is this Pleasure?

I will be at The Mem next Saturday and i go to as many away matches as i can but yesterday i found myself reflecting on whether i get any pleasure from doing that at the moment.

The truth is that i go along nowadays hoping that we dont get humiliated and out of a sense of loyalty because its what i do at the weekends. I am not really excited about the games ahead -whether it be Wrexham or a 3rd round cup tie. I cant remember ever feeling like this before .

“If you keep doing the same thing, you'll end up getting the same results”is a quote attributed to Einstein - that great football pundit. The Gas seem to be proving the truth in that.

I am one of those guys who desperately wanted Matt Taylor to make a go of it as he seems a decent chap who goes about doing his job in the right way. He is hard working, with little ego, very much a text book team leader who doesn’t bathe in excuses. If there was justice in this world then people like him would succeed.

I remember thinking that he looked the right kind of Manager as the successful Lower League clubs seem to be led by students of the game rather than the personality led higher profile ex- players of yesteryear. Matt seemed to fit that bill.

Sadly however it hasnt worked out that way ..

I am not a great tactician but it is obvious that things just don’t look right and whilst i dont know what is going on behind the scenes, the manager is usually the one who pays the price

The problems started during the second half of last season when our form was poor but we happily accepted the excuses that the team of players that Matt Taylor inherited simply weren’t suited to the type of high energy game that he favoured .

Indeed against Crewe away in the cup we got a glimpse of what that could look like in the first 45 minutes and I remember feeling great at the prospect of playing that type of game but it didn’t happen. We were over reliant on Chris Martin’s goals to see us through a difficult period but he is well past his physical best and is never going to be a high press player . He came back after the cup game and his presence kind of dictated how we would see the season out.

Sadly we dont seem to have moved forward since the end of last season and though on paper we have made some good signings our recent form has been poor and we look less like a team now than at any point in the season. Orient away was as bad as i can remember.

Our win ratio under Matt with his players is not as good as last season under players he inherited . There have been 50 + games now and i cant recall a single one where i came away thinking - “ wow we were good" and being optimistic for the future . Even on the Crewe game, we were hanging on at the end and counting down the minutes.

The current players look as if they have lost all self belief and the experienced ones who tend to pull the pull the younger players through look as much out of sorts as anyone else . Being a gashead is a painfull experience at the moment.

I wanted Matt to become a legend but there just does not seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel and that really concerns me . We just seem to be heading towards relegation and we dont want that again. Selfishly I want to enjoy going to the Mem again and not hear people moaning all the time.

We need change if only to get Albert Einstein off our back.

All opinions are my own- who else would want them   . #UTG