Been away so first chance to comment on Saturday

Which is just as well the mood I was in at the final whistle! Have had a chance to calm down a bit now but still sharing the nerves of several below and firmly believe (as i have for some time) that we will need at least 40 points to stay up.

On the one hand I accept that its a game of fine margins at this level. had Holt scored that pen against Southampton and had Camp made what should have been an easy save then we would have 37 points and be sitting pretty 9 points clear of Wigan and virtually safe. That is no doubt what the Hoot would say if he was party to this discussion and I must give him credit for getting us to the position where even having had a poor run for 3 months we are still in control of our own destiny and more likely than not to stay up.

On the other had, however, i am hugely frustrated that we have allowed ourselves to be dragged back into the relegation scrap and do believe that it is chiefly down to his tactical approach in certain games that we find ourselves looking nervously over our shoulder. there are at least half a dozen games I can think of this season where i think a bit more positivity and we would/could have won them and even if only a couple had come off we would again not be worrying now. I find it hugely frustrating to see the way we play away from home now (last season i believed we could win anywhere, now I don't and I think the players feel the same) and the way we dropped deep in the final third of Saturday's game was another example. I find it highly depressing to see us get breaks in promising positions and end up playing for corners or set pieces because we have nobody in the box to get on the end of crosses. We rarely play badly but we hardly ever play well. Even if we do, we are always one error or moment of genius away from a defeat or being pegged back for a draw as we never give ourselves a cushion in any game.

We now have 7 games left and to be honest if you had to hand pick 4 home games to have left then our 4 would not be far from the top of most lists. We are however at the stage where we need wins not more draws. 2 wins and 5 defeats will probably keep us up (especially if one of the wins is v Villa). 4 or 5 draws and no wins might not do. Time for Hoot to throw off the shackles. each remaining game is like a cup tie although with our record in those perhaps we should not go down that road!

Posted By: Jim, Apr 2, 15:17:35