tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71929908808823950662011-12-31T13:26:26.108ZCheltenham Town chatterNews and views on the Rubies...Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-62003502958141557622011-12-31T12:47:00.000Z2011-12-31T13:26:26.113Z2011-12-31T13:26:26.113ZGrinding down the MillersIT was perhaps fitting that one of only three players who started our first game of 2011, the 2-1 home defeat by Wycombe, should score the goal which ended it on a winning note.
From the 18 who lined up last New Year's Day, only Marlon Pack, Steve Elliott and Scott Brown started last night's game, while Keith Lowe, Jeff Goulding and Junior Smikle were on the bench.
Danny Andrew, Dave Bird and Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-60860130998893886192011-12-29T07:53:00.000Z2011-12-31T11:43:59.898Z2011-12-31T11:43:59.898Z2011 - that was the year that wasI debated long and hard about whether to do a review of the Cheltenham Town year.
It has been a strange one - it opened with optimism after our 4-0 win over Bradford at the end of 2010, but failed to deliver early on as our slump in form sent us careering down the table before our late rescue act.
Then a summer of change has been followed - after a slightly stuttering start it has to be said - byMark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-12815752476306348672011-12-27T22:14:00.001Z2011-12-27T22:14:33.237Z2011-12-27T22:14:33.237ZUnable to tame the ShrewsWhen we last won automatic promotion, from the Conference to the Football League back in 1998-9, unforeseen events far away from Whaddon Road took us to the top of the table for the first time.
We were drawing 1-1 at home to Woking when Rushden and Diamonds travelled to Leek Town, and were winning when a fire at a chemical factory next door to Harrison Park caused the game to be abandoned.
Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-75195352368597280412011-12-20T21:23:00.000Z2011-12-20T21:23:02.887Z2011-12-20T21:23:02.887ZSteward's enquiryWhen I saw a tweet this morning flagging up an announcement on the CTFC website about the racecourse move, I thought 'at last, it's decision time' and that the plan was going to be abandoned for good.
At the recent fans' forum, Paul Baker seemed to be moving away slightly from the move, by showing some concern over the funding gap between the cost of the stadium and the value of the Whaddon Road Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-33588228768527730512011-12-17T14:48:00.004Z2011-12-17T14:48:52.120Z2011-12-17T14:48:52.120ZOn the slippery slopeUnderhill looks to be in the dying embers of its life as a Football League ground, but I have always enjoyed my trips there.
Cheltenham Town have not, as it maintained our record of having gone there six times in the League, taken the lead each time, and not won any of them.
Two of those games were lost, and last night's became the fourth draw - as scrappy affair punctuated by two contentious Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-12781022003031038412011-12-11T20:06:00.001Z2011-12-12T08:09:02.872Z2011-12-12T08:09:02.872ZPinch me. I'm dreaming
Like many other Cheltenham fans, I suspect, I have been walking around with a stupid grin on my face since about 4.50pm yesterday afternoon.
I mean, let's face it, this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen, is it?
Cheltenham Town teams don't welcome the 17-games unbeaten League leaders to their territory, play them off the park, restrict them to one shot in the 91st minute and send them Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-68284535114568521022011-12-07T00:25:00.001Z2011-12-07T01:06:20.575Z2011-12-07T01:06:20.575ZIt's time to bin BashleyFor the past 13 years or so, a small village on the edge of the New Forest seems to have represented the benchmark for being a 'true' Cheltenham Town fan.
In the Paddock, whenever we had a 'big' game and a slightly larger than average crowd, a chant would go up... 'If you all went to Bashley, clap your hands' and those amongst us who termed themselves the long-standing fans would all applaud.
It Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-10891155580383205332011-12-04T21:28:00.001Z2011-12-04T23:32:38.307Z2011-12-04T23:32:38.307ZGoing to get our SpursWow.
At around 2.45 this afternoon, Li Tie wrote himself into Cheltenham Town folklore for ever.
All he did was stick his hand into a large bowl, and pull out ball number 52 at just the right time.
Before we got pulled out, Middlesbrough, Doncaster and Crawley came out and I was yelling at the (now) greatest man ever to come out of China not to pull out ball 52.
Only when Manchester City came outMark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-47074722560972623892011-11-27T11:11:00.001Z2011-11-28T08:14:56.303Z2011-11-28T08:14:56.303ZServing up a hammeringOne of the many enjoyable things about doing radio commentary at away games is listening to how the opposition commentators and - more importantly - the opposition fans react after a game.
BBC Oxford have an after-match phone-in and the presenter was a busy man fielding moans about Chris Wilder, his team selection, their performance and the referee (was he from Swindon, asked one caller).
That Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com029-37 Mandarin Way, Prestbury, Gloucestershire GL50 4, UK51.91854401770406 -2.086372375488281251.91364751770406 -2.096242875488281 51.92344051770406 -2.0765018754882814tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-22363514732810770782011-11-21T20:30:00.001Z2011-11-21T21:29:33.296Z2011-11-21T21:29:33.296ZThe numbers gameI love my stats.
So much so, that many people call me just that, and to live up to that mantle, I have been compiling some numbers pertaining to Cheltenham's loan players, and just how much they have added to the side in recent weeks.
Jack Butland is at the centre of much of the focus on the team at the moment.
The 18 year old Bristolian's loan ends on December 11, so as it stands his last game Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-71305136956222962382011-11-20T11:41:00.001Z2011-11-20T12:24:05.915Z2011-11-20T12:24:05.915ZRolling alongAnother Saturday, another win... almost becoming boring now then isn't it?
