Well the Game against Oldham didn’t quite finish as well as I’d hoped, losing a relegation six pointer, 0-1, against 10 men doesn’t exactly fill the fans with the joys of spring.

Making my way to the stadium I was reminded of JB Priestley’s comment that “I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere”

It started looking like a new dawn, Ashley Carson on facebook hoping for a day of attacking football, 5 new players in over the transfer window and Gboly Ariyibi departing.

The fee for Ariyibi is reported to be in the region of £300,000, at the start of the season Chesterfield rejected a bid from Brentford that was slightly higher but Gboly’s form had dipped and he’d actually played himself out of a bigger move. The mercurial wide man is always a source of frustration to fans and mangers alike, if you can turn the full back inside out, why is it so difficult to deliver a decent cross?

Sadiq El Fitouri, is one of our new signings, he is the lad who appeared on the Class of 92 documentary about Salford City FC. He looked a threat every time he went forward in the first half and it looked as though we were certain to score, if only Dan Jones, back after a long term injury, hadn’t missed his kick.

Post match Jones commented that Gary Caldwell told the lads, it would be harder against 10 men and so it proved, once again, as in the Wimbledon match we could not really test the keeper, because the final ball wasn’t there against a packed defence. Caldwell says we need to take the handbrake off when attacking and the strikers have to hold the ball up more and be more aggressive.

Aggression is one thing that Oldham don’t lack, Anthony Gerrard got himself sent off for a headbutt in the tunnel going into half time, he was “at it“ with Ian Evatt for the whole of the first half. Ok they time wasted, but that’s to be expected, anyone would do that if you’re a man down for half the match.

Credit to the Oldham fans, they expected to take a beating but got behind their team for the whole second half, more than can be said for our end. One Oldham supporter wasn’t even wearing a shirt, poverty is a terrible thing, perhaps their club could have gone to Poundland and bought him a new wardrobe? Seriously though, I’m getting sick of supporters running on the pitch at the Proact and maybe it’s time to put up a small barrier to stop it happening in future? 

The 2 teams put up a good show of passing football in the first half, neither of them looked like relegation fodder on this display , however if you've spent he first half of the season being awful, you have a mountain to climb. 

Chesterfield have improved since away losses at Rochdale and Port Vale had us described as "relegation certainties" by other fans.

Oldham leapfrogged us in the table, it looks like they might have a another "Shezzurection" on their hands. we must get points from all our next 4 games, as they are against other teams in the bottom half. 

It's going to go to the wire and I don't fancy our last couple of fixtures

in the press box