“It's getting tickly now - squeaky-bum time”
We have three separate races occurring between now and the end of the season, one just as enthralling as the next for the neutral, but for the interested parties its nerve wracking stuff.
In each race we have a seasoned pro, one who’s done it before and may feel they can do it again, we also have the inexperienced club, as talented as their competitor technically and physically but do they have the mentality for it.
At the top of the pile we have the Manchester duopoly City vs. United both vying for the title. In the race for Champions League football we have the London trio, Arsenal, Tottenham & Chelsea (yes Geordies and Newcastle, but that’s not happening now is it). Then in the race for Premier League survival we have a quintet of this season’s failures.
In recent weeks the results clubs have garnered are starting to develop a context, none more so than for Tottenham and Arsenal, in little over a month Tottenham have gone from potentially being 13 points ahead of their rivals; now find themselves 3 points behind. The balance has shifted, catastrophically if you are a Lilywhite.
The same can be said for Man City; at one stage they held a 5 point advantage over United, after a handful of poor results against lesser sides they find themselves 3 points behind. Not the ideal situation for a Citizen.
At the bottom of the pile we have QPR, clear winners of the Championship last season and started reasonably well this, finding themselves mid-table going into December. However now they have slipped further and further down the pile and now are in the lowly position of 18th, a shamed inhabitant of the relegation zone.
All these three clubs who had started so well yet now find themselves swimming against the tide all have something in common; they are the inexperienced party in their respective battles.
It is not necessarily the players themselves who are without experience, Man City have 9 players who have won a league title with other clubs, nor the managers, Mancini won three titles with Inter. But the fans.
We have all seen the footage of the Man City fans in recent weeks, tears have been shed, nails have been bitten and hair pulled from its roots. All the time the game isn’t going their way the fans are fretting, and even more so when the game is reaching the latter stages. The tension is building and this will be felt by the players.
In each race we have a seasoned pro, one who’s done it before and may feel they can do it again, we also have the inexperienced club, as talented as their competitor technically and physically but do they have the mentality for it.
At the top of the pile we have the Manchester duopoly City vs. United both vying for the title. In the race for Champions League football we have the London trio, Arsenal, Tottenham & Chelsea (yes Geordies and Newcastle, but that’s not happening now is it). Then in the race for Premier League survival we have a quintet of this season’s failures.
In recent weeks the results clubs have garnered are starting to develop a context, none more so than for Tottenham and Arsenal, in little over a month Tottenham have gone from potentially being 13 points ahead of their rivals; now find themselves 3 points behind. The balance has shifted, catastrophically if you are a Lilywhite.
The same can be said for Man City; at one stage they held a 5 point advantage over United, after a handful of poor results against lesser sides they find themselves 3 points behind. Not the ideal situation for a Citizen.
At the bottom of the pile we have QPR, clear winners of the Championship last season and started reasonably well this, finding themselves mid-table going into December. However now they have slipped further and further down the pile and now are in the lowly position of 18th, a shamed inhabitant of the relegation zone.
All these three clubs who had started so well yet now find themselves swimming against the tide all have something in common; they are the inexperienced party in their respective battles.
It is not necessarily the players themselves who are without experience, Man City have 9 players who have won a league title with other clubs, nor the managers, Mancini won three titles with Inter. But the fans.
We have all seen the footage of the Man City fans in recent weeks, tears have been shed, nails have been bitten and hair pulled from its roots. All the time the game isn’t going their way the fans are fretting, and even more so when the game is reaching the latter stages. The tension is building and this will be felt by the players.
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At Spurs it’s an ominous situation, whenever a pass goes astray there’ an audible sigh from the crowd, when a goal scoring opportunity is spurned there is a disgruntled grumble. All this does is add more and more pressure to the players participating.
At Old Trafford, a fan who is under the age of 30 will have barely tasted the devastating heart break of being on the losing side week in week out, and the acrimony of finishing the season in the bottom half of the table. They only know success, when their side is level with 5 minutes to go, they have the inherent belief that a goal will come, because more often than not in the past 20 years, it has. Tension doesn’t build in these circumstances at Old Trafford, hope and ultimately expectation does. The same goes for Stamford Bridge, the Emirates and at the other end of the scale at the DW.
Wigan are coming alive again at the end of the season when all seemed lost. They have escaped from the near certain peril of relegation almost every season since they’ve been in the Premier League. Their fans have that hope and belief ingrained into them even if they don’t realise it.
This is a call to arms for the inexperienced fans, the ones who are striving for their side to triumph over the adversity that has tainted recent weeks, to overcome their old foes and achieve their goals this season. Do not underestimate your influence when watching your team live, have the hope and faith that your rivals posses, do not let them hold any advantage over you because otherwise you may find yourselves being a hindrance not a help.
Josh
