Well, maybe it starts after the weekend's game at Old Trafford, actually.

It was probably too much to ask for Paul Jewell to be able to turn things around in only two days (less if you consider much of Friday would be spent travelling up to Sunderland) and the last minute goal was a real heart breaker but there was nevertheless, a definite improvement in performance and attitude, even if not in points gained.

Maybe even the fact that I was (and still am) totally gutted by that last minute goal is a sign of some improvement. Each recent defeat just left me with a feeling of déja vu and not much else. Saturday's defeat really hurt though and that can only be because I thought we had a real chance of a point at the very least.

I have to agree with Paul Redfern in his Monday Musing's column when he wonders if the situation had arisen where if Billy Davies had a bad day then so did the team as a whole. I can't help feeling that Davies had realised that he'd run out of ideas because his post match interviews (in fact, any interviews) were on reflection, very downbeat.

Paul Jewell on the other hand, is realistic but always upbeat and to be fair, was always the same when he was at Wigan and Bradford before that.

I don't know if he can keep us up and I've always been prepared for us to be relegated but what I would really like to see is us being competitive at least – especially at home. However, this weekend's game at Old Trafford is probably one that we never expected to get anything out of so it's a perfect time to have a go with no pressure on us.

By that, I don't mean be gung-ho but let's give it everything we've got and not give them an inch of room anywhere on the field. If we're going to be beaten, let's make them work for it like they haven't had to this season.

The Middlesbrough game is one where we have a real chance of picking up points and the season really starts again for us here and of course Newcastle is a club under a lot of pressure. Surely even two points is a minimum for us from those two games and would help to repair confidence before we take on Liverpool on Boxing Day.

Paul Jewell doesn't have to keep us up – his task is to carry on the rebuilding process which got ahead of itself and then faltered. As I say, I can cope with relegation but I'd really like for us not to finish as the bottom club. I have every confidence he has the ability to do that but he's going to need all the luck he can get.

© Steve Tickle 2007

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