Paying The Price For Hayes?

I suggested a couple of weeks ago in my leader column that Dean Saunders, in being absent for the Hayes match, had damaged the relationship between him and the supporters, who are uneasy at the thought of a manager who doesn't hold his club as his only priority. Looking at the reaction to the game last night, I'd say that damage was evident after the Forest Green game.

Fans at the game were angry, although Wes Baynes' late goal took the sting out of their protests at the final whistle; on Red Passion they were furious, demanding Saunders ought to go. I'd argue that this reaction is an manifestation of how upset the supporters were three weeks ago.

Yes, the performance was poor yesterday; Forest Green looked to be a very poor side, and in the first half we certainly couldn't claim to be any better than them; we created nothing. We imposed ourselves upon them after the break, but without a great deal of quality, and needed a daft foul by a player who ought to have been sent off already to win the game in the 89^th minute. However, I'm not sure that the game in itself would warrant such an outpouring of anger.

Look at it in context. Since we lost to Hayes we've drawn at Histon, a performance which has divided fans when measuring its merits, and put in two good performances without getting the reward we deserved. You really couldn't complain about the way we played against Kidderminster or Swindon, so yesterday was the first chance the hard core of home fans, and let's be honest, that's what we're down to right now, to vent their anger at Saunders since the Hayes debacle.

I'm struggling to think of a worse game of football I've ever seen than yesterday's first half, but if you take in the bigger picture, I suspect the vitriol aimed at Saunders was a little harsh. After all, we'd just put in two good performances (maybe three) in a row, and he did act decisively at half time yesterday, throwing on two subs and switching to 4-3-1-2 in a move which brought about an improvement and, ultimately, three points.

Yet damage was done against Hayes, and yesterday was a chance to express that.

Forest Green Podcast

The Forest Green podcast is now up at http://www.wrexhamfan.co.uk/ featuring Dean Saunders and Wes Baynes.

Three's a Crowd

Tonight's crowd was the first time we've attracted less than two thousand fans to a league match in nine years!

Admittedly there were extenuating circumstances: a freezing night, the third of three home games in a week and Man United reserves live on Sky in the League Cup. Still, the main factor is that we're in poor form in the lowest league we've played in since joining the pyramid in 1921.

In case you're interested, that previous low crowd was in November 2000, when we attracted just 1,584 to see us draw 2-2 with Cambridge United in a game I recall vividly as Lionel Perez was awesome and repelled shot after shot, allowing United to equalise in the last minute!

To put tonight's crowd into further context, we've attracted under two thousand to The Racecourse for a league game just four times in the last seventeen years!

Still, at least we haven't plumbed the depths of the 1980s. The ten lowest average attendances in our history were recorded in ten consecutive seasons then, a pattern which continued into the 1990s: we finished the 1990-1 season with ten consecutive sub-2,000 crowds!

There's time though, eh?

Will We See The Woods For The Trees?

Tonight's game could answer a few questions. Like whether the accepted line on Wrexham, that we excel against the better sides and are clueless when a team sets out to deny us, is true.

Forest Green have not traditionally been a side which parks the bus, but their dire league position and the loss of Jimmy Harvey might lead to a period of necessary retrenchment. If so, it'll be interesting to see how we cope with that approach, as we haven't dealt with teams that do that at all well so far this season, but last Saturday we showed signs that that could change.

Granted, Swindon certainly didn't look to defend deep or spoil the game in any respect. However, there was still a comparison to be made between our approach in that game and previous ones. We looked so confident with the ball at our feet, and players were demanding it too! It was a marked contrast with games like the debacles against Barrow, Salisbury and Hayes when, with the crowd on their back, they looked petrified.

If we can maintain that sort of confidence, and show some patience, we'll break sides down no matter how dogged they are. The more I think about this season, the more I suspect it's a question of mentality as much as anything: the players expect to find it easier against the better sides and are able to relax and play, but have it stuck in their heads that they can't brea down defensive teams. Dean Saunders needs to find a way to release the players and let them lose those inhibitions, and tonight's as good a time to start as any.

Poor Old Kempson!

Poor old Darran Kempson doesn't sound like he's having the happiest of times at Forest Green. They lost 3-1 at home to Altrincham on Saturday; he deflected in the first, was guilty of a howler to give away the second and was given a rating of four out of ten by the Non League Paper.

Ouch!

It must be something of a nightmare for him. He drops out of the Football League and must assume he's going to be a big name in the Conference, he's immediately picked for the first England C squad and has a strong start for us. Yet a couple of months later he's suffered a massive downturn in form, had fans on his back (although his reaction might not have been the wisest) and clearly surplus to requirements, farmed out to a side plummeting down the table towards the Conference South.

You'd have to be particularly hard-hearted not to feel sympathy for the guy, and once again you just have to look closely at Brian Little's decision-making. We had a huge hole in midfield in the Summer, having released Neil Roberts, Danny Williams and Mark Jones, then lost out on Paul Carden. However, Little decides to bring in a seventh centre back rather than plug that gap, saying when a player of Kempson's calibre becomes available you just have to have him. Little's impulse buying has done no favours to Wrexham or Kempson, and Little's comment has a particularly ironic feel right now.

Fixture Backlog Could Return To Haunt Us

It looks like we could lose another game on November 18th, as our home match with Forest Green Rovers coincides with the Welsh Semi-Professional side's game with Finland in Llanelli. Confirmation is expected this week, but with three of our players expected to be called up-and I believe Silvio might also be called up that week-we're looking at another postponement.

With the favoured, November date for a rearrangement of the Histon game already ruled out for that game, there's a real danger that we could be struggling come the business end of the season. maybe losing to Eastwood wasn't such a bad thing after all-now we need to throw the Setanta Shield and F.A. Trophy matches!