category, as there are plenty of exceptions. Liam

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  • April 26, 2014 at 4:27 am #46460

    It wasn’t February second, but watching Monday’s defeat at home to Torquay United did make me feel like I was celebrating Groundhog Day rather than Easter.

    The defeat, coupled with the chants towards under fire boss Paul Tisdale, made the game feel very similar to the defeat against Northampton Town in March.

    It was another poor display, against a team City should be beating, where the Grecians had gifted the initiative to the visitors.

    Even when I looked at the League Two table it hadn’t changed much from the previous week. City had played one game less, but were still two points clear of the drop zone and edging towards safety.

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    However, when reflecting on the Grecians’ 2-1 defeat, that is about as celebratory as I could get.

    City were made to look second best by a team that, to all intents and purposes, had been relegated to the Football [url=http://www.2014-soccershoes.com/nike-mercurial-cronaldro-c-7.html][b]Nike Mercurial Soccer shoes[/b][/url] Conference. The Gulls’ fans were in carefree and jubilant mood though following Ashley Yeoman’s second-half strike.

    Only 478 of the Yellow army had made it through the gates at St James’s Park but, having fended off relegation for five more days, they took great delight in mocking the home support with the rather self-deprecating chant of ‘you’re going down with the Torquay’.

    So are City going down with the Torquay?

    I wouldn’t have thought so as even a point on Saturday now, with two games left and goal difference in their favour, could see them all but crawl their way over the line.

    When it comes to next season though, I’m not so confident.

    It is, of course, far too early to be predicting how City might be doing in 12 months’ [url=http://www.2014-soccershoes.com/nike-mercurial-vapor-c-27.html][b]nike mercurial vapor x[/b][/url] time but, if this cycle of poor home performances, missed chances and defensive mistakes continues to play on the same loop it has been, then City are going to be the bookies’ favourites for the drop in August.

    Manager Paul Tisdale called for the team to stick together over the next couple of games and obviously that is the only way to approach the Scunthorpe United game on Saturday and Hartlepool United away the following week.

    However, for the start of next season, you feel if this team doesn’t stick together then it might be for the best.

    There are certain players in the City squad whose performances over the last seven months have dipped well below the required standard.

    I don’t throw everyone into that category, as there are plenty of exceptions. Liam Sercombe, Jordan Moore-Taylor and Tom Nichols to name just three. They are all players who have played well and tried their best to lift the club out of its seemingly endless repetition of home defeats.

    But if the players who have let City down this season, are allowed to take that form into the next campaign then the Grecians will be relegated.

    That might seem to some like a slightly pessimistic outlook, but some simple stats will prove that it is just the harsh reality City find themselves in.

    The current squad have won just five times since mid October. If that form was stretched over a whole season then City would be bottom-of-the-table – and by some distance.

    Since beating Saturday’s opponents Scunthorpe United 4-0 back on October 19, City have collected just 26 points from 32 games. After 32 games this season, Torquay found themselves bottom of the table, with 30 points, Northampton Town were just ahead of them on 32, while Accrington Stanley were one place outside the relegation places on 37.

    If the last seven months of this season mirror the first seven months of next, then City would be cut adrift at the bottom of the table by early February.

    The cycle needs to be broken and it can be done with a serious examination of where City have gone wrong this campaign. If it doesn’t happen, then I see a shadow hanging over the club next season and a repeat of the Devon derbies with Torquay in the Conference the year after.

    

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