8 games into the season we had amassed 10points. We’d been humiliated by Chavski at home 4-1, had a goal keeper who looked no better than what we had previously and had cost us a game to an awful Birmingham side at St. Andrews with 2 massive blunders. We had a £7m striker who hadn’t scored and was the biggest target of ridicule for football fans up and down the country, we had missed the opportunity to “cash in” on our status as European Champions by only signing players not proven as “top class” and who had seemingly added very little to the starting line up, had missed out on the one genuine world class striker available, we had missed out on signing ANY centre backs and right wingers that we we’re in desperate need of leaving us with massive holes in our squad and we lay in 10th place with just 2 unconvincing league wins against shite opposition under our belts and looked like a team who we’re a million miles from a title challenge who would do well to hang on to our manager.
The season was set up to be another disappointing one and our chances of closing the gap on the top clubs had seemingly already passed us by. We had a Japanese distraction lying in wait to help distort our already fractured season further, key players who had lost the form that guided us to number 5, and fans up in arms about our sale of the one “proven” striker of Premiership class.
It’s so easy to forget this happened. I looked back on some of the early league tables this week and was actually startled to see that we had won just the TWO out of our first 8 league games, scoring just 5 goals during that run. Considering what has happened in the following 29 league games and our F.A Cup run, this season (since October 29th when we had a pretty scrappy 2-0 win at home to West Ham) has been little short of a miracle. We’ve lost just 4 league games and had 2 spectacular runs of 12 league games unbeaten (containing 11 wins) and 8 wins on the trot. The only subsequent slump came at the end of January/beginning of February where we we’re probably feeling the exertions of our extended season and trip to Japan in which we dropped a total of 11 points in 4 successive league games against teams who (apart from Chavski) we’re all fucking shite against us and in fairness deserved fuck all (United, Charlton and Birmingham) and would have probably got fuck all if we’d had a top centre forward (or as later proven a fit Robbie Fowler) in the ranks at that time.
We currently sit 12 points behind Chavski having played a game more. On paper it still looks a pretty big gap (all be it an excellent improvement on last seasons 37 point deficit) yet if the two games against those classless twats had gone in our favour, as 2 more important semi-finals have in the past 12 months
, we’d currently be sat level top with them. Now considering our awful start to the season and the fact we’ve not had an out and out right winger or a proper goal poacher (yes Robbie can still do it but not for the 38 games we require) I think we really have to take our hats off to Rafa Benitez for getting us to within just two additional positive results of being genuine title challengers so quickly.
There have been many things you can also look at and say “Ifithadn’tbeenfor” such as the WCC distraction, Owen’s decision to sign for Newcastle and Simao’s ruined deal that would allow many to argue that with a bit more luck we could conceivably have been the Premiership champions this season instead of those horrible Cockney twats, but we’ll leave that to the bitters.
Instead, let’s look at the fact that we are now close to Chavski, in a cup final (our 5th in 2 seasons under Rafa) and still have some obvious parts of our first 11 to improve on (do Chavski, apart from maybe up front?). We have Palleta, Aurelio and Mark Gonzalez on their way and just one or two more top rate signings will surely have us fighting it out with Chavski for next years crown, because if Rafa can do all that he has for us under the circumstances he has (spending a total of around £25m net, and having distractions such as the WCC, CL Qualifying rounds and no top class strikers) just imagine what he could do if we gave him the necessary means to do so. A decent wedge of cash in his pocket this summer and one or two canny signings from the man himself and I truly believe we’ll have number 19 in the bag soon enough, for sure.
This season has been a magnificent turn-around and if we win our next two games, will be our most successful domestic season in over a decade. Rick, Davey and Rafa, over to you…………
2005-06 A Miracle Season?
