Paul Beasley

“I didn’t go to the game today Jerome but I know it all so you’d better listen to me cos I’m an expert and all your listeners want to listen to me too, blah blah blah and more blah’s.”

Well, I didn’t go to the game on Tuesday so I’ll keep my invalid thoughts on the 90+ minutes to myself. First game of the season I’ve missed. It is only the JPT after all. I had kind of intended to go but given that none of my mates was remotely interested and the LRC didn’t have a coach I didn’t take much dissuading not to be as loyal as the 100+ that made the trek. They were of course rewarded with another all round supreme penalty performance and now even the most cynical of our fans seem to be getting just a little bit interested in this (perhaps not) tin pot trophy. Wemberlee, and all that.

THE STUFF THAT REALLY MATTERS

Before the game kicked off we had the Mitchell Cole applause. I had a tear in my eye when Rosie announced that in the week Mitchell’s wife had given birth to their third child. The Aldershot fans contribution then and in the seventeenth minute was pure class. Not like some, but I won’t go into that.

The off the field activity between us and the Shots has, like the Lincoln thing before it, now subsided. Whilst this can only be a good thing it does take with it an edge and atmosphere that can fill the sterile void provided by the Kassam for your average football match.

This sterility is becoming ever more noticeable as the mundane football being served up and the constant dropping off in attendances combines in a vicious downward spiral. We get the odd decent game but overall this is never going to win back the casual pay on the day attendee. Would they have got value for money on Saturday? Absolutely not.

I was a bit confused by our starting line up. Sean Rigg is a very effective wide player yet he started down the middle where he’s much less useful. Perhaps Liam Davis isn’t fully fit but for me his position is left back. He’s ok defensively and attacks better from deeper. You get two players for one. Bonus. I think people are becoming increasingly frustrated with Tony Capaldi. I’ve heard it said that he “just strolls around” and “he’s the only one who looks to me as if he’s just here for the money”. It could be that strolling demonstrates class but I’ve been disappointed with him.

Again our central midfield two caused concern. Peter Leven’s lack of contribution is now being highlighted by a big chunk of our supporter base. Adam Chapman’s alertness is often questionable but on Saturday he was one of our better players. Despite giving the ball away too often, he hit a few good forward passes and did really well with the goal. Keeping the ball low and with some pace makes it much harder for the keeper. I recall that Les Phillips was pretty good at this back in the day.

Aldershot are a team we should be able to beat at home but are much better than their lowly league position suggests. Half way through the first half on balance of play I thought they were about half a goal better than us. We’d produced a load of embarrassing nothingness. Well that’s how it seemed. We were bored. My brother commented that it was more interesting watching the flock of birds swirling about in the distance ahead of a probable migration to sunnier climes. But, against the run of play we went one up. It was Beano making a pest of himself after a cross came in that set up the goal.

People have asked why we didn’t then go on to win the game by getting another or at least closing it out. I’ll tell you why. Because we are not good enough.

After the goal we were a bit better for a while but when the second half began we looked no better than we had done in the miserable first 45 minutes. I don’t think their keeper had to make a save worthy of the name. He might have had to though if Alfie Potter had not horrendously mis-kicked in the first half when only a couple of yards out. If the game was to have a second goal it looked more likely to be an equaliser from them than a game sealer from us.

And sure enough it came to pass. I had to applaud sub Adam Mekki’s goal it was that good, bent in from distance with unerring accuracy. It was a moment of skill that didn’t belong in a game like this.

As I turned my Radio on the first words I caught was Rosie saying something like, “but let’s focus on the positives. Adam Chapman’s goal. We’re unbeaten in five and we only lost to a worldy”. I may have missed him covering the negatives. I fully appreciate that he is employed by the club and has to put a positive spin on things but it’s a very perspective at present held by the man and woman sitting in the stands, and increasingly so at home. We pay (or not as the case may be) to watch this depressing fare.

I’m afraid it’s just too easy to counter this with ease.

As for the “worldy” (a word that gets on my nerves, but I am a grumpy old sod) – if we had been two up it would only have been a “consolation”. Perhaps if we’d been a bit better at closing down in the midfield Mekki wouldn’t have had the space in which to work his magic. If “he does what he wants” is so bloody good why doesn’t he do something similar once in a while?

As for the unbeaten in five, I’ll trump that with one win in eight. And smack it into the long grass with six points out of the last 18 played for. But before the Northampton game I said that we need to get six points out of every nine on offer. Since then we’ve got four out of six so a win at Morecambe would put us on course for that. To get three points there and to stay in the FA Cup on Wednesday night we’ll need a massive improvement. Can anyone see where that is going to come from?

And then there’s the Mitchell Cole factor. I don’t want to appear callous here and I can understand it really affecting our boys but why didn’t we come up with a lets go out and win it for Mitch performance? As has been said before, Mitch played a lot more games for Stevenage and if he is associated with any club it’s the Hertfordshire outfit. Last Saturday they drew with League leaders Tranmere and this week won away at Hartlepool. How on earth did they manage that?

Something else I can’t get my head around is the fitness thing. Are we one of the most unlucky teams ever with all the injuries we have had and still seem to be having? And why do we constantly hear that so and so had to play even though he wasn’t fit / was carrying a knock / hadn’t trained all week. This sports science approach surely cannot be working. Given the state of the squad in terms of numbers, injuries and fitness I don’t want to see anyone suspended, yet judging by calls to Radio Oxford and postings on the web plenty of our supporters were rejoicing in Simon Heslop’s red card. He seemed to be number one scapegoat; totally unfairly in my opinion. There were many performances that didn’t stand up to scrutiny.

At the time I didn’t think it was a red and seeing it on the telly I still don’t. Nearly everyone else did though. Even if it was the correct decision it could not mask a very strange refereeing performance.

THE WEEK AHEAD

There’s the potential to restore some pride in the proper Cup on Wednesday but I really can’t see there being much of a turnout for a team with a tiny travelling contingent. It could be a long cold evening.

And then Morecambe for a 1 o’clock kick off. Will I be there? The way things are going its debatable.