Cometh the hour....

By far my favourite moment from Saturdays game was when young Aaron Sasu smashed a shot way over the bar in the dying moments. I shouldn't think Chris in the MyPie van was overly enamoured with it landing on a tray of his meat pies, but I loved it. I loved it because I love the player and it showed that he had learned from his hesitancy the previous week. I know exactly what I'd want him to do if I was a gnarly defender playing against him. The previous week he did ALL of those things and more. I'd have had the cigars out, just like Gillingham. When he does THIS sort of stuff though, instinctive dribbles, snapshots, just let's it all flow, I'd be putting the cigar down sharpish & calling for the magic sponge for a mystery injury. Keep doing it son, keep taking people on, keep taking shots, keep making defenders defend.

In many ways the Sasu conundrum mirrors our own trials and tribulations. We are playing the whole game EXACTLY how I'd be preparing all week if I was setting up against us. We continually do precisely what I'd want the opposition to do. Every single corner in-swinging? Check. Every time we get a throw-in Riley Harbottle hurls it in? Check. Never leave someone with pace up top for the counter when we're defending a corner? Check. Never shoot from distance nor play through the thirds? Check. In fairness we at least had a go at the thirds thing at times against Port Vale. It was good to see but we must do it more.

So like Aaron Sasu, it's time for us to start considering what the opposition would LEAST like us to do, and do more of whatever it is. I'm bound to say that one of the hardest things to plan against, to play against is variety. How about a surprise corner to the edge of the box for Tilley to hit it? A fake long throw where Riley shapes to launch it but flips it back for someone to cross? How about our wide players cutting inside and hitting it, more rotation amongst the strikers to open up pass lanes? How about more of Joe Lewis's Captain Caveman one man charge against Donny?

Because so regimented is our play, so predictable is it in it's execution, we've sucked the life out of our football. We've become a football by numbers team, and when you do that you oughtn't to be too surprised that opposition managers work out how to nullify it, that's unfortunately where we are.

The good news is that the difference between a team that is flowing and one that is stuttering is only a percentage point or two. The flowers play first time passes, ghost into space knowing the ball will find them. For the stutterers it's one touch too many, static and predictable movement, obsession with shape. Football by fear gets what it deserves, but losing the fear isn't easy.

That fear though WILL go, it always does. We need it ideally to be this weekend. Obviously the hope is that a striker gets one in "off someone's arse" or that a midfielder just gambles on getting on the end of something and it works out, we need a spark from somewhere.

When we get it (the spark) watch the belief and confidence surge through the team. That's why I loved Sasu's shot, it had an element of "Fuck it, I'll just have a go" about it, we desperately need more of that. And when people DO have a go, even if it doesn't work, the teammates, fans & management team need to immediately pat them on the back for trying.

Because now is the time for brave souls, it's the time for a hero. Somebody, somewhere is going to get the chance to write their name into club folklore Ronan Curtis style. The time for wondering is over, it's doing time now. Let's go to Grimsby and get the job done. COYD

Are we down & out?

I think like most fans, the defeat and performance at Gillingham left me feeling about as low as I have all season. Possibly even more so in my particular case, Aaron Sasu turning in such an insipid performance after I'd banged on about him all season made it all the worse. It's tempting for a fleeting moment at times like that to give up. Give up on the players, the manager, our situation, football, all of it. All over the Internet fans were downing tools in the immediate aftermath, from the scaffolded away seats of Gillingham people made their displeasure clearly known.

I absolutely get it. I'm sure the players and management do too. Even young Josh Neufville (who to my mind let himself down a bit by telling the fans to "eff off") will no doubt reflect that he ought to have done better there. The fans are 100% justified in their frustration, albeit from my perspective booing players and hurling abuse has never been a productive use of anyones time. Here's the thing though, EVERYONE is frustrated. I 100% believe Johnnie Jackson & Skivvers will be, the players too. The fans don't OWN frustration. Just like they don't own anger, desire to do well. Those emotions are shared by everyone involved, probably more so.

Once the dust settles though, as it has (for me) now, once you get to inspect the actual damage, things never seem so bad. They aren't THAT bad here either. Why? Well firstly, I've a strong hunch that even if we lose our last two games we'll still sneak into the playoffs. Providing we don't lose both games 8-0 or something, our goal difference I reckon will mean we already have enough points. I know it's mathematically possible we miss out, but it won't in my opinion happen.

So there's that. But what of the football I hear you ask? Well I'm not going to beat about the bush here. Over the last few months the games in which we've played really well (Doncaster away) have been the blips. By and large we have been utter shite. I know Johnnie has to come out and say "it was a tough place to come", "we dominated the first half", "we got in some great situations" and all of that old bollocks, but in his heart of hearts (unless he is mental) he will know that we are unrecognizable from the team which wore our shirt until Christmas. We all know the stats because some of our fans provide excellent analysis online, I therefore don't need to set them out/steal them. Suffice to say the stats confirm the naked eye analysis, we are playing shite and are currently not a great football team. At all.

