So, did I miss much…?
I wasn’t planning to go to Rotherham, and waking up at 11h15 yesterday pretty much confirmed that choice.
And quite simply, I don’t think I missed anything.
Thankfully Marcus Browne was the only one who decided to have a fucking shot on goal because at least it’s given some bright spot in what’s a very shit period.
I’m glad I wasn’t around for Doncaster last week, and you have to wonder if there’s anything deeper to Orsi and Harbottle departing.
Still, we’ve got James Tilley back for the season, and we also got Zack Nelson on loan from Luton.
Both of whom made cameos from the bench yesterday in Yorkshire, and something that did seem to work.
Of course, this was against a side who were even more shite than we were. And a side that nearly won it at the end with a free header.
The trouble is, when your form has slumped like ours, so does the confidence in your collective ability.
Our belief must be lower than a snake’s arse tunnelling into the ground right now. It may explain the Doncaster winner last week as well.
As the last time in L1 showed, when you go on a run sans victoire, the longer you go the harder it is to get those three points.
It doesn’t help when you’ve got players like Reeves who by all accounts “need a rest”. Bishop seems to be getting a few murmurings of discontent over him as well.
We’re in a bit of a weird one with Lewis – you definitely miss him when he’s not there, but when he does play you start to see why Stockport let him go to us.
Harbottle going is probably down to a multitude of reasons, and if it’s true he was out in the cold it’s best to let him go and get somebody else in.
The less said about the midfield and strike force the better, which I think is causing a lot of our problems.
There’s no danger of Stevens getting snapped up this transfer window, put it that way.
All in all, it’s going to be a grim time between now and the end of the season, unless we can find some form from somewhere.
We’re still in January, so there might be transfer movement in and out, but don’t hold your breath.
We do need another goalscorer, but the trouble is at this time of season you have to pay shitloads for a semi-decent one.
Could one of our existing strikers be on their way out to get another in? Maybe somebody is wanting Bugiel, in which case we’re giving him the cotton wool treatment.
When I was the other side of the Atlantic, news that Orsi left almost as soon as he arrived was a bit of a surprise.
Not that he was particularly brilliant, indeed when we played at Wycombe the reaction to him coming on was… interesting.
For somebody to be signed in one transfer window then get sold the next isn’t a particularly good sign.
We’ve done well under the Director of Football setup, and we’ve had relatively few duffers, but getting a goalscorer has long proven an issue.
Anyone decent leaves as soon as somebody wafts some dough in front of us (AAH). If we do keep anyone, they’re either off form (Stevens), so-so (Bugiel) or outright toilet (take your pick).
Maybe a young striker from a PL side on loan will end up happening? It won’t be particularly great, but it will be something.
And “something” is all we need right now. Just a bit of self belief, a confidence boost from somewhere.
I haven’t mentioned JJ yet, although one must ask if his approach to subs cost us three points yesterday.
Putting them on ten minutes earlier might have eventually got us a second goal, although the way we’re defending, it would have finished 3-2 to Rotherham.
Like many of our out-of-contract players, I wonder if JJ will be gone in the summer?
He reached the high point of his AFCW managerial career last May, he’s still got plenty of credit as a L1 manager, and if somebody else comes calling soon you can expect “Club Statement” before the ink has dried.
I’m not going to doubt anyone’s professionalism, at least when it comes to the football side of things, but perhaps we’re seeing the last four months of this particular setup…?
Usually in January, the rumours are of transfers. In our case, there’s plenty of online chatter about how much money we have (or haven’t).
Over the years, I’ve learned to take such things with a large dose of MSG. There is a tendency amongst some to catastrophise things, after all.
None the less, I definitely do think the financial chickens are coming home to the AFCW roost.
When the club stated that John Green and co put in money for transfers this window, it proves we’re no different in terms of having external funding than anyone else.
But then, we were helped by Mike Richardson in the non-league days financially as well – a fact that so many try and put out of their minds…
Craig Cope (PBUH) pretty much stated that it would be a financial nightmare from now on as far back as the close season, and the club more or less confirmed that last month.
Wonder if the “short term funding if we need it” comment is the rumour that a well-known benefactor has put in loans to cover us between now and the end of the season?
If that is true, by the way, that’s really not a good sign.
Whatever is the truth and what isn’t remains to be seen, but I think most can now agree the current ownership model is pretty much dead.
The costs of just existing as an EFL football club have swamped us, and it’s not going to get any cheaper.
The final attempt to get fans to cough up to keep the fan-ownership dream alive (WAWF) flopped, and flopped badly. That should tell you everything.
And there’s no point in trying to think that if we went back to non-league we’ll be less poor. If anything, administration is much more likely if we did that.
Your editor was privy to a conversation recently that suggested player wages are pretty eye-watering these days in the National League. And that in a division with far less money for clubs.
I’d rather we didn’t find that out the hard way, though I think some of our fans need the proverbial slap in the chops.
I’m guessing we won’t find out more until after the transfer window shuts, and even when we do there will be many who think the “owners” aren’t being told the whole story.
Although if that’s the case, perhaps the respective boards should have been a bit more open over the years, rather than the ingrained suspicion that anyone would want to know anything.
So yeah, it’s not a great mood around the place right now. And Satan help us if we shit the bed at Port Vale…