Tough. Michael Morrison will be wearing his Superman pants over his shorts and this promises to be another battle.
I'd take ten points now as that would probably be enough to keep us on track for a top-half finish.
With a buzz about the club following a quite remarkable turnaround, thoughts are on what could be next season if the nucleus of the squad is kept together. That may be harder to do than many appear to assume. Money talks and I don't suspect sentimentality of wavering are qualities (weaknesses?) Roland Duchatelet possesses much of. He may genuinely have had or may have, a change of heart about his desire to break even as part of his network model, but, in the absence of any confirmation of that, I have to assume we will be cashing in some of bigger chips if the prices are right. It looks like Newcastle United might be first to bite with rumours circulating that they are watching Cousins and Gomez closely.
Back to April, and I have looked at those fixtures again. Four aways from six is obviously tougher than the reverse in March but we do have momentum. This is traditionally an opportunity for us to put our feet up and coast in. Guy Luzon has an opportunity to cement his position with the fans by ensuring we fight on until the end.
Millwall (A) 3rd April - Can we? There is an uncannily high level of optimism that we can beat Millwall for the first time this century but I am too old and too cynical to see anything more than a hard-fought point.
Fulham (H) 7th April - We really owe these monkeys. I said after our pasting at Craven Cottage live on Sky earlier in the season that I felt Kit Symons might not find his first season in charge a happy one and so it has proven. Time to take that smug grin off his face.
Sheffield Wednesday (A) 11th April - Wednesday are battling again and getting results. They look like they are pushing on for a top ten finish and will see this as a six pointer. I hope our players face it the same way but I will be surprised if we get anything here.
Bolton (A) 14th April - Another toughie and on a Tuesday night. A match for Chris Eagles?
Leeds (H) 18th April - We owe these charmless nerds one too. Other than the obvious, I'd like us to win this one more than the rest. It would be good to silence them early in the first half for a change.
Birmingham (A) 25th April - Tough. Michael Morrison will be wearing his Superman pants over his shorts and this promises to be another battle.
I'd take ten points now as that would probably be enough to keep us on track for a top-half finish.
And a trip to William Hill.....
ReplyDeleteBet Victor :-)
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