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Straw Clutch Or Genuine Belief?
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Big ask
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By:
Eric Hitchmo
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22/04/2011
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More On Gillingham
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"![]() | ![]() | ![]() | | Current Points: 41 | Current Points: 45 | Current Points: 44 | | Gillingham (A) | Aldershot Town (A) | Rotherham United (H) | | Oxford United (H) | Torquay United (H) | Stockport County (A) | | Accrington Stanley (A) | Southend United (A) | The Chavs (H) | | Port Vale (H) | Accrington Stanley (H) | Morecambe (A) |
Looks a tad bleak wouldn't you say? I'm not wanting to put a downer on the whole experience, no, but it's going to be a big ask to claw this deficit back after a weekend of bad results for us.
I didn't have all that much belief that we could beat Bury. All the reports suggest that they are a very good side and that we were well beaten. Not a slight on us, they were just better than we were by all accounts. Their automatic promotion place is now all but sealed. What I wasn't banking on was Northampton very nearly ending their win drought at Wycombe. They ended up with a draw, which takes them three points clear of us with a superior goal difference. Burton picked up four points this week, three at home to a very poor Cheltenham side and a draw at Bradford where they, like Northampton, were denied by a fairly late goal.
Trying to look at this objectively, I would say that when Burton were in this position when they had six or seven games in hand, if I was told they would still be within our grasp, I would certainly have taken it, snapped your hand off even.
People often say the phrase something along the lines of, ""well, it doesn't matter what the other teams do, it's down t how we perform."". Not sure that's going to wash right now to be honest. What is of paramount importance is that we win our two home games. If we can't do that, we've got to be looking at relegation, surely. Oxford shouldn't have much to play for and with any luck, Port Vale will be in the same boat by the last day of the season. Our away games are very tough, if we can sneak a couple of points from those, we'll be doing well.
We need to rely on the others having a poor end to the season. But I don't think it's limited to just Burton and Northampton. There are three teams on 47 points who are not out of it yet. One win from four should see them safe, but they are more than capable of losing all of their remaining games. Case in point, look at how we finished last season. Seven games to go and relegation was a distant fear, eleven points ahead of Grimsby WITH A GAME IN HAND! We lost our next six whilst Grimsby picked up some form and we left ourselves in a desperate position on the last day. Of course we know that it all ended well, but my point is that absolutely anything can happen. Even the teams on 48 points need something to ease the fear. A good Easter Weekend for us, and two defeats for any of those sides, and suddenly we've dragged more of them in to it.
You could argue that the above is a huge display of straw clutching by a supporter of a doomed club. Perhaps so, but you've got to do it in situations like this. Gillingham away is a tough ask but hopefully Graz alongside the latest addition to backroom staff, Lawrie Sanchez can galvanize this team into one massive last push. If we can nick a win here, watch the optimism and belief bound out of Underhill.
Hopefully we'll have a good crowd down there despite the asking price for a ticket, making a good racket and obtaining a nice tan in what looks to be a glorious weekend weather wise. If Barnet can match the weather, we'll be in for some fun."
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