Something Better Change

And the new lows keep a-comin’. When I was a naïve idiotic child, looking for a (sob) Premier League team to support that wasn’t Liverpool, Everton or either of the Manchester clubs, did I ever think that, somewhere down the line, I would be watching my team slip into the relegation places in the fifth tier? Reader, I did not. So it goes.

We did start better against Barnet, honestly we did. We did look more organised at the back, and if Clarke’s attempted Russo backheel had gone in, it would have been a very different afternoon. But it didn’t, and it wasn’t. It wasn’t clicking up front, and yet again, when we make a mistake in defence, we get punished for it. And I’m really not sure how we fix it.

It’s ridiculous to call for Unsworth to go – we’ve tasked him with restructuring the playing side of the club at every level and he’s brought in coaches, a head physio and a head of recruitment to oversee a new recruitment team, is there really any benefit to sacking him and expecting a new manager to work with his staff in a structure he was developing? Or do we bin them all off, start from scratch and flush all the money invested on building a new staff team down the toilet?

That doesn’t mean we can’t ask questions and disagree with some of Unsworth’s decisions, though. Why isn’t Fondop playing? Why was he dropped just as he was hitting a good run of form and gaining confidence? Why didn't Carty get more time on the pitch when we’re crying out for someone who’ll have a go and shoot on goal whenever he gets the chance? Wouldn’t it be better to play Abraham out wide?

The obvious concern is that the longer this run continues, the more disillusioned and disheartened supporters will become, and people will drift away and stop coming to games. No-one could blame them, but it was worrying to see the Athleticos leave before full time on Saturday. Like the ravens leaving the Tower of London. The ‘new owner bounce’ is rapidly flattening, and while everyone knows it’s going to take time to put years of decline right, it’s so disappointing to see how quickly the optimism and buzz we had around the club in the summer has dissipated.

On to a relegation six-pointer at Maidstone, then. Feel free to down a shot after reading that sentence. I did after writing it. (Not really. I'm trying to cut down, as it happens. Downloaded the Drink Aware app and all that. You know the bit in Airplane, when the air traffic controller says "guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue"? There is never a good week to cut down on your drinking if you're a Latics fan.) Maidstone haven't won at home since August. We've seen this film before, haven't we? Maybe it'll finally click into place tomorrow. Maybe OASIS will finally have something to celebrate.

Have a great day if you're off to the match. Also, enjoy the World Cup if you can be arsed. I'm not sure I can be. Obviously the ideal outcome would be England winning, Harry Kane dedicating the win to the thousands of workers who died building the stadia immediately after lifting the trophy, and one of the players coming out as gay and telling FIFA to go fuck themselves. That probably won't happen. But we can dream. KTMFF.

Written by Arlene Finnigan. Photo © Eddie Garvey.