A great win yesterday against a potential rival for the drop should see us all but safe from the spectre of relegation this season.

It was looking like a crucial set of fixtures a little while ago over the Easter period, and we have come away with an important four points - and hit the 40 point mark ahead of some more difficult fixtures on the horizon.

It was to be then Chris Coleman's turn to face the 'Pearce treatment' both from his own fans and the press afterwards as we went out into a two goal lead at half-time through Joey Barton and DeMarcus Beasley, before Darius Vassell ended his goal drought with a third midway through the second half. Carlos Bocanegra hauled Fulham back into it for a final flurry but we held on and to take both the points and our first victory at Craven Cottage since 1967.

It was also a little ironic that we should put three past Fulham, only a couple of hours after Watford had put us as the bottom of the goals scored table in the Premiership after hitting four past Portsmouth - surely we can now end our barren spell at home?

Stuart Pearce brushed off the importance of the forty point mark, instead concentrating on getting into the top half of the table and looking for some cash to be able to kick on next season. It is amazing how a little run of undefeated games can turn around fortunes - with a lot of fans and media alike fearing a definite relegation battle, and talk of Pearce's departure has all but disappeared now.

Although things are certainly looking rosier than this time a month ago, I would hope that when any season review is undertaken by the board the majority of the season is still not washed away in favour of highlighting the final quarter of the season - as tends to happen, and can invariably just paper over the cracks that are all too important.

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"They have embraced any system we have asked of them, when
you are not winning it’s easy for players to say they don’t know the system.
They have not done that once, we have had a modicum of success with all
formations and that’s credit to the players.
"You’ve got to have the faith of
the players, and a work ethic in the dressing room and they have never lost
that. Even when the results were not as I wanted and especially what they
wanted, they encompassed that work ethic and had a good spirit about
them."

-Stuart Pearce.

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