With the break for the cup, and before that the end of the mini-series involving games against a number of those around us, for me at least there’s a real feel that we’re now going into the business end of the season. I don’t think the eight games currently scheduled for the rest of January and February (the mid-February home game against Stoke having been postponed due to their cup game) fall into any kind of natural grouping (no doubt with hindsight some pattern will become apparent), but they are pretty much all against teams not in a relegation fight (I don’t know if the now vacant Saturday in February will be used to play the postponed game against Portsmouth as they too are out of the cup) and not competing for automatic promotion either. So they all look tough but, if we are looking to move up the table, all ones we are capable of getting returns from, if we play to at or close to potential.
Just what that potential is of course is yet to be fully shaped by the transfer window and injuries. We don’t know yet if the signing of Clarke is with a view to giving us better cover or as a direct replacement for Bree if he returns to Southampton (and of course where he ends up for the rest of the season may not be clarified until the end of the month). We aren’t sure of the fitness status of Ramsay, Burke, Bell, Edwards, or indeed Clarke. And although we are confident the club is trying hard to get in a left-side wing-back, we can’t say if those efforts will be successful.
For me one of the pluses of the Chelsea game was the performance of Mannion, who showed no signs of ring-rust. Consequently, we know that if we stick with a back three/five, and keep Bree and add one on the other side, in an ideal world we have: Kaminski/Mannion (and Maynard-Brewer of course), Bree/Clarke/Ramsay, Burke/Ramsay/Gough, Jones/Burke, Bell/Gillesphey, and Edwards/Bell/Another. All ifs and buts for sure, but if all of that lot were/became available and competing for places I think we’d have a fair chance of getting back to the dogged, determined and effective defending and pride in clean sheets we displayed in the first phase of the season. To climb the table we have to.
There’s no sign of changes in midfield, other than rumours of Anderson going out on loan. I don’t think we can afford that in our position, unless there was a replacement. We have Coventry, Docherty, Rankin-Costello and Anderson available for the two deeper roles, although heaven forbid Coventry gets injured. He is the only serious challenger at this stage to Jones for player of the season. For the more advanced position we have Carey, Knibbs and Berry, with Fullah hovering in the wings. So never say never, but from the start of this season we have had sufficient cover in midfield. I do wish at times in some games we made more use of Apter from the bench. To do that we really need to shift during a game to a 4-4-2, but that shouldn’t be beyond us.
Up front I do think that the signing of Dykes is excellent news (although without doubt the prize for the best transfer rumour of the season goes to Nardin Mulahusejnovic). As well as the intelligence and finishing of Godden, compounded by the extended absence of Kelman, we have badly missed the battering ram option that Aneke provided last season (not always to good effect for sure). Leaburn, Campbell and Olaofe have all found it difficult so far to adjust, even though Leaburn has looked more effective in recent games and Campbell when going down the wing is still a real threat. At the least Dykes allows us not to have to rely on Leaburn played all game, every game, with presumably one or other starting and one coming on around the hour mark. It isn’t about Dykes goals per game ratio, much more about what we need right now and hopefully helping to bring out the best in Kelman, Godden and Leaburn.
So, time for them all to just go out and do it. I really don’t like this ‘being the best we can be’ line as football isn’t really like that. Games turn on moments and are as much about the opposition as yourselves. It’s now time for us to prove that we’ve put a (very) sticky patch behind us and more than deserve to be in this division, starting tomorrow.
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