Well that was the last game I can get this season

And after feeling very down beat last night, I've become much more positive this morning.

I would love for us to pull ourselves out of the relegation zone although it's going to be a struggle regardless of the result last night.

Despite losing last night, Forest have been rejuvenated under Billy Davies and are just a point outside the play-offs. Hull who also lost last night only require a better result than Watford on Saturday to guarantee a return to the premier league before we face them, but with Hull playing Bristol on Friday and Watford playing Blackburn Saturday, I reckon Hull will still need a result when they play us to be sure of promotion. This would mean however that Watford have done us a favour so its a catch 22 situation really.

I really hope that we can go into the Huddersfield game with a chance of survival, and how ironic would it be if we relegated one of the teams we had to beat to get in this division in the first place. I still have fond memories of that night at their stadium, falling down the gangway when Nardiello smashed home the tie winner the lasting one.

If you want my honest opinion, I don't think we'll do it this year. We've pushed our luck a few times, none more so than last season, however I just think we left ourselves far too much to do in the 2nd half of the season when we are notoriously weaker than we are in the first half of the season. I feel that we've been very unlucky with injuries of late too, which has only worsened our plight. The biggest failure for me this season has been the lack of a commanding centre half. I think both Flicker and Hill were guilty of not addressing this issue however I don't for one second believe neither of them tried to recruit someone. Its a question of who we can bring in on the strict budget we have rather than bringing in the right person. As a result, we've dropped a lot of points due to our inability to defend set pieces, the most costly game which sticks in my mind is Bristol City away.

Am I dreading the prospect of league 1 football? No, not at all. As I said earlier, I've woken up in a much more optimistic mood than the one I went to bed in last night. I remember the 01/02 season, the last time we were relegated to league 1. The club was in a much more desperate state than it is now. Our money woes back then meant our squad was heavily reliant on journeyman freebies and loanee's. It wasn't until Andy Ritchie was given a bit more freedom to add a few signings at cost that we finally mounted a challenge in league 1, and of course, got promoted as a result. I believe that the club is no worse off now than it was when we came into this division, if not slightly better off, which gives me full confidence of am immediate return.

IF and it is a big if, if we go down, I fully believe that Dave Flitcroft is the man to bring us back up, and should have his hard work thus far, rewarded by being offered a new contract as soon as possible. I believe he's got the full backing of the players, which could help persuade some of our more influential players to stay with the club in the case of relegation, David Perkins being the main one in my opinion, who I think will have a lot of interest regardless of which division we'll be in.

But for me, this is the worst case scenario, I have faith in our squad and fully believe that we will fight to the wire to stay in this division. We've suffered from a lack of goals of late however I feel our strikers have the tools to do the job and hopefully they'll re-find form at the right time.

We're Barnsley FC, we are the underdogs, we always exceed everyone else's expectation of us, and we've been in this position countless times before and we always pull out of it. What's stopping us from doing it again, because I feel, if we manage it this season, next season could be our best season in a long time with the right summer recruitment.

What a funny old season it's been. For me this year our most improved player has been Scott Goldbourne; when he came in, I thought he had the potential to be a decent full back, but lacked the creativity to be the winger Keith Hill played him as. I think he's been a solid performer all season and we've struggled to replace him since he was ruled out for the season. My player of the year is Chris Dagnall; I like Daggers, he's everywhere and never stops chasing even if it's a lost cause he's after. Wish he'd score more goals, but he's got 9 (I think) since Flicker took over which shows he's got it in him. He could be a valuable asset regardless of which division we find ourselves in next year and for me he's just edges Perkins and Dawson as player of the year.

So this is where the season ends for me, however ill eagerly listen to the game at the weekend hoping that we can perform the remarkable once more. Forest is another ground where we picked up an amazing if unexpected win in that season where we last escaped league 1, so it would be fitting to repeat that feat once more.

Apologies if I this post is misconstrued as negative, im just trying to put a positive light on what is a bleak situation.

Don't worry about a thing, cos every little thing is gonna be alright.

 

I agree with that 101%