The GOOD news is (and this is frankly a fucking brilliant thing), it doesn't matter at all. Yes, it's true. How we have played since Christmas, the leads we've thrown away (do yourself a favour, don't check out the "Up to 75 minutes on the clock" league table), the defeats at Morecambe, Swindon, Gillingham, all of that shit, NONE OF IT MATTERS. None of it matters even 1%, infact not even one billionth of one per cent. All of it is about as relevant to our current situation as who wins celebrity traitors, namely it totally makes no difference. You cannot impact on what has gone, all you can look to influence is what is coming. That's where we are. We hopefully have five more games to play (I think the automatics are gone) and from here, our focus should be all about how we win the playoffs final at Wembley.

If it was me (and thank God it isn't) I'd look to Saturdays game as a rehearsal for our home leg in the playoffs. We need an extra midfield player in there in order to enable us to play more football. We are seemingly wedded to the five at the back, so we MUST drop the idea of three strikers and we must play a 5-3-2. The three strikers doesn't work for Matty Stevens, and as he's the most likely scorer we should play to suit him. We cannot continue to launch it via Owen Goodman or Joe Lewis every time we get the ball, if we are going to create more chances we must mix it up and play a little more/some football.

DISCLAIMER-This more expansive approach increases the likelihood we will lose the game. It probably increases our chances of winning it too, but I'm more concerned with having a go at being more expansive. We are going to need to do that in the home leg of the playoffs, then at Wembley. God knows how it'd work out on Wembleys vast expanse of pitch if we played our "bazooka it forward and see where it bounces" style, but if that IS our plan we'd better take some oxygen tanks and a de-fib unit for the players if it's a warm day.

Against Grimsby, I'd go into it and play exactly the same way we have in nearly every game since Christmas. Namely make the game as tediously, mind blowingingly boring as possible, and go all out for a 0-0. That's to practice for the away leg of the playoffs. We're pretty good at this bit, having grooved the method over a sustained period.

I KNOW our situation is frustrating, I KNOW that many think we could have won it never mind been automatically promoted, but none of it matters now. ALL that matters is the next four games, do those right and we'll be at Wembley. From there, cometh the hour and all that jazz. Get behind the team, cheer them on, this could STILL be a great season. COYD

Down to the wire!

What an absolutely brilliant division League Two has been this season. Not necessarily in terms of quality, but when it comes to drama it's absolute box office. In terms of pure "quality" I think any one of last seasons promotees, (Stockport/Wrexham/Mansfield) would have won it comfortably, but they aren't in it. So without them and without any big gun new entrants from other divisions, it's been an absolute back bar brawl between lots of evenly matched teams.

Hardly surprising then that at this stage, there is a distinct lack of "On the beach" teams who have bugger all to play for. Unfortunately for us, tomorrow's opponents Chesterfield are definitely still in the game. Unlike us they have a relatively easy run in with two very winnable final games. They'll be thinking that if they win tomorrow, they are right in the mix.

They may not catch US (and thank God for our defence & goal difference) but they'll definitely have an eye on gatecrashing the playoffs. So obviously will Colchester, while even as far down as 11th spot (Crewe) they'll be thinking "Win our last four and we're in", they probably would be too. 

I'd say that for us with our chunky GD, four points would see us in. But hang on, since when have we looked DOWN this season? I also think that if we win our last four we go up automatically. That'd probably not now be as Champions, but so what?

So anyway how do we do it? Well first things first, if we continue to play with the spirit, resolve and desire we showed at Doncaster we will piss into the playoffs. We were absolutely magnificent from minute one, and to my mind deserved to win the match in the end. That's away, with ten men, against what is without question one of the best teams in the league. The players and coaching staff were absolutely given a standing ovation at the end, they thoroughly deserved it.

That last bit, "The coaching staff" is important. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that over the last few weeks we've decided to roll the dice a little more. That's both in selection (with Josh Kelly, Usama Follo and Aaron Sasu being dusted off and wheeled out BEFORE the 89 minute mark) but also tactically too. On Saturday for example we obviously had to defend when down to ten men, but once Billy Sharpe got sent off we opened up and had a proper go at winning it. It DID take us ten minutes or so to realise that we didn't actually have to get everyone behind the ball any more, but once we did and once we made the subs, we were much the likelier winner of what became a basketball match. The players were on their knees at the end, they gave absolutely everything. That's the football that we (or I anyway) love to see.

