Argh! An update!

As I sit here on the bus writing this post, Leek still sit in the relegation zone. The Blues (why the blues, I wonder? We play in blue, sure, but how many teams in Britain are called ‘The Blues’?) occupy 20th position. This is a marked improvement to the position we were in last time I updated, when we were bottom. Whilst not a complete reversal of fortunes, Leek are now in a position to control their own destiny once more, and not have to rely on others to keep them in the division.

I do hate it when people say ‘I told you so’, but on this occasion, i’m allowing myself a little gloat. I’m referring to the situation with Paul Moore. 6 games into his reign, and all sorts of questions and accusations were being levelled at him on the forums. People were already calling for his head! But the current run of form has prompted a re-think by the majority of naysayers, and it’s oddly quiet on the moaning front. Just to reiterate a point: Leek and Potatoes has supported Paul Moore fully from day one :)

Onto a more personal note, what have I been up to instead of updating this site? Well, Jonny and I stewarded once more against North Ferriby, a match resulting in a win. We’re stewarding again tomorrow, and will continue to do so as much as possible, there’s a bit of a shortage of help at Harrison Park.

I recently took my wife’s nephews to go and watch some ‘proper’ football whilst they stayed with us for a few days. Trusty Bury FC repaid my faith by getting promptly stuffed 4-0 at home to Wycombe. Ho hum. On Jonny’s side of things, Derby sit atop the Championship, and the multi-million pound premiership beckons.

But we’re Leek fans now, and only one premier league matters… The Unibond Prem.

See you at Harrison!

…hasn’t it? These updates are becoming less and less frequent, and it’s not really intentional. When we started this blog, we wanted to present two outsiders’ point of view of Leek Town, the fans and everything associated with the club. We try to keep it humourous and light-hearted where we can, it’s always good to chuckle.

But with football clubs, there’s always the pitfall of becoming involved too heavily in the team. You find your moods becoming affected depending on how the team are doing, and you find yourself participating in heated debates on the club forum. To be honest, with the form Leek have been (not) enjoying, it’s been hard to write anything humourous, hard to write anything really.

Today Leek beat North Ferriby United 5-1. Away. That’s no mean feat, when you consider the losing streak they were on before that. A losing streak that prompted numerous attacks on the management team on the aforementioned forum. A losing streak that had even die-hard fans consigning themselves to the drop this season. I’m not naive enough to say wow, this is it, we’ll win every game now. But it IS a corner turned, I feel. The worse thing about losing streaks, aside from the humiliation that comes with them, is the getting stuck in a rut. Once you lose a few in a row, morale hits new lows, and it’s hard to get that spirit back. Whether it be football or running a coffee shop, I find that teamwork and morale are the two most essential factors in being successful. Maybe this win will give the lads a lift in the dressing room.

Come on you blues.

I’ve always had a bit of a potty mouth. I don’t know why it is, but Saturday required all my restraint to avoid unleashing it, and now is taking little less.
Leek Town played like a pair of soiled, unmanned underpants on Saturday against a lacklustre visiting Ossett Town side. I can think of one highlight, and that was one of their players getting sent off; I wasn’t present for this though as I was scurrying around behind someone’s car looking for yet another ball that had helpfully been spooned into the main road running past the stadium by the Ossett strikeforce.

The final score was 3-0, and even in the second half when Ossett were down to ten men, you couldn’t really tell; we were played off the park all afternoon, and the floods of fans leaving the ground at about 80 minutes in were a sombre reflection of that fact.

More than a few people have commented that this has been the worst ninety minutes they’ve ever seen from Leek. It’s certainly mine. I just hope we can take some solace in the fact that at least some of the football we’ve seen played by Leek recently has been good, despite the results suggesting otherwise.

I’ll see you all on the second of December. I really hope we see something vastly superior to this result - I’m patient enough personally but the grumblers are out in force, apparently questioning Paul Moore’s capabilities.

Already.

Christ. Give the poor guy a chance.

Well, I DID say at the very beginning that I expected a promotion charge, maybe a relegation battle…

Well, wish granted!

On the Saturday before last, Derick and I finally got around to doing the stewarding we have been wittering on about for so long. It was to be the return of Radcliffe Borough.

Let’s get the match report out of the way first: Nobody scored and the whole match was reasonably uneventful - Leek looked more threatening than they had of late, chances were at last being taken but in the end, after piling the pressure on in the first half, Leek came away clutching their solitary point.

So, thankfully no riots then. We met Andy, head steward, who showed us around a couple of bits of the ground that we’d yet to see, gave us a briefing on what we should do if the ground is to be evacuated (!) and then led us to the Stewards’ office where we collected our rather, erm, accommodating coats. Being 6′ 2″, it wasn’t so much of a problem for me, but Derick’s rather impish frame (he’s so going to kill me) was engulfed somewhat in a sea of luminous green.

