Merry Christmas

Looking back on the past 12 months, it has definitely been a year of two halves. The FA Cup defeat against Newport and the Saiz spitting ban seem like much longer back than a year. The poor form and results that followed were like a long, thoroughly depressing nightmare, and given the summer's comparatively meagre transfer activity (in bodies if not financially), we couldn't have known how much of an effect the major signing of the summer, our head coach Marcelo Bielsa, would have on the team's fortunes.

We are now half way through the season with only 3 defeats to our name and we sit on top of the Championship at Christmas following an impressive comeback and win against Aston Villa in their own back yard after having gone 2-0 down in the first 17 minutes.

Bar a couple of permanent signings in Bamford and Douglas, and a few loans, it is essentially the same set of players who have taken us to where we are now - players who could only muster some 3 wins or so in the final half of last season. We've had constant disruptions to the starting eleven throughout this season with injuries, and we've panicked about the strength of the squad to fill the holes left by those injuries to senior players. Despite all this, academy players have come into the side and performed with a maturity beyond their years to contribute to the results. It doesn't seem to matter who plays or how young they are - we just keep rolling on with the same relentless style of play and passion, picking up important wins along the way.

You can't ask for anymore than to be top at the half way stage, but credit to Bielsa for being grounded and cautious. The job is only half done but the form, mood and togetherness of this squad is such that there is real belief that 2019 could be our year - in our centenary year. It couldn't be scripted any better.

As we sit on the cusp of Christmas, I would like to thank everyone connected with LUFC for their efforts this year, especially since the start of this season, and wish them and everyone on the board a terrific Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

FInally, knowing how important and significant Christmas Eve is in the Polish calendar, I'd like to wish Mateusz Klich "Wesolych Swiat i szczesliwego Nowego Roku". Keep up the great work and hope you find your scoring boots again soon.

Couldn't be happier or prouder of our great team. Let's hope we can celebrate big style with automatic promotion, and possibly the title, in May

MOT