A Brief Encounter...with no love lost

Carson legs it from Warfey

It was something of a brief encounter on platform 4 of Carlisle train station, not exactly Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, dejected fans who walked back from Brunton Park found none other than Chesterfield FC’s Director Ashley Carson actually in the bar on Carlisle rail station, all on his own, after the game. There were plenty of people who saw him, when confronted by fans he did say words to the effect of " You cant get rid of me I'm here for the long term" he blamed Jack Lester for the defeat, we were rubbish, v Carlisle, it’s fair to say that.

Then when asked "Where has all the money gone?" Carson said Lester had a budget of £1.6 m which was the third highest in the division, before quickly leaving the bar. In an odd twist on "Strangers on a Train" we did see him on the Preston to Manchester service, where he was mouthing off about the club's finances to fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers, stating that owner of the club would have to write off large debts, if we go out of the league. I’d suggest that Ashley conducts himself in a more prudent way on match days, this is really not good PR for the club. Why was he on the train on his own anyway why not with the team on the bus? Why did he get back to the station before the fans? did he leave early?

Carlisle away was awful, truly terrible. 2 bad teams slugged out a dull match playing uninspiring tactics. Neither of Carlisle’s goals were from good moves or any kind of great play, just them being quicker to a loose ball and getting a shot off. We had one shot on target, it went in, and was scrubbed for offside.

If we’d been playing “Premiership rules” the goal would have stood, as no one seemed to be interfering with play but the Linesman decided we were playing old fashioned “any body standing offside then the goal doesn’t count,” rules and so we didn’t score.

For 80 minutes we were simply terrible, what has happened to the free flowing football the Jack Lester got the side playing in November and December? We look a totally different side to the one that beat Luton, our current form is so bad that it looks likely that we will finish bottom of the pile.

Frankly our tactics were so bad we look non-league already, booting the ball to Chris O’Grady in the air doesn’t work, for the most part he can’t win a header and even if he does we hardly ever got the second ball so it was a complete waste of time.
Once the lively Brown came on with Weir moving to midfield and Binnon-Williams having a go down the left, it looked as though we might create something. Therein lies the rub, the club is in debt and chooses to pay out ludicrous salaries to has-beens like O’Grady who has scored a mighty 2 goals all season, some say he’s on 4 grand a week or even higher, whatever it’s a bad decision to have him here at all, but it looks like we are stuck with him.

For the most part the fans are becoming resigned to relegation, it’s simply a question of whether we are going to “Do A Leyton Orient” or “Do A Stockport County” in other words, due to interesting management behind the scenes, we sink into the National League, or if we sink even further into National League North. Fans of other clubs ex league teams say that it’s a novelty for a while going to places like FC United but that soon wears off and you are faced with a grim non-league reality. Fans are now getting somewhat upset at the current regime and there may be a protest at home before the Swindon game, but as to what effect this may have is anyone’s guess. Blackpool supporters, for example, have been protesting for years against their current ownership, but if someone else is in charge of the finances there’s little that a demonstration can realistically achieve.

Thanks to Holly for the picture

Eric didn't bring any sunshine to Morecambe

Postponed games used to be a regular part of the season, before under soil heating and clubs having adequate covers and all that sort of thing, so were you one of the ones who waited for the ref’s pitch inspection at Morecambe? Had you already set off and got halfway there or perhaps you’d booked a weekend at the seaside?
Anyway Lynne North has taken the picture of the season, it’s the Eric Morecambe statute dressed up in a Chesterfield hat and scarf, pity he didn’t bring us much sunshine.

If you’ve ever been to Morecambe there’s a beautiful view across the bay on a summer’s day, but if it’s raining it’s grim and there are virtually no attractions or things to see. I’ve been to every ground in the north-west bar Morecambe’s Globe Arena, I fancied watching Manchester City or Everton but both were sold out, so a football free weekend beckoned.
I remember when I was young games would always be called off, so you'd have coach loads of fans visiting the next nearest game just to get a fix of football, plus football was cheap and you could get in to most matches

Now the Morecambe fixture away will be midweek and will definitely be a relegation 6 pointer.
It’s a simple case now that Chesterfield have got to win 7 games for league survival and the future of the club as we know it. It’s fair to say that the players on the pitch now are Jack Lester’s team and he’s got to do it. Morecambe face Forest Green Rovers next week so they can’t both win. The current side we have are capable of beating or losing to anyone in the division, my only fear is the side might not have time to gel together and are capable of letting in comedy goals witnesed against Crawley and Stevenage

Morecambe’s manager Jim Bentley has been quoted in the press as saying that he tried to sign players in the transfer window but he doesn’t have the budget to match teams at the top end of the non league who are out bidding him for players’ wages. If the Shrimpers can’t get any new faces in and we can, then surely we must ultimately be the better side on paper, but we all know football doesn’t go like that.
Accrington Stanley can’t have the biggest budget in this division but they look favourites to go straight up alongside Luton. Meanwhile Notts County have slipped away from the automatic spots, managing to get beaten at Barnet.
Budget wise it’s been revealed that getting relegated last season cost the club £500k, conversely Forest Green Rovers have published losses of £2m in 2016 and a similar figure 2017, however their chairman who owns an energy firm seems happy to take such losses on board, well no-one said that football wasn’t an economic madhouse...now what about the next mystery takeover bid for the club?

