Bottom of the League and getting worse

Chesterfield FC bottom of the entire league

According to our manager there’s still positives to be taken from a match where the team caved in and handed a 12-minute hat trick to the opposition’s leading striker. Being beaten 4-1 away at Newport and seeing at your team bottom of the entire football league is a disgrace, there’s no two ways of looking at it.

Here's some links to a defensive horror show

0 - 1 - http://www.dailymoti...m/video/x5ybagx
1 - 1 - http://www.dailymoti...m/video/x5ybfzd
2 - 1 - http://www.dailymoti...m/video/x5ybhe8
3 - 1 - http://www.dailymoti...m/video/x5ybiis

4-1 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ybk7a

To surmise Gary’s interview on the radio, we were good in the first half, which is a fair point; and then the players stopped doing what he asked them to in the second. 

Well Gary brought all these players in and looking back at the goals on the TV he’s constructed a midfield who gift the ball to the opposition, then won’t tackle to win it back. 

An equally big concern is whether keeper Tommy Lee picked up a recurrence of his shoulder injury, if so; it could mean the worst for him.

Most fans seem to now agree the manager is tactically setting up to play a style, which the players can’t achieve. In last week’s paper he commented that three at the back is the way that wins titles, it obviously depends on the personnel.

John Sheridan won this division with 4-4-2, Paul Cook with a 4-2-3-1 and John Duncan got us promoted with big hoof football, twice, so there’s more than one way to do it.

Against Port Vale last week I thought we’d turned a corner, when after changing formation, perhaps on the advice of assistant Graham Barrow, we looked like a different side.

The web boards make predictably depressing reading with fans split between those who think Gary Caldwell should be given the elbow this week and others who think 10 games is the maximum he should be allowed to turn things around.

I’ll leave the final comment to one poster from our web board

A poster called MDCCCLXV1 quoted

“Name a manager that's achieved less with more?

Our off-field disgraces are well documented, as is the fact they led to Caldwell, like Wilson before him, being forced to exit talent and replace it from the discount aisles.

However not only has he since had the scope to replace summat like three quarters of the squad, but I'd argue his budget this season is still superior to many of those currently sitting above us…

even the like-able though inept Lee Richardson, who guided us to our lowest finish in the last twenty five years, never plumbed the depths Caldwell's delivering.

Three defeats from four isn't just bad luck. It merely confirms what we witnessed last season. The sooner Carson accepts responsibility the better. 

PS: would the Club really be any worse off if he followed Caldwell out the door too....?”

Going Down..with no shots on target

Well that just about summed up the season didn’t it? No shots on target for 90 minutes and humiliated 4-0 at home by an average, but well organised, Southend team; that was apparently going through an injury crisis.

Once Stuckmann had needlessly fouled their striker, who was never going to score, to give away an obvious penalty, we were down. The ref started to lose the plot Chesterfield lost their heads and Dion Donohue decided to try some martial arts on Southend’s Demetriou, who went down like he’d been assaulted by Chuck Norris; only to calmly get up without requiring attention, after the red card had been shown.

Web boards are currently in meltdown as it’s very difficult to take any positives either on or off the field after that display, although any communication from the leadership of the club seems to be in short supply, hopefully they will be opening the post to see if any more CCJs have landed on the doormat of 1866 Sheffield Road.

On fan commented on the facebook page that he had spoken to a member of the Southend coaching staff on the phone and the fact is that on the pitch we have not changed tactics from Plan A since Gary Caldwell arrived.

We try to pass it across the back but if other teams press up then we can’t do that, the ball goes back to the keeper who has to lump it long and then we lose the ball as we don’t have the physical striker to control it.

All the teams in this division know this making Chesterfield easy to beat. Us humble fans can see this, so can opposition scouts, but the management continue to try to play this way.

Being fair to Gary Caldwell, we did go on a record equalling 2 match unbeaten “run” recently, but the players aren’t good enough and whichever formation he tries, the team is too weak.

fans going home after the third goal

On that note, all of the January loan signings seem to have flopped or gone back to parent clubs apart from Liam Grimshaw who got a run out as a sub. Sadiq El Fitouri, our Libyan international was reported as having “lost contact” with the club, whether that means he’s gone home in a sulk or switched his mobile phone off on Friday is anyone’s guess. I thought El Fitouri was the best of the January signings although he’s been given little chance on the field.

Well done, however, to Jay O’Shea who has won a champions medal and scoring goals with Sheffield United, but loaning your best player to your nearest rivals as a cost cutting measure tells you all you need to know about which way the club is heading.

Shut the door on your way out

The history of the club is that we get promoted from the bottom division, have a tilt at promotion from the third tier to the second, spend too much money, then the club either goes into freefall or has nearly gone bust and we find our selves back in the basement. 

