Tuesday 18th & Saturday 22nd February

[gary]

Obviously disappointing to concede a late equaliser against Colchester but in truth we didn't do enough to win the game. I'd have taken a point before kick off. Colchester are in decent form. It's good that we haven't got a midweek game this week. Actually the worst part of the day was getting out of their bloody car park. It took an hour !! Out of town stadiums are bad enough but they usually have car parks attached to them. I don't think I'll bother going there again.

 

[dedwardp]

Obviously disappointing to concede a late equaliser against Colchester but in truth we didn't do enough to win the game. I'd have taken a point before kick off. Colchester are in decent form. It's good that we haven't got a midweek game this week. Actually the worst part of the day was getting out of their bloody car park. It took an hour !! Out of town stadiums are bad enough but they usually have car parks attached to them. I don't think I'll bother going there again.

Better off parking in the Hollywood Bowl car park (£3), Park and Ride over the road (£3) or on a nearby estate with a ten minute walk. I'm always back home on the other side of Colchester by about 5:20ish.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Indeed, we've gone from a win away from 2nd to here. I'd like to blame it all on injuries, I mean it's a factor, but honestly we've just failed to replace Dilan Markanday and James Berry properly and generally our recruitment I don't think has been quite at it. I see Markanday can't get a game for Orient, I assume we're monitoring that very closely and have him in the WhatsApp groups still.

And Will Grigg.

 

[Optipez]

Indeed, we've gone from a win away from 2nd to here. I'd like to blame it all on injuries, I mean it's a factor, but honestly we've just failed to replace Dilan Markanday and James Berry properly and generally our recruitment I don't think has been quite at it. I see Markanday can't get a game for Orient, I assume we're monitoring that very closely and have him in the WhatsApp groups still.

It's a long physical grind of a season compared to National league, even moderate teams are very resilient and hard to beat. We had pretty similar form to you last season and we just needs the season to end.
We had one starter from the Wembley game today, almost total turnover of players.

 

[OneDecentLester]

It's been a surprising decline. I expected more from the NL champs this season.

Is it really that surprising considering what happened over Xmas with the injuries & then in January losing our 3 top goalscorers (Injury, sale & recalled) ??

Cook made it clear in Jan we weren’t going to go out and panic by spending big fees & offering long contracts in Jan (even though the money was there to do so if we wished) so that we can reassess properly in the summer with the amount of players we have OOC. With the more short term approach we went for in Jan, it means even if these new lads don’t work over the remainder of the season, we can get rid without any sort of cost as their loans will expire etc. The risk was always going to be that these new lads wouldn’t quite be at the level of who they were replacing, but at least it’s a risk that won’t burden us long term like poor permanent Jan signings would have done.

Just to give a bit of perspective as to where we’re at with the squad now compared to the beginning of the season… below is what I would say was our first choice XI at the start of the season:

Boot

Tanton (Injured & sent back to Fulham)
Dunkley (Injured since Oct)
Araujo (Injured & back at Fulham currently)
Gordon (Injured since Dec)

Oldaker
Naylor

Markanday (Recalled by Blackburn)
Dobra
Berry (Sold to Wycombe)

Grigg (Injured since Dec)


That’s 7 of what I would say was our first choice XI no longer available to us and haven’t been for a while. It’s not an excuse, but it just gives a bit of context as the shite we’ve had to deal with this season.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Is it really that surprising considering what happened over Xmas with the injuries & then in January losing our 3 top goalscorers (Injury, sale & recalled) ??

Cook made it clear in Jan we weren’t going to go out and panic by spending big fees & offering long contracts in Jan so that we can reassess properly in the summer with the amount of players we have OOC. With the more short term approach we went for in Jan, it means even if these new lads don’t work over the remainder of the season, we can get rid without any sort of cost as their loans will expire etc. The risk was always going to be that these new lads wouldn’t quite be at the level of who they were replacing, but at least it’s a risk that won’t burden us long term like poor permanent Jan signings would have done.

Don't you think it's a little surprising that at the end of February you are below Bromley in the league. A team that finished just the 17 points behind you last season after you took your foot off the pedal and cruised to the title?

You comfortably outspend your promotion buddies based on squad wages etc. maybe they haven't had quite as many injuries.

It's the age of the squad that would be a worry if I were Spireite fan. Although maybe those oldies aren't signed on long contracts I don't know.

 

[spireite]

And Will Grigg.

Absolutely, huge miss. Losing your 3 top scorers will hurt any team won't it.

Is it really that surprising considering what happened over Xmas with the injuries & then in January losing our 3 top goalscorers (Injury, sale & recalled) ??

