Taking the first Step

What a difference three weeks makes eh?  At half time against Birmingham three weeks back we were starting to panic as we headed further towards the bottom three.  From the moment that second half whistle went, to now, 3 and a half games and 10 points later we look totally transformed and KK's first mission has been achieved - safety.

On Saturday we were excellent and thoroughly deserved our win.  Nobody should get carried away - the season as a whole has been dreadful frankly and only now are we having something to smile about.  The real work will come in the summer but from the gloom, I think most NUFC fans are just delighted to be safe, be playing some football again and be optimistic about times ahead.

The first fifteen minutes on Saturday suggested that we were in for a much sterner test than was actually the case.  Reading, as they have every time they have been at SJP, to their credit came to play football and Hunt especially looked dangerous, but once we got our first after a great piece of control and finish from Martins, the game completely turned our way.  Michael Owen got a second just before half time - a lovely finish after a good ball from the extremely impressive Beye and Owen is the poster boy for KK's restorative powers - he looks happy and confident once again and the move to a deeper position has worked wonders.

We added one more in the second from a great move, culminating in Beye (again) feeding Viduka to prod home and we could have had two or three more but for good stops from Hahnemann.  The increased confidence and boosted team morale is there for all to see and when you hear comments about players trying to hurt each other in training, you realise just what a charlatan Allardyce really was.  Can you see him managing another Premiership club again in a hurry and if so which one??

But, for now we can focus on better times ahead on NE1.  There is a million miles still to go but we are moving forward again and for that Keegan can take a pat on the back.  Now let's keep going..!!

Keep the Faith and check out the match report at www.true-faith.co.uk

Gareth Harrison