Planet Swans ArchivesIf you win all your home games and pick up points here and there away from home then there is a good chance that you will get promoted. Yesterday’s point at Grimsby took us to 23 points out of the last 33, form that will see us take up residence in our new home next season as a League One side. Providing of course we continue that ratio of points won over the course of the season.
We also find ourselves in the enviable position of having three of our next four league games at the Vetch where we have won six straight games – each of them to a clean sheet. Bury and Darlington should be beaten down here but are no means a formality whilst we have to be optimistic against Bristol Rovers where we will be backed by another near capacity Vetch crowd. Add to that the trip to relegation strugglers Shrewsbury and November could turn out to be a good month for us league wise even if there is a chance that our participation in two cup competitions could end at Wycombe and Cheltenham.
Indeed if those cup runs do end then I can safely say that I won’t be shedding any tears. The money from them comes in handy but promotion is our aim for this season and we all know what a distraction the cup runs can start to be.
There is one thing that is becoming a recurring theme though and that is the lack of goals that we have been scoring this season. Something that we all know too well about. 16 goals in 15 games tells it’s own story especially when you consider that every other side in the top half of the table has notched more than that – granted each of them all having played one game more. Only on three occasions have we found the net more than once this season and on one of those the goals were wiped out by the four that Southend notched past us. A lack of goals is not down to a lack of effort – we have had just about 100 shots on target this season plus we have notched more corners than any other team in the division but for whatever reason we are not finding the back of the net.
Lee Trundle has scored on five occasions this season and is our leading scorer. Other strikers out there have 10 goals to their name and the league’s leading scorers Yeovil have scored 29 times already. Sure 1 goal is enough when you have 8 clean sheets in the 15 games but how long can our defence continue to do this? Back in 2000, we won the championship of this division by conceding very few goals but we notched only just over 50 in winning that league. The football then was dire – we are a much better side now so why are the goals not flowing.
Confidence must play a factor in it all. We haven’t found the back of the net with any regularity in the last twelve months. We started last season scoring for fun and then the goals dried up. Goals were being leaked then at the other end so we know that it bode for bad results but when you’re not scoring then the goals are harder to come by. Ask any striker and they believe in confidence and that in itself doesn’t help. But it isn’t the only reason. Andy Robinson contributed many from midfield last season but playing out on the left this time around he is not scoring and I don’t think playing in that position we will see him score with the same regularity as he did last term. Too often he is shooting across goal from an angle and his game tends to be around power rather than placement – unless it’s a free kick of course. Paul Connor is desperately short of goals and not matching his ratio from when he first arrived. Is that a confidence thing? I think it has to be – he doesn’t seem to have really bad games from what I have seen but the goals are not there.
Martinez and O’Leary are never going to contribute much from the middle of the park in terms of goals – they never have done – so we lose that outlet in terms of adding to our tally and on the right wing we have seen Forbes notch a few but with Maylett again we have someone who may notch 5 a season but nothing much more. Defenders on top should only be relied on to score a few at best each season so we do have a slight problem that is of no major worry when we are not conceding but should be addressed.
We all know that the squad needs a real left winger and another front man and then we are not far off complete. I assume we are looking and just waiting for the right player to come along. At least I hope we are. We are in a great position in the league and picking up points at the likes of Grimsby and Chester can only increase the optimism that the holy grail is for the touching this season. However, we should not become complacent and if the squad starts scoring goals then the rest of the division should start to worry.
Yesterday was another solid result and if we can build on that next Saturday in the tricky game against Bristol Rovers then who knows. It may take some luck in the meantime but if we can get confidence back in the squad that the goals are flowing then who knows?
Things are still looking good but they could look better?
