Contenders?

**Bernie** · 22/10/2001, 10:29 AM

Call me a fool but I reckon Saturdays nights game was the first real showing that we could win the league.
Looking at the results we've had against the other contenders like Rovers, Shels , Pats and really should have beaten Bohs in their own backyard the other night, are we the coming team , or on just a lucky streak?

I reckon with the return of Bucks and wee Jamesie we might well be in with a shout.

Also great to see the team scoring from set-pieces again. Particularly Derek as I reckon with his height he has to be good for 5/6 goals at least every season. (only the crossbar denied him a Hat-trick on sat. night).

**pete** · 22/10/2001, 11:20 AM

Well Derek Coughlan said on the radio yesterday he couldn't see why City couldn't win the league.

IMO we certainly contenders & with a few players coming back from injury & suspension should be real competition for places in the starting eleven & even the bench.

Earlier this season city looked dodgy with even 5 at the back, now with 4 we look reasonably comfortable & seemed to have regained the knack of winning our home games.

We've beaten 4 & drawn with 1 of the top six teams so far. Once we master the art of beating the teams in the bottom half we can go from strength to strength.

BTW Bennet must be the fittest player in the squad. In most games i've seen he covers a huge amount of ground & is still full of running at the end.

We've got the best right back in the league in Carey & one of the best midfielders in O'Grady not to mention in Colin P the find of the season so far.

**Snatch** · 22/10/2001, 4:47 PM

Theres still a big improvement needed if this team are to become a championship winning side. While we could have beaten Bohes on Saturday it must be remember that we only had 3 shots on goal and all from our centre half!
We still miss a creative force in the middle. O' Grady works very hard but delivers few good passes to the front men. Bennet to me is more promising. Once again we are depending on Ollie for creating chances.
In nearly all championship winning teams there are 2 automatic choice strikers who play well off each other and usually one who bags about 15 goals in the season. City have yet hit this form up front. CP needs a smart partner to feed him chances.
To end on an optimistic note the return to 4-4-2 will help and we won't be far off the top come the end of the season.