Buoyed by a convincing midweek victory we approached this game with a renewed sense of optimism.
I know, I know, but ’an acquired sense of indifference’ doesn’t quite cut it. After all we’re not here not to give a damn. Of all the many gestures associated with being a footie fan the Gallic shrug isn’t one. Our allegiance is absolute and unconditional or it is nothing. Doubts and misgivings should lead to despair and existential crises not mealy-mouthed reticence. We are black or white. Red or blue. Either we’re up or we’re down. The Grand Old Duke of York should not be welcome here. And Robin, if you’re halfway up the stairs you dozy frog you’re loitering and you’re going to feel my boot.
If football has a disease it’s not hooliganism, it’s mania - our support is bi-polar. Psychotic. Hopeless. Incurable. So ‘C’mon support the boys. And. Make. Some. Nooooooise’. Or else. Don’t.
Unfortunately there was indifference aplenty and apathy in abundance at the CCS this afternoon. A sparse crowd seemed content to bask in the early spring sun and contemplate brighter days ahead when the winter burdens can finally be offloaded. Which is a shame really. With just a little more commitment from all concerned and on the back of improved performances we might have been able to put a run together. To what end though? A few more miles on the clock on the road to nowhere? For most the end of the season can’t come soon enough.
It wasn’t a bad performance all things considered but a couple of defensive lapses and our inability to turn possession and territorial advantage into genuine chances proved our undoing. Again. Trollope has got the players working to a plan based on a slow build up and short passes with plenty of movement. If he can work out which pairing upfront is most likely to unlock defences he might be onto something. For me it’s got to be Jones + a significant other. That other is not Macheda (although a goal here will probably secure him a run until the next inevitable drought) and it’s certainly not the plodding Revell. Doyle may make some kind of impact if given an extended run, but of the current crop a fully fit Joe Mason might best be suited to feed off the big man. It would also help to have someone on the pitch with the ability to run at defences from an advanced midfield position.
Defensively, Manga is the only stand-out player and he put in another assured performance today. Morrison can’t cut it as his partner - ponderous in his decision making (his clumsy challenge in the box lost us the game today) and wayward in distribution. Connolly did well getting forward today but remains fallible and Peltier’s contribution would be more effective if playing in his natural position at right back. Fabio’s continued exclusion is mystifying, maddening and inexcusable.
One last gripe. The lack of an authority figure, a leader on the pitch. Captain Marshall was absent today and I believe Gunnarsson was nominally in charge for the 30 minutes he was on the pitch. But I doubt if anyone in the crowd was able to work out who relieved him of the armband. I heard mention that it was handed to Noone. As enthusiastic as the little wide man is, he clearly lacks the gravitas for the role. It’s great to see General Trollope directing events from the sidelines but he needs a trusted lieutenant on the pitch.
As for Slade, he combines the tactical nous of Melchett with the strategic thinking of Baldrick. Of late he’s had the public profile of a Borrower. It can’t be long before fans are asking ‘What is he for?’
So another half-decent performance produces an ill-deserved defeat against run-of-the-mill opposition. The commitment of the players can’t be faulted and there are reasons to concentrate on that rather than the result, but there remains a disconnect between the team and fans. The very limited ambition of survival has been achieved. Ho-hum. Fire and Passion indeed.
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