February Turns To March?

The table doesn`t make particularly good reading at the moment!

We`re second from bottom and lurching towards relegation to the Championship. A recent mini-revival came to a shuddering halt with the defeat to Middlesbrough and now we sit in limbo waiting for the visit of West Ham United in two weeks.

Normally, the two week wait would be welcomed as a time to put certain things in order, a time to regroup, a time to rest aching bodies and revive tired limbs, however something troubles me, as Muse sang so enthusiastically - time is running out.

February is rushing by in a blur and because of our exit from the FA Cup at the hands of those West Country giants, Bristol Rovers, we have a free week next weekend. Therefore, when West Ham arrive at Craven Cottage, it`ll almost be March, the Ides of March!

In the past, I`ve usually winced when I`ve looked at the bottom of the Premier League at that time of the year, Very rarely do sides that are in trouble manage to pull themselves out of the mire. Off course you get the inevitable dramatic escape but more often than not, the relegation trap door remains on the verge of condemning those in the bottom three in March to relegation.

With hard games against Manchester United, Everton and Blackburn on the horizon, we need to produce performances embellished with more guts, determination, flair and subtlety than we did on Saturday up at the Riverside Stadium. Something inside me is telling me it`s almost time to adopt a do or die attitude, to throw caution to the wind and push the opposition onto the back foot rather than hope to sneak a goal on the break whilst playing akin to a containing game.

However, despite our current predicament there is light at the end of the tunnel. The teams above us are only three points away from us, one win and we`re right back in the mix, so to say. More importantly, nobody in our region of the table seems able to pull themselves clear. In fact teams are seemingly actively intent on joining us.

Reading, under Steve Coppell have hit a dreadful run of form and Newcastle United just haven`t got a clue where there next win is coming from. So whilst these may be worrying times, perhaps we shouldn`t get too despondent yet. Fortune has a habit of favouring the brave so let`s be brave, let`s be bold and go for broke; you never know it just might work!