Neil Warnock cost me £57. Doubt I'll ever get it back though.
No, it wasn't a bet on Cardiff City going up via the play-offs rather than automatically. Actually, I cost myself the money by using an image of our beloved manager holding aloft our shirt and posting it as part of my blog.
I had to pay the Press Association copywright, despite the fact I'd withdrawn it. In future, I'll check for free photos and use older ones by Jon Candy like the one above of a fella who used to sit in front of us and go beserk.
As our players testify Warnock is the very best at man-management and also a motivator who can raise the game of players to astonishing levels. Above all, he creates an amazing 'squad' spirit.
I emphasize 'squad' because it isn't about just a team any more and with the number of serious injuries we've experienced , the entire squad has contributed ( well, apart from the mysteriously disappearing Frederic Gougonbe).
We are sitting in second spot in the Championship, seven points ahead of third-placed Fulham with a game in hand, their winning sequence even better than our eight-game one.
Coming up are very tricky fixtures away to Sheffield Utd and home to Wolves, who rightly occupy top spot.
Friday's match at home to Wolves will be a sell-out and I'll miss it because of a poetry event.....there's dedication to verse for you!
Significantly, our key midfielder Aron Gunnarsson - captain of an Iceland team who have qualified for the World Cup - is returning to full fitness after an operation and could well prove crucial in the coming matches.
Our best signing of the January transfer window has been Serbian international Marko Grujic on loan from Liverpool and whenever he's played we have yet to lose a League game. With Gunnars slotting into the holding role, I believe Grujic will have the freedom to play his more natural box-to-box game.
Joe Ralls - another midfielder who has been consistently good all season - soon returns from injury and provides Warnock with a real dilemma. How can he leave out the Scotsman Callum Paterson, signed as a full-back, whose goal-scoring record has been stunning.
Up front, Junior Hoilett is my player of the season without a doubt and 11 assists and 10 goals ( 2 in Cup matches) shows his attacking contribution. Big Ken Zohore and Mendez-Laing have returned to their best form just at the right time : both are powerful, fast and direct.
Defensively we've been very sound all season and our best centre-back partnership is definitely Morrison and Bamba, both players strong, committed and a real threat on set pieces. Bennett has made the left-back position his own , while either Peltier or Manga have played well at right-back in the absence of Welsh international and Swonzee Boy Jazz Richards.
Of course, I ought to be more wary......just because Warnock has achieved promotion from the Championship so many times before, doesn't guarantee success.
But what I love about our squad was typified by the away game at Brentford before the International break.
Within the first ten minutes, our keeper Neil Etheridge had made a superb save and then they scored. They were outplaying us totally!
Yet by half-time we were 2-1 up with a spectacular effort from Sol Bamba and typical timed shot from Paterson. Zohore made it 3-1 in the second half and, in the end, they'd run out of ideas.
I haven't lauded our keeper, but he deserves high praise. Coming from Walsall, he has gradually adapted and now looks a perfect replacement for fans' favourite Marshall.
So, we dare to dream and I really hope we get to play Swansea next season ( in the Premiership, that is!).
Sean Dyche the manager of Burnley has shown this season that you don't have to be a mega-rich club to thrive and I hope we can emulate them.
ALMOST THERE
We're almost there -
I can glimpse
copa'r mynydd,
but the mist descends.
I see the ship
on the horizon -
but is it heading
for our port?
I'm waiting for the sun
to return after winter
hibernation down south,
to strike with glory.
The cuckoo will call,
crocuses point upwards,
the lambs spring
and Bluebirds fly.
We're almost there -
the last climb
on jagged rocks
with crevices ahead.
I prefer to look up,
I fear the heights,
so easy to trip -
look, there's the top!
No, it wasn't a bet on Cardiff City going up via the play-offs rather than automatically. Actually, I cost myself the money by using an image of our beloved manager holding aloft our shirt and posting it as part of my blog.
I had to pay the Press Association copywright, despite the fact I'd withdrawn it. In future, I'll check for free photos and use older ones by Jon Candy like the one above of a fella who used to sit in front of us and go beserk.
As our players testify Warnock is the very best at man-management and also a motivator who can raise the game of players to astonishing levels. Above all, he creates an amazing 'squad' spirit.
I emphasize 'squad' because it isn't about just a team any more and with the number of serious injuries we've experienced , the entire squad has contributed ( well, apart from the mysteriously disappearing Frederic Gougonbe).
We are sitting in second spot in the Championship, seven points ahead of third-placed Fulham with a game in hand, their winning sequence even better than our eight-game one.
Coming up are very tricky fixtures away to Sheffield Utd and home to Wolves, who rightly occupy top spot.
Friday's match at home to Wolves will be a sell-out and I'll miss it because of a poetry event.....there's dedication to verse for you!
Significantly, our key midfielder Aron Gunnarsson - captain of an Iceland team who have qualified for the World Cup - is returning to full fitness after an operation and could well prove crucial in the coming matches.
Our best signing of the January transfer window has been Serbian international Marko Grujic on loan from Liverpool and whenever he's played we have yet to lose a League game. With Gunnars slotting into the holding role, I believe Grujic will have the freedom to play his more natural box-to-box game.
Joe Ralls - another midfielder who has been consistently good all season - soon returns from injury and provides Warnock with a real dilemma. How can he leave out the Scotsman Callum Paterson, signed as a full-back, whose goal-scoring record has been stunning.
Up front, Junior Hoilett is my player of the season without a doubt and 11 assists and 10 goals ( 2 in Cup matches) shows his attacking contribution. Big Ken Zohore and Mendez-Laing have returned to their best form just at the right time : both are powerful, fast and direct.
Defensively we've been very sound all season and our best centre-back partnership is definitely Morrison and Bamba, both players strong, committed and a real threat on set pieces. Bennett has made the left-back position his own , while either Peltier or Manga have played well at right-back in the absence of Welsh international and Swonzee Boy Jazz Richards.
Of course, I ought to be more wary......just because Warnock has achieved promotion from the Championship so many times before, doesn't guarantee success.
But what I love about our squad was typified by the away game at Brentford before the International break.
Within the first ten minutes, our keeper Neil Etheridge had made a superb save and then they scored. They were outplaying us totally!
Yet by half-time we were 2-1 up with a spectacular effort from Sol Bamba and typical timed shot from Paterson. Zohore made it 3-1 in the second half and, in the end, they'd run out of ideas.
I haven't lauded our keeper, but he deserves high praise. Coming from Walsall, he has gradually adapted and now looks a perfect replacement for fans' favourite Marshall.
So, we dare to dream and I really hope we get to play Swansea next season ( in the Premiership, that is!).
Sean Dyche the manager of Burnley has shown this season that you don't have to be a mega-rich club to thrive and I hope we can emulate them.
ALMOST THERE
We're almost there -
I can glimpse
copa'r mynydd,
but the mist descends.
I see the ship
on the horizon -
but is it heading
for our port?
I'm waiting for the sun
to return after winter
hibernation down south,
to strike with glory.
The cuckoo will call,
crocuses point upwards,
the lambs spring
and Bluebirds fly.
We're almost there -
the last climb
on jagged rocks
with crevices ahead.
I prefer to look up,
I fear the heights,
so easy to trip -
look, there's the top!
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