14/12/07 - Writer's Block

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the trust.

As the winter starts to take a grip on us all, it appears that apathy towards OUFC is also setting in. Unwelcome lowest attendance records are being set every week at the moment and it is impossible to blame the fans (including those of our opponents) for not bothering. It appears that we are going to have to settle for this season being written off in the vain hope that next season will bring us more success. I cannot say I'm overly happy with the writing off or the vain hope. I've come to expect very little from OUFC but the rest of this season is really going to be a test of resolve. Unless a good run can begin straight after Christmas, the play-offs will be out of reach and late season trips to places like Ebbsfleet and Halifax will not be attractive to many!

The real problem with the dwindling attendances is the cashflow. Less money through the gates directly affects the club's ability to pay bills and muster a decent playing staff budget which of course affects the likelihood of success next season. Only a decent run of results could even begin to turn this trend around but with the current squad it seems like that will be a bit of a pipedream. There are plenty of players on the books who do not seem up to it and it has been reported that Patto will be looking to offload but where can he offload to?! Who is going to want our cast-offs particularly on the reasonable wages they will be earning?!

Presuming they can be adequately replaced (shouldn't really be hard!), I would attempt to get rid of Jeannin, Hutchinson, and Trainer. Others in the squad are not great but there is only so much that can be done in one transfer window. One of the bonuses of Patto being promoted from within is that he has watched these players all season and will have been able to spot a long time ago who the weak links are. If a new man had come in then it may have taken a while for him to realise quite where the problems lie.

At least we now have two exciting cup games to enjoy! I would be surprised if the combined attendances of these games gets much above 3,000. Meaning no disrespect to the other teams involved but we do not really want to be playing in the FA Trophy or Setanta Shield. If we got to the final I'm sure it would be a good day out and we would have a few thousand in attendance but other than the minor financial reward, we simply do not care and I doubt anyone will shed a tear when we inevitably go out of these competitions fairly early on.

So, for the rest of the season all we can do is get on the forums and try to work out which teams have had it worse than us over the years! We couldn't think of many!

Santa, if you are reading this, please forget my order for a new BMX and He-Man Castle Greyskull playset and bring us a play-off final win over Torquay. I promise to be a good boy forever and ever.

COME ON YOU YELLOWS!