The last few games of the season feel a bit like the crew of a Navy frigate going on shore leave. We stop off at a port – Port Vale’s fight against relegation last week, Millwall’s push for the play-offs this – carouse around visiting the whorehouses and gin joints without much of a care for the long term consequences we might leave behind.
It’s fun to play without consequences, particularly when it results in emphatic wins that put other peoples’ noses out of joint. How many times have we had end of season visitors to the Kassam where we’ve got an outside chance of promotion (or avoiding relegation) only to have our hopes dashed? It’s nice to turn those tables once in a while.
It feels slightly different to the 2014/15 season where we ended with a similar flourish. Then, particularly as a result of the form of Kemar Roofe, it felt like we were on the verge of something new and exciting. This time, it feels more like we’re at the end of something, although quite what it is is difficult to ascertain. Players who have served us well look set to leave, our best players are likely to be subject to transfer interest, Oxvox may even be ready to announce plans to buy the stadium and effectively release the club’s potential as a business. We might even have new investment that catapults us into the Championship.
Or not.
Which brings us back to the shore leave analogy. Is this just the reckless end of season party which brings to the conclusion an intense tour of duty or the sign a we’re just a couple of signings from being promotion contenders next year? Will we return to our loved ones for a couple of months before joining up again for another adventure or will we never see each other again?
Talking of which, Saturday was completed with the confirmation that Swindon are going down and Leyton Orient will start next year in the Conference. I just don’t understand the Orient animosity, the fact that they were promoted on the day we were relegated from the Football League in 2006 was nothing but happenstance. They were dancing on our pitch to celebrate their success, not to rub our noses in it. Our failings were firmly in place before that game.
On the other hand, it’s kind of nice to see Swindon suffer for a while. The signs have been there for a while, they’ve have looked absolutely terrible when they’ve played us over the last couple of years, so it’s little surprise to see them struggling. Their bizarre ‘mates together’ management structure, which seems to involve Tim Sherwood taking all the responsibility and their coach taking all the blame, screams failure. Knowing what we know about failing teams and just how hard it can be to pull up from that kind of trajectory, Swindon’s relegation could genuinely signal the end of our derby meetings for years to come. How bittersweet does that feel?
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