The Elephant in the room...

The last few weeks, as we all know, have been a big disappointment with points dropped in our race for promotion and as a result we have seen a rise in complaining from some supporters online. Sure, there’s been plenty of reason to be upset at the last 3 results (don’t get me started on the needless free kicks we’ve been giving away.

I mean, when will our players learn that if you put your hands on an opponents back when they have nowhere to go and no options that they’re going to fall over and the referee is going to engage all 7 of his brain cells and blow his whistle and shout “THAT FOUL. ME REFEREE. YOU GET BALL. KICK BALL” and I’m going to shout at my computer screen and my girlfriend is going to chastise me for disturbing her, and then I’m going to snap back at her because I’m heated, and she’s going to tell me to never speak to her like that, and then I’m going to feel bad about it, and then I’m going to have to make her favourite meal for tea, and watch all her favourite programmes that evening to ease the guilt, which means I won’t be able to play warzone with the boys, and that’s all because you don’t know when not to F****** FOUL SOMEONE, but honestly saying that you’re going to stop watching or that we’re all of a sudden hopeless is frankly, bollocks.

Photo by Dave Howarth - CameraSport via Getty Images

Firstly, and I know none of you want to hear this, we can still go up through the playoffs. It’s not what any of us want, it’ll be anxious, frustrating, and history has shown it to be pretty heart-breaking. But, if we do end up there, we might as well win it and if we can then all the frustration around this season, the results, the lack of fans, Phil Parkinson, will all be forgotten.

Secondly, and personally I think its a stretch, we could win all our remaining fixtures. It’s out of our hands but stranger things have happened I suppose. The lads have proven to us from this seasons first run under Johnson that they are capable of consistently winning games in this league and although it would require some luck I think we as fans owe it to them to give them our full support even if ultimately they fall short. Unfortunately the dismal start under Parkinson used up all our second chances and we’re paying for it now.

My final reason for not getting too upset by the losses we’ve suffered and why I won’t view another season in league one as a disaster is down to one man; Kyril Louis-Dreyfus. And Kristjaan Speakman, and Lee Johnson. So three men really but that doesn’t sound as dramatic.

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

The point is that, since the ownership changed hands, I’ve really believed in our ability to successfully plan and make decisions for the good of the football club. I believe that KLD has a plan for next season regardless of what division we’re in. You’ve probably seen the story about the £60 million transfer kitty that awaits us in the Championship, but that will only scratch the surface of what the club wants to do in terms of recruitment.

One clear sign that these guys actually do have a plan is the lack of movement with regards to our contract situation. They’re very obviously waiting to see what happens this season so they can carefully tailor every contract offer to suit us, the player and the league we find ourselves in. It’s pretty basic stuff.

KLD has been on record expressing how he isn’t worried about us missing promotion, he knows its a bonus. What I’d love to know more about is what exactly they are going to try and pull off in the summer. What are the plans, the targets? But, like any other football club that’s ran properly, we won’t know that until it happens.

This really is a new dawn and, although the new ownership and the manager still have a lot to prove, they have done enough to earn our trust as the right people to move us forward. Personally, I believe that this is the start of something good and no matter what division we end up in next season I’ll be right there for the ride.

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