Make or break week for the Blues

It’s all a bit doom and gloom at the moment is it? Kind of like a calm before a storm, but there’s no calm - and it’s actually storm after storm. Yes, I’m being a bit dramatic I know - forgive me, I just happen to support Waterford FC and Manchester United.

There’s a lot of people throwing stones and casting aspersions when it comes to the Blues. It is a bit blue at the moment, there’s no denying it. Six straight defeats in all competitions, sliding down the league table, we probably wouldn’t have been able to envisage such a drastic swing of fortune in such a short space of time when there were jubilant scenes at the Brandywell not so long ago. Still, it’s probably a timely reminder to temper expectations and to accept where Waterford FC is really at.

STUCK IN A RUT 

I don’t feel overly qualified to make comments about the club or the manager or what could be improved or what’s gone wrong - there’s another columnist employed by this newspaper far better qualified to do so! That said, I can totally understand why fans feel aggrieved with what they’re seeing week in week out at the moment. It feels as if the team are a slight bit stuck in a rut, particularly since the defeat to St. Patrick’s Athletic.

When you’re 1-0 up with two minutes to go in a game of football, you very rarely expect not to win it - let alone to lose it. Everything has gone wrong since, as if the bottom has fallen out of the bag. That doesn’t mean you throw the bag out though, it’s just time to review the situation and make the necessary adjustments and repairs.

There’s a lot of people on social media calling for Keith Long’s head. That will always happen to any manager of any standing when a football club is in the middle of a poor run of form. Even Pep Guardiola has been victim to the circling of hawks, it’s merely an occupational hazard. That said, with a leaky defence, a lack of goals and just 4 wins from their last 18 games in the League of Ireland Premier Division - it is becoming increasingly harder to reason with those of the opinion that the Dubliner’s time is up.

As I said last week in the case of the hurlers, a bit of perspective never goes amiss. When I look at where Keith Long picked Waterford FC up to where they have gone and where they are now, the fact of the matter is that it’s night and day. From languishing in the doldrums of the First Division on a merry go-round of infinite misery, to promotion, top teams visiting the RSC, memorable nights on the road and competing with the very best teams in Irish football - it’s been an emotional rollercoaster with an incredible amount of happiness amidst the inevitable heartaches.

I remember a few years ago sitting in the RSC watching the Blues getting played off the park in an 8-1 defeat against UCD, talks of the club folding, a managerial merry go round that never done anybody any favours and behaviours and fanfare that could’ve only resembled Fossett’s Circus to tell the truth. I have been no stranger whatsoever to putting it black and white when it comes to the club but I’m not going to twist the knife any further, if anything I think the focus needs to shift toward its removal.

There’s two huge games on the horizon for the club this week with Sligo Rovers visiting on Friday before an Easter Monday derby away at Turners’ Cross against Cork City. Every single Blues fan at a loose end should be doing everything within their power to get out and support them across the four days because even though it’s early doors, there’s no point in denying the fact that they are six-pointers in many respects.

WOUNDED WATERFORD 

The Blues have the benefit of beating both sides so far this season, and while losing both games won’t spell immediate disaster this early in the season - it will do a lot more harm than good, more so for morale than anything. On the other hand, Sligo and Cork will both be looking at a wounded Waterford right now and thinking they can clinch three points. If Waterford play like they did against St. Pat’s, then they’ll have a very fruitful weekend. Play like they did against Drogheda, and despite my defences - I think there’ll probably be talk of a managerial vacancy.

The loss of Darragh Power has really been hard felt in recent weeks. You couldn’t put a price on the consistent quality that he offered the side both in defence and attack. Injuries certainly haven’t helped either, but there has been sufficient evidence to me that this side does possess the requisite quality to compete at Premier Division level.

With the very best of respect to the group, even at the peak of their powers last season - talk of Europe was far-fetched and wasn’t just jumping the gun, it was clearing it like Nick Rockett at Aintree last week. Walk before you can run and all that jazz.

Waterford are a few games into their second season at Premier Division level with an injury crisis, having lost a few star players from last year - don’t sound the panic alarms just yet. They’re 8th in the table now and the air of disgruntlement is palpable, but if they finish 8th come November - I’m saying it now, that’ll be a good season’s work.

In a weeks’ time, it could all be rosy in the garden following back to back wins. I pray that’s the case, as much as the realist in me raises his eyebrow at the suggestion - but stranger things have happened. One win in the next week could prove a real catalyst, but there’s no point in playing the blame game or adopting the role of armchair experts for the immediate future. Let’s see what happens in the next week, and whether or not the proverbial hits the fan.