So bravery, rolling the dice etc, what does it look like? Well it'll disappoint many that for me anyway, it doesn't mean wholesale changes to the starting eleven nor the style. It's tweaks we need not tinkering, and now we realise what we actually have on the bench it's very much a question of using it.

And what do we have? Well Josh Kelly is probably the best "footballing" forward we have. He has the pass, the feint and the finish to effect games and have an impact whether centrally or wide. I remain convinced he's a very good player who could have done much better for us save for the bounce of the football here and there. He will in future.

Young Folo is as raw as a kid being shoved through a brothel doorway on his 18th birthday night out. Absolutely no idea what he's doing but totally bristling with intent. He has endless potential, he's a striker I would have hated to play against at any level. He also has that beautiful gift of the fact that when he's around, stuff happens. You can't teach that. If he played cricket he'd come on to bowl when the partnership was 150 and take a wicket with his first ball (a slow full toss). Some people just have it, he does.

And Aaron Sasu. I used to meet lots of folks who said to me "I just don't see it Mick, what does he actually DO?". Others told me I was clueless, the kid was at best National League South standard and that he should be loaned out/given away. A fella told me at half time on Saturday that he's never had a goal involvement in 38 games (forgetting that in many he's played two minutes). Well suffice to say that in football fan parlance, where Sasu is concerned "It's all gone quiet over there". Frankly if you still "Can't see it" after his last couple of appearances, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to say. What I WILL say is that I'd be very surprised if we aren't fielding decent offers for him in the Summer (I'm talking multiples of a hundred grand). Thank God Johnnie & Skivvers "see it", but unfortunately the rest of the football world does too.

So tomorrow. Massive match, let's get behind the lads and see where it takes us. A win almost guarantees a playoff slot, four more wins and I reckon we go up automatically. COYD

Down the stretch!

As we come well and truly inside the League Two final furlong, so tight is it that we can realistically finish anywhere between 1st & 8th. To be honest 8th is probably LESS likely than 1st, our superior goal difference meaning that Colchester in 8th are effectively seven points behind us with five games to go. That's too big a gap for me, so hate on me all you like but I'm telling you here & now, WE WILL AT LEAST MAKE THE PLAYOFFS unless we absolutely fall off a cliff.

If I'm right on that one (and I am), it just goes to show how vital the win against Harrogate really was. Equally, it demonstrates that the "it's all about the three points really" analysis from the manager was spot on. That win has given us some breathing space, we can bank on a playoff spot now and properly have a look at things above us.

Now in my book it's far too early to be concerning ourselves with who we'd like to play if we DO end up being in the playoffs. Similarly, we shouldn't bother with the old "teams that finish fourth don't go up" theory. Our concern from here ought to be winning the title, if we can't manage that getting into the top three. Obviously if we make even a credible attempt at those two objectives, we are GUARANTEED a playoff slot should we fall short.

Now in the aftermath of Saturdays win, many people in the pub were downbeat and told me it was "the worst they'd ever seen us play". In my eyes we were miles off that (I've seen us play really badly) and I thought there were encouraging signs. Those same people are now saying Doncaster is a MUST win, I can't agree with that either.

If we lose at Doncaster on Saturday and at least one of the top three (Bradford, Port Vale, Walsall) win, I'd say our hopes of winning the league are as good as over. Defeat would unless the top three all have a bad day, make getting into the top three difficult too.

Draw at Doncaster though, and unless the top three ALL win then we still have a great chance. To paraphrase Johnny, Doncaster IS a "tough place to come" and I don't care what anyone says, a point there ain't a bad result. Even if we lose, we will still make the playoffs. Absolutely no need to panic.

The good news though is that a win catapults us into the picture like "man fired from a cannon" circus act doing some photo bombing. With our goal difference, we wouldn't then be in "pole" position but we would be on the starting grid as the only car with wet weather tires on as the monsoon blows over. I'd back us to get into the top three if we win, win our last five and I'd say we probably finish up as Champions.

So for those of us going up to Donnie, what can we expect/hope for off Johnnie and the boys. Well first things first, I know young Follo did well for us on Saturday but I definitely wouldn't start him here. Similarly and even as the founder member of his fan club I wouldn't start Aaron Sasu. No, I'd be going with the team and players which have gotten us into the position we're in. Similarly the formation and style. Now's not the time to start inverting full backs or trying a false nine, we need to be sticking to the style that's gotten us into the playoff spots in the first place.

"Hang on, I thought you wanted changes" I hear you say, and I do. There's a time and a place though, this isn't either. No, we must go into the lions den with a team of men, a group of lads who when they look into the whites of each others eyes see nothing but 100% commitment, are willing Ng to go to war. It's going to be very difficult but we can go to Doncaster and win. It's our time, let's get it done.