St.Albans game

[Luton Roman]

Back to the bread and butter in the delightful surroundings of St.Albans on Saturday. A reminder that there is a street market in the city centre which is only around 10 mins walk to the ground. There is also a Xmas market near the Abbey, about 5m walk to the city centre. Plenty of very good pubs to choose with The Boot having hundreds of years of history right in the centre. The Mermaid is the usual hostlery immediately pre game which is between the city centre and ground. Also dont forget the full admission price is £15 at St.Albans.

[comrade powell]

Easily the nicest town we play in, with plenty of culture and some really excellent pubs. I led many school trips there over the years and still have some Verulamium worksheets if you're interested, Gerry!

[Luton Roman]

Understandable focus on the big cup game(s) but hope the team is focused on tomorrow. Only 3 points off the play offs !

[comrade powell]

So do I. We're playing a team who were simply awful at TP just a few weeks ago, lost 3-0 in the trophy midweek and whose fans seem to be in open warfare on their forum! We had a really impressive away record for the 1st 2 months of the season but things have slipped recently. Tomorrow's game looks like the ideal opportunity to build a little momentum. See you at the Xmas market, Gerry!

[pete mac]

Another really bad away result.

I think our league season is faltering. Too many cheap defeats against poor teams.

Frustrating and disappointing

[Ashley]

Awful. One real chance, no creativity at all. Baffling selection. Very very disappointed

[Luton Roman]

Disappointing. Ran out of ideas. Walsh howler costly. Artus ran the show but no penetration in box. Need to beat teams like that to do anything this season. Maddeningly inconsistent for most of the last 45 years ! Mermaid pub never disappoints tho. Good city following.

[Marc Monitor]

Maddeningly inconsistent for most of the last 45 years !

Ha, I don't know whether that is a typo but it is bloody good.

[miker]

I've been a city supporter for years through good times and bad. I understand the financial constraints that the club has to cope with and accept that this has an effect on the number and quality of the players and other staff that we have. Also I have never criticised any player or staff associated with the club in public as I believe that all concerned do their best. Of course things go wrong; a keeper lets a soft shot in, a forward misses an open goal, a midfielder looses an easy tackle which leads to a goal conceded or a manager makes a poor substitution. These things happen to all teams and are part of football. I just wish the team that starts a game consisted of the best players to win. Too often, like it seems today, we have not started like that and have ended up with players being brought on to chase a game trying to salvage something. I find it very frustrating.

[Luton Roman]

Definitely 45 years ! Lol. St Albans 1 point off play offs. Absolutely unbelievable. Anyway having a consoling pint in their lovely town.

[A36]

Alright for you, I couldn't even get out of Clarence Park. Went back the way we came in only to find locked gate after locked gate. How bizzare is it to lock the gates before the match has even finished? Didn't even have time for another pint in the Mermaid. Just added to the frustration from the match, so much possession, so few decent shots!

[cannonball]

Totally baffling team selection yet again with 2 of our best players/goalscorers on the bench and with McCootie just not seeming to be able to step up to anywhere near the mark at this level, we end up chasing a game against 10 players and losing to a scabby 1st minute goal we apparently gifted them.

Nothing will change unless the Directors are prepared to do something about it and with the depressing Club Statement and vote of confidence given to the Management team recently, it is pretty obvious that whilst the club gradually fades away through lack of interest, the men in charge will stay nicely in their little bubble and will only realise that the club is in a huge crisis both on and off the field when it is too late.

Win next week and the money from that game will probably keep some interest going and get us to the end of the season but lose - and the odds have to be stacked against us with the current management muddled selection mindset - and the season is basically over and a 250-300 gate will be the norm every week not just on a Tuesday night.

The club desperately needs change, new energy and fresh ideas, certainly on the pitch without a shadow of doubt, but probably off the pitch as well....otherwise the once proud name of Bath City will continue to slide downhill to a place I would hate to see it end up.

[pete mac]

Agree with Cannknball. Something has to change. The Club is fading away

[Peteboa]

Despite our respectable league position I cannot remember such ill feeling at City.

