THERE are five games left to play for Latics in the league this season, and a good final push would be beneficial.

The play-offs, despite being mathematically possible, will be unreachable, yet that doesn’t mean the campaign should be left to peter out.

All too often, that is what has happened, with the final few fixtures seemingly having little value, but there are benefits that could come from a good record in the last five.

For starters, it would prove that cohesion is finally coming from Keith Curle’s side.

His current record is three wins, three draws and three losses from his nine games at the helm and that would be made even better by a late push.

More than that though, it would set Latics in a positive position going into next season.

The same vicious cycle seems to be repeated every season of finishing badly, losing the majority of the squad in the summer and then having to rebuild from scratch.

Breaking out from that is needed if we are to do well in the league.

There is no doubt in the fact that Curle knows how to get results in this division – winning promotion with Northampton via the play-offs last season is concrete evidence – and he must be tied down for the future.

Better still would be bringing in Curle on a long-term deal.

The current managerial merry-go-round is woeful and has to change.

Maybe, if the stars align, the current head coach could be the man to complete a full season.

I definitely wouldn’t bank on it, but it would be a nice change.

By this point, the owners must have realised that what has happened previously in the tenure isn’t the right idea; the results speak for themselves.

Fans’ satisfaction with the board is at an all-time low and work needs to be done to rectify that.

After all, this week we’ve seen the first relaxation of lockdown and the first step towards fans returning to stadia.

Just imagine how vitriolic the atmosphere inside of Boundary Park would have been this season after the sacking of Harry Kewell.

Restrictions have stopped supporters from being able to criticise in person and, if you are blind to social media, there has been little way to gauge that the general consensus of fans is one of resentment towards the board.

From a footballing perspective, are things starting to click?

Possibly, although it’s hard to differentiate the results that are seemingly flukes and those that come from actual good performances.

Let’s hope that recent games were the latter and we can build on it in going forwards with Morecambe up next.