Slowly but surely, things are starting to turn themselves around.
It’s sort of like the 12 Step Approach for Alcoholics Anonymous. The first step is admitting that you have a problem, and it looks as if Pep Clotet managed to do that. Now the next step is trying to work out exactly how we go about fixing it.
Speaking after the 1-1 draw with Cardiff City on Saturday, Blues boss Clotet talked about how he knew the Bluebirds were going to try and break them down, but try as his side might, they just couldn’t hold them out forever:
“We knew that after half-time they would come at us and it would turn into a set-piece game and they made it very difficult for us. The second-half it was a really tough game because every time they had a chance, they put the ball into the box.”
As I hinted at in my earlier piece, I feel that Clotet should actually get some sort of credit for being able to keep Cardiff out for the majority of the game and limit them to only the one goal from a set-piece, and to be able to keep them out in other aspects of the game.
Let’s not forget that Clotet is still pretty raw when it comes to being a head coach/manager. His only stint before this was with Oxford United where he lasted six months, so he is still learning things as he goes along.
All this is part of the learning curve for him, and at least he is being open to us about understanding where the various weaknesses are in the team, because now we know what to call him out on if things don’t improve, because he’s warned us about them.
Will Clotet be sacked by the end of the season?
Yes
No
And with the gap from the bottom of the table now up to nine points, he’s got a lot more breathing space in which to make things work rather than having to juggle it with the constant threat of a relegation battle at the same time.
