JoeP

The ref keeping the standard going...

I think we need our own "Statsbomb"... If stats are so important, why are we ignoring them as soon as they sign for us?

Got absolutely no strong opinion. I can't be arsed driving to it, so am opting for NLTV and saving the 2 hours round trip. Got equally neutral opinion about Rochdale. They're like the second cousin twice removed who lives up the road, has had a rough ride of things and you feel a bit sorry for but wouldn't make any other effort to engage with other than a nod if you saw them in the street...

I like Mellon, but I do remember thinking something similar about Graeme Sharp...

He's definitely putting the graft in, I reckon - to what benefit, I'm not sure! He can only use the hand he's dealt..

He might be right for the moment. He must've known what he was taking on and the contacts that had been handed out, but mustn't have known much about the players and be disappointed with what he's got. Again, it comes back to players. They've failed under two managers. I don't think the dressing room's right. I hope we don't do anything rash with Mellon. Barring a few signings, he's been at the club the least time than the players and board, yet seems to be target number one for responsibility..

Is any manager inspirational in an interview? Every manager and footballer probably thinks media interviews are a complete and utter ball-ache. Did you see Cole Palmer's interview after his hattrick last night? All respect to the lad, but he was clearly uncomfortable being asked the same question over again, just phrased slightly differently..

Not sure he's lost interest, but he certainly looks knackered by it all. I think it's a much bigger challenge than he was expecting and isn't sure what his next move is, if he's pretty much dealing with the same players next season. I'm not sure any manager could solve that issue, though..

Like me, they probably think it's ridiculous that a game against fucking Rochdale is considered a derby for us.... I feel sorry for Mellon. He looks like he needs a holiday. The biggest thing I took out of that interview is how badly he tried to hide the fact he's disappointed that he'd got to deal with a lot of these players next year!

Even if he's scored 30% of our goals??

Only if he scores 30% of our goals next year again and isn't having a negative effect in the changing room..

Nope...personally think the evidence was there from quite early-on, but let's not go down that rabbit-hole. Get a fee for him over the summer, and it'd work out well all round.

Storm Kathleen this weekend. I reckon we'll kick off, lay it back to Hudson who'll hoof it and it won't come down again... 0-0.

So we can't judge the manager on what he did elsewhere, but we can judge the players?

But he is - still - mopping up the mess left by Unsworth/the "recruitment team". A new manager isn't suddenly going to make an over-inflated, over-paid and overrated squad suddenly disappear..

It's disappointing the way this season is turning out, but the plan to give Mellon a decent chance to sort us out should still stand. For me he still gets at least as long as Unsworth got...

Jeez, I'm not sure that's quite right. He started and finished his Latics managerial career with 3-0 defeats at Bromley, lost 4-1 at Notts County, 5-1 at Wrexham, 4-0 at Southend, off the top of my head.. His run from January which everyone creams themselves about was also ridiculously fortuitous, often reliant on the opposition missing chances...with that in mind, I'd actually say we actually seem tighter at the back under Mellon.

As someone similar (and hopeless footballer), you're probably right. But if we want the players to think about the inevitable "abuse" differently, they have to build their resilience They can't let it make them go into their shells, we want them to use it as a positive tool and think "fuck-you, who are you to tell me I'm shit" and go and prove these fans wrong. Easier said than done, like.

Interesting phone-in last night. Couple of points caught my attention: "The Fylde players thought our fans were toxic". With respect to Fylde players, it's a bit different to the one man and his dog who watch them. Also, define "toxic" - angry that we're 3-0 down within 20 minutes in a crucial game? And not strictly true - as mentioned on the phone-in, it MMBWA was being sung at 3-1. I think it is poor form if the fans effect the players so much. Is fan negativity helpful? No. But why do the players really give a shit what a load of beer-swelling, pie-eating numpties, who've probably never kicked a ball in their life think? They need a thicker skin to an extent.. "Only us and York use Statbomb". Get rid of it. Let the manager bring the players in. it might work for Arsenal, but it's a different sport down here. A simpler one. So keep it simple! "Allegedly an experienced manager has said he wouldn't have James Norwood near his team because of his bad attitude and because he's a bully" I'll expect the aggressive counter arguments, but not surprised if there's truth behind this. There's "being nasty" in a positive way for the club and there's just "being nasty". Our downturn in form has coincided with his return to the team. Also, he hasn't scored from open play since Oxford at home! Blimey! I didn't realise that.

Oi! That's our top scorer you're laughing at..

Could we get cash for Norwood?

Probably having one of our best periods of play of the season and still can't score. Over, done, finito. Might as well go on holiday, lads and play the kids for the rest of the season. What a disappointment it's been..

"Play well because it's on the tele and other teams' scouts might be watching"? It's done, over this season. If they don't fuck it up for good today, they'll do it on Saturday or the week after.. Sorry!

Putting optimistic hat on, I'm hoping this is because he needs to sort out who's worth keeping and who's not after the recruitment calamity - possibly at the expense of going up this season, but with the idea of having a good go next year with a settled squad. You don't have to have vast football knowledge to know you should play your best team every week. That said, at Newport in the cup, he made a double sub with virtually the last kick of the game with us 2-0 down for no obvious reason at all..

Maybe. There seemed an air of resignation in the crowd yesterday before the players came on the pitch and hammered the theory home.