SAVVY_MONKEY is still coming to terms with City’s promotion to the Premier League
Like anyone of a yellow and green persuasion, I have been in a dream world pretty much since it became clear promotion was a real possibility.
Tuesday March 8th, and a 3-2 win at Leicester was when I started to believe in the unbelievable and from then on everything seemed to fall into place without too much worry.
It all seems so do-able now; looking back it almost feels as though it was easy. However, I remember being holed up in hospital back in August 2009, listening with astonishment and despair at what I was hearing from Chris Goreham.
The fans that threw their season tickets into the dugout were a metaphor for how everyone that cared was feeling. I’m not condoning it, but it was understandable given the optimistic pre-season build up we`d all experienced.
Back then no-one knew what lay ahead; stabilisation was the key and looked a long way off, 5-0 down at half-time. It was at that time I started to wonder whether I’d actually passed away in hospital and gone south myself…
The club was on the brink, it really was. And as David McNally said recently, it almost went into administration in the autumn of that year, and that would have made staying in League One a huge challenge in itself.
Promotion to the Championship was a miracle in itself, and from there a play-off spot would have been an enormous achievement. Yet somehow, against all logic, Lambert has taken the club one stage further, into Disney-style make-believe territory. I’m still not sure I believe it myself, just as I didn’t believe it back in August 2009.
Everyone’s thoughts are now turning to next season; what will become on the current squad and who will we buy. Of the side that largely won League One promotion, only three players could consider themselves regulars now: Holt, Hoolahan and Russell Martin. Times move on, and there will no doubt be a similar change of personnel 12 months from now.
Who will make it in the Premiership? Ward, Crofts, Holt, Surman? It feels wrong to speculate, offensive to the efforts of the players that have got us into this position.
This is not the time to consider the various ins and outs. For once, it is not about looking forward. It is about enjoying the moment and looking back with immense pride at what has been achieved and accepting all the envy of rival fans.
Lambert will need to think with a clear head. Take that icy stare and remove sentiment entirely from his plans for next season, as I’m sure he will.
These moments don’t come around too often. We are unlikely to see back-to-back promotions at our club again, perhaps never. It’s a time to let yourself go, just like the Radio Norfolk Commentary team did with Jackson’s improbable winner against Derby.
Drink in the moment, wave those flags at Carrow Road like we’ve won the Milk Cup and rejoice to the class on 2011.
We’re back. GTFI.
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