Lifelong, reasonable fans are in agreement that this is the worst Altrincham side they've ever seen.
Neil Young has destroyed the connection between the fans and players. How are we supposed to get behind a team that changes so rapidly on a weekly basis? All of these loan signings. They aren't our players. They don't belong to Altrincham FC, we're supporting a team of strangers. Even when that Sinclair scored the opening goal yesterday it all seemed so strange to me. I found myself only half-celebrating.
The single positive taken from yesterday was the warm reception Damian Reeves got upon entering the field, when scoring, and at full time. Fans showing him the respect he is not being afforded by the manager and I think he appreciated that. If I was him I'd hand in a transfer request today. What a travesty it is when the most prolific striker in the league is sat on the bench behind two lads who, prior to the warm up, had never kicked a ball together. Stick Damian Reeves in a side that actually creates chances in the box and he'll score another twenty goals at this level, no sweat. Reeves is not the problem. Playing David Lynch at left wing and expecting him to create chances is.
Along with Damian, the likes of James Lawrie and Jake Moult looked thoroughly depressed. Not just at full time but during the game. Their heads have well and truly gone under this manager, a huge shame considering how Lawrie started the season so well. Say what you like about them with regards to last season, but at least they know what it means to play for this club and it really does shine through now they're part of such a disastrous squad. It makes you realise that what Lee Sinnott put together really was decent.
Sinnott's philosophy was the right one for this football club. That's not me looking towards the past as a means for the future, but what Lee did with our budget made so much sense in comparison to the operations of this clown. I know I criticised the barebones squad approach last season when we were hit by injuries but we are a club that is at its optimum when running with a smaller squad.
We have a competitive budget for this level but that isn't being represented in our performances or our league position. Why? Because Neil Young has used the budget putting together a weirdly big squad. When we were dynamite at this level we had a squad of about 18, 11 of which were being paid handsomely because they were top players for the level. Now we've got well over 20 players, the majority of which are either not good enough for this level or are too young to accept the responsibility of the challenge ahead of them.