And no, that’s not a good thing.
You can interpret that headline in one of two ways, I suppose – our long wait for a win, or our inability to go down in a timely fashion.
We can’t even seem to get relegated straightforwardly.
While it seemingly took less time to go back to Plough Lane than it does to get three points, we are somehow still alive.
That we came within ten minutes plus injury time of victory against a decent Wycombe side sucks.
It was inevitable Akinfenwa would get their goal. And a certain symmetry to it too with him scoring the penalty at Wombley.
Even now, I wasn’t upset when he moved on. But if only we had a 39-year old who could still score goals…
Come to think of it, if only we had anyone of any age who can do that. Even a nine year old.
It’s another lead lost though, and in our 25 (?) games without a win, we’ve apparently led in about half of them.
You do the maths.
When MB came in, one of the first things he picked up on after the Sheffield Wednesday loss was mental fatigue coming in.
Many will still have flashbacks to Crewe on Good Friday, and I put that (and others) down to no proper grizzled veterans in the side.
How often have we seen over the years the more experienced players drag the youngsters through some tricky spells?
This is the natural outcome of Academising the first team squad – when on-field guidance was needed, none was forthcoming.
But then, we all knew that already.
It doesn’t help when your player is injured seconds before the opposition score, and MB really wasn’t happy with that.
I’m never convinced when managers say that kind of thing in public after they haven’t won a game – not just AFCW ones.
It doesn’t change the outcome of the tie, and it just sounds like sour grapes.
TB approached it best by slagging referees off when we’d won, although admittedly if we try that we’d never say anythng.
Maybe Bowen is trying to create a siege mentality for the last two games?
With 180 minutes or so of the season left, anything is worth a go, and maybe it can just give us that extra percent we’ve been missing?
Whatever the approach is, it looks like we’ll have to do it without Alex Woodyard, who limped off with a torn calf muscle.
As he’s out of contract this summer, was that his last game in an AFCW shirt? And if it was, would you be massively upset?
We’re already starting to get into the transfer speculation stage of the year, and we haven’t even gone down yet.
The rumour mill is suggesting that Zach Robinson is wanted by a number of clubs, as his contract also apparently expires at the end of the season.
I thought a core feature of the Process was we wouldn’t lose our youngsters for nowt?
I suspect it’s agent talk, and it’s being used to push for a better deal for ZR from AFCW.
Which is why, whatever the outcome of this season, we need to get the permanent manager situation sorted as soon as possible.
If MB wants the gig, great. If he doesn’t, we should be searching around for somebody similar this minute.
Back to transfer rumours though, and ZR is somebody I would like to keep for next season.
As a third choice striker at best, perhaps even on-loan at a Conference side, but definitely one for the future.
If there’s truth in this story, and if his agent is telling him to run down his deal – it’s another harsh lesson for the club.
These days, the new Alan Cork or Jason Euell wouldn’t be around long enough for us to make much if any profit on them.
There are still hidden gems in football, but they’re a lot easier to find these days, in the era of more sophisticated scouting.
After all, you can get video highlights of teams in the Ryman Premier, and anyone with decent scouting resources will be looking at those each Sunday morning.
Zach would have been on the radar of many clubs for a while, and certainly after he scored against Charlton.
With that type of player, you almost have to offer him improved terms as soon as he’s stopped celebrating his first senior goal.
The “Process” had many fatal flaws, but an outdated view of profiting from young talent is up there.
This summer is going to be a tough one to get through, with the very likely aftermath of relegation to deal with.
A lot of players will be gone, and the need to rebuild will be one we can’t ignore.
And yes, we will possibly if not probably lose the few we’d like to keep (ZR, Rudoni, Assal) and not just the turds blocking up the cistern.
We may quickly come to the conclusion that most of our players are for the here-and-now, and that selling them on for profit is a bonus and not a fundamental.
Doing that will ask many questions of AFCW, not least about our ability to fund a professional football club.
That particular question still hasn’t been fully answered since we turned fully professional, and certainly not when we’ve been in the EFL.
We’ll learn that lesson eventually. The only question will be how long we take to do it…