It is not often that I get angry with Jacquie Bird, but there she was on BBC 1 at 6.30 pm on Monday night, the peak time of all peak times, asking the question “Can Brendan hold on?”
To be fair, it wasn’t she who was saying it,and indeed the report itself tended to side with Brendan, but the question had been asked, and of course Chick Young got to ask his “alarmed ” question again. But then again, we all know that Chick Young has his own agenda!
Sunday’s game was bad, but the situation, although concerning, has not yet reached the critical, and is certainly still a hundred miles away from the “regime change” stage. Certainly mistakes have been made – we should have gone for John McGinn, we possibly backed the wrong horse in going for Edouard rather than Dembele, and the Boyata case should never have reached the stage that it did (it has at least calmed down now), but there are other factors as well, some of them down to sheer bad luck.
There have been injuries, a few players have shaded just a little but hopefully can come back, and of course we had Olivier Ntcham acting irresponsibly against St Mirren. How many of these lost five points could have been saved but for Olivier’s folly? Let’s hope he can learn from it. And of course, we all have suffered from the dangerous illusion that a good result against Rangers is all that we need.
OK, it has been a nightmare couple of months, but what can we do about it?
Those who wish to depose Brendan have one basic weakness in their arguments, and that is they who are going to replace him with? As things stand, the only hope we have is Brendan Rodgers, and I have enough faith in him (6 domestic honours out of 6 is not all that bad, after all!) to think that he can pull things round. Maybe “pull things round” is too melodramatic a statement – maybe “recover from a stumble” is a better way of putting it. 32 games remain in the Scottish League – and that is an awful lot of football. Desperation is still a long way off.
But we must stick together. Supporters must replicate the atmosphere of last Thursday at the Rosemborg game. The player do get a lift from such things, and we do now how some less experienced players who appreciate what we put into the support of the club. That way, they are likely to give us a wee bit more.
At the risk of becoming a complete bore on the subject, Wednesday night is paramount. The arguments in favour of retaining BR will receive a severe jolt if we lose at Perth. St Johnstone may have disappointed their own supporters in the way they lay down at Ibrox on Sunday, but they certainly will be up for Wednesday. Trophies cannot be won in September, but the League Cup can certainly be lost. It will be tough, but let’s get behind everyone. When we sing about “You’ll never walk alone”, let’s show them that we mean it!
David Potter