Cook made it clear in Jan we weren’t going to go out and panic by spending big fees & offering long contracts in Jan (even though the money was there to do so if we wished) so that we can reassess properly in the summer with the amount of players we have OOC. With the more short term approach we went for in Jan, it means even if these new lads don’t work over the remainder of the season, we can get rid without any sort of cost as their loans will expire etc. The risk was always going to be that these new lads wouldn’t quite be at the level of who they were replacing, but at least it’s a risk that won’t burden us long term like poor permanent Jan signings would have done.

Cooks been making the right noises in front of the camera but reading between the lines I dont know if he hasn't known for quite a while that we need more rebuild here before we can compete. He's looked a bit dejected for a few weeks now, especially at the final whistle today. You can quite easily see a dozen going out and 7-8 coming in in the Summer.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Don't you think it's a little surprising that at the end of February you are below Bromley in the league. A team that finished just the 17 points behind you last season after you took your foot off the pedal and cruised to the title?

You comfortably outspend your promotion buddies based on squad wages etc. maybe they haven't had quite as many injuries.

It's the age of the squad that would be a worry if I were Spireite fan. Although maybe those oldies aren't signed on long contracts I don't know.

No it’s not a surprise at all to me considering the unprecedented injury crisis we’ve been through. I’ve edited my post above to show just how much our squad has had to change since the beginning of the season (including a brand new back 4!). Couple that with the fact we’re new to the division anyway, it’s made the job of transitioning back into the EFL even harder.

 

[spireite]

It's a long physical grind of a season compared to National league, even moderate teams are very resilient and hard to beat. We had pretty similar form to you last season and we just needs the season to end.
We had one starter from the Wembley game today, almost total turnover of players.

It's just time isn't it sometimes; lose the hangers on and crocks and have a real proper window after that.

It's a really good point that it's an attritional grind of a season. Even the bad teams aren't bad and set themselves up hard to beat. It's like playing Bromley and Solihull and Halifax every week. We rotated like you wouldn't believe last season, mostly because we were healthy and had the squad to do it, but whoever we rotated in did just as well as those rested. It's more difficult to do here that here, well almost impossible, you need your best out there every game.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Absolutely, huge miss. Losing your 3 top scorers will hurt any team won't it.

Cooks been making the right noises in front of the camera but reading between the lines I dont know if he hasn't known for quite a while that we need more rebuild here before we can compete. He's looked a bit dejected for a few weeks now, especially at the final whistle today. You can quite easily see a dozen going out and 7-8 coming in in the Summer.

Grigg the biggest loss of the lot. Losing that experienced figure head down the middle and his goals have been devastating to us. That’s why Madden being so shit has pissed me off so much, because you’d think an experienced player like that would be able to step up and fill those boots. But IMO he doesn’t lace Grigg’s boots from what I’ve seen, mega disappointment.

And on your second post, yeah Cook see’s the same issues we all see. It’s hard not to be dejected and feeling sorry for yourself when we’ve been through what we’ve been through injury wise, I’m sure it’s extremely frustrating for him. But like I said, I think we did the sensible thing in terms of addressing issues more shorter term than longer term in January, because it does give us that room to manoeuvre thoroughly in the summer, which I’ve no doubt is going to happen. Cook talks about levels all the time, and it’s very obvious he knows some of the lads we had last year in the NL (especially the defensive players) are not going to be good enough moving forward towards competing at the top end of this league next season, and they will move on I’m sure.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

No it’s not a surprise at all to me considering the unprecedented injury crisis we’ve been through. I’ve edited my post above to show just how much our squad has had to change since the beginning of the season (including a brand new back 4!). Couple that with the fact we’re new to the division anyway, it’s made the job of transitioning back into the EFL even harder.

It's a new division to Bromley as well right? Like a really new division on a limited budget.

 

[OneDecentLester]

It's a new division to Bromley as well right? Like a really new division on a limited budget.

Okay mate if you’re just going to ignore all the points I’m making I cba replying to you. Enjoy your night & your 3 points from today.

 

[spireite]

Grigg the biggest loss of the lot. Losing that experienced figure head down the middle and his goals have been devastating to us. That’s why Madden being so shit has pissed me off so much, because you’d think an experienced player like that would be able to step up and fill those boots. But IMO he doesn’t lace Grigg’s boots from what I’ve seen, mega disappointment.

And on your second post, yeah Cook see’s the same issues we all see. It’s hard not to be dejected and feeling sorry for yourself when we’ve been through what we’ve been through injury wise, I’m sure it’s extremely frustrating for him. But like I said, I think we did the sensible thing in terms of addressing issues more shorter term than longer term in January, because it does give us that room to manoeuvre thoroughly in the summer, which I’ve no doubt is going to happen. Cook talks about levels all the time, and it’s very obvious he knows some of the lads we had last year in the NL (especially the defensive players) are not going to be good enough moving forward towards competing at the top end of this league next season, and they will move on I’m sure.

