There have been times in the past where I’ve run out of things to write on this blog because runs of form have been so desperate and games have just moulded into one week after week. Indeed two years ago when Chris Wilder took charge, Town were in a position six points adrift at the bottom of the Football League. His appointment seemed more like a preparation for the Conference than a bid to beat the drop, such was the shocking nature of our performances. There was no end in sight.
Two years later and I’m sat here with a bit of writer’s block for very different reasons. This time I’ve already used up all the superlatives, run out of times when I can say what an incredible run it’s been and how it’s a remarkable reversal from almost going out of business in November. Each victory is edging this incredible Cobblers team to new heights of history. You keep expecting the run to end, looking for edgy parts of a day that might bring us down to earth. But every test, as in the windy embers of Sixfields against the league’s bottom club York City on Saturday, is being brushed aside by a group of players that have become heroes this season.
There’s also an element of the season that’s making even the most pessimistic Town fans believe – goal line clearances from York chances, for example, came seconds before our goals on Saturday – that barring an absolute collapse the team that were within days of being torn apart earlier in the season could well be starting next season in League One.
So what more to say? Well, York can be praised for their efforts on Saturday for one – the difficult conditions affected both sides and they could well have come away with something on another day. I’m convinced that they’ll be OK in their own relegation scrap…both ends of the table are looking like having dramatic conclusions and there’s a heck of a lot of points to go for.
The next three games for the Cobblers could well be defining. Trips to Leyton Orient, buoyant under new player/manager Kevin Nolan and to promotion rivals Oxford United in the coming days will royally test our nerve before Wycombe come to town in ten days’ time.
The newly strengthened squad including the final piece in the puzzle in Luke Prosser, signed on loan on deadline day, means that we’re equipped to cope with anything that League Two has to throw at us for the rest of the season.
As the finish line slowly creeps up, there’s always going to be that element of being there to be shot down but after every examination we’ve battled through already this season there’s no sense at all that any set back would affect this squad.
Again, really weird to be so optimistic but seeing the Cobblers on top of a league is something I honestly thought I wouldn’t see for many, many years so we have to ride on the crest of this glorious wave.
A Load Of Cobblers 