So proud of our lads.

[derfblade.3]

Yes we are rock bottom and have had some thumpings but the lads are showing some real fight and look to be enjoying their football.
We probably know what the outcome of the season will be but the players are gaining real respect for their efforts over the last few games with Ollie Mac leading the way and the midfield lads working their socks off.
Carry this on into the next campaign and we will be fine.
Keep the fight going lads. UTB!

 

[72 years a blade]

If we could have played like this at the start of the season , where do you think we would be in the league today?

 

[Bladesman]

If we could have played like this at the start of the season , where do you think we would be in the league today?

According to some statisticians we could actually be outside the relegation zone if we had just cut out some of the injury time goals we have conceded.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

Yes we are rock bottom and have had some thumpings but the lads are showing some real fight and look to be enjoying their football.
We probably know what the outcome of the season will be but the players are gaining real respect for their efforts over the last few games with Ollie Mac leading the way and the midfield lads working their socks off.
Carry this on into the next campaign and we will be fine.
Keep the fight going lads. UTB!

However, yet another goal conceded at a corner where the scorer went unmarked. Convince me that this won't keep happening. My lads under 11s team defend corners better than these amateurs.

 

[petcharlie]

If we could have played like this at the start of the season , where do you think we would be in the league today?

We would be in with a chance of survival but giving every one else a 5 or 6 game start on us was never going to make the job easy and it has taken some time get in place players who gel . Must say the midfield against Chelsea looked better than it has done all season . Hamer looked good along with Blaster and Osborn . Dodgy for the first 20mins but they came good and it was good to see and the strikers at last got some service .We actually looked threatening for a large part of the game . Even though we had less of the ball than Chelsea we had a lot more efforts on goal than them ,now how many times have we been able to say that this season ?

 

[Iffy Onuora's Shiny Head]

The last 4 games are how I expected us to play all season.

If we had done that, I believe we would have been 10 points better off and going into the final games with everything in our own hands.

Diaz has helped a lot, and I would love us to sign him even though I don't think we will. Having some mobility, strength and quality up front gives us an outball we have missed most of this year.

Having a midfield with energy and passing ability has also helped wonders, and eased pressure on the back line so much.

 

[SwissBlade]

Yes we are rock bottom and have had some thumpings but the lads are showing some real fight and look to be enjoying their football.
We probably know what the outcome of the season will be but the players are gaining real respect for their efforts over the last few games with Ollie Mac leading the way and the midfield lads working their socks off.
Carry this on into the next campaign and we will be fine.
Keep the fight going lads. UTB!

Nice post. There are certainly signs that there are a number of players stepping up and taking some responsibility. Glad you mention McBurnie, he's been playing arguably his best football in the last few weeks and has been really refreshing to watch, but there are a few others who've also caught my eye:

Holgate - shocking and disgraceful start to his loan with that red. You'd have forgiven Wilder for sending him back after that. But he's come back in and has looked a lot more assured. His performances have been solid. It's allowed Anel to move centrally.

Anel - Lets be right, he's been one of, if not the worst performers most of the season. Wilder made him captain and he seemed to be even worse. Whether he's been sulking for a move or something else, he's not been right, but since losing the armband and moving centrally, he's been much better and whilst he's not a leader, he's been a different player.

Robinson - As we've all acknowledged, he's been one of the better performers this season. I forget which one of the drubbings he was dropped for but he came in from the bench later and hasn't looked back, the armband rightfully ending up on his arm.

Osborn - Painful as it is for me to say this and i wouldn't want him to be any sort of long term central midfielder, he's often been part of the problem, but fair play, he's come in and replaced technically better players in midfield and down that left to really make him hard to leave out. He provides tenacity and balance to the left of that midfield and it gives the likes of Hamer and Arblaster more time on the ball. His attitude is spot on, he's made it hard for him to be dropped and it means others have to step up to displace him.

Other notable mentions - BBD, McAtee and Archer, we know the talents they have and perhaps we'll start to see much more of them in the coming weeks before they end the season with us. I know Archer is up in the air and possibly could stay if we can strike a deal, but that's an IF. BBD and McAtee, have the right attitude and are showing their worth, McAtee being frustrated (rightly so) at being taken off v Liverpool and then sitting on the bench yesterday for longer than he should've done, to then come in and cause a bit of chaos, was just what we needed. BBD dug in when perhaps was tiring and played his part for the team

A lot of the game we play is attitude and we've struggled to get the right attitude at times this season, little spats, players getting heads down when we concede daft goals, but as you say, they're showing fight now and its a real positive to see