Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony insists his squad must start performing but is confident that a upturn in fortunes is around the corner.
It’s been a dreadful opening quarter of the season for Posh, with Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against Luton Town keeping them firmly in the relegation places. It was this form that prompted MacAnthony to replace Luke Williams with Robbie Savage last month, a decision which looked justified when the new boss oversaw an excellent 3-1 win over Leicester City in his first league game in charge.
The result at the King Power Stadium has so far proven to be a false dawn and the Cambridgeshire-based side have failed to win any of their last five. With the FA Cup first round taking place this weekend followed by an enforced break due to international call-ups, Savage’s side will remain in the bottom four until at least the latter stages of this month.
MacAnthony Upbeat Despite Lowly Position
MacAnthony made the headlines last week when he claimed on social media that he would sell his shares in the club if they weren’t in the top 10 by February. Speaking on the latest edition of The Hard Truth Podcast, the owner admitted that a turnaround is needed but remained optimistic that he has the right manager and players on board to achieve that:
“No-one is coming to save us. No-one is coming to rescue us. There is a transfer window opening in January, but you can’t save a club in January. We are currently over the salary cap so we can’t sign anyone until we move players on so we have to dig in, knuckle down and work our nuts off to make any turnaround happen ourselves.
“For the next two months it really is on us and I am still a firm believer in this squad and in the management team. I’m uber-optimistic about our chances.”
Attacking Performances Cause For Optimism
Although results have remained poor, there is little doubt that Peterborough are playing with more of an attacking threat since the appointment of Savage. They have scored just 11 league goals all season, whilst their expected goals put them closer to the 20 mark.
Posh have also had 347 touches in the opposition box this season, which is the ninth highest in the division. Last weekend’s defeat at Luton highlighted their frailties in the attacking end of the pitch, with 17 shots on goal wielding no success.
Continuing, MacAnthony insisted it’s only a matter of time before the tide turns:
“We’ve had something like 148 shots in the last seven games and if that carries on it’s physically impossible for us not to start winning games. It’s also physically impossible for one of the best number nines in the league to keep missing chances. I feel there is an avalanche coming. People might call me deluded, but we cannot keep looking so dangerous and yet not score goals.
“I like the way we are responding to disappointments. I like the way we keep going. We don’t give up, but we just can’t finish our dinner. I like our manager who is relentlessly positive in everything he does. I like the fact he will get two strikers on the pitch to try and save a game, even if it didn’t work at the weekend.
“We have so much to be optimistic about. We need to stop killing ourselves by conceding early goals and set piece goals, and by missing so many scoring chances.”
Peterborough’s next League one outing sees them face the tough trip to high-flying Plymouth Argyle on November 21st.
