OH DEAR , OH DEAR John , CHARLIE KNEW i did warn you about self backslapping , and being shot down in May , as Francis Albert used to say "THATS LIFE ", Im more concerned about Littlerich .

John i hope to see ya next week at the LSV , Charlie will be in Legends bar before the game with my good Fax friend Mick aka Bentleyman , come over for a drink . .

Stating the obvious but only at the end of the season will we really know after all the usual factors such as having a good run then the dip in form, injuries, a bit of good fortune and a bit of bad luck etc.

We are so unpredictable at the moment who can say what we will do come the end of the season,it could be extremely good or pathetically bad or anywhere in between.

On recruitment
I think the process when considering players is they are in to do a job.

The job will be team specific as each coach will have a certain way he wants his team to play and this will be the main focus with the occasional tweak factor depending on the conditions and opposition.

It comes down to can they do the job they were signed to do for the team most of the time taking into consideration that every player will have the occasional howler.

If they can't then you ask why not, is it something that can be fixed by changing a few things round without having to reinvent the wheel to make the club fit the player.

If they still can't do the job either because they are not good enough or they just can't fit into the team then they would have to be replaced because it would mean that not only were they not playing very well for themselves but the team as a whole would be obviously negatively affected.

Where some of the players are at the moment in this situation I think is still work in progress but the BOD, KH and the rest of the coaching staff will be aware of what is going on and if necesary make the changes if required, they think too much of the club to do anything else.

There is only so much you can do mid season so I don't expect anything radical anytime soon.
It may just be getting some of the players back and getting the right blend and way of playing.

In spite of the obvious dip in form and recent poor play nevertheless having played everybody and just starting the second half of the season we are still near the top end of the table so if we could get it right then we will be in with a shout.

If not then I'm sure most if not all of us are battle hardened enough with watching the Fax over the years to be able to live with it.

Come on the FAX not over yet.

Brambani's kicking game and our inability to catch, (Worrincy & Fieldhouse), Henderson putting in an almighty performance, and Sheffield's line speed in defence were our downfall last night. It looked like a lack of 'heart' from some of our team, but I thought Thackeray played well. Tried damned hard to slow them down and certainly put in the tackles. There was too much shooting out of the line and leaving gaps big enough for a super-tanker to go through. I have no doubt that many players are competing with injuries, and it is unfortunate that our squad isn't big enough to cope with that.

Onwards and upwards.

As i said couldn't make the game.

How did our bench do, did it have any real impact or just stay the same?

We seem to be a bit light at the moment.

I am convinced that before we lost Robbo and later Adamson having that extra size kept us on top in the forwards for longer periods.

If we could get Morro, Robbo and Luke Adamson back and possibly Micky Nan in the centres the extra grunt could make a difference.

What do you guys think?

Agree, but two-points, whenever Bambini kicked high in the first half Rob had no cover and yet there were three men on him on both occasions same in the second half with Patterson. Point two yes Thackeray put in a lot of tackles but he also can be guilty of "shooting out of the line"
The biggest brain f"rt was when Scott kicked on the first tackle, even if Patterson had caught it he wouldn't have got far.
I still say take two points when offered, I think that would have put us in a different position, two more points and ball back.
As you say, onward and upward, hopefully.

Too often Rob is left without support on high balls and then everybody says he can't cope, help the lad out and see what he can do.

That was our big problem !! Last tackle, we watched the ball go to Brambini, let him kick and watched as 3 Sheff players competed against an isolated player.

Throughout Sheffield played with more passion and enthusiasm, looking like a team

Exactly NB and as said before we know certain teams will target him which doesn't take much thinking about.

That being the case to counteract it shouldn't take that much thinking about, he needs some support, by putting some real pressure on the kicker and get some of his team mates in the same area of the field.

It's not only Rob most players at most clubs when isolated like this would be under pressure.

It not neccessarily down to abilty either a lot of the times he does clean up well but the dynamics of it make it more favourable to the on rushing attacking players who are moving at speed against the more static defending guy who's trying to get set while watching a spirraling ball with the thunder of boots in his ears.

Who is going to get smashed, the defender.
Who is not going to be able to get off the ground as easily, the defender.
Who is going to get punished more if he knocks on, the defender.
Not very good odds on coming up with an advantage for Rob and Co in that type of play.