I woke up a bit earlier than usual. A mixture of the unexpected rays of sunshine in my face, a pretty disgusting hangover and the realization that we had lost, and lost badly, to our fiercest rival in this division. The Chavs ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Underhill last night after a night to forget for anyone connected to Barnet FC. After such a good vibe in the build up to this one and a feeling amongst the fans that tonight could be something different to the shambles of recent weeks, it was again a case of the eleven men on the pitch that were the talking point by the midway point of the second half and the man in the dugout from the final whistle onwards. All of whom were simply not up to the task.
The game started lively on and off the pitch with a great atmosphere between the two sets of the 2,722 crowd, 1,100 odd of which were The Chavs. The best chances of the first half came to the same man, Kevin Gallen, who spurned not one, but two one-on-ones within quick succession. The Bees were made to pay for these misses when The Chavs took the lead just under the half hour mark. Six minutes later Boro doubled their lead through what I can only remember as a scrappy goal, silencing the East Terrace once and for all.
The second half was just as frustrating to say the least. By this point the away side had complete control of the game, helped by their incompetence to put themselves about, in what was supposed to be a closely fought local derby. A complete lack of fight, passion and ability was shown throughout and I still cant remember on decent challenge from any of our players. Pathetic. The first of the central midfielders, Mark Hughes, was subbed early in the second half, closely followed by Southam, and eventually Kevin Gallen was put out of his misery and dragged off. The replacements failed to make an impression. The game was finally settled 12 minutes from time when The Chavs were awarded a penalty, which when converted meant I had an easy decision to make in leaving the ground. The penalty decision may have been harsh but the harder you work, the luckier you get, and we certainly didnt work hard enough.
After the third goal, I and most of the home support began to exit, heading for the Pav, a place that Im beginning to end up in more frequently that Id like when the game is still going on yards away. Im told that a lot of abuse was then aimed at the players and manager, with even one fan getting as close as possible to the dugout before hurling abuse at Stimson, therefore being ejected out of the ground by four stewards!?. This is unacceptable and the sooner incidents like this are stamped out of football the better!. Im also told that one or two season tickets were chucked in the direction of the pitch, whether this is true or not I am unsure. But it is quite clear to see that something needs to change and fast. The players dont seem fit for this level, or if the manager thinks so they are massively underperforming. The manager himself seems to have assembled a very unorganized team, after having the joy of pretty much picking every single player for the squad during the summer, even with a low budget, after the clubs clearout. I think we also have to look at the chairman who has a very big decision to make in the next few weeks regarding Stimson.
Maybe it wasnt the wisest decision appointing a manager who has just come off the back of a relegation and therefore isnt exactly at the peak of his career? Its all well and good securing The Hive which will be vital in years to come in bringing through young talent but what about the here and now? Something has to change, and fast. Whatever decision Tony makes, if anything at all, I hope its the right one and its made sooner rather the later. It almost cost us last year, we cant afford to run the risk again. If we go down this year well only have ourselves to blame for what has been a complete shocker of a season so far.
Next for the Bees the small matter of a home FA Cup tie against League 1 Charlton, which will mean no points meaning well be staying bottom for quite some timeour patience is running very low.
|