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Is Donaldson 100% playing?

Yes.

It will be interesting to see if he gets a run out for the reserves v Sheffield United reserves tomorrow night.

You should see it at the home end, we have to wait longer than you do, but at least the food is good, well your food is, we just get Mars Bars at our end.

I have spent a number of minutes in the Alty home end looking at the pie stand at the corner of the home terrace, not for the food though!

 

That reminds me, I must remember to bring a flask and a tent in preparation for next Saturday and the 3 mile long queue at the pie stand at Moss Lane.

 

Yep, that's it Phil. Unfortunately we're now past the stage we're it's ok to say, 'ooh big side at home, take a point'. We Really really need a win next Saturday, will your lads oblige?

If they do I will be absolutely mortified - but then again I was absolutely mortified yesterday, and last Saturday, and the Saturday before that so...........

Phil he was the only difference between the sides when we played you earlier this season.

barr him I thought you were no better than us.

In that particular game Gaz you are right.

But "tomorrow is another day".......

Donaldson could still be out if Tamworth beat Welling,meaning York won't have a game on the 3rd.

That's very true Nasha but I wouldn't worry. Contrary to popular belief which is always ill-informed, City are not a one-man team and we will keep winning with or without Clayton Donaldson, it will just be somebody else who will be scoring (Farrell, Woolford etc). On top of that there is a strong likelihood we will have brought in another striker by then in any case. Of course Clayton is a class act, but we have class throughout the squad, one of the best we have had for a decade.

The biggest mistake Graham Heathcote could make is to think that York are beatable without Donaldson and I don't think he will because he is too good a manager to fall into that trap.

Nothing has changed - we come to Moss Lane in a couple of weeks expecting to win.

You'd be surprised how lazy some people are. If their coach parks up outside a place selling beer and match programmes why wouldn't they come in? The only thing missing would be a television but that is completely unfeasible. If it was done in the car park it is also possible that pass outs could be issued allowing people to drink at half time. This is where I feel we're missing out because away fans cannot have a pint at half time at Moss Lane. I'm sure there would be plenty of interest if it were an option.

I think, apart from the laziness, York fans are the kind of bunch who would prefer to be spending money that they know is going to Altrincham FC for the simple reason that we are also the type of club these days who need every single penny over the bar. In the past few years we have all suddenly become very aware of spending matchday money in the right places. Not long ago I wouldn't have gone into our Social Club on a matchday and would have gone to a pub instead, but now I do because I know the club needs my beer money.

As far as half-time is concerned, we are no longer allowed a drink at half-time at KitKat Crescent (much to the annoyance of people like me who love a beer whilst laughing at the Leeds/Scarborough scores on Sky in the club) and most fans have pretty much got used to it. Of course it's money down the drain but, with the size of the following we should bring, it would be a ballache to get served in any case, so a lot wouldn't bother.

As long as we can squeeze in to the club before and after the game I don't think anyone will be that fussed. I would rather have a decent beer in a nice warm clubhouse with a few Alty than stand in a makeshift shed in the "away end" in a "new stadium" where the beer tastes of piss. You may have heard of such a club, they are just down the road from you!

The root of the problem in my opinion was the Conference management's aggressive wish to have more teams going up and down from the Football League, thus flooding the Conference with clubs like Oxford, Carlisle, Exeter, York, Shrewsbury, Hereford, Chester, Cambridge etc. who were always going to raise the competition bar beyond the means of clubs like Weymouth, Canvey, Telford, Margate, Crawley, etc. not because they are/were better sides, but because their crowds, averaging a minimum of 2,500 and in Oxford's case over 6,000 (!), would always give them more money under the wage cap rule.

A well run part-time club like Altrincham will be here for years to come while the likes of Weymouth, Crawley, Gravesend, Accrington etc will disappear into the abyss precisely because these clubs cannot compete long term with clubs with a bigger financial structure. On a bigger scale, the same thing happened to Leeds - they tried to compete with Man United, Arsenal etc and managed it for a couple of years but it could never be sustainable. The ultimate in "sh*t or bust" football.