Which football brand do you support?

I don’t support them…. I support a big team….

How often do you hear that?

I support Chesterfield FC, strangely enough, because that’s where I’m from, I don’t live there anymore but still follow the team.

We’ve been doing badly, the Chairman’s resigned amongst much speculation that he will take all his money with him, or perhaps it’s just a ruse to get rid of some of the directors.

Manager Danny Wilson was sacked after taking us from top to bottom of the division and then recovering a bit.

The great team that we had 2 years ago that got to the playoffs has all been sold and it’s a full on relegation battle this season.

Chesterfield is a proper football town everyone loves the game, but trying to drag people to the match is hard.

When you grow up there, a lot of the local school kids like me would go to the match. Danny Wilson was our hero in the great team we had under Arthur Cox, now Danny’s managed us and it hasn’t worked out.

I am usually asked “What team do you support” when I say “Chesterfield” I’m usually met by a cry of “They’re shit, who are they? I support (insert name of Premiership side) Anyway what division are they in?” It’s tedious but you get used to it.

Other kids “supported” Man United or Liverpool, they never went to football, or maybe once a season, if they were playing one of the Sheffield teams. In the schoolyard you pick a big team to support so you don’t look like a loser. Some kids supported Derby County, but only went if their dad took them.

I go to the pub, bump into couple of friends who are talking about who will win in the Man United v Liverpool match the next day, one of them supports either team. They’ll be watching it on telly. I ask them if they are going to the match today, they shake their heads, they’re not wasting their time, they support  big teams. 

They ask me who Chesterfield are playing I tell them it’s Coventry City, they assume it’s a cup game and ask “How come Coventry are in’t same division as Town?” after all Coventry are a big team aren’t they? Coventry are a financial basket case, that’s how.

Half time in a relegation 6 pointer at the Proact Stadium

Sky Sports is on TV, it owns football, but it now has rivals who also wish to do so, Sky Sports must up their branding to win the hearts and wallets of the consumer.

Manchester United are going to play Liverpool the next day in something called the "Nissan Super Sunday", Manchester City will also play Everton in a blue coloured version of this event. Their part of the event is not as magnificent as the red part of the soar away Nissan Super Sunday, their branding is not as dominant in Outer Mongolia or Timbuktu or Chesterfield.

The Japanese Car Event is the biggest day of large, huge epic-ness that’s ever existed. I am asked who I wish would win the event I tell my friends that I am “not bothered.”   I am met with incredulity, admitting that you are “not bothered” about this fixture is the equivalent of saying you're somehow mentally defective and spend your afternoons trainspotting whilst filling in a stamp collection.

Both friends assume I am “taking the piss” they are scared that I may secretly support their hated TV rivals, I am accused of being a “Plastic Scouser” and a “Secret United fan”.

Sky TV have Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher telling us about their epic clashes. Neville is honest enough to admit that Man United used to try to "influence the referee", especially in this fixture, his rationale is that other teams used to do it, so they also had to.

The more you told the ref he was wrong, by crowding him and screaming abuse, eventually he’d give you a decision.

He’s probably right.

It then became apparent that half of the traditional 22 man pushing event is a game of “keep the other team away from the ref so we can "influence" him ourselves.”

At least Neville is honest, I don’t find him or Jamie Carragher like-able but in a game where winning is all, that really doesn’t matter. They’ve got so much money they could purchase a personality each if they wanted to.

If you want un-likeable see our ex-manager John Sheridan, he guided us to the League two title and a Wembley win in the former Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Recently he was managing Notts County, in a referee's report he abused officials “My kids are not going to get any F******* Christmas Presents because of you” and told the 4^th official “You’re a C***, I’m going to knock you out you C***”, he was sent to the stands and got a 5 match touchline ban.

Sheridan was subsequently sacked by Notts County who now sit second bottom of the entire league, he clearly wasn’t much good at influencing football officials.

I’d like to see John Sheridan as a panellist on SKY TV, purely so he could call Gary Neville a c*** and threaten to knock him out.

We took 54 fans away to Rochdale in the Checkatrade Trophy, it's not the most popular competition.

John Sheridan has a new job at Oldham, for the third time, Oldham are worse than Chesterfield and in even worse financial trouble. Both teams are in League One, in case you need to ask.

Gary Neville could buy either team, he and his mates bought non-league Salford City; they want to redevelop their ground much to the consternation of locals. Anything being built in Salford would be an improvement.

Gary also wants to knock down a street in Manchester and build another hotel, wisely he decided not to build a hotel in Salford.

To the match, I had almost given up in despair the last tine I saw one of Danny Wilson’s team play, we lost away at Port Vale. Port Vale is not a place, but we lost to it. The players looked hesitant and seemed unsure of the tactics, it was a relegation 6 pointer, Port Vale scored with a lucky deflection we only had one shot in the whole game.

Port Vale Away

Ex hero Danny Wilson is gone. Reserve manager and ex player Richie Humphreys is in temporary charge. His first game did not go well we lost 4-0 away at Luton in the cup for the league one and two teams, the one that John Sheridan managed us to victory in a few years back, it’s now called the EFL Checkatrade trophy. Compared to that, Nissan sounds great.

Checkatrade is a directory of trusted traders.

It’s a relegation 6 pointer.

Our team suddenly looks like it knows what it’s doing, we are playing a diamond shape formation and moving well but the final ball usually goes astray. Coventry can break quickly and create 2 good first half chances but luckily fluff their lines.

There’s not much in it and too much at stake. Our best chance is a first half shot by Ched Evans, yes him, he’s probably not a nice person but he’s our best player. Chesterfield were the team that resurrected his career.

In the second half Chesterfield up the tempo, there’s not much in the game, Coventry have a “goal” disallowed for offside, Marcus Tudgay, remember him? is flagged. After the game Cov’s desperate new manager Russell Slade says it was a legit goal. Picture a man clutching at a bag with no straws left in it.

We still can’t fashion a good chance, then Humphreys changes the tactics to 4-2-3-1,. After 75 minutes Midfielder Jay O’ Shea dribbles the ball across the Cov defence which holds a solid line, he lays it off to Dan Gardner who smashes in a 25 yarder. We have 2 more good chances late on, but can’t convert another.

Palpable relief lifts the gloom at the Proact, (yes that’s our sponsor) Stadium for the home faithful, the 1,000 or so Coventry fans drift away. They’ve seen it all before.

Outside the ground I hear 2 Cops on their radios mentioning that Coventry supporters are mounting a protest.

There’s a few away fans in anoraks behind a banner demanding their owners leave the club, I feel sorry for the fans, they have no hope.

Coventry City are owned by SiSu a London based hedge fund. Some suggest ISIS would show more pity to the team they own.

The outside of the Ricoh arena, where Cov play, proudly boasts it is the home of egg ball chasers Wasps who also rent the stadium.

Coventry City’s decline is well documented, there seems no end in sight, the ground does not belong to the club. They spent time ground sharing with Northampton Town. There have been all sorts of protests, fans have suggested a buy out but SISU don’t want to sell.

The result sends Coventry rock bottom, as I walk away form the ground 3 coach loads of Coventry fans with miserable faces go past. Rather them than me. I go back to the pub, there’s much talk of who our new manager will be.

I’m asked who will win on Sunday Man Yoo or Liva’pewl?

Easy answer; “Nissan.”