The real questions are, is this our worst team ever? And who has gained financially from being here? Dave Allen won't sell the club for £10m there seems little chance of anyone making such an offer. Ashley Carson is trying to run the club as well as his own business, but will he bail out? 

We had someone in marketing that made up a raffle winner...and was given the elbow

Chris Turner has gone, but was on wages that many of the fan base could only dream of earning. One mate of mine told me stories of a meeting with Mr Turner which illustrated that he thought our previous leader lacked business skills. 

My greatest fear is that we will end up like Leyton Orient

Still eh, this club does not make mistakes does it? But the pantomime goes on.

Staying up....for another week

Finally a home win for Gary Caldwell, the Blues were good value for the three points in the second half, the first half was pretty forgettable, but no one really minds.

Had we lost that one, the trap door would have opened and we’d have been in League Two, as it is watching Port Vale’s lovely fan base getting all uppity and wanting to have a go at their own players rounded off a nice afternoon. Many on the Port Vale massage board are suggesting that result just got them relegated, especially as they have Sheffield United to play next week.

Joe Rowley took the plaudits today, great to see him getting his first goal and maybe with Lawrence McGuire coming through the team may have a future. It’s great credit to Mark Smith and his Academy that we have these lads who should make the base of next season’s team. Although if 17 year old Joe does get a bottle of champagne for Man of the Match he is too young to legally drink it.

A win against Southend next week would be amazing, but in reality we are all but relegated. There are twelve points left to play for and we are 9 away from safety, even if we won every match, Shrewsbury and Gillingham can still send us down by picking up points.

So, lots of supporters and playing “Guess the retained list” for next season. One player we are nearly all hoping stays on at the Proact is Dan Jones, a man who was out for nearly a year and has finally come back he certainly adds to the teams performance. If Gary Caldwell persists with 3 at the back he can play the attacking wing back role very well or as a left back in a 442, but the manager has left Jones and Sam Hird out in recent matches with no apparent explanation of why, this has led to serious consternation in the stands that some sort of rift had developed between our better players and the manager.

Rai Simons still seems to have people wondering whether he’s one for the future, or if this is the best we are going to see of him like Gboly Ariyibi he can look great going forward but seems to lack positional play when he doesn’t have the ball

On the injury front we’d all like to see Tommy Lee get back to fitness but if and when he comes back, who would you pick Lee or Stuckmann? it’s a difficult decision.

Guy Branston has lists of players drawn up and the manager has a few weeks left to decide who stays and who goes.

The Relegation Parade

It’s all aboard the relegation bus, then.

The main topic of gallows humour amongst our fan base is how best to “celebrate” the club’s impending decline into what we used to call division 4.

Some of our most hardy fans took it upon themselves to organise the first open top bus parade of the season around Bristol. In an act symbolic of our season, The Compton Old Boys can be seen here proudly parading a whole lot of  “nothing whatsoever” to the admiring locals.

On that note why don’t teams get something for having an atrocious season? Perhaps one of Coventry and Chesterfield can be given a giant wooden spoon for finishing last? Fans are now taking bets on which game we are actually confirmed as being down, I’m hoping for a Blackadder style “underpants on head” away parade at Bolton.

On the pitch it’s been a feeling of hope, desperation and bewilderment for the Spireites this week. The 3-3 game against Peterborough was actually entertaining, we appeared to have settled on a formation which looked as though it could hold it’s own, however shakily, against a mid-table side. Ebanks-Blake, for me, was back to his best just a pity we’ve seen so little of it this year, for one reason or another. Over 2 seasons our highest ever paid player hasn’t been worth it, but there’s nothing like the end of your contract to motivate players to get one last payday.

Ok the Posh could easily have won it, if they hadn’t hit the bar and post when it looked easier to score but the Spireites looked good value in the second half and it seemed as if we had a formation which could carry us into the tricky away clash at Bristol Rovers.

15 minutes before kick off at The Bristol Rugby stadium, supporters were expressing disbelief at our formation, suggesting perhaps the side were lined up to scrum down in a game of egg ball chasing.

How can you have a settled side if the back line changes every week? With right back McGinn, Anderson and midfielder Dion Donohue in a back 3; then playing centre back Sam Hird in midfield, the line up could best be described as “experimental.” Conor Dimaio was rewarded for a good performance against Peterborough and an Ireland under 21 call up, by being made substitute.

Still, it took Rovers a whole minute to score their first goal, by the ingenious tactic of running straight through the middle of the pitch, with our side working out who was doing what.

We play Rochdale next, whose manager, Keith Hill will demonstrate how to get a team on a small budget playing effective football.

