Fuller Flavour: Please Marcus, watch the Wembley 2000 film and get inspired!

It has been quite a good week to be a Town fan – apart, of course, from drawing Portsmouth in the FA Cup for the 4th time in 15 years.

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Firstly, we had a win over Gillingham which in the main was quite uncomfortable viewing. Mostly because in the first-half, the Gills were as poor as anything seen all season and yet we were not much better. The second-half was brighter for both sides and it took a moment of quality from Teddy Bishop to seal all three points.

The icing on the cake from that game though was the post-match thoughts from Gillingham boss Steve Evans. If I thought Paul Lambert was bizarre with his post-match comments after our defeat at Lincoln, then Evans took that to an all-time high. How he could conclude that his team had ‘battered’ us was beyond me. It did make me laugh though!

Skipper Luke Chambers lakes a throw in against Crewe Picture: STEVE WALLER

Saturday’s win over Crewe was one of those that we will take all day long in the knowledge that it was perhaps daylight robbery. Even Lambert felt we rode our luck which is precisely what we did do in the first-half. Crewe were excellent but their lack of goals this season to date shows where they’re falling just short of turning performances into wins.

And sandwiched in between these two games was the excellent documentary ‘Wembley 2000’ released by my colleagues as the EADT and Star. The story follows our promotion to the Premier League and brought back some fantastic memories. If you haven’t watched the film yet, I urge you to do so. The ending of the films was actually quite emotional. Anyone who heard the words and saw the reactions of both Tony Mowbray and Marcus Stewart would surely agree that it touched the old heart strings.

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If reliving the day itself was not enough to get me thinking about such a glorious time on the pitch, the other emotions that I felt was the massive gulf in feelings for the club shown by those connected to the club at the time compared to some involved now.

I do not mean that in a derogatory sense, but as a fan, I simply do not believe that the club is as well connected to us these days as it was by those in charge back then. I mean, how can it be? In David Sheepshanks, we had a true Town fan at the helm, who would have felt every fibre of emotion on that occasion as much as any of us.

This was confirmed when I spoke to David on Friday, and he admitted how emotional the film had made him feel and how everyone from the directors to the community had pulled together to get the club into that position.

He clearly still loves the Town, watches our games on iFollow and shares the pain that we have all felt in recent times.

I hope the club from Marcus Evans to our Academy players all watch this and get inspired by it.

Teddy Bishop on the ball against Alexandra Picture: STEVE WALLER

A year-and-a-half later, we were playing in Europe and Sunday just gone marked the 19th anniversary of yet another of my best days of supporting Town when I travelled over to Sweden to watch us play Helsingborg. What a day that was as anyone who was there would testify.

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Harry’s Bar still lives long in the memory and again, it was where Sheepshanks came to meet and talk to so many of us there. He was a fan in dreamland too.

Back to the present day and after two wins, we’re back in the top two with the next acid test on the horizon. Paul Lambert’s record last season against the 10 sides that finished above us, as well as against the two top-10 sides we’ve played so far, needs addressing if we are to be serious at any point soon about getting promoted.

That record reads: Played 20, won 2, drawn 8, lost 10, for 9, against 22. Total points: 14 out of 60.

I do not expect much away at Sunderland on a cold Tuesday night in November, but we need to buck the trend sometime soon. Now would be the perfect time.