Cod Almighty | Diary
Make or break time
26 March 2018
Open Diary writes: Well done to the over 800 Town fans who made the trip to Coventry on Saturday. No doubt everyone travelled in hope rather than expectation given recent form. While the result wasn't much different to what we would expect, the line-up was more positive and the performance, at least until the second goal, seems to have been more impressive. Maybe it's not all over yet, and while the odds are against it, you might dare to hope that Town can survive at the end of the season by the skin of their teeth.
Did you watch Luton against Barnet on Sky? I had to work on Saturday and got home in time to watch the second half. Maybe there is hope in that Barnet seem to be in as bad a position as we are. On the other hand, Chesterfield showed more spirit against Notts County on Sunday, and you can only say that Town's players need to realise that it's entirely up to them to take the opportunities offered by the next seven matches, rather than hope that we will be saved by others' poor performances. It won't have escaped anyone's notice that Jack Lester is in charge of Chesterfield's survival, and while Jack may often have fallen down in tight situations, he wasn't often seen to roll over.
Anyway, seven games to go with four at home and three away: it's all to play for. I see a lot of discussion about whose fault it is that we're in this situation and who's to blame. You don't need me to name the usual suspects. The thing is that, really and truly, it doesn't matter. The immediate future is far more important than the recent past.
Maybe, like me, you're thinking of deleting your social media accounts in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica affair? Even without that, I get tired of some of the upbeat happy-clappy messages from the official Town PR machine that permeate the Twittersphere. So, when I say that we need to get behind the manager and many of the players in those seven matches, it's because it's the only way to make those matches bearable.
In any case, Michael Jolley didn't create this mess. Several players – I could name half a dozen and so could you – aren't responsible for the past because they weren't with the club or weren't in the team. Others – James McKeown is the obvious one – have given their all. As long as we turn out the best team we can in each of these remaining seven games, the best thing to do is to get behind the manager and the team in a positive way.
Finally, if the worst does happen, let's leave dusting off the satnav co-ordinates for Eastleigh, Borehamwood and Bromley until the summer. Gloom and doom isn't going to help anyone; nor will bitterness and anger.