He's signed well and had a bit of luck

Every manager needs that. He's got a fully fit squad (Barring people like Renton and I suppose Chadwick) and he's had the choice of being able to name an unchanged lineup for the last 3-4 games.

Fotheringham is a case in point - he's been missing for 3 months and come back and been genuinely effective. Taylor has helped shore up the back 4. Dion's been able to play a few on the trot - there's some leadership in there.

But Roeder's main achievement is to get some spirit and togetherness back into the dressing room as well. There are two great tru-isms of football:

1. Football is a simple game made complicated by footballers

2. 50% of the game is played "upstairs"

Having that mental edge again has been massively important.

Posted By: Iwan Husarmi, Dec 6, 21:55:30