We've had a shot on target...

Things trundle along on the pitch in a general downward trajectory, Walsall away wasn’t much fun really, it was touted as a game where the opposition would not have much to play for and this would see a resurgence in the team’s form. Sadly this wasn’t the case.

The tactics seems similar to the Swindon match, to deny the opposition and try to counter, but winning 1-0 with your only shot on target in the last minute, is one of those once a season results. At the Bescot we managed, by the reckoning of many fans, 2 shots neither of which rally troubled the goalkeeper, once the Saddlers scored that was it. 

The stats from the Shrewsbury game were similar we had one shot on target and scored one goal, which if you are a statistician looks great, however Shrewsbury had 21 shots and 11 of them were on target. Had they not blazed over from close range and had one chance headed straight at Stuckmann we could have been easily beaten. The loss of Ian Evatt injured for the rest of the season will leave a huge gap at centre back, I wonder if we could approach Oxford to give us Charlie Raglan back?

Many fans seem rather baffled as to Gary Caldwell’s tactics in employing a 352 formation when we don’t have any natural wingbacks and many felt sorry for Liam Grimshaw who had to play wide right. Nonetheless the side did put up a bit of a fight in the second half against the Shrews.

Personally I thought it was an excellent piece of marketing by the club to let kids in on the cheap and fans certainly responded with some of the best paper aeroplane throwing I have witnessed in a long time. It’s that sort of origami that marks out the true football fan from the armchair “expert.” Since when did your SKY TV loving plastic fan ever get the chance to achieve that sort of trajectory in model aerodynamic indulgence in their living room?

Off the field Ashley Carson has been to the far east to do business. Lets hope he’s speaking to someone who might like to buy the club

Whilst there Ashley posted a comment online about a Mr Liam Sutcliffe, and money that was owed pertaining to the development centre saga. It seems that there will be more twists and turns whilst the whole mess is sorted out.

If the football club does not know what to do with the building across the road, I’d like to suggest they set up a bar install a DJ and put up a sign bearing the name “The Aquarius” it’ll do a roaring trade.

Watching your team fall apart

Chesterfield are facing relegation and a Chairman turning down bids for the club and nesh players who won't battle

Gary Caldwell says he doesn’t want to hear any negativity from fans after a 4-0 home drubbing, but for many it was difficult to find any positives on Saturday, he said he can’t accept the performance and neither can we fans and that’s fair comment. The criticism for his own team when interviewed was harsh, once we gifted Oxford the first goal the manager said that the team “Self destructed…no resilience and no character, no desire, no willingness to fight and stand up for yourself “ are fairly damning words.

The manager refused to comment on why Dan Jones was subbed in the first half, which could be taken to mean that he defender wasn’t following instructions properly.

For the first 20 minutes it looked as though Chesterfield had turned a corner and were building on the admirable point gained at Millwall, but watching the goals replayed on Saturday night must have been a horror epic for many..

If Gary doesn’t want negative comments he’d better not go on facebook where a selection of comments read “We can’t play with 3 at the back” “Shocking display;”  “I’m done for this year and no renewal of my season ticket;”  and “Is this for real?” were some of the printable ones.

https://twitter.com/brown29_/status/833043960536920067

Even more galling was that after the defeat against Bury, on loan midfielder Reece Brown went on twitter to publish a picture of his bruised head where he’d been kicked with the comment “Reasons why I don’t head the ball.” Which didn’t meet with a favourable reaction from the paying public. When will players realise that anything you publish on line just won’t get deleted, and even if it was meant to be taken with a sense of humour, it wont be?

Reaction from fans were predictable

"I've had bigger scratches on my cock"

"Good luck in your career outside football"

"Grow a pair of bollocks then"

personally I hope we never select him again for the rest of his loan period with the club

Off the field Chesterfield FC is in interesting times, many of us were flabbergasted to read a posting on Monday from a Chesterfield fan based in Stockholm who said that he was linked to a consortium who wanted to buy Chesterfield FC for a reported sum of £10 million. The poster said that the business people would have paid in £3m initially and then paid in other monies in terms of sponsorship over time which would have added up to £10m. Dave Allen was reported to have rejected the bid out of hand. The club then revealed that enquiries had taken place in January.

I'd suspect that Dave Allen would be looking for an outright deal rather than something in installments. His valuation of £15m was not met, but with the team about to go to League 2, it's less and less likely that anyone would buy the club.

This lead many fans to question why it wasn’t made public at the time, although people must temper their enthusiasm over “bids” which may or may not be as attractive as they are reported. We all remember the initial enthusiasm that greeted one Darren Brown; and no one would want a repeat of that situation. 

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