The words we should be repeating ad nauseam from now until Tuesday evening.
Yesterday could have been better, I suppose. Us riding the wave of a four game winning run, against opponents looking towards next season.
Apparently battering them in the first half, but as able of finding the net as your editor without his glasses on.
I guess we knew it would be that sort of day when Piggy had a pen saved, and after that it sounded like we started to hit the wall.
Perhaps that’s a bit unfair, as the last fortnight has put us in a very good position (almost literally).
But anyone who’s watched football long enough will know that runs come to an end at some point.
It would have been nice to have rounded this week off with yet another victory, but this sort of performance/result was coming.
Couple that with both Northampton and Rochdale pulling it out of the hat, and it will feel like a bad weekend.
Except it isn’t one.
We could have lost yesterday, and the Cobblers/Dale could have won, and you can do your own mathematical calculations on what that would have done.
As it is, we are no different to where we were at 2.59pm yesterday. And that’s a good thing.
Indeed, this weekend might have been a better one than we think. We were due a slip-up, and thankfully we were playing a team who couldn’t score with a nymphomaniac.
Northampton and Rochdale didn’t close the gap on us, although if Crewe had concentrated for a couple more minutes it would have been a better story this morning.
Both those two are now running out of games, and while our next opponent has one in hand, it’s against us.
They simply have to go for it on Tuesday, and we must be mindful of that.
It will make us realise the job isn’t done yet. That in 72 hours time, we really do need to go again.
If there’s one thing that has always been true at AFCW, at least in recent years – when we need a result, we tend to get it.
During the Great Escape (TM), we had to beat Wycombe at KM, on the second last game of the season, and that’s exactly what we did.
We should avoid defeat against Rochdale at all costs, but even if we do it’s still in our favour to a point.
We can still slip up and yet be a L1 side next season. The others can’t.
But that’s the mentality I hope we don’t have on Tuesday. We should go all out for the win that will make anything beyond that academic.
It seems to be the attitude of our Head Coach anyway, who seems to be taking the right approach to our next game.
And Tuesday is winnable. Granted, Rochdale will be desperate, but I think we’re good enough to nullify that.
Like ourselves, they’re down the bottom for a very good reason too.
To be fair to our players, I think they want to wrap this season up ASAP too. It’s been a grind, and Tuesday will be the eighth game this month.
As said in the last SW19 update, they don’t want to blow it as much as anyone else. And they’re in a position to do something about that.
I think it will be unfair if we go down now, but life isn’t fair and we have to continue working to stay up.
I don’t doubt we’ll be even more focused than usual the next couple of days on the training ground, simply because this is the crunch time and we need to deliver.
This lot have proven they have something about them. Let’s see them carry it through.
Finally, imagine a crowd could get into PL on Tuesday?
Since life on the SW19/SW17 border recommenced, your editor has sometimes commented that night games when everyone is “on it” will be special.
Rochdale would be no exception, and could well be the proverbial coming-of-age for PL.
Imagine the mixture of excitement beforehand? Imagine that pre-game buzz, and the reception the players would get as they walked out?
Imagine if we win? They’d have to call an emergency session of Parliament to allow the pubs to be fully open.
Mind you, it could backfire, especially if we go an early goal down. And our ability to shoot deserts us.
Perhaps it’s just as well crowds aren’t allowed back in after all? I won’t say we can be a nervous bunch, but we could make the top Indian guru need Xanax…