Despite all Roddy Collins' efforts in building a team for the future, the here and now of our situation is that we are in a relegation place and urgently need points, most likely at Brunton Park, to recover our position. The blame has been attached to the manager for not bringing in experienced faces at a time when young players have been scrapping for points at the bottom of the table. Collins' stated aim has always been to invest in youth with an eye to 4 or 5 years down the line. There is no doubt that some of his signings should turn out to be very good players but they will struggle to fulfill that promise in a relegation battle where older and wiser heads are undoubtedly needed. Maybe all the manager has been guilty of is over-confidence. He's always had supreme belief in his own ability and the thought of relegation seemingly never entered his head. The general thinking is that this season, if we can stave off the threat of relegation, will be the last one in which we are struggling near the bottom. The younger players are gaining valuable experience and next pre-season will be the first since roughly 1998 when we'll have a proper preparation with no players sacked, no new manager to settle in or clutch of new signings to make in the final fortnight. In such circumstances, it's hard to believe we'll be off to such a bad start as we've had in recent campaigns. If Collins had had time to prepare, many of the players we've seen this season, such as John Burns, Ryan Hevicon, Paul Robinson, Mark Magennis and David Freeman may have come on trial in the summer and not necessarily signed for us at all. Financially, the mid-to-long term prospects are also more stable than they have been for a long time so the manager will not be short of boardroom support when it comes to adding to his squad. Eventually this must surely bring its reward in a climb up the table - not just a 3 or 4 game unbeaten run but a consistent return to winning ways that will establish CUFC as a force to be reckoned with again. Collins has too often been forced to tinker with his side and some of his own selections have come under heavy criticism. An over-reliance on one-dimensional wingers and the selections of Shelley for Birch, not to mention Kelly, Gulliver or Taylor for Andrews in particular. With suspensions and injuries biting, we've only fielded the same team in consecutive games on one occasion this season. Both these games were won, which probably tells us something. The number of players on short-term deals or on loan has not helped build stability and the number of different strikers (nine) who've played up front has been frightening. Looking at our record though, defence has been our Acchiles heel. Up until the Exeter match, we'd managed to score in 18 consecutive league games, which should have been enough to win more than just four of them! Bizarrely, the Exeter result was our first 1-0 defeat since last April - something which highlights how often we've conceded 2 or more goals in games. Even bringing back Matty Glennon has not really changed things for the better. Glennon as an individual has performed well but the unit as a whole has taken a long time to play with the sort of positional discipline and work ethic that is needed to keep clean sheets. As we've so often found out to our cost this season, it only takes one careless mistake to lose a match. A lot of this is down to the lack of basic experience in the squad. Not forgetting too that the coaching team have not much experience in the English game either. I would personally have liked to see an older technical head in amongst them just to give a bit of reassurance to the younger lads not to mention the supporters. Again, it seems Collins self-confidence makes it difficult for him to work with an older man. I think it was a couple of years back that Exeter brought in Steve Perryman as a technical consultant and he worked wonders for them, helping them out of an even deeper hole than we are in at the moment. Long-term, these problems may well disappear, because the squad hasn't looked stronger in years. In 12 months time these players will be older and wiser. Unfortunately fans will need a bit of patience because it's not going to come together overnight and that's why the current campaign has been a bit of a flop to date. How many times have unrealistic pre-season hopes been dashed? At Carlisle they certainly have, and often. I expect it's going to be a tense finale but supporters can only cross their fingers and hope for the best. If we all continue to show faith, things will soon improve. Al |