Pete Mac is right...the club is fading away. For us to merely exist it's a fundamental need to have unity and cohesion from all factions of the club.  This clearly doesn't exist right now.

Whether or not you believe (which i certainly don't) that the MANY disgruntled fans are simply disloyal, short sighted, impatient etc is actually completely irrelevant. The plain truth is that whilst attendances are falling and the clubs debts are mounting, something has to change. Or we will die.

Unsurprisingly it appears that the only people who disagree are the current clique in control of the club.

[threeday week]

Totally agree with the previous three posts

[Ancient Mariner]

Like miker I have never in open forum criticised anyone connected with the Club. That is not my style for a number of reasons. But I must endorse what Cannonball and pete mac have said about the club seemingly fading away. I get the impression that heads are in the sand on the footballing side and also from a club administration point of view. I really do hope that the Board is being proactive in seeking some new ideas and a fresh approach to the running of the club. I am not saying that current Directors should walk but maybe they need support from some judicious Non Executive appointments. People without baggage who might be able to suggest changes and improvements, which are not obvious now.

The bottom line is that we are still saddled with significant historical (and growing) debt and this is impacting on the "product" that can be delivered.
It won't get better unless there are major changes, some of which would unpalatable to many.

[comrade powell]

Pleased to see that an increasing number are looking at the long term future of the club rather than concentrating on another woeful display today. Next Saturday could well be the highlight of the season and will hopefully be a great day out for City fans, but it won't provide the miracle which appears to be needed to turn things round off the pitch.

Hopefully there will be an AGM before too long - those of you who are shareholders need to be there and voice your concerns.

[Ashley]

I think in many ways today sums up a lot of the off field issues. It's no wonder we're losing fans at home and away with baffling selections and dismal performances.

We need changes to draw people back - people will pay to be entertained.

[LB]

Despite our respectable league position I cannot remember such ill feeling at City.

It seems a pity that going into one of our biggest games for several seasons there is such a division at the moment between the supporters and the board/management. As soon as Rovers were relegated I hoped that we would draw them either in the 4th qualifying round of the F A Cup or the 1st round of the F A Trophy, but having got the latter I now find myself not looking forward to it as much as I think I should.

I have to say that when I saw yesterday's line-up it looked to me not for the first time by any means that we were set up simply not to lose, against a side we should have been able to beat on the evidence of the game at Twerton a few weeks ago. Sadly such a negative approach is only too common and falls apart when you concede a goal in the first minute.

I would like to think that we will take the game to Rovers on Saturday, and not sit back and let them come at us - I would rather lose 5-1 'having a go' than 1-0 not having done so - but I have no confidence that that will happen. My concern is that the mindset of the current management is that the more the supporters call for Ross Stearn to start a game the less likely he is to do so - hopefully they will prove me wrong on Saturday, but I am not holding my breath.

[miker]

There is a short video of the St Albans game on their fans forum.

[comrade powell]

I would like to think that we will take the game to Rovers on Saturday, and not sit back and let them come at us - I would rather lose 5-1 'having a go' than 1-0 not having done so - but I have no confidence that that will happen.

Apart from a few isolated games, our defence has looked pretty dodgy this season. The farcical mistake which led to St Albans' goal yesterday was not a one off and I fear we could suffer a hammering similar to what Rovers handed out to Dorchester if we try to contain them. Hopefully we catch them on an off day - but unless we are geared up to attack, the opportunity is unlikely to be taken.

[stillmanjunior]

The only bonus is bar that Dorchester game (top of Conference to bottom of Southern League is a huge gap), Rovers haven't scored that many goals. Last two games they've drawn 0-0 as well...so have probably saved all their goals up for Saturday.

[comrade powell]

Agreed. So will that encourage us to be a little daring or hope to contain them? Ironically, some of our best results in the cup have been built on backs to the wall performances, but I'd guess we had players who could carry out the defensive side much better. If St Albans and Thurrock are capable of scoring some of those embarrassing goals against us, what will a full time team do?

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