Been There Before, Bought The T-Shirt....

By: Richard Lord
Date: 11/09/2002

NO one said being a Town fan was going to be easy. If it were then it would be no fun. So we've lost to lower league opposition, and we can't score. Haven't we experienced all this before?

I'm referring to last season when Paul Groves took over as manager. Town were bereft of ideas, languishing in the bottom three and seemingly staring relegation in the face. And it got worse before it got better.

Although Town won their first game under the management of Groves against Portsmouth (3-1), things went downhill from there. We didn't win another game until February 16 - eight matches later.

On New Year's Day we drew 0-0 at Barnsley and that was followed by a home 0-0 draw against Third Division York City. We then drew 0-0 at home to West Brom, before losing at York 1-0 later in the week.

It got worse as we lost 2-0 at relegation rivals Crewe. Although we somehow managed to knick a point at Rotherham in a 1-1 draw, we then went on to lose 1-0 at home to Bradford.

And when we lost 2-0 at Watford live on ITV I must admit that I, along with a lot of other fans, thought we were relegated there and then. So that made it eight games with no wins and just one goal scored.

One goal in eight games, losing to lower league opposition without scoring against them, sound familiar? Except this was in the middle of last season. At least now we have the chance to put things right.

We have the whole season ahead of us, and all it takes is just one goal, maybe a 1-0 win, to turn the corner. Groves has proved that he can get the team playing and scoring but all it needs is just one bit of luck.

Don't forget how poorly Rotherham started last season. They were bottom of the table after 10 games without a victory. But they kept on plugging away and eventually pulled themselves to safety.

The defeat to York over two legs last season was an embarrassment, especially as we couldn't score against a Third Division defence in 180 minutes. But then we went on to stick six goals past Wimbledon later in the season.

If you think about it, all things have to end. Whether it is an unbeaten run, a Cup run or even a goal famine - they have to end sooner or later. Which means I'll be off to Coventry this weekend.

Ever the optimist.

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