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Tuesday 3 April 2012

The Smithies Dilemma and Leyton Orient

Good afternoon my fellow Town fans, on an afternoon where we stand 8 points behind second spot and look hopelessly destined for the play-offs, ahhh the play-offs.... In this blog I'll be rambling about Carlisle at the weekend, Smithies and his Teflon gloves, and our likely fate this season.

Carlisle

No-one could have envisaged an easy trip to Brunton park with the cumbrians returning home fresh from 4 well-earned  points on the road at Colchester and MK Dons respectively. However, the way the season has gone and the position we were in, I thought it was pretty much sh*t or bust, especially considering both Sheffield clubs won. When I heard we'd pulled back to 1-1 on the radio I was delighted, but still aware that a draw wasn't ideal; we needed a win, at this stage of the season wins are what count, not draws. However we couldn't hold on for our favoured result and we ended up losing; in bizarre fashion. A short free-kick was attempted, Novak cleared the ball up field and it returned into the Town half from high in the sky accompanied by a fresh slice of snow. The ball sailed over the back four, evaded our hapless and hopelessly incompetent 'keeper, bounced of the top of their strikers bonce and ended up in our net. Now, I could be describing a goal scored at Lindley rec, Netherton rec, Hackney marshes, in fact any amateur Sunday league venue across the country. Instead I'm describing a goal conceded by our team, a group of players paid a considerable amount of money to kick a football; yet they conceded an amateur goal.
I have grown very tired of watching this team defend like amateurs over the course of this season, anyone who cares to disagree need only look at all four of the goals conceded at Hillsborough for a more perfect example. How are these players paid? How has Dean Hoyle not walked into the dressing room and kicked them in the head? On the wee bit of a form that says 'Occupation' do they write 'footballer' or are they more honest and write 'impressionist'? ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH
So that was that, and we lost to Carlisle, and in the wave of depression that was engulfing me I had to take several looks at the league table to remind myself that we are in fact fourth, and second spot is still (very remotely) in touch.

Leyton Orient


Tonight's game against Leyton Orient seems relatively straight-forward, as the O's are far from the force that they were last season; narrowly missing out on the play-offs and holding Arsenal to a draw. However the O's are capable of pulling off dazzling performances, and have done so this season; their main problem has been inconsistency and a poor start. The hosts are 5 points above the drop zone and could go some way to retaining their league one status tonight with a victory. To beat them we'll need to perform proffesionally, efficiently and put in a good defensive performance. There is no doubt of the quality in the Orient team as we have seen numerous times over the past few seasons, especially at home, but this is a game we should be winning if we are to meet our goals this season. It will be a tough game, but one I expect three points in; if we don't return with all three points then we may as well start printing play-off tickets.

Alex Smithies


There's been a lot of talk on twitter and DATM recently about whether or not to keep Alex Smithies in the starting line-up, or replace him with Ian Bennett. Now I'm of the opinion that both of them are excellent goalkeepers at this level, with different skill sets. Alex Smithies can pull off miraculous saves, shots that seem destined for the goal can be clawed back by the young 'stopper. Ian Bennet imbues upon the team a placid calmness and never seems flustered, making everything look effortless. Due to Bennetts age there are of course times when a shot will evade him, which Smithies may have saved, however I think all in all Bennett is of more benefit to the team than Smithies. For the last 7 games we are going to have to play very well, and there will be no room for passengers. Smithies mistake at Colchester arguably cost us two points, and his cock-up at the weekend cost us another two; so for the rest of the season I think we need to have Bennett in between the sticks.

The run-in


Never have I found myself at this stage of the season, supporting a team in the play-off positions filled with so little confidence and expectation. Perhaps it's the result of previous play-off campaigns tarnishing my belief, a lack of faith in the management or the schizophrenic nature of our performances. Either way, I sit here writing this part of the blog, focusing on the run-in without the slightest scrap of hope, or even the temptation to deface this blog with 'BELIEVE'. We're eight points behind second spot Sheffield United, who have shown themselves to be nowhere near as formidable as last-seasons rivals Southampton. We have a very winnable game in-hand this evening against Leyton Orient, and a ix pointer against the Owls on Saturday. This time next week we could be two points of the automatic places, but for us to clinch that place I firmly believe we'll have to win all of our remaining games. That means winning seven games in a row, resisting the temptation to to hand out points to the opposition, and getting of our backsides and playing with heart and spirit for the next seven games running. After everything we've seen this season I think that looks highly improbable, and that the play-offs once again will decide our destiny. If we continue in a similar vein of form, it's likely we'll have to face MK Dons, and then possibly Sheffield Wednesday in the final (led by serial play-offs victim Dave Jones). Strangely enough if this were the case, I would find myself missing Mr Clark somewhat, who over past seasons has held a taboo card over MK Dons, and certainly knew how to beat them. The 3-1 victory down at their place last season highlighting for me a real triumph of tactics. I don't have a clue how Grayson will fair for us in the play-offs, but seen as though there has been no great upturn in fortunes since Clarks departure, I suspect it would be no different than under Clark...
In summary, for the rest of the season we COULD win our remaining games, we COULD grab second, we COULD fulfill our potential, but I think it's much more likely we'll be in the play-offs...

I remain unconvinced and downbeat, until next time!






BELIEVE :D

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