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It's Going To The Wire
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Whatever next?
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By:
Eric Hitchmo
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25/04/2010
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More On Rotherham United
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You run out of things to say, you really do.
This latest showing of apathy and ineptitude shown by eleven men can be added to a long list of suchlike performances this season. Do they care? Do they actually care?
One shot on target, and you'd be hard pressed to describe it as a shot, was all we could muster. It was an utterly pathetic showing against a pedestrian Rotherham team who somehow felt that they needed to timewaste rather than bury us deeper into the hole we have dug ourselves into. Shocking.
The prospect of there still being some excitement when it came to the Grimsby game next week is something I've been looking forward to. But now however, it seems very scary and very real. Only a win on Tuesday at Accrington will secure safety and take the pressure off Saturday's game. I've been pleading for months for a game to get excited about, now there is a serious danger of that, but not in these circumstances. I can just vividly imagine Grimsby beating us. I can't see any other outcome. Such a result would take it down to the last day. Us or them. This mess is just not good enough.
It was a shambles from the start yesterday. I arrive at the ground at about five to three these days and there I was regular as clockwork as Guns 'N Roses blared out to remind us of the days when going to Underhill was fun. There I was greeted by 50 or so people queuing at the ticket office to hand in vouchers to get in for a fiver as part of the clubs' initiative to get more through the turnstiles. It was yet another example of a good idea that was poorly executed. Why put unnecessary strain on the ticket office? Why not just do what is strikingly obvious, do the simple thing and just let people pay £5 on the gate, on the day? Accrington are doing just that on Tuesday, and I can guarantee that noone will be left stranded outside the ground fifteen minutes after kick off. The home crowd was around 150 more than the previous game. The total crowd for this 'crucial' game was 1884. Says it all doesn't it?
At least those stuck outside were spared a fraction of this horrorshow. Rotherham were alright. Good going forward, but didn't have to break much of a sweat to cause us a problem. They hit the post with a finely struck free kick, and ten minutes from the break they had the lead through big, dangerous striker Kevin Ellison. Their keeper had barely touched the ball, if at all. The statistics reckon we had three shots throughout the 90. I don't remember them. Do you?
There's not much else I can say about it to be honest. The second half was no better. Rotherham wasted time for some reason, despite it being clearly obvious that they could cut us open at any time. Ellison struck the post again. We did nothing. Even Leach was bought on as a target man for long balls up front. We did nothing. No strikers on the bench, perhaps due to injury. We were hopeless. Rotherham strolled away with an easy win. We look perilously over our shoulders.
I could handle it if we were just poor but the team gave it their all, ran themselves into the ground and showed commitment to the cause. But this team do not. Too many times I have seen all of the ingredients lacking this year. There is no passion. Only one person has can say they've given everything and that is Mark Hughes. His attitude is exemplary and he should take the captain's armband from Micah Hyde. I should also mention Jake Cole. It is unfair to say he doesn't give it his best. He has kept us in countless games this season and is let down by those in front of him and will surely win the player of this dreadful season award.
So in conclusion, we have a team with no fight, a captain who doesn't captain, strikers who don't shoot and a serious threat of relegation on our hands. Where did it all go wrong?
I hope to see you all at Grimsby. This will be a massive game and could be the one to seal safety. It could also plunge us into some last day hell. Whatever happens though, we'll have a good day out on the train. At least that's a comfort.
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