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The Differences Between Us And Them

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Now I am not referring to our staunchest rivals from across the border but the differences that exist between a Premiership club and a lower league club. Watching Town this season we are almost fooled into thinking that we are playing some top-quality football and of course, at this level we are! It is certainly exciting to watch.

Looking at how well Town performed over the two cup ties against high-flying Burnley, there is an argument to be made that we could hold our own in the Championship, and their boss Vincent Kompany was very complimentary of our efforts, and even suggested that were more effective against them than a lot of teams they have faced in the division above this season. Under Kieran McKenna we are very well organised.

But the difference between Premier clubs and pretenders to the throne was clearly amplified when Burnley went to the Etihad last weekend and were roundly thumped 6-0! Burnely are the runaway leaders of the Championship, and only need three more wins to have made it to the Prem, and have a massive 13 point lead at the top of the table, having lost only two games all season. And yet, in the elite league, they could well struggle. They are good enough to stay up, but consolidation will be their aim.

If we were to put it in a nutshell, we all know in our hearts the difference between us and them. It is in the finishing department. Speed of thought. Speed of Action. Football is fundamentally a simple game, but you need players who can reach the peak of their performace game after game. Their clinical execution of goalscoring opportunities is the striking difference. (No pun intended.) At our level, we need five attempts before we even hit the target. It’s not rocket science. The higher you go we see this ratio recedes. Top players generally know when to shoot and when to pass, but this is far less apparent in our league, where chances are wasted by making the wrong choices!

We must not forget too, that it is not just our players who are learning the game on the job, and this applies to manager Kieran McKenna too. Yes, he spent 13 years coaching, but being the gaffer is a whole new ball game entirely, and he is making an excellent fist of it so far. A lot of our squad are good enough for the Championship, and it would be crazy to break up this squad if we were promoted. It probably only needs a bit of fine-tuning and some further additions in the attacking department.  It’s quite simple.

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