Since the Newcastle game we've seen the return to goalscoring form of wheels on his house, in a win over Peterboro and 3 points gained at Plymouth. We've seen Angie miss a penalty against Donny and More Reasons convert one, to deliver three wins in a row for the first time in about five years.
Could we do four in a row? I remember being at Palace when Dion and Hucks were running riot in 97-98 and we managed about six in a row, but three in a row is pretty good given how inconsistent we've been this millennium.
Forest away is never easy. We were there last year to see us lose, and planned to be there again this year, but ice, Dorset and 8 hour round trips meant it didn't happen.
We didn't miss too much, Forest stretched their unbeaten run to 15 and stay 3rd, we stay 17th. Forest have done well to build on last years relegation struggle, and look pretty strong this year, thanks to the investment made by their owner, delivered smartly by a canny manager. Arson, take note, investment equals progress. Nine points from the last twelve is a much needed improvement though, should keep the Coalman in charge for the second half of the season.
We're all off to Portsmouth on Saturday where we have a sniff of a chance of an upset. I'm already down here in preparation for the big day, soaking up the grey drizzle of the South Coast. Big thing to look out for at Fratton Park? The teamsheet. Players on the way out in the transfer window to Premier League clubs will not be playing - that's my prediction. We will see how Arson's stall is set out.
Pat the Dutchie is off back to Chelsea, so thanks for a few bright moments in your 20appearances. Need to work on your defending though, but definite signs of quality there, will be interesting to see if you ever make the first team squad. I doubt it, but time is on your side.
Newcastle at the Ricoh
Midweek and the glamour of Newcastle arrived at the Ricoh, looking to go 7 points clear at the top of the table.
We were merely looking to get our third win in 20 games. Now there's a record to be proud of.
Having just watched The Damned United, I'm keen to draw any comparisons between the Coalman and Cloughie in his full pomp. "I'm not saying I'm the best manager in the country, but I'm definitely in the top 1" - isn't a phrase I can hear our ever tango-ed ringmaster utter with confidence.
We lost again. Hit the bar a couple of times, came close, but couldn't quite score.
Bottom line is that this team just isn't good enough. We lack creativity, a solid defence and don't make enough chances. We're slipping closer and closer to the bottom three as the season goes on, and that's before our traditional poor Xmas showing.
Peterborough at home on Saturday. A must win game even at this stage of the season. What would we give for a goal......
We were merely looking to get our third win in 20 games. Now there's a record to be proud of.
Having just watched The Damned United, I'm keen to draw any comparisons between the Coalman and Cloughie in his full pomp. "I'm not saying I'm the best manager in the country, but I'm definitely in the top 1" - isn't a phrase I can hear our ever tango-ed ringmaster utter with confidence.
We lost again. Hit the bar a couple of times, came close, but couldn't quite score.
Bottom line is that this team just isn't good enough. We lack creativity, a solid defence and don't make enough chances. We're slipping closer and closer to the bottom three as the season goes on, and that's before our traditional poor Xmas showing.
Peterborough at home on Saturday. A must win game even at this stage of the season. What would we give for a goal......
Scunthorpe - how low can we go?
God only knows why Sky chose Scunthorpe vs Coventry as their glamour tie for the weekend, but they did. And how we suffered.
Celebrating 2 years in charge, Arson watched as a bench full of toddlers watched a pitch full of headless chickens look totally out of their depth. Angie should have scored, but refused to pass to More Reasons. More Reasons threw the toddlers' toys out of the pram, before the Gunner set up Angie to miss again from close range.
Then the back 4, or was it 3, or 5, or 2? - still don't know for sure, let the Scunny forward score from 18 yards.
We huffed, and puffed (where is our fitness coach) and then Madine missed two sitters in the final ten minutes.
We lost 1-0. Embarrassingly.
Two years on, Arson has taken us backwards, apparently because the ticket revenues haven't met budget so they haven't been able to spend money on players.
January will see Angie and Vivienne move on for a combined fee of about £2m to balance the books. The Coalman will receive money to fund wages for a free transfer, and we'll be fighting relegation for the rest of the season. It's chicken and egg isn't it - poor crowds = fewer £s through the tills = worse players. Arson, you have to face the fact that only you can break this cycle, you have to invest in the team to improve results and bring back the paying punters. That's just the way it works unfortunately. A hedge fund that refuses to speculate to accumulate is usually called a deposit account.......
This is looking bad, but regular reader(s) of the blog will notice we've been saying this since before the start of the season.
Newcastle at the Ricoh in 48 hours time. We will obviously win this 2-1 in a storming game with a great mid-week atmosphere, and paper over the cracks/chasms for another few days.
PUSB - keep the faith, keep supporting, and keep polishing that CV for when the Coalman gets the push to divert attention away from the Chairman.
Celebrating 2 years in charge, Arson watched as a bench full of toddlers watched a pitch full of headless chickens look totally out of their depth. Angie should have scored, but refused to pass to More Reasons. More Reasons threw the toddlers' toys out of the pram, before the Gunner set up Angie to miss again from close range.
Then the back 4, or was it 3, or 5, or 2? - still don't know for sure, let the Scunny forward score from 18 yards.
We huffed, and puffed (where is our fitness coach) and then Madine missed two sitters in the final ten minutes.
We lost 1-0. Embarrassingly.
Two years on, Arson has taken us backwards, apparently because the ticket revenues haven't met budget so they haven't been able to spend money on players.
January will see Angie and Vivienne move on for a combined fee of about £2m to balance the books. The Coalman will receive money to fund wages for a free transfer, and we'll be fighting relegation for the rest of the season. It's chicken and egg isn't it - poor crowds = fewer £s through the tills = worse players. Arson, you have to face the fact that only you can break this cycle, you have to invest in the team to improve results and bring back the paying punters. That's just the way it works unfortunately. A hedge fund that refuses to speculate to accumulate is usually called a deposit account.......
This is looking bad, but regular reader(s) of the blog will notice we've been saying this since before the start of the season.
Newcastle at the Ricoh in 48 hours time. We will obviously win this 2-1 in a storming game with a great mid-week atmosphere, and paper over the cracks/chasms for another few days.
PUSB - keep the faith, keep supporting, and keep polishing that CV for when the Coalman gets the push to divert attention away from the Chairman.
QPR away - match report
Two generations of the family made the trip to the Bush to see another In the Afternoon sending off in West London. Eldest of the party hadn't been to that part of the World since the 1960's, and was amazed by just how many Polish shops there were on the High Street. I mean, how much furniture can all these houses own?
A pre-match pint was almost scuppered by the insistence of home tickets for entry, eventually a good old Irish pub let us in for half an hour under a very odd mirrored ceiling.
Then to the Ground, and front row standing seats, for an OK performance. Angie nodded one in from 20 yards, QPR outplayed us for 70 minutes and scored twice, then we pinched an equaliser with 10 minutes to go. Oh, and in the afternoon got his usual red card.
Performance wasn't too bad, but still nowhere near where it needs to be.
A pre-match pint was almost scuppered by the insistence of home tickets for entry, eventually a good old Irish pub let us in for half an hour under a very odd mirrored ceiling.
Then to the Ground, and front row standing seats, for an OK performance. Angie nodded one in from 20 yards, QPR outplayed us for 70 minutes and scored twice, then we pinched an equaliser with 10 minutes to go. Oh, and in the afternoon got his usual red card.
Performance wasn't too bad, but still nowhere near where it needs to be.
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