Finally, April is here. The month that has always looked so critical to the destiny of our season, since the fixture list was first published. Not only that, it's arrived with City's spirits dampened by recent results and performances and questions being asked of our team's ability to cross the finishing line, once again.
It would be easy to start questioning where things have been going wrong. Indeed, we are all, to a greater or lesser degree, guilty of doubting our promotion credentials over recent weeks. But, despite a loss of form and despite the goals all but drying up, I do not believe that now is the time to analyse where it all went wrong. For all the poor results, we're still third, we're still in with a shout and we owe it to ourselves and to our club to keep believeing and to keep strong.
I was looking back to an article I wrote in ‘Gatepost' a the end of last season. At that time, I rounded off my piece with the words, “Following Bristol City is agony, it's ecstasy, it's pain and it's pleasure, but it's never dull and I wouldn't change it for anything.” Well, on reflection, maybe I would change it for a Wiganesque canter to the finishing line, but, let's face it, we all knew in our heart of hearts that it was never going to be that straightforward, and there's nothing to be gained by buckling now the inevitable wobble is upon us.
It is a statement of fact that at City, just as at any club, there are supporters who think the manager should go, there are supporters who think the board should do things differently and there are supporters who rate certain players less than others. And, when the heat is on, these feelings often bubble to the surface more often than they would in a period when things are going well. Obviously, people are well within there right to have these sort of feelings. Indeed, it can be a cathartic experience to vent one's spleen every now and again, but we must try to draw the line at allowing these thoughts to damage our own ambitions which can, inevitably, boil over into bitter in-fighting and, ultimately, defeat in our goal.
Now is not the time to call for Danny Wilson's head, now is not the time to turn on our players. Now is the time to unite in a common cause and do our bit, however small we feel it may be, to bring Division One football to Ashton Gate.
In the final analysis, let's make sure that, whatever happens, we don't feel that we should have done more. That maybe, if we'd just stayed positive and lifted the lads one more time, we may have been celebrating on College Green, instead of staring disconsolately into our pints and thinking ‘If only…'.
We can do this, it is within our grasp and it is within our capabilities. So, for once, let's be the ones who are brave enough to step forward and grab it.
Come on you reds!
