Ollie: Second Half Of The Season Will Be Tougher

22 points from 16 games. Just 6 more wins required for (probable) safety. Another season of Premier League football is all but in the bag surely?

Far from it.

This division is tighter than Karl Oyston, and there’s still a hell of a long way to go.

That’s a view certainly shared by the Seasiders’ management team; last week assistant Steve Thompson said he thought that the second half of the season would prove to be a tougher affair for the Seasiders as sides adapt to the way that they play, and today, ‘Pool supremo Ian Holloway supported Thommo’s view.

Speaking to The Gazette, Ollie said:

‘I knew how good my team was but I didn’t know we could play so well and get some of the results we have.

‘We must try to maintain our level and that won’t be easy. We had the surprise factor at the start. People have seen what we can do now, so it is going to get tougher. What matters is where we are at the end of the season – where we are now is irrelevant.

‘What I’ve found is that if you have two bad results in this division you are in trouble. If you get two good results, everybody thinks you’re brilliant. The truth is, you’re not – you are somewhere in between, so you have to keep your feet on the ground and keep going.’

Ollie and Thommo certainly have a point; the Premier League is littered with examples of promoted teams getting off to a flying start only to fade badly in the New Year – Hull perhaps being the most pertinent example.

However, the Seasiders have a history of proving people wrong and surely the players will desperate to do so once again and in the most dramatic fashion by securing Premier League safety come May? Ollie certainly thinks so…

‘My lads won’t get arrogant or I sincerely hope they won’t. They know we’ve done nothing yet and they are the type who keep working hard and doing the right things.’

So whilst there is talk of the Seasiders reaching Europe after Saturday’s win (which saw us double Derby’s record low points tally), let’s just make sure we stay up first eh?

There’s a long, long way to go and there promises to be peaks and troughs along the way, and I’m sure everyone at the club will be eager for the supporters to fight as hard for survival as the players starting this Sunday against a flying Tottenham Hotspur side. It promises to be a cracker… get it?