After all, that is just what it feels like as we reel from game to game at this time of year. I was going to use this title around this time last year as we were due to play our fourth of five games in quick succession against Charlton Athletic on New Year’s Day, only for it to be postponed less than twenty minutes before kick off due to the ineptitude of the referee. The song is one from Marilyn Manson’s 2015 album, “The Pale Emperor”, and reflects a feeling I used to know quite well.
Quiz time answer – until Barnet won the National League title last season to take the outright record of most titles at that level, which other team did they share it with at three wins apiece? Macclesfield Town, who have won that title three times, but only been promoted the once as their stadium wasn’t up to standard the first time they did.
The Barnet piece got three times as many views and reads as these usually get, as someone had put it on their forum. They are a much friendlier lot than the Birmingham City fans were last season when someone did the same.
It was another loss on New Year’s Day in that game, and we had chances to equalise, and their keeper made a great save at the end to deny Louie Watson’s effort, but it would have been an undeserved point as we rode our luck in not being half a dozen down within twenty minutes.
The January transfer window is going a bit mental, it’s only the fourth, but we now have five signings, the rumoured one of Jonny Russell, the Northern Irish U21 defender did come to be, but there was another in before him with Tobi Adeyemo coming in on loan from Watford for the rest of the season, a striker and another who counts as an U21 and so doesn’t count towards the squad size. A couple of wags on the forum were quick with the chant of “there’s only two Adeyemos.” Something which brought back memories of repeatedly watching the Danny Baker video “Own Goals And Gaffs”, where there were a couple of gaffs from John Polson, and when a clip came up of another Norwich City player making one, Baker came out with chant “two John Polsons, there’s only two John Polsons”.
And then as I was checking into the hotel last night, we signed Akin Odimayo who had been on a short-term contract with Newport County after being released by Northampton Town in the summer. He is another defender and is on an eighteen-month contract. He is another player to have previously played under Scott Lindsey (as Swindon Town).
As for today’s opponents, it is the CTFC derby as we play Cheltenham Town. We have played them twelve times in the league, all in League Two with six wins, five losses, and a draw. In Cheltenham, the record isn’t so good with two wins, and four losses. We also played them in the Capital One Cup back in 2013 losing them 4–3. Going back to non-league days we had one random season being in the same league as them in the sixties, the seventies, and the eighties, before five consecutive seasons in the nineties (at least I think so after going boss eyed looking at the seasons on the CTFC History web site), winning five, drawing five, and losing six in those seasons, there were also a draw and a loss in the Southern League Cup back in 1970, and a loss in the FA Trophy in the 87–88 season.
Isaac Hutchinson who spent half a season on loan with us in 2022 is in the Cheltenham squad on loan from Bristol Rovers and is someone who seems to bust a gut trying to prove a point against us since, both for Bristol Rovers and Walsall. He is the only crossover between the squads today. Others to have played for both include Will Ferry, Josh Payne, Tom Nichols, Tyrone Barnett, and Pablo Mills amongst others.
There were a couple of programmes from pervious meetings in the collection.
As I said in the previous piece against Cheltenham, there were no football cards for them due to when they cam into the league, but since then the Panini album has come out so there are a few stickers with their players on.
And whilst in the charity shop yesterday I found an old Rothman’s annual from 1991, and their manager, Steve Cotterill is in there in the Wimbledon team photo. He’s on the middle row, third on the right. He is back at Cheltenham Town for his second spell there as a manager, taking over a couple of weeks after our game against them earlier in the season, and they have improved their results a lot since then. He also played for the club back in their non-league days, and was born in Cheltenham for good measure, definitely one of their own.
With Helen still not a hundred percent match fit, I made the journey over by myself and stopped at a hotel on the outskirts of Gloucester. Which is a blast from the past, I have stayed here a lot over the years as until a few years ago the company I work for used to have their largest office on the Barnwood estate. And the building opposite used to be where and mail I got from Lloyds TSB came from, but they are no longer here either.
Usually when travelling solo I go by train, but I drove by myself. I hadn’t thought about it before I set off, but it is the furthest I have ever driven with only me in the car. I hate driving, and usually only do short journeys by myself. Any longer ones have Helen with me, and we tend to share the driving (lopsidedly I suppose). But yes, at the age of fifty-five, it is my first solo hundred mile plus drive.
