What next after our 1st home defeat?

Last updated : 21 January 2002 By North London Bee

Our few chances came from 2 sources - Evo's left wing corners and Hunt's left wing dashes where he skinned the fullback time after time. The goal was a complete joke, a defensive cock up of Sunday morning in the park proportions when the entire defence dozed from the keepers up and under, Oli dashed off his line and Liddell comfortably lobbed him.

There really is nowhere to go from here, as Coppell said after the match, we are playing in a handicap race against teams with greater or any resources.

I am afraid we are now in freefall. We need to bring players in but this is not on the agenda. We need width but Williams is out of the picture. We need to make changes but Coppell has no-one to bring in.

Interesting that he didn't bother to make a substitution at all today. That just about summed it all up on an afternoon when things were not really going right.

There again how could we expect McCammon, Sidwell, or Theobald to make something happen and this wasn't a game for Jay Tabb against the Wigan giants.

The whole situation now is one of inertia. The current squad is not up to it, the 4 main out of contracts players probably cannot be sold on present form (dire on the aprt of Evans and Mahon) and even if they could they would be better advised to sit tight until the end of the season.

No new players can be brought in and 2 impact players in Williams and Rowlands are long term injured.

Like Coppell, I expect, I am at my whits end.

We have tried the "it'll all come good soon when our luck changes" mantra for the last 6 weeks without success , so what next ?

All I can suggest is change the playing formation to either 4-3-3 or certainly at Northampton, switch Mahon to a back 3 and see if we can fight our way to a 0-0 draw just to get off the dreaded 45 point mark.

Interesting also to hear Coppell acknowledge that in retrospect losing Price was a turning point.

I am meandering on because I am gutted that there seems to be no strategy beyond muddling through and the situation has deteriorated way beyond that.

We all know that drastic action is needed and most would now happily sacrifice one of our so called stars if some cash was freed up to freshen up the squad but it ain't going to happen.

We have repeated the follies of 1996-97 by pissing away an incredible God given chance of getting out of this Division.

I fully expect us however to be more successful in getting out of this Division next season but at the wrong end.

Christ, I sound like Fraser (not John) but we really are doomed.

I have extended my chin for other users of this forum to strike and tell me what a pessimist I am - please prove me wrong.