Judging by posts on social media, the mood is nervy.
Fulham are unbeaten in the league in 2018 and need to win to secure their own promotion; Blues are currently as high as 4/1 with some bookies to get the three points which would confirm their safety.
Should Blues succumb to defeat, two of Barnsley, Burton and Bolton would need to win to send Blues into the bottom three. Only Bolton play a team with nothing to play for, adding even more spice to the final day drama.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know what I want from Sunday.
For one, I want a home performance with 100% commitment from the players.
I watched the QPR game online and it seemed that Blues went through the motions; that there was some complacency from the side. We cannot afford that on Sunday – and while I never expect a win personally, I don’t think it’s unfair to ask players to play to their best of their ability.
Likewise, I think it’s important that Monk picks a team that is playing to win.
Against Wolves he picked a side that was ultra-defensive as he looked to nick a point… which didn’t work. I’m not saying we should go all-out attack, but it makes sense to me to try to play to our strengths rather than to just counter the opposition’s.
Most of all though, I’m not personally interested in words in the run-up to the match.
I don’t care for press conference soundbites. We know that the team should try their hardest, we know that they want to win. That’s a given.
Likewise, I don’t care for marketing gimmicks.
I was sent the 888sport “boxing match” photo by a PR agency last week prior to the QPR game and I decided immediately I wouldn’t use it. I can see from the message boards and social media that fans are massively behind the team.
Matches are being sold out – so why would I need to post a pic like that to try and crank it up further?
The truth is, whatever happens, we’ll still be here. If the worst happens and Blues are relegated then so be it.
I don’t think you’re a true Blues fan until you’ve experienced at least one relegation – and having been a solitary Blues fan at school in the nineties when Blues were two divisions below the mob from across the expressway, it’s easy for me to say that current-day Blues fans have had it easy.
Hopefully we’ll all be able to be positive Monday morning. If not – then we’ll see once again how Blues fans keep right on in the face of adversity.