Don't Stop Believin'

"Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on, and on, and on..."

Earlier this month I launched this blog with a depressing lament. United had just won away at Blackburn sending them five points clear at the top of the table and City’s title hopes appeared to be entering the death throes.

A week later and things went from bad to worse. United’s win at home to QPR and City’s subsequent defeat at Arsenal gave the Reds a seemingly unassailable eight point lead at the top. Of course, there were still six games remaining at this point but United looked annoyingly confident and resolute and showed absolutely no signs of a forthcoming capitulation. It was over, and I was prepared to accept it.

But three weeks is a long time in football and it is quite unbelievable to think that City now find themselves just three games and three wins away from lifting the Premier League trophy when the season draws to a close on the 13^th of May.

The past few weeks have proved two things; that when it comes to title races, it’s much easier to be a chaser than a leader, and that you should never say never...ever.

If you’d told me a few weeks ago that we’d find ourselves in this situation with three games to go I’d have laughed in your face and probably had you sectioned under the Mental Health Act. But football is an unpredictable beast and City’s status as the perennial enigma means I shouldn’t be surprised.

The most surprising thing has perhaps been the way United have dealt with the pressure of being at the top. We were lead to believe that they had too much nous and experience to let City back into the title race once they streaked into the lead, but defeat at Wigan and the frankly pathetic surrender of a two-goal lead in the last 10 minutes to draw 4-4 at home to Everton at the weekend suggests otherwise.

I won’t even attempt to pinpoint where it’s all gone wrong for United in recent weeks, but one can only assume that they started to believe their own hype and let complacency creep into their game. If that is the case then it can only be described as a monumental error and one that will hopefully result in failure for them come the end of the season.

City, meanwhile, have been an absolute joy to watch of late and you almost get the sense that falling so far behind at this stage of the season was the best thing that could’ve happened to us. Without the proverbial Sword of Damocles constantly hanging over them, the players have emerged reinvigorated and the 6-1 drubbing of Norwich in particular was delightfully reminiscent of the City of a few months ago.

Next Monday, City take on United at the Etihad in what is being labelled the “biggest derby ever” and promises to be an extremely tense and nerve wracking affair. Whether Blue or Red, you’d have to be a certified psychopath to derive any enjoyment from a game like this and I’ll be glad when it’s over, whatever the result.

Having said that, I’m happy that this fixture will have the significance it deserves as it looked for a little while as though it’d simply be a meaningless obstacle en route to a demoralising end to the season for City. It now has the potential to be either a magical night in the club’s history or a living nightmare, and I’ll be amazed if I survive it without having a nervous breakdown of some sort. It was easier when we were shit, that’s a fact.

One of the most satisfying aspects of the past few days has been the apparent hibernation of the many United fans who have recently clogged up my Facebook news feed and Twitter timeline with their taunts, inane jokes and poorly Photoshopped pictures of Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on fire. These people have set themselves up to look extremely silly should City go on to win the league this year and I expect it may well be a blow from which many of them will never recover.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my career as a football supporter it’s that it’s always best to keep your powder dry and your emotions in check until you can be absolutely sure that your jibes won’t come back to haunt you. It is for this reason that I won’t be making any predictions between now and the end of the season, except that the team with the most points or the best goal difference at 5pm on the 13^th of May will win the league. What happens between now and then is a mystery and all we can do as fans is buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Remarkably, the most beautiful of victories is within our grasp again. Come on City, let’s fuckin’ ‘ave it!