This season just seems to get more and more interesting as each round of fixtures goes by. The past weekend has seen some real surprises with Altrincham beating Ebbsfleet 2-0 and Woking winning at Mansfield. Plus a really impressive 3-0 victory for Torquay over what were an in-form Stevenage and Oxford continuing in their bizarrely inconsistent ways with a win over Rushden and Diamonds…who are equally as bizarrely inconsistent.
What next for Woking?
Let’s talk about Woking though because I’m intrigued as to how Phil Gilchrist has turned things around. That’s three wins on the bounce and four from six since the departure of Kim Grant. I was quite vocal in my condemnation of Grant’s sacking after just seven games in charge. But if it works out and Gilchrist proves to be the man to finally deliver success to the club then I suppose you can’t argue. But that might just be luck that they had, in Gilchrist, a manager in waiting. Perhaps Grant would have got it right in the end? I still stand by my argument that it was way too soon to sack Grant and at the same time we shouldn’t get carried away with Gilchrist’s start. Because it’s only a start and as so often happens in football, players up their game for a new manager to tighten a grip on their starting place. Woking need to strengthen significantly if they’re going to make an assault on the play-offs but with the likes of Guiseppe Sole and Tom Hutchinson both playing well, I think relegation will now be avoided.
Tough times for Forest
Speaking of relegation, what’s gone wrong at Forest Green? It wasn’t that long ago they were sitting top of the Blue Square Premier, now they are only out of the bottom four on goal difference. They haven’t won since the 30th August and have lost six of the last seven with the other match being a goalless draw with struggling Northwich Victoria. The easy area to point at is the departure of Stuart Fleetwood, but it’s not like they can’t score. Andy Mangan is finding the back of the net a fair bit, but perhaps it just isn’t coming in from other areas. It’s definitely a curious one because there’s no question that Jim Harvey’s done a great job there but something is obviously not quite right. We go there for their home game with Cambridge in a couple of weeks’ time and Fleetwood is our guest on the show that night so it will be interesting to hear his view on things at his old club. Maybe they should have tried to get him back on loan rather than letting Cheltenham get in there. Then again I guess Cheltenham are in League One and he’s got to start proving himself at a higher level. Just to go off on a tangent briefly, I still find it weird that Alan Pardew spent so long looking at him and now hasn’t even given him a chance. It’s hardly like Charlton are setting The Championship alight right now. But then as a Palace fan I guess I would say that…
Alty on the up
As for a club I mentioned at the start, Altrincham, it’s just great to see them not struggling in the relegation zone for once. It has been a torrid couple of years for Graham Heathcote but they have been given yet another chance this season to prove they are worthy of their spot in the top tier of the non-league game and with the result against Ebbsfleet you’ve got to hand it to him. Maybe this year the Alty fans will have a season where relegation worries will be not so serious. I’m not convinced that will be the case because as the season goes on the part-time clubs will find it harder and harder fitness-wise but you only have to look at Histon as the perfect example. Come on Alty, those fans need a year off!
Special week for Clough
I can’t end my blog this week without mentioning a man who has to be one of the most respected men in the Blue Square Premier and this week is a special one for him. Nigel Clough. Ten years ago in the October of 1998 he walked into the manager’s job at Burton Albion and has since taken the club from the Dr Martens Southern Premier Division to this week, second in the Blue Square Premier. If they get promotion this season, there will be thousands of neutrals cheering for Clough. He is a talented, polite and highly impressive character all round and it would be just what he deserves after ten years service to what is turning into a great club. And so much of that is down to him.
A feast of football
This week we have loads of live action for you. Ebbsfleet will be hoping to forget all about that Altrincham defeat with a home game with Histon on Monday night. Then on Tuesday, two more teams beaten badly at the weekend – Stevenage and Mansfield - meet at Broadhall Way. Thursday sees Torquay attempt to keep their excellent run of form going as they host one of the other division’s big-boys in Oxford United. You may remember that game from last year at the Kassam – Oxford were 3-0 up at half time and drew 3-3. It was one of Setanta’s games of the season. So, tune in at 7.30pm on Setanta Sports 1 for all the games and we’ve got a great lineup of guests this week too. It looks like a current Premier League and England star, a League 2 striker and a current Blue Square Premier manager. Back soon.
To MR X – erm…you may have to get yourself down to some ‘real’ football soon if Arsenal’s woes continue…!
To SRFC lano – thank you for sticking up for the BSP. You are bang on about pride and passion and that just intensifies the longer this season keeps going the way it is at the moment. Your tip is Mansfield which is a good shout but there are so many teams that can win this league this year. There’ll be no Aldershot-type and that’s a good thing, despite how well they played last year. Torquay are coming up fast, Rushden can’t be discounted and nor can Wrexham under Dean Saunders now. It is so exciting!
To Ian Lawn – It was a really good game that Oxford v Cambridge one wasn’t it? I actually went with you on the 1-1 scoreline but was relieved that Oxford finally got a win in front of the Setanta cameras. And they definitely deserved it on the night didn’t you think? Cambridge though will be there or thereabouts come May. Although I do find I’m saying that about a lot of teams at the moment, and they can’t all be!!
To Colin V – your replies made me laugh – you were so hopeful of going on a good run after that Cambridge game as well you should have been. And yes then the Lewes game – what was all that about? But now you’ve gone and beaten Rushden! It’s all very odd and I just can’t make up my mind what is going on at Oxford. Have they left it too late for a title charge do you think Colin? I still wouldn’t write them off. Tune in for the Torquay game on Thursday, should be a cracker.
To rdfc4eva – Firstly glad you thought having Daryl Clare on was good, we’re trying to bring an interesting guest to each game we do if we can and Clare is not only a star of the division but he’s interesting and a good talker. He took his role really seriously and read up on all our stats before the game so knew everything he could before we went on air. That’s an illustration perhaps of why he’s such a good player – committed and dedicated. Having said that, Rushden are just too inconsistent at the moment. What’s the problem do you think?
To Glyn – I have written in your matchday programme for the Histon game on Monday that, like you say Glyn, you are quietly going about your business. And then you go and lose at Altrincham! That was a bit of a freak result. Have you found out what happened? But maybe in a kind of double bluff way you can see it as a good thing because if you strung 7 or 8 wins together they would be shouting Ebbsfleet from the rooftops and with that would come pressure. So a defeat stops people from writing how Ebbsfleet are the team to watch and you can re-group and go again. I should be a manager!