Welcome to Madowl Blue

Deva Fever welcomes a new blogger to the fold - Madowl Blue. And here's his first blog...

Reasons to believe!

THERE are times when being a Chester City fan is a trying ordeal, not least when you've watched your side begin the new season on such a low.

With 11 goals conceded in the first two matches, including a shocking 6-0 defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge and a 5-2 Carling Cup defeat against a Leeds side that had the game wrapped up comfortably with 35 minutes on the clock, the new campaign could hardly have begun worse for the Blues.

Rumours of a half-time heated scuffle in the Chester dressing room at the Leeds game will not have done anything to improve the currently gloomy climate surrounding the Deva Stadium.

But there are still glimmers of hope. Faint glimmers, admittedly, but a couple of facts that may suggest all is not lost just yet.

Firstly, the second half of the Carling Cup game did see a much-improved City display, and technically they did 'win' that half 1-0, albeit against a Leeds side that had taken their foot off the gas. Nonetheless, spells of fluid passing in the midfield was an encouraging sign, and is a marked change from some of the route one tactics employed by previous managers.

Secondly, it isn't like these kind of results haven't happened before - City were thrashed 5-1 by Wolves in the first round of the Carling Cup in 2005, but few fans grumbled. Yes, Wolves were and are a Championship side when the Blues visited their ground, but so too would Leeds be now, had they not been deducted 15 points at the beginning of last season.

It's also worth remembering that City conceded six against Dagenham last season, yet in the return fixture that season Chester won 4-0. Form can easily turn around in this division.

Finally, there may be a useful boost to City's coffers, in addition to the Sky TV money from the Leeds match broadcast. Former Chester City striker and current Ipswich Town hotshot Jon Walters may be on his way to Stoke this month, for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £3m.

Should the move go ahead, Chester could find the sell-on clause they had negotiated when Walters moved on could pay off big time, with a cash injection of several hundred thousand pounds - more than enough to pay for a strengthened defence!

So with 45 league games to go in this season, an awful lot can still change. Things can only get better...