At least we still have the Mario Pizza cup…
Very – and I mean, very – brief thoughts on going out to Chesterfield today, in what sounded like very meek circumstances.
I managed to miss today as I was covering King’s Lynn v Stevenage instead (and what fun and games that was to do), and sadly I got the better deal after all.
Our unbeaten run was likely to come to an end at some point, but the way it’s happened is an anti-climax.
Whether it was the proverbial game too far, or whether it was the Footballing Gods being arsewipes I don’t know, but we’re out.
Perhaps worse of all, I’m not surprised one bit.
It had that pre-game vibe of us becoming a cropper, didn’t it? Poor pre-game sales were an indication, and perhaps people were swerving it because they knew what was coming?
Add to that an opposition who would be up for it, and the unwritten rule that a team getting giddy about such a long unbeaten run has to fail at some point, and you shouldn’t be shocked.
Deep down, I wonder if AFCW knew that too. It was quite a strange buildup, as if it was a pre-season friendly instead of one step away from playing with the big boys.
I was too busy to read Skiverton’s pre-match comments (which in itself is odd – why not JJ?) but even the “something’s got to give” headline raised eyebrows.
Losing in the FAC is always a bit of a blow, especially when you’re so near to the third round, but we need to dust ourselves down.
I know many will be moping about missing out on the glamour tie against Barnsley a Premier League giant, but you have to earn the right to do that.
I’m also not so bothered about missing out on a money-spinner. It’s only ever a bonus, and if we’re relying on it we’re even more fucked than first thought.
The truth is, we’re out, and we’re now mostly focusing on the League.
And really, that’s what we need to do now. Sure, the FAC is a nice distraction, and if we get to Wembley in the ex-JPT it will be a good weekend.
This season though, it’s always been about stopping the haemorrhaging, and starting to move upwards again after too many recent years of decline.
We’re starting to do that, and I do genuinely believe we’re capable of reaching the playoffs this season.
No WUM.
Whether we will or not relies on how many games like today we end up having. It also relies on what we do during January, and if JJ gets more than £1.50 in transfer funds.
We’re still not even in December yet, so it’s too early to write off the campaign at either end.
But our season is nowhere near being over, and it may yet end in the best way possible.
That’s for the future. For this next week, this will hurt – especially as Chesterfield will probably get the glamour tie against Liverpool.
But we should use this as motivation, and send Grimsby back to Cleethorpes with sore arses.
And besides – we played Arsenal last season and it wasn’t as glamorous as we thought…