Spoutings from the Sheffield Cobbler

30/1/98

Please Mr Atkins, partner Seal with Freestone! We have the ability to play nice football, but the fact that Atkins would rather put Gayle on than Seal at 'boro shows his tactical preference.

We need to tighten up our 2nd half performances if we are to do well this season. We need to play for the full 90 minutes, and implement the policy that the best form of defence is attakc. And one more thing, let's stop bringing everyone back for corners - please, PLEASE!

16/1/98

I enter the new year with optimism. Freestone is a class player, and the Cobblers have started to play football on the floor. All's not quite perfect yet. The Leicester performance was dire. But I have seen enough to feel quite optomistic. I'm a bit worried about Woody's loss of form though. Let's hope he regains it soon!

1/12/97

Well, the Burnley performance showed that we can attack and play attractive football. We lost, but that was due to our old failing of sitting back on a 1-0 lead. If Atkins sorts that out, then I don't see any reason why we can't return to winning ways. Gibb is starting to turn on the style, and once we have Parrish back we might be able to service the front men better. If and when this occurs, I believe we will pick up again.

25/11/97

My criticisms of a few weeks ago remain.We show in flashes, the potential of the team. This is the passing play that brought us so much joy in the early part of the season. With the absence of Gayle, we have again started to show that we can play a different game from the 'long ball'. Against Exeter and Burnley we have a good chance to play attractive attacking football. From the only Burnley performance I have seen this season, it is clear that althought their attack is fast and effective, their defensive cannot cope with people running at it. We must do this if we are to beat them.

5/11/97

I have now seen 6 games this season: 2 wins, 2 defeats and 2 draws. In the course of teh last month we have become draw specialists. Four 1-1 results on the trot, and we have now drawn 7 of our 16 games. The reason for this is that the goals have dried up. Seal hasn't scored for a month, and we still haven't scored more than 2 in a game.

For some reason, we have reverted to last season's bugbear, namely the long ball. Unfortunately, it has lost its element of surprise. Gayle is not winning enough posession, and Seal isn't profiting from what Gayle does win. The end result is that our defence has to absorb a lot of pressure, because our attacks consist of a hoof upfield.

Ironically though, at Blackpool, once we were 1-0 down we played nice passing football, and Ali Gibb as a winger. Immediately we looked better and we got our reward. I hope that Ian atkins takes note.

Another thing that is narking me at the moment is that our throws hug the touchline, and only ever vary when we are in range for a Hunter special into the penalty area. I don't understand the thinking behind this, but game after game I see it.

You might think from what I have written that I am a doom merchant. Well, to a degree I am, but it is only becasue I have seen us play well this season, and the long ball frustrates me. Let's hope November sees a return to form!

16/9/97

Third in the division, and still unbeaten away from home.How many of us would have bet on that before the season? Seal is still banging in the goals, and we seem to have developed the knack of scoring in the first minute. What could be better?

The Oldham game gave us, I believe our first test against genuine promotion chasers. We battled hard and earned a draw. This is to our credit. But there must be a note of caution from this game. The Oldham passing game at times made our defence look amateurish. Guts and luck kept us alive. I don't believe we can rely on this alone if we are to have any hope of a play-off or promotion place.

As last year, I still firmly believe that 11 men back for corners is a mistake. We hoof the ball clear and are immediately under pressure again cos it is always an opponent who picks up the ball. I lost count of the amount of times that a corner followed a corner in the Oldham game.

But despite this criticism, I think we can justifiably feel proud of the team and their fighting spirit. Let's hope the next 7 games are as succesful!

9/9/97

So far so good. I've seen 3 of the first 5 games, and we've won 2 of them, both away from home! This is a welcome change from last year when I saw 10 away games, and we didn't win one of them.

What I have seen so far is really encouraging. Our defence is strong having been bolstered by the signing of Brightwell (who looks impressive). When Rennie returns to fitness we shall have an embarassment of riches in defence.

The combination of Seal and Gayle is working well. Seal in particular has shown a genuine striker's instincts, netting 6 goals so far this season. Gayle has thusfar silenced the boo-boys by being the club's only other scorer.

Heggs, Conway and Van Dulleman have not really had enough of a go for me to make much of a judgement, but in all I think Atkins has been very shrewd in the transfer market.

As I write this, we are 6th in the league. We have 3 tough matches in a row, and if we can come through them with 4 points I shall be very pleased. We are already doing better than I expected, so keep it up boys!

Pre-season

Being exiled in Sheffield means that I will probably only see the Cobblers around 15 times this season. As anyone who is a member of the Cobblers email group will know, that won't stop me spouting forth.

At regular intervals throughout the season I shall give my verdict on the team, the management, hell...anything!

What follows is the first (albeit brief) offering of the 1997/8 season:

This season will be difficult for the Cobblers. After the euphoria of last May's Wembley triumph, we have to ground our feet once again. We are playing in a higher league and week in, week out, we will have to pit our wits against better teams than we faced in Division 3. We have a number of new players to absorb into the squad. This won't be easy, but I believe that Atkins has bought wisely. New players like Heggs and Brightwell seem to have been excellent purchases, and whilst it is sad to say goodbye to Neil Grayson, Heggs is probably a better long term prospect.

Realistically we cannot expect much more than consolidation from this season. I would expect us to stay up, and secure a mid-table position. My prediction is that we shall finish somewhere between 14th and 18th. If I have to stick my neck on the block I would say we will finish 16th.

After last season's Windscreen Wipers Cup exploits, I don't believe it's out of the question for us to hope for a Wembley trip this season.

Optimism is high around the club after last season's finale. If we show the same fighting spirit this season as we did last, I believe we could start to feel comfortable in Division 2 and put our past traumas behind us.