Plenty to cover in this week’s Midweek Review as the Cobblers hit back from a dismal defeat on Boxing Day to record four points from the next two games. The transfer window is now officially open as well and it’s all set to be a busy month for the club.
The performance at Doncaster seemed pretty dismal and the game at Huddersfield to follow it was one of the last things we needed as we tried to put it to the back of our minds. With a poor record at the Galpharm Stadium and going a goal down on the stroke of half time it all pointed towards a second defeat in a row.
But full credit to the players for fighting back once again and the work of Poul Hubertz was again said to be the major factor in the turn around. Goals are being shared around now as Andy Kirk hits a bit of a drought and it’s good to see the likes of Jason Crowe adding a couple of goals to his tally over Christmas.
Hubertz will, of course, miss the next three games through suspension after the red card against his former club yesterday afternoon. The big Dane will be very much missed and it’s frustrating for both the player and the side that his season has been a bit stop/start. Hoobs has an ability that we’ve been missing for a long time in that he can hold up play when we’re in front and keep the ball at the right end of the pitch from our point of view and we don’t seem to have anyone else able to match that at the moment.
The worrying thing at the moment is looking at the bench that Stuart Gray has to choose from in time of need and it lacking that little something that can change a game when things are going wrong. The squad is getting thinner by the day with injuries and suspensions piling up and the Christmas period is quite a struggle for the smaller squads in the league.
The transfer window now comes into play and Brad Johnson is the first to officially be approached. Johnson was left out of the Millwall game and looks set to join a Championship side for a “substantial” amount of money. It’s a shame that we would lose someone of Johnson’s quality but a big sum would be a huge boost to the club at a time when new blood is needed. We may even be able to bring in a couple of players just with the money the midfielder brings in as the wage budget also increases.
As for other deals, expected offers for Mark Bunn and Jason Crowe haven’t been made as yet according to Stuart Gray but the rumour mill is already linking one or both of them with Colin Calderwood at Forest. In Bunn’s case, I think most Cobblers fans would agree that if a good enough offer were to come in then we couldn’t stand in his way at his age and after already being loyal to the club thus far. Crowe would be another major loss to the side after recently providing that attacking spark we were missing earlier in the season.
But it’s just a time of holding on and seeing what happens but January is certainly set to be a busy month for the Cobblers and by the time February comes around we could be looking at a very different squad then the one we’re seeing now!
The eagerly anticipated trip to Leeds comes around on Saturday and it’s a chance to really mix with the big boys of the league. Chants of “you’re not famous any more” or others to that effect will probably be shouted from the Cobblers corner of Elland Road but the fact is that Leeds are a massive club and they will more than likely be promoted this season.
The worst thing to happen at Leeds from our point of view was their defeat to Oldham yesterday. They’ll be fired up after that turn around and certainly not taking us for granted as they may have done before. But whatever happens, it’s another chance to go to a new ground and take in and another big crowd to play in front of.
So Happy New Year to everyone and let’s hope for some good times in 2008!
Up The Cobblers!
Danny
No comments:
Post a Comment