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In fact it’s a vicious and cruel game which will kick you in the teeth when you’re least expecting it. As I looked around at the faces on the North Bank after Saturday’s defeat against Carlisle, I saw people haunted by the ghosts of so many past failures, that it made we wonder why we all put ourselves through this week after week. What do we hope to achieve by punishing ourselves like this? Surely, the rare moments of glory can’t make up for the utter despair and misery that most of us have endured whilst watching our team over the years. I sat silent and motionless during the car journey home, I then sat silent and motionless as I watched the long shadows creep across the garden as the sun set on another day in the history of Swansea City Football Club and I wondered how every other Swans fan felt at that moment. Were they sharing my pain? Were they sitting in silence just like me? Or were they just getting on with their lives like any sensible human being should? Sunday mornings can mean one of two things to a football supporter, either the inevitable hangover from the previous night’s excesses and the memories of another great victory or the hangover due to the drowning of sorrows and the depressing thoughts of yet another defeat. I felt neither this morning, the hurried exit after the game stopped any chance of further alcohol consumption, hence the lack of a hangover. But where were the feelings of despair? Had I finally reached the conclusion that it’s “only a game”? Was I destined to never feel the agony of defeat again? I strode out into the sunshine to buy my morning papers with a confidence that I really had no business feeling, after the catastrophic defeat the day before. So what had happened? Simple really, confidence, determination and the belief that all was not lost. This, just like any other defeat, was simply a set-back. As Swans fans, we’ve had our fair share of heartache over the years, but we’re still here and the Club is still here. We have never swayed in our support for the team no matter who was manager or who ran the club. We came through near bankruptsy in the early eighties, we came through the silver shield years and we came through the Petty era, and we did all this because we were united. We were united behind our club and we were united behind our team. We didn’t bow our heads and disappear into the shadows. We stood firm and faced our fears head on. The current crisis is no different. Granted, the stakes are high. But then again, they always have been. The Swans never do things by halves do they??!! We have nine games remaining, in which to secure our Football League status. Not so long ago we were languishing at the bottom of the table, six points adrift of safety. Within four games we were out of the bottom two. Go and take a look at the table now. Two points, just two points!!! That’s all that separates us from safety. There are 27 points to play for and we have to get behind the team, the management and the board 100% if we’re going to stay up. People have already started preaching “the end of the world” Blame is being apportioned left, right and centre. Now is not the time for recriminations, now is the time to show the club how much we care, to show a united front. To show a belief in our club and our team that no other set of fans in this country can match. We will not just pass into football history quietly. If the worst comes to the worst, we will go kicking and screaming and showing the kind of commitment that only the Jacks are capable of. Some may call me mad, but I believe that we can reach our goal. The “Great escape” is still on and I will not accept relegation until it actually happens. Believe me when I say that you can make a difference. Get to every game that you possibly can, get behind the boys and show them that you believe in them. All the negativity stops NOW!!! The next seven weeks are the most important on the clubs history and we have to give 100% unconditional support. “United we stand, divided we fall” WHO ARE WE……………………………………??? |
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