I can't blame it all on injuries mate, I think we've gone backwards since the transfer window in a big way, and these are Paul Cook signings. That's been the biggest disappointment for me. Obviously McFadzean is an unlucky one, but I don't think he'd have fixed our inability to be threatening. Still, be rate, it was always going to be a adjustment season and we'll hopefully kick on next season. I've said a million times I think but I'd have taken a mid table finish in our first one back.

 

[spireite]

It's a new division to Bromley as well right? Like a really new division on a limited budget.

It's been no surprise to me one bit to see Bromley settle in here like they have. They always had the style to make a comfortable seat for themselves, but again they are probably a Michael Cheek injury away from struggling aren't they. What they've achieved is great though, they are the opitome of just Keep It Simple, Stupid which we do miss from our game at times.

 

[OneDecentLester]

I can't blame it all on injuries mate, I think we've gone backwards since the transfer window in a big way, and these are Paul Cook signings. That's been the biggest disappointment for me. Obviously McFadzean is an unlucky one, but I don't think he'd have fixed our inability to be threatening. Still, be rate, it was always going to be an adjustment season and we'll hopefully kick on next season. I've said a million times I think but I'd have taken a mid table finish in our first one back.

It’s not all on injuries, and I agree that recruitment wise we are now weaker than we were at the start of the window. But that was likely always going to be the case, as to replace Markanday, Grigg & Berry like for like would have cost us an absolute fortune in a tough January market, and 0 guarentee of whoever we brought in being at their level anyway, whilst also potentially then being stuck with them next year giving us less resources to be spent in the summer. The one bit of permanent business we did do that cost us a fee in bringing Duffy in, I think is a very good signing for us as he’s definitely got something to work with, loads of potential.

Personally, I much prefer the careful & considered approach we’ve gone for than panic buying when there’s literally no need to. Cook has already said in recent interviews that it’s about gradual growth & improvement on and off the pitch year on year, which will hopefully set us up better for the long term. Personally I’m fairly confident that with the backing he has from these owners, that he will have us back in league 1 within the next couple of seasons, and then consolidating as a good, solid league 1 club beyond that. There’s no one else I’d rather have in charge of that journey than Cook.

We’ve got a nicer set of fixtures coming up soon so hopefully we can go and get some wins on the board and put an end to some of the ridiculous panic posts I’m seeing across Facebook & X from many of our fans.

 

[mozzavale]

Just seen the Curtis red card incident. It's unbelievable. I genuinely think he's flicked him on the neck. If contact is the threshold for a red card, fair enough. It barely registers as contact though.

 

[leedsvaliant]

A much more comfortable result than the scoreline suggests. Salford were god awful....absolutely no clue how they have got to the edge of the playoffs. I think their only shot on target was the penalty which came out of nowhere.

Considering how depleted we are, I thought we played quite well. We looked a little short up front at times but looked the far superior team.

I hate to call out referees again but if you get chance, look at what Curtis was sent off for after the whistle. It's ridiculous and the referee didn't need to do that. Just get everyone to shake hands and walk off.

I'm pretty sure Karl Robinson was an influence. He was constantly in the 4th officials ear. He reminds me of one of those blokes that we all know. Got a few quid, drives a range rover, wears Hugo Boss, arrogant.

 

[spireite]

It’s not all on injuries, and I agree that recruitment wise we are now weaker than we were at the start of the window. But that was likely always going to be the case, as to replace Markanday, Grigg & Berry like for like would have cost us an absolute fortune in a tough January market, and 0 guarentee of whoever we brought in being at their level anyway, whilst also potentially then being stuck with them next year giving us less resources to be spent in the summer. The one bit of permanent business we did do that cost us a fee in bringing Duffy in, I think is a very good signing for us as he’s definitely got something to work with, loads of potential.

Personally, I much prefer the careful & considered approach we’ve gone for than panic buying when there’s literally no need to. Cook has already said in recent interviews that it’s about gradual growth & improvement on and off the pitch year on year, which will hopefully set us up better for the long term. Personally I’m fairly confident that with the backing he has from these owners, that he will have us back in league 1 within the next couple of seasons, and then consolidating as a good, solid league 1 club beyond that. There’s no one else I’d rather have in charge of that journey than Cook.

All fair points, I'd also much rather we spent in the summer rather than try and rebuild on the fly in January where there's sod all value. There's a couple of these I am relieved are only loan players that's for sure though.