I became stationed in the car park from there on as Jonah’s right hand man, with my own personal cone that I had to move out of the way at appropriate times. It was riveting stuff, I tell you. Come kick-off time, we were assigned gates to, um, man - Jonah and I were stationed on Gate 4, and from here on, the majority of the match was spent trying to do the following:

• Keep the ‘family atmosphere’ present in the ground - Oi Martin Kearney, stop swearing
• Keep an eye out for potential troublemakers (or ‘youths’, guffaw) - In this instance, a bunch of incredibly bright Leek fans deciding it would be great to mingle with the away supporters
• Try and stay impartial the match results (not difficult this time)
• Keep Terry out of trouble

To be fair, there wasn’t a great deal to it… the thing I personally had the most trouble with was operating the walkie-talkie, often shouting at it whilst it was turned off, by virtue of missing the button completely and making a bit of a spanner out of myself in the process.

Never mind eh.

In other news, Derick tried the Leek Town Anniversary Ale currently on sale in the Blues Bar… with a chaser of Coca-Cola. I’m not sure whether that’s a good sign or not?

Thought i’d chuck an update in at this point, I know our rabid fans (pffft) are waiting. Jonny and myself both acted as stewards at the last league game at Harrison Park, vs Radcliffe. I’m leaving it to Jonny to write about that… he’s due a post soon. No, today i’ll be mostly talking about the last game I attended, the FA trophy game away to (surprise, surprise) Radcliffe. Again.

The omens were with us on this one. In his first three games, Paul Moore had gotten two wins and a draw. This from a side who hadn’t scored in open play for 15 hours and 33 min. We’d held Radcliffe to a goalless snore, er, draw, at Harrison Park, plus we’d made a trio of new signings during the week. Things were looking up… As was I, at the increasingly grim Radcliffe sky.

It’d have been daft for me not to go to this match, as Trace Reynolds pointed out once, it’s actually closer to home for me than a home game. I took up my usual spot on the halfway line, after receiving a ‘Kick Racism Out Of Football’ sticker from the guy at the turnstile, along with a speech on how Ice Hockey had a lot of money associated with it these days. I’d chosen, obtusely, to wear the hockey shirt I had bought in Canada as opposed to my Leek shirt. After 10 minutes or so, the ground started filling, and the Leek patrons were filing past. I saw Brian first, quick hello. Then Steve and Trace came round for a quick chat, along with Mole from the message board. Apparently Mole had been looking for the guys who do the Leek and Potatoes site, heard we were stewarding at the Radcliffe game, and struck up a conversation with some guy at the other end of the ground about the site. This other guy, too polite to point Mole’s mistake out, had engaged in a conversation about the site, with Mole still none the wiser! Anyhow, Steve introduced me to him, along with Ant Danylyk’s dad. I had met Ant’s dad in passing at the Harrison park game as a steward, where he had pointed out the bagginess of my trousers. And he did again. I’d just like to say at this point, for the record, we here at Leek and Potatoes heartily endorse Ant Danylyk and think he is a superb player. It was about now that a family walked passed and, having noticed my Calgary Flames hockey top, revealed themselves to be from Edmonton, and Oilers fans. What are the chances of bumping into a Canadian family at a Radcliffe Boro game? Bizarre.

Paul Moore must have thought so as well, as Ant was given captaincy for the game. The Sentinel had reported a 4-5-1 tactic was likely, and it seemed that way with the side of Kearney in goal (still a bit dodgy, IMHO), Smith, Tickle, Booth and Barrow in defense, Proffitt, Danylyk, Hawthorne, Lees and MacPherson in midfield with Nagington the lone striker. Leek started strongly enough pinning Radcliffe back in their own half for most of the first 5 minutes. Complacency set in, however, and 23 minutes in Radcliffe were one up. As i’m typing now, I can’t remember the goal so it can’t have been that good, really. I seem to remember frustration at the defense for letting their man get goalside, but if someone was to blame I can’t for the life of me recall who. Anyway, losing, again. Down, but not out, we rallied enough to get into their box in the 38th minute, and their keeper came flying out of the net to wrestle Proffitt to the ground as he was about to cut in front of goal. Cue a cooly dispatched spot kick from Captain Danylyk, and we’re all square. It stayed that way till half time.

One thing that always impresses me about Radcliffe is a young man called Lee Duffy, who plays right back/right wing back for them. I’ve seen Radcliffe three times this season, and each time he’s impressed me with his pace, and his ability to find space down the right. He’s always in a good position to pass to, and once he gets the ball, he flies down the right hand flank. Another thing that impresses me about Radcliffe is the fact that their burgers don’t poison me. I’ve eaten a lot of burgers from burger vans (and my waistline is starting to reflect this), and I’d say 60% of them have been dodgy. But all credit to the van at Radcliffe, despite it being a crappy boiled then fried jobby, it say quite well and caused no trouble later on. Three cheers for safe burgers!