We start the game three places and eight points behind our opponents (as opposed to being three places above them when we played and beat them at home back in September). And after the defeat on New Year’s Day, we are now another point behind the trajectory from 2022-23.
Up nice and early and into the still awakening town centre, the car park I chose was well decorated with street art.
Picked up the Football League paper, and it has more quotes of the season and Scott is in there again “What’s disappointing for me, and I’m kind of confused and hurt by it, is that the same group of players beat Bristol Rovers 4-0, yet we turned up today and, I don’t want to be disrespectful to Under-10s, but we played like Under-10s”. (From the Boreham Wood FA Cup game.)
Somehow, I’d managed to spend most of the build up for the game under the distinct impression that it was the same as any other early kick-off this season and starting at 12:30, so it was a bit of a shock to see it was a 12:00 kick-off. But that is fine, as usual I was at the ground ridiculously early anyway.
At the ground, the club shop is compact and to my dismay they have sold out of fridge magnets and only have pencils, not pens. They don’t do programmes either, just team sheets.
Which indicate three changes from New Year’s Day, with Reece Brown back in the starting lineup, and new signings Jonny Russell and Tobi Adeyemo starting. Geraldo Bajrami and Theo Vassell drop to the bench with Ryan Loft out of the squad completely, I’m assuming due to the injury picked up in the last game. The other new signing, Adin Odimayo, is on the bench. There will be no ‘only two Adeyemos’ chants today, as Ade isn’t in the squad.
The heated air covers seem to have worked well enough, there are a couple of patches in the corners at our end which look a bit icy, but the rest of the pitch looks good. I’m happy that the sun is behind the stand we are in, no need for a cap or shades. I watch the linesman rough up his running route on the sideline in the shade to prevent slippage. I wonder if this game might not have happened if there wasn’t FSS pressure.
Cheltenham are in red and white stripes with black shorts and red socks, and we are in our all-black kit. Never a good sign, we haven’t been great in black all season. And my other team in red, the San Francisco 49ers wore an alternate black uniform last night in a game to clinch the number one seed and put in their most insipid performance of the season.
Looking out over the stands there are good views to the surrounding hills.
It isn’t a quick start to the game, almost as if no one really wants to be out in the cold at the silly early kick-off time. Cheltenham win the first corner of the game about five minutes in, it’s taken deep, and just about retrieved, laid back to the edge of the box and a shot forces a save from Harvey Davies.
Something looks different, it’s Jay Williams, he doesn’t have a bandaged head for the first time since November. Cheltenham attack down the left and a cross comes in, we don’t deal with it, and the ball is in the back of the net, fortunately the flag is up for offside long before the shot is taken. A long ball forward see Tobi Adeyemo wrestled to the ground, and unusually for one of our strikers, he wins a free kick for it. It is taken deep, and a cross in is blocked, it comes out to Jonny Russell and his attempted cross clears the terrace for ball loss one of the day.
We attack down the left and a ball inside to Taylor Richards sees him line up and have a curling shot which goes over the bar. It has been a very quiet half so far, as if everyone is still waking up, including the fans, as even they are muted compared with normal. But, saying that, it is still a lot better than the first twenty minutes on New Year’s Day.
Dion Conroy is taken out by a late challenge and is down injured, nothing but a quick word in passing to the Cheltenham player as Conroy gets treatment. Cheltenham get a corner which we clear and get forward and have a bit of play in the other half. We win a free kick on the left wing about thirty-five yards out. It’s swung into the box and headed out to Reece Brown, his shot is blocked, and Cheltenham break, come down the other end and win a corner. It’s headed clear by Williams.
We work it down the left, Josh Flint to Russell, and he puts a low cross in, and a Richards shot is well saved, we work it back in and there is a shot which goes just wide. Russell picks up a yellow card for a challenge in midfield, Which looks to be more due to the reaction of the Cheltenham players than for any contact made. The 1 on the back of his shirt is peeling off as well. In defence Charlie Barker is hacked down as he goes past a player come out from the back. No yellow for that. Please, just some fucking consistency from the refs would be great, that challenge and the one on Conroy were far worse than the one by Russell, yet we pick up yellows for sneezing the wrong way every fucking game. It’s a joke.
