Poll Results: Should Huckerby Stay?

The results are in the and the people have spoken:

Should Huckerby stay?

Yes – 92%.

No – 8%.

Pretty overwhelming then. Come on Glenn, get that contract offer on the table!

Ever get the feeling you’re cracking up?

A friend of mine updates me on an almost daily basis with stories of his latest bizarre dream. One of the most recent resulted in him waking up in a cold sweat yelling the value of pi over and over again. Mis-spent youth or too much cheese? I couldn’t possibly speculate, but I’ll go with the latter for now. 

Anyway, I don’t really tend to have that many particularly “vivid” dreams – and certainly none that conclude with me screaming mathematical constants at the bedroom wall – but last night I dreamt that I was cycling to work and I overtook Joe Lewis, who was walking over a bridge (don’t ask me what bridge, I have no idea).

I brushed passed him and stopped to say hello. I asked him where he was going and he said he was on his way to the QPR game and had decided to set off early to ensure he didn’t miss the warm-up (I always make sure I’m in my seat nice and early as well so I can feel the atmosphere building before a game). He said the other reason he was going was to make sure Hucks got a new contract, to which I replied “good idea”.

Why didn’t it seem strange that a Peterborough United goalkeeper would be walking to Norwich from Bedford on a weekday morning along my cycle route to work to watch Saturday’s game?

I think I need help.

I’m going for a lie down…

Looking forward to Saturday’s game? I still can’t make my mind up…

I usually look forward to the last home game of the season. I enjoy the awarding of the Player of the Season (although if anyone other than Dion wins it this year I think I might try and start a riot) and, more often than not, I like the lap of “honour” the players do at the end.

This year it is a little different though. It’s going to be a emotional day whatever happens because of it being Dion’s last game at Carrow Road and possibly Huck’s as well (incidentally you can still vote in the poll on whether or not you think he should stay), and I’ll be trying to control my nerves in order to make sure we make it a great atmosphere against QPR.

A City win would make everyone a lot more comfortable, but what are the possible scenarios heading into what is now the biggest game of the season?

The Dream Scenario

In an ideal world we would beat QPR, Coventry would lose to Wolves, Sheffield Wednesday would win against Leicester, Plymouth would beat Blackpool and Southampton would lose at West Brom.

That would leave the bottom of the table looking this this:

• 16th Norwich (55pts).
• 17th Blackpool (53pts).
• 18th Sheff Wed (52pts).
• 19th Coventry (52pts).
• 20th Barnsley (52pts)
• 21st Leicester (51pts).
• 22nd Southampton (50pts).

We would be safe, but any of the other six teams in the relegation scrap could potentially still go down. That’d do for me.

The Nightmare Scenario

The worst-case scenario would see Barnsley win against Charlton, Coventry would beat Wolves, Sheffield Wednesday would lose at Leicester, Blackpool would beat Plymouth and Southampton would shock West Brom at the Hawthorns, leaving the bottom of the table looking like this:

• 17th Coventry (55pts).
• 18th Barnsley (55pts).
• 19th Leicester (54pts).
• 20th Southampton (53pts).
• 21st Norwich (52pts).
• 22nd Sheff Wed (49pts).

This would effectively make the Sheffield Wednesday game a play-off, where a defeat would take us down courtesy of our poorer goal difference. I’m sure none of us want everything to come down to that game, but at least our destiny would still be in our own hands.

The Most Likely Scenario

Just like last week, the reality will probably be somewhere in between the two. I’d still back us to beat QPR, I think Barnsley will beat Charlton, Wolves will win at Coventry, Leicester and Wednesday will draw, Blackpool will lose at Plymouth and West Brom will beat Southampton.

That would leave the bottom of the table looking like this:

• 16th Norwich (55pts).
• 17th Barnsley (55pts).
• 18th Blackpool (53pts).
• 19th Leicester (52pts).
• 20th Coventry (52pts).
• 21st Sheff Wed (50pts).
• 22nd Southampton (50pts).

The outcome is pretty similar to the “Dream Scenario”, except Barnsley are now safe as well. Even if we draw against QPR in this situation we would be pretty much safe given Southampton’s poorer goal difference, but I’d still feel a lot more comfortable knowing that we secured the three points.

How do you see it going?