ON THE CASE: The long and short of it... winning is probably all that really matters

Quite rightly, the club, management and players are talking up the position the Cobblers find themselves in ahead of the home stretch of the Sky Bet League Two season.

Despite a disappointing week, which saw Town lose their first league games since Boxing Day, Town are sitting in the play-off spots as they are sixth in the table, and just about in touch with the top three, although the automatic promotion places are now eight points away.

The Cobblers also reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, and did themselves proud by taking Championship side Derby County to a replay.

There are plenty of supporters who will rightly share that optimistic tone, but there are also many who are beginning to feel their glass is reaching half empty stage... and that is mainly down to the style of play of Keith Curle's team.

Now, I just want to say a couple of things before I start down this road...

Firstly, I want to make it clear that I think Curle has done a great job since taking charge at the Cobblers.

The club was in serious danger of being sucked into a relegation battle to stay in the Football League, but Curle saw the team ease clear of that.

The squad is now stronger, more disciplined, and better than it was when he took charge, and that is to be applauded, as is the fact that this season he is overseeing a serious challenge for promotion, and long may that continue.

That is something we would all have taken last summer.

Secondly, I am not averse to a team playing direct football.

I have seen enough of it over the years at both the County Ground and Sixfields, and indeed, two of the club's most successful managers, Graham Carr and Ian Atkins, were both advocates of what some would call the 'long ball game'.

Aidy Boothroyd was another manager who liked a no-nonsense style, and he got the club to a play-off final.

So I am happy to see Town clear their lines, get the ball away from the danger area, turn the opposition, play in their final third, maintain pressure, work off the second ball, however you want to put it.

But for me there always has to be a bit of variety as well, there has to be a happy medium, different options.

I can appreciate both the positive and negative points of view with regards to the Cobblers and how they are playing at the moment, and I am sure everybody would love to see the team winning by playing attractive, flowing, attacking football.

But that can't always be the case, and even Chris Wilder's title winners of 2016 had their off days.

Up until December, I felt Curle and his team had got the balance just right. They were very effective, and pretty good to watch.

They were strong and no-nonsense at the back, but a threat in attack, and once into the middle areas and final third they played some good stuff.

But, for whatever reason, the team has recently shown signs of becoming a touch too one dimensional, too predictable, and, basically, not much fun to watch.

Certainly in the second half against Swindon on Tuesday, and at times against Port Vale on Saturday - which was a game the Cobblers should have won - as time wore on the only plan on too many occasions seemed to be to hammer the ball in the air towards the strikers and hope for the best.

Now I'm sure that wasn't the case. I am sure there was a structure in place, and that there was a clear plan set out to for the team follow, but there is no denying that at times it was difficult to work out what that was.

This is not a knee-jerk reaction to those two defeats.

There have been other recent performances at the PTS, namely against Cheltenham, Stevenage and Scunhtorpe, where it wasn't always pretty either, but the crucial thing was Town got results in those fixtures.

And that is the thing about playing a direct game - people might not always enjoy what they are watching, but they are happy to put up with it when the team is winning.

The issues and moans and groans start when the results start to dry up, and it doesn't take long for detractors to then air their grievances! Just ask Aidy Boothroyd.

But as the bizarre old saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and the fact is Curle's men have proved to be pretty good at what they do.

They are in a decent position in the league table, and there is still all to play for this season.

It's been a bad few days, and the team haven't been anywhere near their best, but the promotion is still very much in Town's own hands.

Curle and his team have proven that, at their best, they have what it takes to compete up until now, and it has to be said there have been many entertaining performances this season as well.

So, as quickly as things have gone awry in the past few days, they can also take an upturn, and there is credit in the bank for this team to allow them time and trust them to get things right.

Saturday's trip to Walsall is obviously a huge game, and a win will get the Cobblers back on track.

The Town supporters will again be at the Bescot Stadium in big numbers, and they will be backing Curle and his players to the hilt - even the threat of Storm Dennis won't keep them away!.

The Cobblers have certainly shown enough on plenty of occasions this season to suggest they have the capability to bounce back and get the result that will keep them right in the promotion hunt.

And the fact is, despite all the chat about the style of play, the social media 'hoofball' accusations, and talk of a lack of a plan B' , the bottom line is, if Town do claim the three points then nobody will care how they get them...