Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 28 March 2012

28 March 2012

Yesterday the shorter of Town's two managers declared that the team had seven games to make the grade. In truth, the team was given a generous 46 games to make the grade back in August. They spent the first 18 of those fannying about like a student procrastinating over some proper hard work but all the while insisting there was still time to squeeze in some last-minute revision and a hastily typed-up essay. Now, following last night's 1-1 draw at Tamworth, the Mariners have just six games to make the grade. The last few essays have been great but the dissertation is disappointing.

To your West Yorkshire Diary it seems the season started to peter out as we entered the manic month of March. With an excellent Friday night win at Southport in February - Town's only league match of the month - the Mariners drew level on points with fifth-placed York. Since then the team has picked up eight points from eight games, which is form more associated with a team battling against the drop. The frustrating performance at the Lamb Ground last night is symptomatic of a team feeling a bit 'leggy'.

Town have lost some of the swagger they accrued during that epic undefeated run when they simply brushed teams aside. There was no fear in the way we played. Now, for whatever reason, Town play like they're scared of losing rather than being fixated on winning. This has been reflected in the managers' cautious team selections and formations. We've flooded the midfield with new players such as Louis Suarez-Soares, Peter Winn and Andrew Wright, when there wasn't a lot wrong in the first place. Losing full-time Frankie appears to have been a turning point. I don't know when Garner suddenly slipped out of the equation (still to reappear after an injury) and God knows what Andi Thanoj has/hasn't done. But that consistent team selection, which was such a contributing factor to our excellent form, disappeared some weeks ago. And so did the winning formula.

Reinforcements were never going to continue where the injured parties left off. Once they brought in replacements, additions or whatever you want to call them, the managers never really decided how best to use them. They've struggled to know what to do in the absence of Liam Hearn. They've tinkered, tailored and toiled over formations and personnel when they hadn't previously had to. It's been a testing time for Shorty and Shouty, who - let's remember - are still cutting their managerial teeth.

It's perhaps too easy to be critical, so let's look at this pragmatically. Town have done exceptionally well since mid-October and have lost just twice in 22 league games - to Fleetwood and York, which is no disgrace. While some fans may take a while to adjust to the idea of Town being in the Conference for another year, at least we'll get two more goes at getting one over those pesky Tammies.