Hopes were high that a quick return to the Championship when the season started, Colchester soon put an end to that by cruising to a 4-2 win on the opening day however things started to perk up with 7 straight wins even though we had a bit of good fortune in some of the games. After the win at Wycombe on 27/9/2011 the wheels started to come off big time. Unluckily for Tango Man the front three whop at that time were scoring goals for fun, all were then injured although Proctor played on when he needed a hernia operation and he struggled and from then on never found his early season form. Defeat after defeat followed with some desperate performances compounded with comical defending which let side scores goals under 5 teams would not conceed. Tango Man started to lose the plot, players being played in wrong positions(Nathan Doyle being a prime example at Bury) and apparently no Plan B when Plan A was not working. About the time the losing run was getting close to double figures enter one Peter Ridsdale as new chairman taking over from the well loved Maurice Lindsay. After a stultifying goalless draw with Stevenage, the sands of time had run out for the Tango Man and his trusted assistant Horts and they were duly potted by the Riddler. The team of Alexander and Unsworth then took on the caretaker role and started off with a good win at Franchise FC. The 6 goal thriller against Carlisle on Boxing Day was the highlight of their reign, however by time we drew at Rochdale it was obvious that they were not going to get the job. Their last stand came with a 3-2 win over Wycombe. Enter the Messiah well not really Graham Westley who possibly considers himself close to God. His reign kicked off with a dreadful home defeat by Leyton Orient, but with rumours of discontent within the squad results were not forthcoming although we scapped a 1-0 win over Hartlepool. Slowly but sureful results and performances became marginally better until the week of the double header against Brentford and Sheffield Wednesday. The performance against the Bees will go down as possibly the worst I have seen in 42 years of watching them and the Wednesday performance on TV wasn't much better, made even more desperate by the molegate affair in respects of leaked tactics. From that moment however the team started to play better we actually won a game and drew 4 had an unbeaten run of 5 games which ended tamely with a defeat at Bournemouth on the last day of the season. Cup wise, we got to the third round of the Carling Cup, scraping past Crewe, before eventually losing at Southampton The FA Cup Tango played a weakened side though it could be argued that a lot of the sides we have put out this season have been weak and Southend duly beat us in a replay. Johnstone's Paint trophy should have seen us in the final but after beating Morecambe and Rochdale on penalties we lost to eventual winners Chesterfield by the same method another nail in the coffin for Tango. Players, we have used 40 plus this season, Parry being the standout for being the most consistent, whilst German keeper Stuckmann deservedly got player of the season for being absolute quality.There is a certain irony in respects of Stuckie, Horts was on Look North after he had been potted and said that they knew Stuckmann was World Class so they signed Turner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Highlights few and far between, Turner's goal against Notts County, the games against Yeovil and Carlisle at Deepdale, the well organised 90th birthday bash for Sir Tom and the never to be forgotten Alexander free kick against Charlton. Lowlight the entire season, defensive calamities and finishing 15th in an oh so poor division. The future, mass clear out this summer and a trip to Shrewsbury to look forward yippppppeeeeeeeeeeee.
A good summary, Maclad. Let's hope for a brighter one at the end of next year. Promotion, winners of the JP, League & FA Cups would be a start! Seeing B'pool going the other way would be the cream on top. Now that I am retired, I may take a trip up to Preston to see NE. I suppose one can still pay on the gate. It will be cheaper to travel by train, booked in advance, to watch NE than to buy a ticket to watch any of the London teams. If one could get one.
Yes you can pay on the gate, give it a few games before you make up your mind, it may still be rubbish next year
