Not the worst August

We are nearly at the end of the first month of the season. Saturday will be our fifth League game, we have played one less than the clubs around us. Writing this ahead of the Notts County game we sit in 10th. We are around about where Bradford and AFC Wimbledon were at this point last season. Both got promoted.

Of course, this time last year we were 8th, still in the 2nd round of the League Cup and only two points off top spot.  Having said that we had only scored 3 league goals, and our goal difference was 2. This season we have put the ball in the onion bag 8 times and have only conceded twice. It feels healthier. 

That ‘marathon not a sprint’ maxim is useful but gets in the way. It would be nice if we could sprint into an unassailable lead whilst those around us flounder. Walsall did it last season but couldn’t sustain their form and the result was a playoff failure.

As far as Rovers fans are concerned I suspect getting to the play offs would be seen as an achievement. It’s so long since we have been able to say, DiNiro style, ‘I was a contender’. Too many of our supporters have only seen us fail. It would be nice for some to see us nearly succeed. Even better if we could actually do it.

Yet we are getting way, way ahead of ourselves. There are more than 40 League fixtures left, we need another 11 wins to secure our status in this Division. Even 52 points doesn’t guarantee that, but it would be unlikely we would be relegated. 

As it happens it seems that Saturday marks the passage of summer into autumn. It’s forecast to be wet and windy, the weather most of us are used to seeing football played in. We need to keep on winning. It’s what we all want. Let’s hope, unlike past seasons, we get what we wish for.

All views expressed are personal