It's taken me a while to sit down and write my regular article. The reason for this is 3 weeks of utter madness and promotion fever. It all started with the win over Sheff Weds a Saturday or so ago. Although that win hadn't actually guaranteed us promotion, I somehow knew we were there. The euphoria and subsequent celebrations that followed the win were carried forward into the Sunday as many of the Blues staff gathered at St. Andrews to watch the Palace - Derby game. I was never in any doubt that Derby would lose their bottle and in a strange way I also knew that Clinton would play his part for us. It's odd that after his couple of years of service at the Blues, his most important goal for us came in a Palace shirt.
The celebrations that followed the promotion confirmation went on long into the night, in fact they went on long into the week.
The following Wednesday brought with it the end of season dinner, our promotion party, and what a great night it was. My prediction that Stephen Clemence was our player of the season came to fruition. Don't get me wrong though, I'm no mystic Meg, Clem was the odds on choice as he had come from the rails at the start of the season to finish as our captain and motivator extraordinaire. I had the opportunity to sit down and have a chat with him at the dinner, and all that did was galvanise my theory of what a top bloke he is.
I told Shal, my wife, that I wouldn't be late home on Wednesday, and if you think about it, 4:30 am is early….. for Thursday! God bless her for her understanding just how much the Blues mean to me.
Next came the weekend. I wasn't satisfied with just going to Preston on Sunday, oh no, I had to make a weekend of it. So along with Ben and several others, I travelled up to Blackpool on Saturday morning and what a party that turned out to be. Apart from the Police trying to spoil things at the Manchester Bar on Saturday night, and a couple of friends (who shall remain nameless) arguing publicly on Sunday morning, it was a top weekend. In all honesty I didn't really care about winning the league. Some may accuse me of lacking ambition but anybody who went to Barnsley over Easter would have taken the runners up spot that afternoon as we left Oakwell, and anyone who tells you different is lying and I believe Sunderland are worthy champions anyway, Roy Keane has done a fantastic job there.
When all's said and done we've achieved what we all wanted at the start of the season, an immediate return to the top flight. Love or hate Brucey, he's given us two promotions. In my personal opinion, and it is just my opinion, he's a great manager. He doesn't need me to tell him about the mistakes we made a year ago, lessons learned I think. But to everyone who called for his head after the home defeat to Norwich, (and I was one of them) there is a huge slice of humble pie waiting to be eaten. I'll take mine with a bit of cream please.
I'm going to finish the season off with some personal messages. Please excuse my self indulgence. To Johnny Nicholls, my thoughts are with you and your family as you try to get through Gemma's illness. I hope she gets well soon mate and all the match-day staff echo those thoughts.
To Shal, thank you darling! It can't be easy at times being a Blues widow. I promise I'll cut the lawn now!
To Ben Green, what a top bloke you are mate, and someone I'm chuffed to be able to call a pal. Even if you do snore like a hippo in a blender!
To all the commercial staff at the club, it's been a pleasure working alongside you and I feel for you because of the pressure you are under.
Out of the above mentioned staff I have to give a special mention to a couple of you. Firstly Russ, a good mate and a rarity, a Dingle with a personality! (Wait for 'em to go green!)
To Manny (aka. The Beast) A Bluenose through and through. Top man!
To Mr Unmentionable, you are a tough cookie, but you know I appreciate that you got me where I am. (Thanks kid.)
Tom Kav Jnr, you defy the standard opinion of a teenager, more of a mate than a relative.
And finally, to Vinny Daly, my best mate, we live the dream every week and sometimes take it for granted, but without you Vin it wouldn't be half as much fun. Cheers pal.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my articles, and I'm looking forward to starting again next season. I'm going to spend some quality time with the wife during the close season and look forward to starting again in the Premier League.
To all Bluenoses…..
Keep Right On!!
Dax.