ANY new year always dawns with hope and if that precious commodity was ever needed at Bootham Crescent it is now.

There are just four months left to the end of the season and something has to change swiftly if the debut Nationwide Conference campaign is not to end by spiralling into the Conference North.

No longer can that notion be dismissed with a contemptuous pah. Indeed, the bulk of the Crescent faithful are genuinely fearful of a second successive slip in status.

After a 2004 that has been an 'annus miserabilis', the unmistakable reality is that the Minstermen are in critical danger of suffering another drop of the hardest stuff. And, as reported elsewhere in this newspaper today, that prospect could well spell the end of professional football in the city.

Time then to initiate a Lazarus-type comeback.

For once, the onus is not on those die-hards who continue to come through the turnstiles.

The fans have done all that could be asked of them. They were galvanised by the initial betrayal of the club's past by the decision of Bootham Crescent Holdings to put the club up for sale, which kick-started the insidious rot in the first place.

Since that bombshell - and it must never be forgotten that BCH are the true villains of the piece - supporters, met, cajoled, chanted, marched, collected and organised themselves to a degree many did not feel possible to eventually secure the club's survival.

The gallant fight was advanced when the wherewithal was amassed whereby supporters took control and ensured the club's tenure at Bootham Crescent for the foreseeable future.

The cruel irony of the club's plight though is that those self-same qualities of daring, dash and dynamism have not been translated out on the pitch.

With few exceptions, the fare served up has been pallid, pedestrian and punchless to the point that now there is even a discernible feeling among fans that there are players wearing the red shirt who are not trying.

God, it says, loves a trier. But the veracity of that is never more evident than when applied to football supporters. They will forgive a player shortcomings on skill and talent provided he gives his all each match.

To feel that someone is not fit to wear the shirt is the ultimate insult to the man, woman or child who parts with their hard-earned cash. Players may come and go, and often do, so do too managers. Even directors and boards sometimes change. But for the fan loyalty to the club, to the shirt, is for keeps. From the cradle to the grave it is a passion that is eternal, even if it is sometimes infernal.

For those players who demonstrate that the shirt they pull over their heads is one they will adorn with total commitment there will be unswerving ardour from the fans. And right now at Bootham Crescent there is a huge void to fill - that of terrace hero.

Other than Chris Brass, in his incarnation as a player rather than gaffer, City fans have not truly taken anyone to their collective hearts since Richard Cresswell before the Millennium. Even he had his critics.

If someone can only be bold enough then they will earn undying affection.

But it's not just the players who need to be brave. The management team too have to be intrepid, as do the club's ruling powers.

Back when they plumped for Brass as the Football League's youngest boss it was a move cloaked in courage. It did not work for a variety of reasons, but the appointment was imaginative and innovative.

Perhaps because it did not work there has since been a retreat towards caution. But flair, not pure prudence, is what is desperately needed now. Be bold, be brave, become fearless.

The next four months are arguably the most important in York City's history - don't let them slide away into failure.

Updated: 11:15 Tuesday, January 04, 2005