Mark E Smith is dead

A compilation of the Fall, my little radio show

Chesterfield back in trouble

It’s fair to say that didn’t qualify as one of the best Christmas series of fixtures ever on the pitch and off the field, who knows what is going on with the proposed club buyout?

We’re back in the bottom two it was simply an awful day at Accrington and judging by the post match interviews with Robbie Weir and Jack Lester they know we are in deep trouble. Before the massive spate of injuries it looked like Jack Lester had sorted the team out and with a little more of an addition to the forward line we’d have a good side and easily avoid the drop.
Now the defence is completely decimated and he has to start all over again and decide who are the best players and what formation to play.

Defensively, at Accrington our makeshift back line switched off for the first goal from a short corner. For Stanley’s second, all the fans at the back of the goal behind me were shouting for our back line to get out, don’t let their men turn or shoot, which was exactly what they did, although I have to say it was a brilliant finish by McConville. I think it’s best to draw a veil over the second half goals we conceded and remember that anyone can have a bad day at the office.

Up front we have only scored one in the last 6 games and that’s now a major concern in the last 2 games Kristian Dennis has barely received a single pass or cross despite the fact that we have played some good stuff in midfield but all our possession has added up to nothing. A lot of fans seem to think that Dennis is not showing any interest, but he’s being marked out of games with good positions being created but seemingly few players being prepared to shoot when the ball to our main striker isn’t on for a pass.

The next 3 home matches are now key, Luton is the biggest test of them all in this division and Stevenage and Crawley and real “must win” games.

Off the pitch it would be nice if there was some kind of statement from the club. Since we heard from Mr Carson that there was an interested buying party and the club was waiting on a non-refundable deposit, there has been no word. Is no news good news or is the whole thing off? Just a statement saying “Negotiations are on-going.” would calm a lot of nerves.
Whilst I was at the game at Accrington, a bird decided to leave a non-refundable deposit on my car windscreen, wiping it off wasn’t the most pleasant experience

So did the mentioned takeover ever really exist? I've seen Chinese people at the match are they still negotiating? Or was it all a load of baloney?

Chesterfield out of the relegation zone

Chesterfield out of the dreaded drop zone with a late, late winner from Robbie Weir

They say football matches are won and lost on fine margins and it was never better illustrated than that, Robbie Weir in the 93rd minute finally grabbed the points for us, if he hadn’t taken that chance Chesterfield would still have been in the relegation places, along with our visitors Barnet.

After the game speaking to our birthday boy and match winner was an enlightening and sobering experience, he actually criticised his own game and said he wasn’t good enough. When I asked how he felt when Ian Evatt put him through to score, Weir suggested that with the way he’d played, most people would have expected him to hit the corner flag.
Compared to the bland nonsense coming from players and managers on TV that we see week in week out, it’s a refreshing change to hear some honesty. Robbie Weir also said that he thought The Blues could still mount a play off challenge, well it’s nice to hear some confidence coming from the dressing room.


So why were we so bad under Gary Caldwell?

Football is a closed world, as it should be, us non-football folk don’t expect to have to justify our performance at work in front of journalists. Steve Eyre’s interview on Peak Fm this week was nothing short of a revelation about what had gone wrong for Gary Caldwell. In our naivety many fans, myself included, simply assume that football people must know what they are doing, as it is their industry.

It looks as though Gary Caldwell wanted Graham Barrow to be his assistant all along, and the decision-making process behind the scenes really wasn’t the best. Eyre also suggested that Guy Branston had “infiltrated” the club by talking to both Gary Caldwell and Ashley Carson and playing them off against each other. Branston appeared to have taken the transfer decisions out of Gary Caldwell’s hands and signed “too many substitutes” according to our former assistant manager, who described Branston’s 2 match managerial tenure as “A PR farce,” harsh but true.

It’s also disturbing to know that Gary Caldwell thought that the team were super fit, but that Steve Eyre didn’t think the players were doing enough work on a daily basis, and that the tactics and player selections were often not right.
Robbie Weir says his fitness has improved and so has the whole squad body shapes have changed and they can last longer in a match. Surely it's just taken as a given that players are fit enough to do the job? It's what us fans expect, Barnet for example, were out on their feet for the last 10 minutes of the match. Jack Lester said that our fitness got us through the game, it's amazing to me that the previous regime weren't good enough to get players up to scratch, but of course Gary Caldwell dispensed with the last fitness coach. Stroll on, talk about amateur


Still mistakes will always be made in the game, Chris Turner has secured a new job in football and I’d like to wish Port Vale the very best of luck with that. Also ex-manager Gary Caldwell has commented that he thinks Kristian Dennis can play at a higher level of football, he did do Gary, before you got us relegated from League One remember? Anyway it’s nice to have Jack Lester in charge isn’t it?


