That club statement backing Mark Robinson doesn’t feel such a good idea now…
It’s ironic that our next fixture – OK, ninety minutes of depression – is at Hillsborough on Saturday.
I’m sure it will be a good turnout, not only for the opponents but also because it’ll likely be the last time we get to play there for a while.
But if you think that 2021/22 is fast becoming like 1999/2000, then you’ll know why I said that.
Back then, Sheffield Wednesday at Selhurst was the moment when the penny dropped.
It was dire and abject that horrible evening, and for the first time all pretence we’d stay up had gone.
I feel the same about yesterday at home to Cambridge.
No, I wasn’t there – I was at Colchester v Tranmere. And if you think we’ll do all right in L2 without some major changes, you’ll be in for a very nasty shock.
Colchester weren’t great, but they had a unity and purpose, and their young lad getting a last minute winner could be a decent prospect.
The Us are down the wrong end of the L2 table, but they would have easily beaten us yesterday.
Just as in 99/00, there’s an abjectness that seems terminal.
When even those who make it their business to see the positives cannot find any, you know we’re in Shit Street.
And really, I don’t think anyone knows what to do any more.
The club has nailed its colours to the Mark Robinson mast, and any volte face now makes it look even worse.
If you could even sense there’s an improvement going to happen, that would be something to cling onto.
But there isn’t.
By all accounts, we’ve got worse. And it could easily become horrific in the last seven games.
And all you can now do is question why it’s considered acceptable to not have won in 20-odd games, and do nothing bar give a statement of support.
The club have basically accepted mediocrity.
Our winless run is a sign of this mediocrity. The decline in standards on the field is acceptance of this mediocrity.
The club and manager talks about “elite behaviours”, but our actions are mediocre.
I just think back to that backing-Robbo statement last week, and just think the actions we’re planning are just tinkering around the edges.
And they’re not actually dealing with the last seven games either.
For some reason, I actually read MR’s post-game comments, for the first time in a good while.
It was very downbeat on the OS, but I found his ones on the SLP more interesting.
That is the classic sign of a Head Coach who has run out of ideas and has no further answers.
It’s all very well for him to insinuate that he can do the job long term. But can he really?
And if the belief has gone, perhaps he should ask himself who is there to provide it in the first place?
MR does genuinely seem to think that the players are still behind him, but from what I’ve seen in recent games – I’m really not sure.
They might not be hostile to him, but they don’t need to be if they’re not fully onside.
Who knows what’s really going on though. Apparently MR is “very down”, which might suggest his interviews are for public consumption.
OK, most of them are that in the first place, but we’re taking it to another level right now.
My one hope today is that the penny is finally dropping about our plight.
Not in the fanbase, they’ve been clued up about it for some while, but where it really matters – the decision makers.
If they think they’re getting a rough ride now, it’ll get worse if this shitstorm continues.
Especially if they’re seen to be like that meme with the dog in a burning building saying “This is fine”.
I used that very image a couple of weeks ago. It’s still exceptionally apt today.
We have a week away until Hillsborough, and I don’t expect anything to change. Not only is there too much mediocrity but there’s too much stubborness around too.
Somebody (half) joked to me a few weeks ago that the worst thing to do at AFCW is admitting you’ve got it wrong.
There’s long been a pig-headedness culture at the club, this continued grinding down is nothing new.
At some point though, it finally catches up with you. And right now, that’s exactly what it’s doing…