Chesterfield sack the manager

It’s over for Gary Caldwell then, he went out with a fair amount of dignity as he came out to face the press after the game, citing the mistakes of the referee and the fourth official.

All true, we should have had a spot kick for handball and Stanley’s Conneeley, who had already been booked, should have had his marching orders for the foul that led to the penalty that we did get. Frankly though, that’s just papering over the cracks, we had no shots on target in the first half in a do or die game, our team effectively passed sideways and back and kept the ball in the middle of the pitch, but it was too easy for Accrington to put 8 men back and watch us revert to a long hopeful ball. The second half was better as we pushed up and our wide players particularly Andy Kellett got some decent crosses in. None of the press pack asked him “So, Gary are you going to get the boot?” sometimes it’s what isn’t said in an interview that speaks louder than what is said. Gary went up to speak to Peak FM in the press box and then into the exec lounge at the back of the stand. It’s at this point that we could see various club officials scurrying from one room to the next in great haste, presumably wondering where the soon to be ex-football manager actually was. Then the tunnel doors were closed in our faces, meaning that the inevitable was bound to happen.

bored in the press box no shots on target in the first half Even the manner of Caldwell’s demise summed up the club. Another sending off after a stupid tackle by Bradley Barry; players at the end arguing with fans behind the goal, our best defender Scott Wiseman and scorer Kristian Dennis exchanging “remarks” with supporters which ended up on You Tube; and the ball being booted into the car park in sheer frustration.

the press waiting for any indications According to “various sources” or press box gossip, after the embarrassing defeat at Crewe, Caldwell was sacked, only for the players to beg the club to let him have one last chance. Ian Evatt apparently said what he thought needed to be said, and paid by being “rested” or dropped and humiliated, call it what you will. Our skipper turned up at the match though, wearing a jacket and tie and sat in the main stand alongside other notables including Jack Lester and Rob Page. Naturally the rumour mill regarding the next boss rumbles along and such thoughts will be in fans minds when handing over their hard earned cash to the nearest bookmaker. But whichever name the random manager selection computer spits out to be our next great leader, let’s hope it’s the dawning of a new era rather than a new error.

No decent teams in League Two

Are there actually any outstanding sides in this division? Coventry City seem to think that they are one of the front runners and they are set up for promotion, we’ve been informed Chesterfield have one of the bigger budgets, many had Luton nailed on to run away with things and the Stags have been telling us that it’s their year, meanwhile Exeter City are at the top. Looking at message boards I can’t see fans of any team confident that their manager has it right, yet. Definitely a point gained against Coventry, and certainly an improved performance from our new look side, adding new players just before the deadline day may have proven to be Gary Caldwell’s “Get Out of Jail” card. Matt Briggs was a worthy Man of the Match for us; he played well alongside Zak Jules and finally our left side of the team looks good enough to compete and the side seems to have some stability. However as always it’s a question of balance when getting a football team right, and putting 4 at the back certainly has the approval of fans as the team looks more solid than in recent weeks, despite the fact that Gary has repeatedly said that a defensive line of 3 is the way to go, maybe he’s finally ditched that idea. Putting Kristian Dennis out wide seems to be baffling many fans, but surely the idea in the set up is that he breaks into the penalty area after O’Grady plays him in along with Jordan Flores? It’s perhaps a case of what you gain in defence you lose in attack. At the end the Blues put in a hard working performance to get the point and nice to see Diego DiGeralamo get a run out, he looks useful As for Coventry, their fans turned up expecting a win, against a “team like Chesterfield” they’ve really got only one effective player in winger Jodi Jones; but if their ex Sheffield United striker Mark McNulty could hit the net he’d probably still be at Bramall Lane. I fully expected Peter Vincenti to score against us as he usually does, he had three chances in the game although the one that went in was flagged offside before he headed it. Coventry fans were cheesed off that they can’t beat 10 men and played 2 defensive midfielders and passed sideways and backwards, now where have we heard that before? A draw was a fair result in the end. Onwards then to Gresty Road in Crewe, they suffered their first defeat against Grimsby with ex-Chesterfield striker Jordan Bowery featuring for them. What will Gary Caldwell’s line up be? We’ll find out at 2.45pm on Saturday.

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.