A long Cheltenham clearance is headed by Williams, straight at the back of Conroy, and it takes a great saving challenge from Barker to stop the Cheltenham player being in on goal. A throw comes in and Williams and Davies collide and both are down with Davies getting treatment.
At the other end we get a throw, and the long throw is the first view of Russell’s prowess, and it is a monster, it’s flicked clear in the middle of the goal and goes for a corner. It’s headed clear under the bar, and a Harry McKirdy shot is blocked, Russell shoots from the rebound and clears the terrace again for ball loss two. There are three added minutes at the end of the half, and nothing happens and the half time whistle goes with it at 0-0.
Into the second half and Cheltenham attack down the right, there’s a low ball into the box, and a shot is blocked and we scramble it clear. And have some patient build up before getting it out to Flint on the left, he beats two men and drives into the box, and his cross is deflected and forces a save from the keeper. We are having a decent spell of possession, and are pressing well, forcing a throw near the box, Russell comes over and launches another scud into the box, it is cleared and Cheltenham break and win a corner. We just don’t deal with it well (yes, I know, unusual for us), it pings about in the box, and a Cheltenham player pokes it in and we trail 0-1.
And almost straight from the restart we let a Cheltenham player run half the length of the pitch and take a shot from the edge of the area, which drifts wide right. We go up the other end and win a corner, it is headed clear, and we put it back in, and Harry Forster’s cross is just about scrambled away for a throw. Russell’s latest scud is also just about dealt with as well. We are keeping possession in the Cheltenham half, but can’t find a final ball in. (AGAIN)
Cheltenham have a quick break and get it into the box and have a shot saved, but they are quicker to the rebound than us and they bundle it in and we trail 0-2.
We try to attack down the left and Flint is pulled back in midfield, We win the free kick, but yet again there is no yellow card, a shirt pull back like that should be an automatic one, and it certainly would be if it had been a Crawley player doing it. The free kick goes into the box and is headed over the bar. We come forward again but as soon as we lose the ball Cheltenham break at pace and win another corner. It’s taken to the near post, and the header goes straight in, and it is 0-3.
I’m sure there are better things I could be doing with my life.
Later than usual, and probably far too late to do anything about the result we make some substitutions. Brown, Richards, and Adeyemo are off, and have been replaced by Dion Pereira, Jack Roles, and Kabby Tshimanga. And Cheltenham win another corner which we just about scramble clear.
It looks like the Russell long throw is how we are going to do most of our attacking. One goes in and all the way across the box, we retrieve and cross it back in but there is a foul in there and Cheltenham get a free kick. And again, another scud is cleared, we work it back to Flint, and his cross goes in and there is a clash of heads in the box. It’s two of our players, Williams is up first, Barker takes a bit longer and some treatment before he is back on his feet.
McKirdy clashes with a player in midfield, and there is a marshmallow booking for him. Roles gets taken out in midfield, and there are loud ironic cheers from the Crawley fans as the ref brings out a yellow card to book a Cheltenham player. During all that, the board had gone up to say there are six added minutes. There is no huff, there is no puff, and there are absolutely no houses getting blown down during that, and the final whistle goes on another loss, this one finishing 0-3.
Considering the manner of the defeat, the reception for the players at the final whistle was a good one. We don’t move anywhere in the table, but after the two early games, where FSS have pulled out all the stops to make sure they go ahead, none of the other League Two games beat the weather. It might have been better if ours hadn’t either.
A wander back to the car in the centre of town, and then a longer journey home than the one to get here, ten miles of which were stuck doing thirty behind a queue of traffic behind a grit spreader on the A40. Splendid views out over the rolling countryside. Definitely the best viewing of the day.
Quiz Time – When Cheltenham Town were last promoted to the Football League in 2016, which other side were also promoted from the National League?
And breathe. The festive period is over, and due to Cambridge United being in FA Cup action next weekend we don’t have a game now until Saturday the seventeenth, when we are at home against Notts County. Let’s hope the week off gives a chance for a bit more transfer market action, and for the new players to have a chance to bed in before we go on that rampaging winning streak to finish the season.
Come on you reds.