Why York City’s January signings could prevent relegation from the Football League

Add as preferred source on Google

Doom, gloom and relegation are three words that have been associated with York City throughout their season so far.

The Minstermen have rarely moved from the League Two relegation places since the campaign began back in September, and the uphill task of saving their Football League status seems even trickier when considering that only 19 league games remain.

Five wins from 29 league games, compounded with 16 losses and an early season run of fifteen winless matches has left York staring perilously at the National League below them, a sight they are all too familiar with.

In the 2003-2004 season they were relegated from the then Division Three into the Conference, and it wasn’t until eight years later that they managed to work themselves out of the division known as the ‘footballing wilderness’.

These stats aren’t pretty reading, and they may not offer too much hope of a late-season York revival. However, there is one factor which may give Jackie McNamara’s side a fighting chance come May; the recent transfer window.

The Minstermen went about their business fairly well during January, strengthening their side across the field by acquiring the services of Ntumba Massanka, Matt Dixon, Derek Riordan, Lubo Satka and Luke Hendrie.

But can these new signings add much needed impetus into a struggling York side?

One of York’s major problems this season is their lack of potency in front of goal, scoring the joint-second least out of all 24 teams in League Two; for a point of comparison, they have only scored nine more goals than the League Two top goal-scorer Jay Simpson, who has scored 22 so far.

The additions of Massanka, a 19-year-old forward from Burnley, and Riordan, the experienced ex-Hibernian striker, may act as a catalyst for more goals which, frankly, are needed for York to stay up.

Neither are shy in front of goal either, with the Burnley youngster scoring 16 goals in 16 games for their development side, and Riordan notching over 90 goals during his two spells in the Scottish Premiership for the Edinburgh side.

The key for McNamara is finding a way to utilise the new forwards with current first-teamers Michael Coulson and Vadaine Oliver (York’s top goal-scorer this season with seven), yet their strength in depth up front in comparison to their relegation rivals does give vital options as the League Two fixture list starts to become congested.

It’s not just the forward line that have been struggling this season though, as York have also conceded 53 goals across 29 games this season; the third worst in the league.

In an attempt to shore this up both Satka and Hendrie were brought in, the former coming from Newcastle as their Under-21 captain whilst Hendrie came from Burnley alongside Massanka.

Despite Hendrie receiving a red card in the loss against Northampton, one of the few blots on the York copybook of late, his one-month loan has been extended to the end of the season and could spark some defensive solidity.

These new signings already seem to be making an impact at Bootham Crescent though as, since York’s 6-0 and 5-1 hammerings at the hands of Portsmouth and Accrington Stanley in the space of four days in November, they’ve won three times and drawn once in their last nine games.

This includes a hard-fought victory against Notts County in their last game, their second home win in a row, which goes to show that the side can bring a level of fight and battling to their games. Perhaps more importantly there’s a level of consistency in their home performances, as for the last nine home games Bootham Crescent needs to become a fortress against the opposition.

When you’re trying to pull off the great escape every point counts, and York’s recent string of results has lifted them off the bottom of the table, only a single point behind Yeovil in 22^nd.

One thing that’s certain is that it won’t be easy for York to survive, especially when the majority of their games left are against sides currently sitting in the top half of the table. To compound matters even more, their two games against relegation rivals Hartlepool and Dagenham & Redbridge are away from Bootham Crescent, so it begs the question of whether only the failure of those around them (such as Yeovil and Crawley Town) can save the Minstermen from dropping down.

Until the end of the season it’s going to be less about individual performances turning their fortunes around, instead it will be more about a team effort with individuals working for each other.

Whisper it quietly but maybe, if they can carry on their recent run of results, they may be able to change those three words at the start from doom, gloom and relegation to last, minute and survival.

Featured image: All rights reserved by howden joe