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Last time we were away and on TV, it was QPR. Now spot a difference or three…

17th December 2007 By Guest Blogger Leave a Comment

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Well, certainly a vast improvement on the last time Stanley sat down, or rather stood up, in a pub to watch City play away on the telly.

The previous occasion was QPR away, the absolute nadir of the Grant reign. A gutless, clueless and virtually shot-less performance against relegation candidates the like of which Stanley could barely remember seeing before and certainly one which he did not wish to see again.

So, in a certain way, this was a good examination of the whole 'Look how far we have come under Glenn…' argument which has been taken up by many of Stanley's mates, and indeed Stanley himself at times.

A comparison made all the more interesting by the absence of 'Tiny' Taylor. Taylor's impact in his month or so with the club has been immense and the worst fear before the game was that the re-uniting of Doc' and Schackell at the back would trigger a return of City to QPR-like depths of performance and expose the whole, month-long revival as being based on nothing more than new manager bounce and a big lump at the back papering over some still very large cracks.

This fear of impending exposure was heightened by news of the team, both Dion and Hucks on the bench. Stanley began the game supping nervously at his pint, averting his gaze from the screen at every available opportunity.

But, in all fairness, City did perform. It wasn't a great game of football, let's face Layer Road doesn't play host to such things at the best of times – let alone during a mid-winter relegation battle. But City had a plan and a purpose, rudimentary at times but never clueless.

Yes the centre of the team, the centre-half pairing and the centre-midfield pairing, isn't the strongest and all four positions will be occupied by new players by August without much doubt, but we didn't fold, even when we went behind.

Yes, if Stanley is honest, he did spend the game waiting for the inevitable seasonal panto style defensive howler to open the scoring, albeit expecting the culprit to be Doc or Schacks rather than the big Mo', but Stan was waiting for one howler not stood there seeing a full circus performance.

The really crucial thing is that we responded to the set back with a belief we could equaliser, not throwing in of the towel at the first sign of Lady Luck deserting us.

We hit the post, had a blatant penalty turned down and a great piece of Hucks genius didn't quite conjure up a goal but our positive intent created the pressure and the opportunity for Colchester to duly return the favour and give us a gift back in return.

A-bit like those humbug merchants who only send out Christmas cards to the people who have sent them one, once they've received them. A begrudging gift but one our efforts certainly deserved.

The other positive from the evening for City was the fact that Colchester really did look like genuine relegation candidates. Admittedly not the 'Twelve points cast adrift at the bottom down by March' type relegation merchants, but certainly the 'Not lacking in pluck, but definitely lacking in quality without the resources to do anything about it…' type relegation fodder which City need to fill the three places, hopefully below them, come May.

Next Saturday City visit another potential candidate for the 'Plucky but?' category Scunthorpe.

Sunny Scunny away indeed, oh yes the glamour of the Championship, and another six-pointer.

Stan will settle for a point from this festive glam-fest of a fixture, whilst feeling that a win is there for the taking. Just don't lose it.

Get through that unbeaten again, and still fourth from bottom, and you sense Charlton and Wolves might be in for a couple of very tough examinations of their promotion credentials.

The Roeder revival continues unabated. The less said about Palace away on New Year's Day the better Stanley suspects, however after that the January sales begin and the perfect chance for City to flex some financial muscle, or rather the Turners, and help intensify the plight of the 'Plucky but?' brigade.


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