Guess we’ll have to concentrate on the league after all.
This will be the last update until about the 22nd or 23rd January, as your editor has finally been given the all clear to go to the United States tomorrow.
By the time I return, I might have got our meek surrender to Boreham Wood out of my system.
I wonder how they feel about drawing Bournemouth though? They’ll love their car park though.
I wasn’t there on Saturday – I had a ticket but somebody bought it off me. Hopefully they won’t ask me for a refund.
But speaking as somebody who witnessed that FAC game at Shrewsbury, I can believe those who said it was on a par.
This was AFCW at its worst, by all accounts. Poor tactics, poor implementation of the tactics, and even poorer attitude from the off.
This game was always likely to be one where we could come a cropper if we weren’t on it, so to speak.
And really, I’m not surprised.
Losing our momentum after Stanley/Wycombe hasn’t helped, but what worries me is the lack of reaction after Oxford.
As tough as Boreham Wood were always likely to be, we expect more as a bare minimum.
Which might explain the reaction from some in the crowd afterwards. And really, the players can’t say they didn’t deserve it.
Yeah, they’re young and still inexperienced. But that’s professional football – deal with it, or get out of the industry.
While constant abuse from supporters is counter-productive, anyone who gave grief afterwards is fully entitled to.
Standing there in shit conditions watching even shittier football takes its toll.
As a fanbase, we’re more tolerant of crap than a lot of others. Probably too tolerant, in truth.
So when we’re fucked off enough to critique their performances face to face, an appraisal if you prefer, they can’t complain.
If the players were shaken up by some of the crowd’s reaction, then good.
Because if there’s a time and a place for the motherfucker of all reactions, then tomorrow is it.
I’m glad I’m nowhere near Stadium:MT tomorrow, not that I would be going anyway, because I shudder to think of the fallout if we shit the bed three games in a row.
Losing to them is one thing, but the meek surrenders of previous encounters can genuinely damage an AFCW manager’s tenure.
Ardley never managed it after the initial win at KM. Glyn Hodges went one step further and got axed after they did us at Plough Lane.
And our performances under Walter over them might have been the most damaging of the lot.
MR is wise enough to know that, and another capitulation will see the daggers aimed at him. Especially after the backdrop of Saturday and Oxford.
If we’ve been doing well, then defeat to them would hurt, but it wouldn’t feel like a crisis. Now?
I suppose the good thing is that if the worst happens tomorrow, we can very quickly move on to Morecambe this weekend.
The trouble is, we’ve got five games this month after the circus already, and a slump in form could prove crippling.
It’s worth remembering that next month, Robbo will have spent one year in the hotseat.
He’s done well with us so far, for the most part. But he of all people should be aware the circumstances leading up to his appointment…