Patience is a virtue

THE trend for football fans these days seems to be to have very short patience thresholds.
In this social media age,opinions are formed very quickly indeed (far too quickly for my liking). There is very little middle ground - managers and players are roundly condemned and written off before their summer sun tans have started to fade.
Witness Petr Cech after his error on his Arsenal debut - Twitter labelled him too old, over the hill etc. Also Christian Benteke is not worth his price tag according to some keyboard warriors by virtue of not scoring on his Liverpool debut at Stoke.
Instant success is what is needed, nay demanded, these days. No honeymoon period, no bedding in time. Produce results instantly, or face the flak.
Two draws in two games isn't what a lot of people were expecting. We all hoped for two wins, but if Premier League managers cannot bring in several new players and immediately click them together at the top level, then surely it is unrealistic for it to happen four levels below?
There have been plenty of positives - there is no doubting the commitment of our new team, also their work-rate and dedication to the cause.
We have created plenty of chances in the two games, enough to have won them both comfortably - a far cry from last season's struggles to make any impression in the final third. In time, I am sure those chances will be taken.
On Tuesday night for instance, three efforts against the woodwork, one off the line and two (correctly) disallowed for offside.
It was highly frustrating, and yes, with a bit more luck and ruthlessness we could be sat with six points at the top of the table, but this is still a work in progress.
We have seen some good individual performances. I have been impressed with Kyle Storer and Jack Munns in both games, Jack Barthram did well on Tuesday as did George McLennan on Saturday.
Others like Amari Morgan-Smith, Billy Waters and Harry Pell maybe yet haven't hit the heights, but we saw in pre-season that they have quality and will deliver as time goes on.
We have looked resilient - and shown we have a bit of a backbone. While the centre-backs may not be the quickest, they read the game well and their positioning has helped them out. They and others have put bodies on the line to protect our goal - a vast improvement on last season.
There have been downsides - defending from set-pieces at Lincoln cost us, but it improved on Tuesday night.
We've looked a bit open at times, our passing got sloppy and we have gone off the boil a bit in both second halves - but overall I feel there are more good signs than bad.
It is inconceivable to expect a whole new team of 11 players to click perfectly straight away. It would be fantastic if it did happen, but we have to give them some time.