Second half, then. We came out more organised than the first, piecing together decent attacks and closing them down well. The ball was being given away a bit too often for my liking, but nonetheless, in the 57th minute we won a free kick on the left hand side of the box, which ended up in the back of the net, courtesy of Lee Barrow. Somehow we’d managed to score two goals again, a feat not seen often this season. So impressed was I by this, I got onto my phone quickly to text Jonny about this exciting new development, only to hear a loud cheer, and looked up to see their players celebrating. Yes, I missed their equaliser, and by the noises made by the Radcliffe fans, it sounded like a good one too. Mind you, they’re biased.

Biased or not, they had plenty to cheer about only 5 minutes later, when again our defence let their man goalside to put in a rebound and put them 3-2 up. By the looks of Martin Kearney, I wasn’t the only one disappointed by the lax defending. I probably didn’t swear as much as Kearney, though. Soon after the goal, the rain started. Lightly at first, but by the 80th minute it was a torrential downpour. Unfortunately, it didn’t serve to wake the players up, and at the end of 90 we were out of the FA trophy. Shame, really, as we could have done with some prize money. It was a game we probably could have won, but all credit to Radcliffe, they played some good football and got the result. Some of our players were makeweights, Macca for one having a stinker of a match. Nagington didn’t really get the service to revel in his role as lone striker, and he’s not the biggest lad to fight for the 50/50 balls. Considering we were trying out a new tactic, it could have been worse. Lessons will have been learned.

All that was left to do now was the mad dash back to the car in the bucketing rain, only to be frustrated by my remote fob refusing to let me into my car, with me getting progressively wet. I’m sure there’s a metaphor for the match in there somewhere, but I am neither eloquent enough nor motivated to find it. Next up, Jonny and I will be attending the away game at Ilkeston, one of Jonny’s old stomping grounds. We beat them earlier in the season, but as i’m swiftly learning with Leek Town, throw the formbook out the window, anything can happen in the next 90 minutes.

…Maybe I was too quick to judge.

We took all three points last night, and scored our first goal in over 15 hours of play. Cause for celebration indeed! All is right again in the land of Leek.

Hold up though, lads. It’s only three points. It’s a very positive start to the new manager’s reign, and a much needed win, not only in terms of the league table, but also in terms of boosting morale in the camp. But we’re far from safe, yet. Whilst the win lifts Leek off the bottom of the table, we’re still another 3 points adrift of relative safety in 18th position (19th still brings relegation into the picture).

Perhaps i’m being too cynical, and god knows i’ve been accused of that in the past. I’m a little wary of getting carried away at this point. Let’s not take away from what was achieved last night, it was a fantastic effort. I just think we should get a few more victories before we start breathing a collective sigh of relief.

On a sidenote, Jonny and myself make our debuts as stewards this Saturday at the Radcliffe game. If you see a couple of stewards, one with spiky hair and monster sideburns, the other with long, flowing locks and questionable facial hair, please say hello.

And don’t riot. That would be bad.

It’s half time at the Ashton game this evening, and we’re 1-0 up. Is this the long overdue win we’ve been waiting for?

Okay, quick recap of what’s happened since our last update (11th September..!). Leek have lost every single league game since we witnessed their defeat at the hands of Burscough. At the time of writing this, we’re on a 8 game losing streak in the league, as well as crashing out of the FA cup at the first hurdle to local rivals Kidsgrove.
Fingers have been pointed, theories concocted. The mob seem to feel the team has more potential than it is showing, that the players’ hearts don’t seem to be in it. Various members of the squad have been scrutinised at one point or another. It’s something of an irony, then, that the one person who was NOT scrutinised, the one person who received the full backing of the supporters, would be the first to leave. Mark Cartwright resigned after the home defeat by Telford United, not a shambolic display (only a 1-0 loss on the night), but seemingly the straw that broke the camel’s back. Cartwright is something of a hero amongst Leek fans, having masterminded an incredible escape last season, when Leek found themselves 15 points adrift at the bottom… a situation that is rapidly in danger of happening again. But who will mastermind the escape this time?

Paul Moore from Congleton Town, apparently. You’ll have to excuse my skepticism, which may prove to be be unfounded; but it appears to me Leek have moved quickly and maybe hired a spud. I’m basing my appraisal on what I know of him: He has managed Congleton Town, a team in the NWCL Division One, a division containing the mighty Bacup Borough, and the formidable Atherton Collieries. In short, while not a million miles from the Unibond, still a significant step down in terms of quality. What’s more, Congleton are 5th in this league, just. Granted, there’s the likes of FC United present, but still. What credentials does he bring to a job that is getting increasingly tough every match played? How is he going to motivate the players to get 110% out of each of them?

This is the situation I return to, after two weeks in the sun on my honeymoon. I’m ready to get back into supporting the club and dedicating as much of my time as possible to the cause. The question is, are the players?

You know, having read Mike Cope’s Match Report, I appear to be missing rather a lot of these matches - either that or my entirely useless memory is doing me no favours.

Either way, Here are the video highlihts of Leek vs Burscough, so you can play an ENTERTAINING GAME of trying to spot the parts of the match I’ve managed to remember/actually see.

Good luck!

PS: We’ve volunteered to be stewards in a home game one match sometime in October or November when we’re a little less tied up with other engagements.

Please don’t hurt us.