EIGHT Sky Blue players will be leaving at the end of the season after being told by Chris Coleman they are surplus to requirements I hope this means that we will be getting some new blood in during the close season and is not just another cost-cutting exercise by the new owners.
The players who have been released will come as no surprise to many Sky Blue supporters although, personally, I am disappointed that Colin Hawkins has not been given a chance to prove his fitness as he impressed me last season.
We picked up our first away points of 2008 against Southampton and with tough away fixtures at Watford and Charlton coming up we need to take confidence from that great defensive performance and hopefully the team can start coming up with a few goals too.
We need to score more goals from the midfield and defence. If you look at successful teams then they get goals from all over the field and do not just rely upon their strikers. This means that when the strikers go through barren spells then the goals do not dry up completely like they have for us currently. At the moment 0-0 looks a good bet for our remaining fixtures but will this be enough to keep us safe from the drop?
Chris Coleman applauded the supporters who travelled down to Southampton at the end of the game. It is the first time he has acknowledge the supporters at either a home or away match, and I think it is an important gesture as it helps build up a rapport between manager and supporter. Iain Dowie was brilliant at building relationships with the fans and so, in that aspect, Coleman does have big shoes to fill but small gestures such as recognising the supporters at the end of the match will go a long way.
There are only six matches left of the 2007-2008 season but such a lot can happen in that period especially in this league. It’s been a rollercoaster of emotion and I think we all need a little bit of time and space to recover ready to do it all again in August.
Every match is important in the final run-in and we need to put as many points on the table as possible to ensure our survival so we can rebuild and look to getting back to the Premiership as soon as possible.
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