This time last year we were in a right lowly mess. By the new year we were established rock bottom - and Hill went. I don't think any of us at that stage would have believed how valiantly Flicker, much disputed commodity that he was at the time, would fight back so successfully in order to retain our Championship status, and especially after one of the most bizarre five minute endings to the season than I can ever remember. Over the summer, despite some calls for caution (none of them mine I hasten to add) I think a lot of us felt it could well be a case of "watch out Championship, we're a force to be reckoned with". After all, our 2013 performance was equivalent to playoff standard at the very least. We got brought down to earth a bit sharpish though didn't we? Over the weeks and months the season has unfolded with, for me at least, a complete reluctance to comprehend the decline and crash from what we were at the start of 2013. Last year we changed managers at the crucial halfway stage and it worked. There is no suggestion that is about to happen again, and to be honest I wouldn't want it to. But crunch time is approaching again. Half season will soon be here and unless results change I reckon we'll be past the point of redemption very soon. An injection of new management helps, but that doesn't look like being the case this time around. As someone said earlier, the next two games against Millwall and Brum could well be season defining. Success, and I mean a minimum of 4 points could herald a positive upturn. Anything less and we hit December with a mountain to climb.
