What news from tonight? I’ve always had a soft spot for the Cheshire Cup…
Lost 1-0
Abysmal - Congleton all over again. Ruffer and Runcorn no 8 sent off 1st half.
Att 154
not AS bad as the Congleton game but not great. Had loads of possesion but lacked clear cut chances.
Thought we gave it a go 2nd half and put them under pressure.
Credit to the linnets supporters who got behind their team from the off
Great shame there wasnt many wittoners tonight as the support is needed both financially but getting behind the team aswell is very impotant as tonight showed
see you saturday where a bounce back is required.
I game to forget.
The challenge with attendance numbers is that people will find it difficult to turn out to watch such an average performance on a cold night just 10 days before Christmas! It was a good job we were playing Runcorn otherwise it would have been a double figure crowd.
Heler, Adams and Pritch played pretty well, the rest were poor or worse. Tandy was a better player pre-contract than he has been since, Henry needs the space and time that Broadhead provides him, Lamb and Foster have a non-existent partnership upfront.
There are very few positives to take from the performance. With 3 defeats in the last 4 games a response is needed on Saturday. We’re now out of all cup competition bar the glamourous Mid Cheshire Senior Cup (which ‘The Coachman’ could probably win), so we have no other excuses and have to put maximum effort into the league. Losing this game will not define our season but finishing outside the top 5 will.
Credit to Runcorn, the number of their fans attending and a goal that was worthy of winning a game. They played some nice football at times in the first half, however our performance made them look good.
Its never nice to get knocked out of any competition, be it the FA Cup or MCSC. We really need to knuckle down and go on a consistent run of victories to make sure we’re playing for something come spring.
On the attendances front, I know its only the Cheshire Cup, Tuesday night, Christmas etc. All reasonable excuses I suppose, but the more people that come through the turnstiles, the more chance we have of succeeding on the pitch so we need to encourage as many as we can to come to these ‘meaningless’ games. I know its not just a problem with us, look at them over the canal. It seems general interest in non league football is fading.
On the positive side, I thought our new keeper made a couple of decent saves.
Credit to Runcorn’s supporters, they were excellent all game.
We were lack lustre 1st half, Runcorn were up for the game from the 1st whistle, strong in the tackle and full of running, capped by a great goal.
Second half, we had plenty of possesion without really making the keeper work tbh. Runcorn had a number of chances on the break to add to their lead.
Thought Pritch was outstanding 2nd half, left on his own at the back against a very useful and quick centre forward.
Admission price dropped to a fiver didn’t make a difference imo
Less than 80 Wittoners there so can we really expect the team to turn up if the crowd doesn’t?
Still we can concentrate on the league now B)
History tells us the games running up to xmas are not well attended and playing a lower league team in a small cup doesnt help- however its probably also to do with the fact that we are so inconsistent we looked second best to an average northnwest counties team for most of the game yes we had some possession second half but did not really threaten them a couple of half chances and one decent chance for foster who choose to shoot poorly when a pass was a better option, I still think we have a problem when relying on tai ben hogan and steve brodie starting in centre mid they are not good enough and if foster does not score he does nothing else imo, and I hope that we have another keeper lined up as the new lad cannot kick and flaps too often for my liking, we did miss brad maylett who I heard is out for 2 weeks or so and Ryan Broadhead is away for 6 weeks so we might be struggling for a few more weeks yet! oh joy, we need to get our shape back to when we were playing well BATTERING SHEFFIED WHO WERE TOP ?, drop foster play lamb up front on his own and play heler and maylet/tandy as wide support strikers this seems to suit us well and I cannot see why we changed from a winning format, lets hope saturday will see a return to form ?
cmon wittern
As I said C.J. - Abysmal !
Think abysmal is harsh tbh Eli. We weren’t good 1st half but improved considerably 2nd half and we didn’t get the rub 2nd half on numerous occasions when the ball was pinging around the Runcorn box.
Discussing it afterwards, the only real problem I can see is the lack of options ‘personnel wise’ that seem to be available to the manager.
The squad of players individually are good enough, and its been proved that when we play at a decent tempo no teams in our league can live with us. We do seem desperately short of ‘replacements’ when the squad of 14 or so starts getting affected by injuries/suspensions - i.e. everyday football problems.
Up The Albs
TALKING TO A WITTON FAN IN TOWN TODAY AND THIS IS WHAT WAS SAID TO ME
" What was served up by Witton was overpriced at £5 ! From the kick off there was only 1 team that wanted it and it sure was’nt Witton. Performances like that drive fans away especially for midweek games in the winter months. This current team is not consistent enough, yes it contains some decent players but unless we can put together a good run in the next few weeks we will be consigned to this damn awful league next season and maybe for a lot of seasons. "
Have to agree with what is said and if I was just a fan then I myself would be thinking twice about attending some of the games this season.
Last nights game is the result of having to cut your cloth accordingly.It was an unfortunate fixture so close to Christmas.The trouble is we are genuinely down to the hardcore fans.Convenient excuses about the quality of fayre being served up,that keeps people away,is just that in my book,convenient.We are playing entertaining football and last night was a no win situation that just adds fuel to the fire.Some people will stay away no matter what,untill we top the league.This is just a footballing fact of life.
It does not help having to compete with establishments that show Premiership football accompanied by a Middle Eastern commentary.There are bus loads of people that spend their Saturdays indulging in this activity.These people could be at a match,which is probably the cheaper option.They choose not to,fair enough.
