Smells like team spirit.

One of the questions that has been asked since the departure of Andy Carroll has been regarding how the sale of the £35 million man will affect the dressing room.

Carroll seemed to be a popular lad in the dressing room and all, well most, of the players stood by him when he was going through his off the pitch troubles. You only have to look at the reaction that Carroll got from the rest of the playing staff in the aftermath of the Carroll/Taylor incident to see evidence of this.

Kevin Nolan kind of touched upon this earlier when he stated that he had not only lost a team-mate, but he had also lost a lad that he was very close to. That can have a deep impact on morale and team spirit, which are two things that have been key in our season to date.

The players looked dejected last night and I didn't see the usual fight and desire that I personally have become accustomed to over the last 18 or so months. I hope that is just a one-off blip, because if we lose that fight and desire we could be in for a very rough ride until May.

No matter how spirited or determined an individual is, there comes a point where enough is enough. I'm not saying the players are there yet, or that they will even get to stage, but it can't be easy to deal with the knocks that this team has had to take.

As mentioned earlier, Carroll was a popular lad, but now he has gone. The same can be said about Chris Hughton, and he has also gone. Both of those are widely perceived to have done rather well, better than expected in fact, but both of them have gone the same way. It kind of makes you wonder what the point in doing well is doesn't it?

The most important thing now is for the players to maintain that fight, desire and never-say-die attitude that has served them all so well so far. If they can keep that then survival will come, although it could and probably should have been so much more comfortable.

It's back's against the wall time for the lads now, and they need to show that they aren't a one man team. Most of us know that they aren't, but they need to prove it to themselves and to the rest of the world.

Losing Carroll was a massive blow, but that's life. People move on in football and I'm sure that the team knows that. What they mustn't do is start doubting their ability or take their eyes off the prize. They still have work to do.

I'm fairly confident that we will come through this, and I'm fairly confident that players like Kevin Nolan, even though he is in my naughty book at the moment, and Joey Barton will do their utmost to try and keep things together.

The departure of Carroll has caused unrest, which is understandable, but it's also worth pointing out that it wasn't just Carroll who got us to where we are now. Nolan has been important, as has Coloccini, Enrique, Barton, Ameobi, at times, and even Leon Best has had his part to play so far this season, in fact most of the team have. They can continue to do that, of that I am sure.

Howay the lads!