Halloween came early at Yeovil Town last night as a second 2-0 defeat in as many matches saw the Glovers slide in to the National League’s bottom four.
Ian was in the stands for the Huish Park Horror Show and here’s how he saw it…..
That was as sorry as it gets. I don’t think I’ve ever known Huish Park be so toxic. Boos in the first half for misplaced crosses and passes. There was a section of supporters on the Thatchers willing things to go wrong so that they can pile in. That’s not conducive to creating a winning atmosphere and if that’s the sentiment going into matches under Chris Hargreaves, we may as well call it now and prepare for part time football in the National League South.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.
The performance was devoid of anything. It’s really sad to see how low these players are on confidence, which is not helped by the above. There’s a reluctance to get the ball forward and the balance between patience in possession and fear of a mistake has been crossed. Alex Fisher chased things down as a the isolated striker, Josh Staunton put himself wherever he could to make a difference, Matt Worthington tried to run things in midfield, Grant Smith did what he could. It’s a moot point assigning blame now, everyone is culpable.
Change in the dugout needs to come immediately. The manager can’t survive off of Wrexham, Chesterfield and Solihull. Those results are the outlier in what has been a dreadful season so far. We were playing well but drawing, and now we’re playing badly and losing. There’s no recovering this sentiment. There’s no turning it round. It boiled over last night to an element of nastiness wasn’t even reached when Darren Way was leading us to this dismal League.
I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like it at Huish Park. When the final whistle blew, the boos from the supporters that were left inside were clear. The anger and shouting at players as they walked round the pitch was a level I’ve not witnessed. The club is in a dark place at the moment and it needs to be addressed, dealt with and steered in a direction of positivity. Will our owner grab the wheel and put us back on track?
We need to come together. Everyone who was there last night witnessed us at our lowest ebb and we need to harness that feeling to make a difference. Whether it’s the Glovers Trust, the Green and Whites, the entire SAG or another. There is structure in the Supporters Alliance Group that exists to align supporters and groups, although in my experience its been quite handy for creating division. That group needs to come together, away from the club and hold an open forum for an honest and open discussion. The need for change is clearer than ever and if we can’t come together after last night then what is the point is supporting a club? The club is on its knees and genuinely in danger. I fear relegation would be a death knell rather than an opportunity to reset.
Reminds me of an equally toxic night back in equally dire 1994-1995 season. Merthyr Tydfil a turgid 1-3 loss, fans shouting for the managers’ head, players gesturing to the crowd. Awful performances. Club is becoming a joke on/off the pitch. Only a potential FA Trophy run this season makes anything worthwhile or it is already done, at very best. Worst is a whole lot worse!
Booing the players is not the answer,it’s not going to help their confidence.
Ian is 100% correct in his article.
I know as much as anyone else that we over achieved in 2013 when we beat Brentford et al and made the championship. Ok let’s be honest those days will possibly never happen again. But surely we should be a mid table league1/2 team. Be careful what you wish for, some of us were saying, when the get fry/hayward brigade were hounding those 2 out especially JF. He put his heart soul and money in to the club he loved for so many years. Now look at this club. Knocking on the door of a 4th relegation after taking so long in getting into the football league in the first place. Yes of course the booing and foul and agessive language has to stop but who in their right mind wants to bail this sad club out? So sad but let’s hope it’s not to late.
With regard to Ian’s final paragraph, my personal position, which I’d guess is similar to that of many, is that I desperately don’t want to see the club get relegated, but also under no circumstances would I to come together with the section of fans that Ian rightly states are ‘willing things to go wrong so that they can pile in’. Ian chooses to pussyfoot around rather than calling a spade a spade, with phrases such as ‘not conducive to creating a winning atmosphere’ …. why not be brave enough to state what it actually is , rather than what it is not ? , i.e that it creates a losing atmosphere by getting onto the backs of our own players when they are already struggling for confidence’.
I suspect this reticence is due to the conflicting suspicion that Gloverscast might be among the prime agitators of those who ‘will things to go wrong’, while also realising the consequences of their actions …. ‘a death knell rather than a reset’.
The real sadness of last night was that although Aldershot weren’t brilliant, they did at least press consistently, passed well and played as a team. We were performing what I call Primary School football, all chasing the ball around like headless chickens,