Relegation blues

They say the truth hurts and it’s hard to disagree with the post match summary from BBC Radio Northampton, who described Chesterfield as one of the worst teams they have played this season.

Two losses against fellow strugglers on successive Saturdays means that the number of teams we could potentially catch diminishes with every negative result.

The BBC pundits identified our goal scoring record, especially away from home, as the main source of Chesterfield’s trouble. Less than a goal a game means the chances of getting the 7 or 8 wins required to stay up are becoming faint hopes

Mathematically, of course, we could get out of the mire but unless the performances on the pitch or the tactics change, it’s hard to see who else we could beat. Gary Caldwell says we handed the points to Northampton, but it’s really little consolation to those of us who spent our disposable income to watch defenders who can’t attack the ball and defend a cross.

The Blues won some praise from the local press for trying to play the game the right way using attacking wing backs to spread out the play against Northampton, but very few dangerous balls were sent in from the flanks and much of our possession was in our own half.

Once we scored, by the simple tactic of a midfielder running straight at the home defence, Northampton got the jitters, credit to the fans, for singing ironically “We’re gonna win 4-3”

A decent following, for a team in trouble.

Conversely Oldham won again and are now out of the bottom 4 our old manager John Sheridan has got them scrapping and winning ugly.

Off the field many are actually praising the quiet-ish revolution that has taken place under Ashley Carson. The announcement that financially the club is living a hand to mouth existence, but will not go bust, isn’t one that many wanted to hear but it’s a message that had to be said. It appears that since the Development Centre shambles, Ashley Carson has fully taken over the running of the club.

It’s a fairly logical appointment, since he’s a businessman, and perhaps he’s got a little more capability in these matters than others who have had been entrusted with various aspects of the marketing and finances of the operation. 

Ashley seems quite happy to communicate with the fans, which in itself is quite revolutionary. This week the club has a said goodbye to Richard Nichols in the commercial department as the club need to change the way things are working. 

Many fans have looked at the balance sheet and expressed concern at the wages being paid to staff at the club and have pinpointed this as a cost saving area.

On lighter note a fan requested Cheese and Onion pies at the Proact and his request has been granted.

Having suffered at the hands of stadium catering selling some form of meat in pies at grounds in up and down the country perhaps the vegetarian option is the way forward