The second half was very different to the first. I suspect Cotterill ensured they doubled up on Diamond, knowing he had the keys to unlock their defence. They knew if they could nick a goal, they’d likely take all three points, but if they didn’t concede, they’d do the same. So, rather than come out at us, I thought they did a fine job of choking our main attacking threat. I’ve seen enough of Cotterill’s Shrews to know that they can do it well if they want to close a game down and see it out. In our seven league meetings since coming back into the Football League, we’ve failed to score in four matches against them, and not once has there been more than two goals. Oddly, in the two cup matches we’ve played against them, we’ve scored six and conceded three. Anyhow, it proves to me they’re functional, effective and do what they do well. They’re not all long balls like Gillingham or Wycombe, but they have a similar feeling about them in terms of nullifying threats.
So, when you then give them a second goal, to put it bluntly, you’re buggered. It was another weak one to concede, or rather it was a weak chance to concede, finished off well. It came 15 minutes after the break, 15 minutes in which little had happened at either end. Mind you, as you can see from the Sofa Score graphic I include around attacking intent at the bottom, we were trying to get forward, but the nervousness had shifted from them in the first 15 to us after the break. Their second killed the game stone dead – I don’t think even the most optimistic City fan thought we’d conjure up two goals on a ground that we’ve only scored two league goals on in seven visits (and one of those was a penalty).
The main issue is when we’re chasing a game, we don’t have the tools to make effective changes. Sure, we brought Hops on and went two up top with Diamond in behind, looking to cause them a few more problems, but we don’t have the pace to bring off the bench someone like Vernam to ask a few questions. That’s the reality with injuries and (dare I say, for fear of repeating) and outcome of only having two out-and-out strikers on the books. Look at their changes – Pike and Bowman wouldn’t get in our starting XI, as they don’t get in Salops, but they are options up top. Every team we play seems to have a nasty striker on the bench, or a target man, who can come on and perform a job or pace to turn a game. Tom is still recovering from injury, but for me, he’s not a man who changes things from the bench; he performs best when he starts games. That’s our reality, but we’re only one transfer window into the Mark Kennedy era, so I’m not going to worry about it right now; it’s just how things are.
I’ve read the second half was a tough watch, the players showed no passion and all the other hyperbole I usually see after we’ve lost a game, but the reality is none of that is entirely true. It wasn’t free-flowing football, but we’re still a bit caught up in Appleton’s full season in charge as supporters. What was it James sang in Sit Down? “If I hadn’t seen such riches, I could live with being poor” – we’ve watched much worse than that over the years, but because we’ve seen Brennan Johnson and Jorge Grant in Imps shirts, we now feel like anything less is a travesty (by we I mean the vocal minority). In truth, we created a couple of chances and still had a go. Max Sanders forced their keeper into a fingertip save, and whilst we weren’t able to get into the rhythm of the first 20 minutes, I think that had as much to do with an effective opponent as it did us being disinterested or whatever other accusations have been levelled at the team on Twitter.
Obviously, the second half wasn’t brilliant, otherwise, I’d have more to say about it, but I’m not panicking at all. I looked at the league table immediately after the game, and we’re still in decent shape, much more so than some of the clubs we’ve considered rivals over the years. Look at Scunthorpe, a team whose fans I fell out with when Alex Woodyard was linked with them. Look at Gillingham, a team who felt they were our equals a year or two ago. Look at MK Dons, a big-spending team laden with expectations who last season were blowing us away and aiming for the Championship. Between now and May, we’ll win some games, lose some games and maybe even draw a ton more as well, but we’re competitive, we’re solid off the field, and we’re evolving on it. I know I keep saying that with what seems like an ‘I don’t care’ attitude, but it’s not ambivalence; it is actually more like an ‘I’m not worried’ approach, something I could not say after we lost by the same scoreline at Cambridge.
I’ve put the player rater up for you, but I already know what will happen – players will get fives and fours as if this was as bad as the same fixture last season because defeats hurt, but if you’re objective, stand back and look at the bigger picture, you’ll see this wasn’t a bad performance. We shot ourselves in the foot twice, we missed some chances, and we ultimately got what we deserved; nothing. On another day, we’re two up after thirty minutes, Jamie Robson jumps with his arms down, and maybe we win 2-1, literally by doing nothing else differently at all. Who then would be worrying or screaming about a lack of application? Nobody.
I never liked those ‘keep calm and carry on’ signs, but there’s no better advice right now (although my advice to myself once this is published is going to be something like ‘lay down and lament that rogue pint of Stella’). One rainy day doesn’t spoil a summer, one bad actor doesn’t ruin a film, and one defeat doesn’t define a season.
Keep the faith; up the Imps.
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