 

[Cloudy]

Grimsby with their 4th successive victory. Going under the radar and could yet make the play offs but still outsiders to do so.

Are the top 6 places secured?

 

[Scum.]

MK Dons look so completely and utterly ineffectual. Still 25 mins to go but at this point they've provided absolutely zero threat.

And we should have more than the two we do really.

Just jealous that we had two thirds of the ball.

 

[OneDecentLester]

In other news, and apologies if it’s already been posted but seems Matt Sadler won’t be getting a Christmas card off Derek Adams this year…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1893323576616402968

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Okay mate if you’re just going to ignore all the points I’m making I cba replying to you. Enjoy your night & your 3 points from today.

Ignore all your points? What about the 'being new to this league' point? Wa that not valid ? I also introduced the money spent by the two promoted clubs. That's quite important mate, and shouldn't be ignored. Injuries have hurt Chesterfield like they have Vale, Notts and others but you can't ignore the rest.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Just jealous that we had two thirds of the ball.

That's the Dan Crowley effect

 

[mozzavale]

A much more comfortable result than the scoreline suggests. Salford were god awful....absolutely no clue how they have got to the edge of the playoffs. I think their only shot on target was the penalty which came out of nowhere.

Considering how depleted we are, I thought we played quite well. We looked a little short up front at times but looked the far superior team.

I hate to call out referees again but if you get chance, look at what Curtis was sent off for after the whistle. It's ridiculous and the referee didn't need to do that. Just get everyone to shake hands and walk off.

I'm pretty sure Karl Robinson was an influence. He was constantly in the 4th officials ear. He reminds me of one of those blokes that we all know. Got a few quid, drives a range rover, wears Hugo Boss, arrogant.

The sending off is embarrassing for the ref. Nailed on that gets rescinded. Has to, surely.

 

[Optipez]

In other news, and apologies if it’s already been posted but seems Matt Sadler won’t be getting a Christmas card off Derek Adams this year…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1893323576616402968

Having watched Morecambe under Adams's instruction kick Jodi Jones off the park and pretty much anything else that showed a bit of flair a fortnight ago, Adams and classy aren't exactly bedfellows.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Having watched Morecambe under Adams's instruction kick Jodi Jones off the park and pretty much anything else that showed a bit of flair a fortnight ago, Adams and classy aren't exactly bedfellows.

Came across as sour grapes to me, especially the comment about the little amount of chances Walsall made. Walsall have done that all year, it’s clearly no fluke how efficient they are.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Ignore all your points? What about the 'being new to this league' point? Wa that not valid ? I also introduced the money spent by the two promoted clubs. That's quite important mate, and shouldn't be ignored. Injuries have hurt Chesterfield like they have Vale, Notts and others but you can't ignore the rest.

Alright pal give it a rest now, you won today remember, no need to keep worrying about us. Getting as bad as them lot down the road you, they’ve got a 500 odd page thread you can involved with on their forum if you’d like to keep the CFC chat going.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Alright pal give it a rest now, you won today remember, no need to keep worrying about us. Getting as bad as them lot down the road you, they’ve got a 500 odd page thread you can involved with on their forum if you’d like to keep the CFC chat going.

It's not about Notts we were shit, horrific, lucky.

I ain't worrying about you, I'd be worrying if you were top 7.

Don't be afraid to respond regarding new to league and squad budgets and how they compare.

 

[SuperHans]

Obviously you’re a chesterfield fan and have a different view to that of mine, a Swindon fan. Your players stayed down at the slightest touch and were pushing and pulling Smith from minute 1. Smith won everything in the air despite that. Not for the first time this season the opposition did everything possible to get smith sent off and it’s to his credit that he stayed on the pitch despite the obvious provocation. Having said that it was a truly appalling game

Smith should’ve been sent off without question. Ref bottled that. We were shit though and didn’t deserve anything from the game.

 

[OneDecentLester]

It's not about Notts we were shit, horrific, lucky.

I ain't worrying about you, I'd be worrying if you were top 7.

Don't be afraid to respond regarding new to league and squad budgets and how they compare.

In your first post following your 3 points today you couldn’t wait to mention us fella so stop pretending you don’t care.

Oh and are you still comparing us to Bromley who we pumped 3-0 a couple of weeks back yeah?
Well done you, you’ve clocked they’re above us in the league at the moment (having played a game more), but once again, you’ve failed to acknowledge all of the other points I made about the unprecedented adversity we’ve faced this year that might (possibly) have played a little part in us picking up just the 8 points in the last 30 available.

Anyway as I said, Stagsnet is waiting for you, get yourself signed up, you’ll love it there.