The Final Countdown?
Date: Saturday 5th May 2012
"Nowhere to run to, Nowhere to hide". A song lyric that might have been written for the Whites game on Sunday. It really is time to face harsh fact: By four-o’clock tomorrow we’ll know if the pendulum will finally stop, or creak agonisingly along for another week. Two matches being played against the same clock will determine our fate; Us v West Brom and QPR v Stoke. For us, a win will drag us into another week of agonising suspense, a draw depends on QPR losing twice and a loss will stop the clock and send us down the chute if they beat Stoke. No other results are capable of changing things if we expect Premiership football to continue next season. Not even Specsavers’ finest products are rose-tinted enough to imagine goal difference counting in our favour. We wrote that one off way back. Effectively we have to believe that Stoke are good enough to beat the Rangers, yet not good enough to beat us. If the former happens - and always providing, of course, we beat West Brom tomorrow - we also have to believe that Manchester’s new blue moon superstars will see off QPR next week, whilst we are finally putting the Stoke demon behind us. Stoke shattered our F.A.Cup dreams last year, and now figure greatly in our bid for survival. Tomorrow we’ll cheer them on, and next week (hopefullly) kill them off. Just like West Brom, they have nothing to play for except pride, and much depends, in both cases, just how much of that they have left . Realistically, a last game draw is a possible life-saver, if the Rangers lose both games and we beat West Brom, but it would be fitting if we could survive with two wins. Realistically also, we’re so badly off in squad depth that almost as much prayer is needed to save us as was for the Muamba miracle. Paper thin doesn't even go near describing our resources. Never could we ever conceive a game where Whites supporters would cheer on Stoke, but that’s what we’ll be doing inwardly tomorrow, whilst dying a thousand deaths on our own game. Can we then, do it? As President of the Rose-tinter society, I have to believe we can. Admittedly most of the colour has washed away from the lenses, but a sliver still remains and I won’t be cleaning the specs till 4 -0’clock tomorrow afternoon. Nothing left than but hope, prayer and keeping the faith. COME ON YOU WHITES.......gulp...