Nearly Christmas we had a brass band at half time, it snowed near the end and got three points



https://www.barnetfc.com/news/2017/december/reckless-guide--chesterfield/

Check out this utterly hilarious Vlog from a Barnet fan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxySOgYMs54&app=desktop

Dementia and Football, Mansfield Town away

Football and dementia; are issues currently in the public eye due to Alan Shearer’s documentary, which aired last week. The FA have finally got round announcing that they are launching a study to see if there is a link between heading a football and suffering from dementia in later life.

We are all aware what is happening to Ernie Moss, former Mansfield player Kevin Bird is also suffering from a form of dementia, as are many others highlighted in Alan Shearer’s show. Football fans will of course say that this is something we have known all along, but science doesn’t work like that, things have to be proven in clinical tests.

For those reasons I’d like to highlight the great work undertaken by charity walkers who made it from the Proact to Field Mill on Saturday, organised by Mansfield supporter Mick Edge who raised money for Alzheimer’s and also Guide Dogs for The Blind.

Many people may ask why is there no known cure for Alzheimer’s, well science hasn’t got there yet, but it could do, if there’s enough money put into clinical trials and many think that’s where football could step in, football clearly isn’t short of money.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE MY REPORT ON THE UNIVERSITY OF LANCASTER's BREAKTHROUGH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoE3I7qok8E&t=51s&list=PL5q5VCSdVadco-SccARdmKqP5dDrCf_pX&index=29


The University Of Lancaster under the leadership of Professor David Allsop and his team has actually developed a compound which they are confident will stop the onset of Alzheimers.
This compound can’t reverse the condition, but it is hoped it can stop things getting worse. However what is needed is money, in order start clinical trials on people who are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, once the clinical trials are proven, then a drug could be made. How does that work? Well that’s where drug companies have to step in and decide to manufacture such a thing and put it on the market. It’s a long and costly process. Governments tend not to fund drug research it’s usually down to the private sector to do that.
There are many forms of dementia and Alzheimer’s is one of the major types that we know about, so this research is not a “cure all” but certainly a step in the right direction.

Defying Dementia http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/defyingdementia are slowly raising funds for what they hope will be a medical breakthrough which could help everyone, but they need £1-2 million pounds to even start getting clinical trials underway.

So where could that sort of cash be generated?
A fraction of the gate money from an England match, perhaps? The PFA sticking its hand in it’s pocket? A bit of spare change from a Premier League team, maybe? Football should take the lead, we really shouldn’t have to rely on blokes like Mick and his charity walk.

We won at home!

How much of a relief was the Exeter game? 3 months since our last home win,
one shot on target, one goal and three precious points.

Kristian Dennis has now scored in all of our last 5 league games, which must be some sort of a record; it’s not bad for a guy who was once loaned to Woodley Sports by Stockport County. Woodley Sports is actually a team, not a shop, if anyone was wondering. Also quite amazing to think that Dennis has not been our regular first choice striker for the whole season, he had been a sub for a number of early matches and came off the bench to score against Lincoln and Grimsby.

All the amateur pundits and rivals web sites are now wondering when we are going to sell him. Do other teams get this? Does anyone think Danny Hylton is bound to leave Luton, are teams queueing up to get Billy Kee from Accington Stanley?

I’d not have dared to have even looked at the table if we’d conceded a late goal; I haven’t got any fingernails left after the last 10 minutes of that one. I felt sure when they hit the bar they would have scored the rebound and I think we got a bit lucky near the end as I am sure Exeter had a good shout for a penalty denied as Ian Evatt seemed to be shirt pulling.

Getting Nervous

On the plus side Jerome Binnon-Williams looked immense, especially in the first half, frankly having him on the pitch is the equivalent of signing a new player. What he gave the side was someone who will take on the full back and want to get the ball in first time, it’s exactly the sort of player that’s been missing for the last season and a half, so many times this year we’ve seen players having to make up the numbers in the left back position and not have the confidence or ability to stick in a decent cross. Gary Caldwell brought him to the club and his injury was unfortunate for our former manager, as it meant that his favoured 3-5-2 formation didn’t work.

What gladdens the heart of many Spireites is Jack Lester’s interview after the game he says we are building something special here, fine words for a man whose team currently sit bottom of the table, he says the players are giving him everything, but have to work hard to stay in the team. One interesting omen is that at this stage last season Exeter City went bottom of the league but ended up in the playoffs, I’m not sticking any money on that outcome, but I think we’ll avoid the drop.