Not the foggiest!

Salford City (A) League 2 - 26th December 2024

The last time I was entrusted with the Beans typewriter for match report duties was Grimsby away back in September and an afternoon in the Cleethorpes sunshine that had me daring to dream of a successful campaign. Since then Grimsby have got themselves into play-off contention whereas we’ve stumbled and fallen away. League 2 seems to be a very much of a muchness division and those play off positions will go to the wire although at the moment it feels as though that’s very much none of our business. 

So, Salford away. A trip to the most shrug club in League 2. There’s no such thing as a Salford City supporter and it’s hard to get worked up about them. They aren’t the pantomime villains outspending everyone, like in non-league days, although seeing Cole Stockton in their ranks shows that they still have a few quid to spend. Even Salford don’t really seem to know what they are anymore. Playing ‘Dirty Old Town’ over the public address system doesn’t really strike a chord in leafy Prestwich. 

Anyway, to the game, and we once again started reasonably brightly with a few sweeping moves and half chances but our hope of a Christmas cracker soon started to fade in the mizzle and mist of the passive Peninsula. 20 minutes in and a soft free kick given against Foley was swung in, eluding the combined efforts of Feely and Farman and into the net. Bugger. This team don’t really seem to have it in them to come from behind but hey, we could have got an abandonment out of it if the weather had got worse. Unfortunately the fog had as much conviction as our defending on 33’ as several chances to clear the danger were passed up and the ball once again found itself in our net.  Another soft goal to add to the collection this season. 

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Plenty of possession but not enough purpose. Set pieces but not enough quality to make them count. No presence up front as Acquah frustratingly failed to back up decent performances against Walsall and Fleetwood with another one here. At some point the penny will drop with that lad and I can only hope it’s us that reaps the benefits, rather than it being a moment of clarity when he’s running out in National League South in a few years time. 

We rang the changes in a forlorn attempt to get back in the game but I remain to be convinced that Popov could affect a game of Subbuteo, let alone strike fear into L2 opposition. Dallas fared a little better but still, we didn’t put their goalie under anywhere near enough pressure.

Cowps knows what happened for the third – I couldn’t see what was happening down the other end in the fog and I haven’t yet summoned up the mental fortitude to look it up online. 

In the dying embers, Telford, Tiensia and Kirk were cosmetic changes at best and it all just fizzled out, if you’re generous enough to think we ever really caught fire all afternoon. 

Full time and the away end vented although it wouldn’t make the top 50 toxic endings to a Barrow game in my stint of supporting. Some boos, some choice words and a chant telling the gaffer his presence is no longer required. But it was limited in number and duration and, to be honest, 1 win in 11 would get a similar if not worse reaction from pretty much every crowd in the league. Your correspondent didn’t join in with the hostilities but I didn’t clap them off either.

Back to the car and we pulled up a seat at the Carlisle United Support Group on Radio Cumbria. Less comforting was our Clemence’s interview, referencing how we’d had more touches in the box than Salford….sorry, I know I’m an analogue fan in a digital data-driven game but I need something stronger to sooth the wounds of a 3-0 defeat. There’s no column in the league table I look at for xG or final third entries. Danny Livesey summed it up neatly when he said that even when we were on the attack there was no mounting sense of excitement from our fans – we all just knew what would happen, didn’t we? All fart and no shite. Again. 

It would be unfair to lay all the blame at the manager’s door. Notwithstanding the run of injuries, those on the pitch haven’t really helped him. The ‘defending’ today, the inability to mark a man at Chesterfield or stop a cross at Bradford…I could go on but I really don’t think that’s stuff that’s being drilled into them on the training ground. It’s up to the individuals involved to take responsibility and do their bit.  At the back, in the middle and up front. More conviction, more quality, more often.

Over to you lads on the pitch – starting at Tranmere, please.