Just for the record,i was on nights last night,with my Witton tinted safety spectacles.
eligorton wrote:
So what are you then Eli? Kit man, centre forward, chairman, water boy??
We are all fans, and we attend the games that we can/choose to attend. It isn’t compulsory. It isn’t a slight on your loyalty if you have something else to do on that day or night - and we need to get away from that mind-set.
Yes we need as many bodies as possible through that turnstile each week, and yes if you can attend and want the Club to progress then you need to get yourself down to WP as often as you can. But we have to accept that the gates are what they are right now, there is no point wishing another 50 people through the turnstile, because they will only come when they are ready to. We can do what we can as fans to raise money, and to influence people to come down to games, but the fact of the matter is that you cannot force ANYBODY to come and watch a game of football if they do not want to.
We need to stop concentrating on the things that we can’t change, and start to investigate other revenue streams a bit more aggressively than we seem to be doing at the moment.
So as a fan attend games when you can. Support supporter initiatives such as the Predictions, coaches, winter ball, etc etc. Buy a program, and have a go on the golden goal or the lottery. But there is only so much that each of us can realistically do.
Attendances aren’t going to get much higher, we have to accept that. But there are other avenues that will allow us to bring money in. How do other clubs at this level do it? Teams that are getting double figure gates?
It isn’t just up to the faithful 150 to take this Club forward - we do have a commercial team etc. The fans do more than enough for this football club, do not feel guilty if you are doing all that you can.
Just a thought, but there seems to be lot of occasions this season when both us and the rabble are at home at the same time. Perhaps someone can do the sums and compare to previous seasons. There may only be a couple of dozen souls involved who may go over t’cut in preference to WP, but they all count. Also, as mentioned we are competing with footy on TV/Internet. It’s an old chestnut about mid-week game nights - there are arguments for an against moving, but how about investigating playing Friday or Sunday when we clash with the tax-dodgers on a Saturday?
We always identify Vics to the league as the team we want to avoid playing at home on the same day as us during the season.
We did this again at the begining of this season.
However, there was so much confusion and speculation as to which league Vics would be playing in this season, that the fixtures got made up by the Conference and the Unibond leagues without this consideration, hence why we have had so many clashes with them this season.
Thanks TT for the clarification on the home game clashes, I was wondering about that too!
Robbo an excellent post no-one should be pillioried or criticised for not coming along, the “stay aways, floaters” call them what you like will only come back if we escape from this wretched level (and we have no given right to do that) I do truly believe though that we have a good enough team to get back up with a bit of luck!! COME ON ALBIOOOOON!
Whilst recent performances have been disappointing, 5 without a win, out of the cups etc whilst people may be correct - we werent good enough against Fylde/Shepshed etc I’d just ask that people spare a thought for the people running the club for free in their “spare time” (I include all volunteers in that not just the board and other officials) for the majority of that is limited as they have full time jobs as well!
That is not a dig at people not attending every game but when people comment about the league/team etc just bear in mind those spending a lot more than 2 hours every other week watching the team who are trying to give us a team to be proud of and get out this league. We are asking for the support from people who supposedly love the club and not so many negative vibes.
I know many fans who have other commitments, even out of work etc and I would not say a bad word about them not attending, however saying we are in a tinpot league and they wont watch us there as an injury/suspension depleted side lost to Runcorn etc makes you wonder whther you should bother or not?
Lets have some positive thoughts and reassure us that time/effort and peoples money is not given in vain to a club that doesnt appreciate what it actually has.
As a serious question (aside from who plays full back etc) what is feasibly wrong with the club we have?
Neil wrote:
Very good post Neil, nothing less than we would expect from the future Chairman B)
My answer on this is quite easy. Off the pitch the work done by Mark, yourself, the board as a whole and the countless volunteers like Pete, Sprucie, the stewards, Tracey and for that matter every other person is exemplary. The contribution of time and money from supporters shows the love for the club.
The issue is that we don’t always see that reflected in the performances! We have played some great football at times this season, at Colwyn Bay, Loughbrough away, Sheffield at home, Matlock away and whilst I realise it is impossible to maintain that standard week in week out we have shown at times the capability. BUT, at times we look lethargic, disinterested and as if we are going through the motions.
The performances and commitment on the pitch need to reflect those off the pitch!
We have a small squad and this cannot/will not change financially, we should never risk financial suicide based on the ‘maybe’ of promotion. What this does mean is that we need to assemble players and management with the passion and desire to play for this club and to win this league. I’m not entirely convinced we have that. Unfortunately many footballers are mercenaries and a problem with the current game is there are few Brian Pritchards and Ryan Giggs (deservedly mentioned in the same sentence) playing the game.
We lack consistency, and the 7 league losses shows this.
We have what appears to be a very talented squad (albeit small in numbers), so they need to perform to their full potential. They need to remember why they play the game and go out there with pride and passion. Christmas is a key time and there are big games ahead with points that would keep us in the hunt.
I just want to see those on the pitch put as much effort in as those off it, then we would go up!
“As a serious question (aside from who plays full back etc) what is feasibly wrong with the club we have?”
I asked this question before the season began and got an ear bashing from this forum who seem to think that we can just keep going and everything will turn out just fine…
Well said Neil - there is nothing wrong with Witton Albion - it is a club well run by people who give their time and effort week in week out working to a tight budget ( and that is not easy ) to ensure that we can have a future.
Unfortunately teams are judged by what happens on the field of play and fans vote with their feet I am afraid.