This is a merry month of May
07/05/04 | by Alan Fisher

Well what a season - and it’s just about finished now, with a meaningless end of season three points at West Brom up for grabs. Hopefully we can get them, but if we don’t it won’t really dampen our spirits now, will it? To say this season has been a disappointment would be an obvious statement, but with the lowest lows come the highest highs. Let us also make sure we consider the incredible and almost immediate return to goalscoring form of a certain number nine - who knows what might have been had we had his services available during our barren spell without him for much of the season? Would Marlon Harewood have left if we were challenging at the right end of the table?

But we can’t focus on things that might have been - this is supposed to be some kind of review of the season. To be honest, the idea of trawling through the events of the past few months in a blow-by-blow account is frankly horrifying - but well, there’s a few themes that have developed over the course of the season which will hopefully bode well into next season and beyond.

We have seen the likes of Johnno cruelly taken away but resurrected, as well as Michael Dawson who, thanks to Platt’s meddling, has missed swathes of the season through illness and injury. There have also been a few gauntlet runners, who have passed through the fires of criticism to be acclaimed as heroes - I’m certainly looking at you here, Gareth Taylor.

Gareth Taylor epitomises this season for me. Certainly he was never going to be a Johnno-type striker, but he came to us with a decent record at a lowly side, and an injury. Unfortunately he was thrust into action before he was ready and struggled to make an impact. Even when looking hapless and missing chances, he always looked to be giving 100% - which is one of the reasons that whilst, I found him an immense frustration, I found it hard to be too tough on the guy. I bet ten people would rapidly run out of fingers and toes trying to count the number of bruises Gareth has picked up for the cause this season. And well, I’m sure you don’t need me to remind you of the crucial goals he’s picked up for us in the relegation run-in we’ve now cruised clear of.

Marlon King hasn’t quite proven himself in my eyes - he’s certainly shown glimmers of his capabilities and hopefully we’ve yet to see the best from the young striker. Also, Gareth Williams has gone through a mini-Gareth Taylor scenario - going from less-than-average to a critical member of a positive side. Let’s hope that Joe can get his contract nailed and signed this week.

Adding players like Impey, Evans, Gerrard and - to a lesser extent - Rogers has also been a masterstroke to ensure our survival. We’ll never know what Paul Hart would have done given the flexibility to breach the wage structure, but he would have done extremely well to bring in better additions to the squad than these. So hats off to Joe for some inspired and timely purchases/loans (not to mention the audacious acquisition of Nicky Barmby which looked to be such a good move... for one game!).

If you’d told me any time between January and March that we’d be comfortably safe having despatched a few play-off contenders and hopefuls then I would have snapped your hand off. Judging by the tangible sense of euphoria at the City Ground after the Wigan game there’s a few fans in the same boat. Joe remarked after the match that he had to check we’d not been promoted from the reaction of the fans - and it did almost feel like that.

We unfurled our banner in Capital One corner, Joe waved to us, the players pointed and laughed, Des looked a bit tearful again - it wasn’t too far from some happier times only a season ago. Hopefully those of us going to the Hawthorns at the weekend will be able to enjoy a similar atmosphere, and send Joe and the lads off to a summer feeling all pleased to have such great fans - or something. Surely they won’t want to leave, if that’s what we’re like after a crap season!

And so we come to the close of the season - there’ll be departures, most likely Andy Reid, although what will happen if nobody matches our valuation of him in terms of an offer? Maybe we will keep him another year, but I doubt it. Astoundingly I’ve heard people both online and in the ground slagging off the young Irishman. The lad’s been an ever-present in the team this season and has undoubtedly been a major contributing factor to our safety in Division One this season.

Certainly you don’t see him tearing around the pitch for the full 90 minutes, but that’s because he’s not that kind of player. To go from a fringe player to an ever-present in a season and a bit is astounding progress, and must be exhausting for even someone with more obvious physical fitness than Andy. I for one would be delighted if we can keep him and see if he can’t fulfil his Premiership dream with us, although I hold little hope of this.

The rumours of incoming signings are a little thin on the ground at the moment, which is probably a good thing after the merry-go-round of last summer where all our major targets were nicked from us. Joe seems master of the smokescreen with his transfer dealings. I’m sure he’ll keep us guessing on all manner of things as the summer progresses and he gets to work on shaping the team to resemble his vision of the future.

He’s not been backward in coming forward and stating that anything less than the play-offs is a failure - that’s one hell of an aim for a team that just avoided the drop. Particularly if we consider that this division will definitely contain Leicester, Wolves, Leeds, and three of Ipswich, Crystal Palace, Sunderland and West Ham (assuming the play-offs go as expected), not to mention the surprise contenders that are bound to crop up along the way.

For me, I’ll be content with survival next season - preferably comfortable survival. But well, if a promotion bandwagon starts rolling, I’ll be happy to jump aboard and enjoy the ride. Joe Kinnear has shown so far that life under him isn’t going to be dull - and though I’m not sure that was a bucket of Guinness he was drinking in the centre circle after we beat Wigan, he was enjoying it nonetheless.

Phase One of Kinnear’s reign is completed and in a more than satisfactory manner - but the real challenge for him is next season and to progress the club. I certainly admire the confidence he shows, but am still cynical enough to want to wait and see before I invest too much faith. To counter this, it’s hard to come to the City Ground these days and not feel at least a twinge of genuine optimism for the future - and that speaks volumes for the mood change that has happened of late at Trentside. Let’s hope we’re not set for further disappointments (except for when the season ticket price rises are announced, of course!).