It’s officially that point of the season.
The dreaded ‘R word’ has been mentioned for the first time in a press conference, so you know that it’s now a real threat in the minds of the press, and to a lesser extent, the head coach as well.
But Blues boss Pep Clotet believes that he and the rest of his squad have enough experience dealing with such a situation to be able to get themselves out of it eventually. Having been in relegation battles in 2017-18 and 2018-19 after the points deduction, the Spaniard believes that the easiest way to put these fears to bed is to put points on the board.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of the game with Luton Town, Clotet hoped that the victory over Blackburn Rovers in the F.A Cup will provide the momentum that will give their league form that much needed boost:
“The club has been in that situation for a few seasons before, there is experience in that situation, there is a squad that knows the best thing to do is to avoid it. We know the way not to be is to win football games. We have a fantastic opportunity to win a football game like we did last Saturday, give the three points to the fans who have been suffering in this tough moment, get everyone behind us and get St Andrew’s rocking for our next home game – that’s our mentality.”
Well it’s good to see that he has some confidence, which is more than can be said for certain sections of the St Andrew’s faithful, however I think he does have a point here.
There are a number of senior players in this squad who have been with the club throughout those torrid times before; like Harlee Dean, Maxime Colin and Lukas Jutkiewicz that they’ll possess the know-how to navigate through the trials and tribulations of a relegation battle should the club be dragged in any further.
Although in an ideal world, we’ll win a few games and we can put it all behind us. And with key players set to return like Maikel Kieftenbeld from injury and Ivan Sunjic from suspension, once this squad is 100% available we’ll be able to really start the surge up the table. Just keep the faith a little bit longer.
