14/04/2008 - Fanzone: Holding on to Maynard now the priority
by Matt Owen
What a difference a week makes.
Last weekend: Faces of thunder and pressure being heaped on the management. This week: A satisfying and comprehensive victory at Yeovil which sees us edge closer to safety.
The up-turn in fortunes is frightening. How can we be so poor one week then the next week put in a performance that most promotion-chasing teams would be proud of?
A lot depends on the way we play and our consistency, which over the course of the season we have struggled with. Hence our lowly league position, but if we can build on the fantastic away victories at Gillingham and Yeovil then there is optimism for a brighter future.
The team still has a job to do, although the win at Yeovil coupled with a defeat for Gillingham at home to Swansea gives us a three-point buffer with only three matches left to play.
Steve Holland has taken a lot of justified criticism of late, but hopefully that victory will alleviate the pressure on him and we can all but secure safety with a win against Cheltenham at home next Saturday.
Victory would take us to the magical 50-point marker which is generally enough to secure safety and, after the result at Yeovil, it has closed the gap on those above us.
If we can beat the Robins, we could conceivably move up to the lofty heights of 17th position.
It has been another long hard slog this season and a true test for Holland in his first year as first-team coach, but the end is in sight and it looks as if Nicky Maynard's goals are going to be the main reason we stayed up.
Holland had to be patient with his star striker.
After the injury which he sustained on the opening day, it took a while for Maynard to get back into the swing of things, but boy, has he returned to form just in the nick of time.
The forward has eight goals in his last six matches and is now back to his goalscoring best, which has been a tremendous boost. It's frightening to think what we might have achieved if he had been fit all season.
Of course, one player doesn't make a team - although when you can call upon a player of Maynard's quality it doesn't half help. Holland must build his team around his most influential player.
Now that he is back in the goalscoring grove it is inevitable he will be linked with a move away from the club and Crewe must do their best to ensure Maynard stays for next season.
Players of his quality just don't grow on trees and without him we will almost certainly be facing another relegation battle.
The decision may be taken out of his hands. If the club receives an offer similar to what we got for Luke Varney, can you see them turning it down? I can't and I don't think we have any option but to sell.
I hope the management team are already looking for his replacement as it is inevitable that he will be off, whether it is this summer or in the January window so there can be no excuses when he leaves.
At least we can enjoy his talents until the end of the season. You can bet your bottom dollar that some of the top clubs are already heavily monitoring the player. I just hope that is all they are doing.
The summer will bring bids. I am sure of that and it will be interesting to see just how determined the club are to keep hold of their prize asset. I hope he will be here next season, but I am not confident he will be.