Cod Almighty | Diary
Wasn't the real disgrace of Skint that it gave so much airtime to someone in a Man U T-shirt?
25 November 2014
"I still believe we are the best team in this league" says Scott Brown. Good to read, but do the players – "a dressing room full of winners" – believe that when they step out onto the pitch?
Our performance for the last quarter-hour at Altrincham was marked by a mixture of panicky clearances and the wrong kind of pass in the wrong parts of the pitch. In short, we looked less like a side seeking a sixth consecutive league win than one seeking a first win in six. It bore a dispiriting resemblance to the kinds of performance we got used to in the dog days of our Football League existence. Only really comfortable when the pressure is off, unable to cope with expectation.
As someone pointed out lately (and Middle-Aged Diary regrets I don't have the email to hand), the title "Dire beyond straits", still flashing up on our home page, looked misplaced a few matches ago. But the nature of our performances, as much as the results, against Oxford, Altrincham and Kidderminster suggests Steve Bierley's analysis remains relevant. That we remain second says something about the standard of the league this year. The way we were brushed aside by Oxford suggests that for the first time since we joined the Conference the sides that go up this year could immediately find themselves battling relegation.
I'm delighted to read Scott Brown being so bullish. I'm tired of supporting a team that gives the impression of being scared of its own shadow. I'll be a lot more delighted when we start turning in the performances to match his words, so that results like Saturday's genuinely feel like blips rather than the realisation of our fears.
Right, that's the pompous, self-parodic Middle-Aged Diary out of the way (there's an implicit criticism of John Fenty in there, so don't worry – I haven't missed a trick). Now for the real one.
Tonight, Town take on Woking, a place and a point below us in the league table. It's therefore a crucial game for the coveted 'Side best placed to take advantage if Barnet's season does a belly-flop' slot.
Some might think the outcome of this key match will be determined by such factors as what tactics we employ, and whether the players perform. We know better. Success depends on you pulling on your lucky underpants, or parking your car within 25 yards of a postbox, or having a black cat wearing its lucky rabbit's foot and clad in tiny horseshoes cross your path to step on a mirror.
We can no longer allow the fortunes of the club to depend on such random factors as whether our players are any good or not. Tell us about your matchday superstitions.