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Something For The Weekend S2 E11

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Something is back……

Hi and welcome back to another addition of this thing. Unfortunately I couldn`t get around to writing a column last week as I had a killer week at work and just didn`t have the energy. Not only that but at the moment it`s increasingly hard to write something and try and not make it utterly depressing. Mind you this week`s doesn`t exactly follow a great result does it?

So that Wycombe ‘replay` didn`t quite go to plan. I don`t think I have heard a single positive to have come from that game from anyone I have spoken to and it seemed to end on a sour note with ‘exchanges` between fans and Gary Kenneth. What was worrying was that a game and three points that we were robbed off shouldn`t require much of a team talk, but by all accounts we didn`t do ourselves any sort of justice. Mind you I guess 99.9% knew we would lose this game the moment the original fixture was abandoned. There was even a weird selection of Tom Parkes on the left side of midfield. Tom has shown he is a decent footballer, but if a centre-half playing left midfield was the best option we had when other candidates were available, you have to wonder what that says about some of the other players in our squad and what faith the manager actually has in them.

At the bottom of the table a small gap is starting to emerge from us, Plymouth and Wimbledon on 18 points to Wycombe on 22 and Oxford on 24. Not much at the moment, but something we don`t want to let stretch. Being a point above the relegation zone and three off the bottom with similar goal differences, you can see it is going to be tight at the bottom for the rest of the season I feel.

Saturday sees us host Dagenham & Redbridge in yet another must win game. Barnet are also at home to Wimbledon on Saturday and a win for Barnet could make the bottom of the table even tighter. One positive is that we can`t be bottom on Saturday evening given that for some reason Accrington are not playing until Sunday.

On one of the forums it was pointed out that defeat the Daggers, cost Dave Penney his job as manager a couple of seasons ago and you wonder if it is some sort of omen for Mark McGhee. I am so torn on the manager issue. We cannot keep sacking managers and the cost of doing so also hurts, but then in our situation you wonder how long you can hang on and hope things turn around. As I said before I know we are aiming towards the UWE as the long term future for the club, but I do question the vision or strategy on the pitch and where we are going, what we want to achieve and how we are going to do it. Not having idea what the focus is on (and I know we need to survive right now) it makes it even harder to put faith and support in Mark McGhee. No one wants him to fail, but increasing numbers are wondering whether he is up to the job. There have been positives and some steps off the field in improving the club and moving it forward but the trapdoor is looming and Nick Higgs and the board must be tearing their hair out after each poor result draws us closer.

Wow! I feel as though I have painted myself into a corner. What can I say now? I know Rovers is depressing right now, I know Christmas is coming, but you don`t really want to go shopping do you? Get down the Gas, cheer on the boys and make sure you wrap up warm as I think it`s going to be a cold one. The team need three points and they need as much help as they can get right now. Whatever you`re up to this weekend have a good one and hopefully we will be cheering three points at 4.50ish on Saturday no matter how good or bad we might have played.

UTG!

Simon ‘Sprout` Phillips

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