Genuine Hope

Another international break and it's rather quiet on the board, as you might expect, so I thought I'd do a little appraisal of the season so far.

We're just over one third of the way through the season, sitting in 3rd place and 3 points off top spot.

After making a blistering start, we suffered 4 key injuries which blighted our progress and resulted in a run of 2 wins in something like 10 games. In isolation, that is a million miles away from promotion form. Despite this, we have managed to stay in touch with the leading pack and even return to the top of the table at one point, emphasising the excellent start we had. It also highlights the inconsistency of the other teams around us.

Match statistics have repeatedly shown that we have dominated possession but chances created have not been mirrored by goals scored. It would appear we lack a cutting edge, especially when key players have been absent through injury. The danger with the intense style of play under MB has always been burn-out and injuries, in addition to a question mark over the ability of what is a relatively thin squad to cope with the demands of a 46 game season playing in this style.

On the plus side, a measure of MB's influence is that, apart from Barry Douglas and Mateusz Klich, the starting 11 is more or less the same as last season when the same players could only muster 2 wins in 16 and didn't look like winning at all. Phillips was widely criticised for his consistently poor performances, yet this season he has been a revelation and is being spoken about as PL class.

On the minus side, regarding injuries, have we just been unlucky? Izzy Brown played his first football of the season in the same match that saw Jamal Blackman break a leg and return to Chelsea. Suddenly, we're a goalkeeper short at a time when some are questioning BPF's place in the 1st team.

Whatever the questions, the reality is that by the time the January window opens, we'll have played another 6 games and be exactly half way through the season. As difficult as it is to recruit quality players at sensible prices in the January window, I would hope that there will be additions to the squad, especially given that there are notable gaps in the squad at centre half and now GK.

Unlike last season when we blew hot and cold and eventually fell away badly, I have more confidence that we can stay the distance this time around. My only real concern is that we have lost points to the other promotion contenders, Norwich and Derby excepted, and these are the games we need to be winning. Thank goodness everyone seems to beating everyone else which means that no-one is running away with it and we remain right in the thick of the battle.

With investment in key areas, players due to return from injury, and players hopefully staying fit, I firmly believe we have a good chance of finishing in the top 6, if not the top 2, come the end of the season. For the first time in many a long season there is genuine hope for success in what will be our centenary year.

On another point, it hasn't gone unnoticed that both AR and Orta have been largely silent this season, allowing the team to get on with the job. I applaud them for this approach - lessons learned from last season perhaps?

Finally, I've seen many teams in the past, start well, hit a bit of a slump and then pick up again when it matters, ending the season with success. We are showing signs of doing similar. The league is a marathon, not a race and if nothing else, the remainder is going to be really exciting and nerve-jangling - especially as we should be involved to the very end.

Fingers crossed and hoping.

MOT