No, of course not.
It's good to see the positive vibes around the place, and that was best summed up at Thursday night's Fans' Forum, where those in attendance were almost struggling for questions as, let's face it, there isn't really anything to moan about.
Alan Bennett came up with the quote of the night when he said he Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-89479433098089099032011-11-13T20:02:00.001Z2011-11-13T20:50:59.014Z2011-11-13T20:50:59.014ZWin at all costs...When I was about eight years old, I went to watch a celebrity cricket match near Southampton with the family of my best school mate of the time.
It was the mid 1970s, and there were lots of famous TV faces of the time there, but I only wanted to meet one of them.
He wasn't playing, but he had crowds flocked around him, so my mate Simon and I pushed through them, and got to the front, and asked toMark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-84126367903165786262011-11-12T20:58:00.001Z2011-11-12T22:48:16.856Z2011-11-12T22:48:16.856ZTaking the biscuitOn the album Achtung Bono, by the greatest band to come out of Birkenhead - Half Man Half Biscuit - there is a track called 'Depressed Beyond Tablets' (lyrics here http://www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/achtung-bono-2005/depressed-beyond-tablets/)
If I was a Tranmere fan, which singer Nigel Blackwell and the boys are, I would be just that after witnessing their performance.
But I am not, so quite frankly Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-63709049430138691382011-11-08T23:45:00.001Z2011-11-08T23:45:21.082Z2011-11-08T23:45:21.082ZAfter the Lord Mayor's Show...Right, so that's that then.
Cancel the red and white hat with bells on, stop the order for the big hand things with CTFC on them.
The Wembley dream is over for another year - if it was ever really there in the first place.
The bottom line from tonight's defeat is that we did not deserve anything from the game.
We were poor, as poor as we have been since the heady days of last season, when we Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-34149367426850868462011-11-06T10:19:00.002Z2011-11-06T10:47:12.914Z2011-11-06T10:47:12.914ZRemember, remember...I desperately wanted to avoid all the cliches about November 5th, but I am afraid it was just too hard to resist.
Make no mistake, this display at Valley Parade was a sparkler, has started the month off with a bang and sent us up the League Two table like a rocket, into third place.
Sorry. I will stop now. Promise.
I could now go on about how Bradford were not very good, didn't make Jack Butland Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-27452572274358033272011-10-30T10:19:00.002Z2011-10-30T10:19:13.333Z2011-10-30T10:19:13.333ZHalting the Pilgrims' progress - justI don't quite know where to start after that, if I am totally honest.
I think the best way to sum it up is that we got the win.
That's the most important thing after Tuesday's loss, and with their takeover all but done, it may be one of the last times Plymouth have to field such a young side.
But all credit to them, especially their centre halves Ben Gibson and Curtis Nelson, for constantly Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-31375038599491853572011-10-26T00:14:00.001+01:002011-10-26T00:14:04.402+01:002011-10-26T00:14:04.402+01:00Derailed by the RailwaymenThose of a certain vintage (like me) will remember the character from Monty Python's Flying Circus who would appear just as things were getting a bit too wacky.
It was played by Graham Chapman, dressed up a soldier, who would walk on randomly in the middle of a sketch, and announce 'Right, stop it now, it's getting a little bit silly.'
Tonight, that part was played by Dario Gradi, whose Crewe Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-13488351540769808802011-10-22T09:46:00.005+01:002011-10-22T09:46:46.666+01:002011-10-22T09:46:46.666+01:00Leaving Stanley flatThe mark of a good side, so these pundits say, is to win ugly, and Friday's fare at the Crown Ground was about as ugly as you are going to get. With the exception of the pies anyway, more of which later.
I took the trip up on the supporters' bus, happily full and in good spirits as you would expect after a four-match winning run.
I didn't detect much in the way of complacency about this game, Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-37062042813355793602011-10-15T01:27:00.003+01:002011-10-15T01:29:04.539+01:002011-10-15T01:29:04.539+01:00One in the eye...October 14 is the 945th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.
As any decent history book will tell you, it was poor old King Harold who got one in the eye that day on Senlac Hill at the hands of the marauding invaders - tonight it was Cleveland Taylor's turn.
Now, poor old Clevey had said a few things about Russ Penn in the run up to the game, basically alluding that Penn had made an error in Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-27928417904201112622011-10-12T21:58:00.000+01:002011-10-12T21:58:02.390+01:002011-10-12T21:58:02.390+01:00An unforgettable dayOn Friday night, Cheltenham go back to the Pirelli Stadium in Burton - scene of undoubtedly the most amazing game of football I have ever seen.
Cheltenham fans will talk fondly of the 2-1 comeback win over Rushden, that FA Trophy semi-final success against Dover, the 3-2 win over Yeovil and the play-off win over Rushden in Cardiff - but the events of Saturday March 13, 2010 will always be Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-86406199152794984762011-10-10T06:36:00.000+01:002011-10-10T06:36:02.732+01:002011-10-10T06:36:02.732+01:00Daggers blunted by Robins - Brian Lancaster's viewForget the scoreline of 2-1 and forget the fraught and nervy last 5 minutes of the match, a very poor Dagenham side was dominated by an effervescent Cheltenham team this afternoon.
This game clearly demonstrates how far Cheltenham have improved this season, the midfield no longer needs padding out with honest but limited players and the bench offers real options not emergency measures.
Our Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-31011287005711552182011-10-10T06:34:00.000+01:002011-10-10T06:34:42.310+01:002011-10-10T06:34:42.310+01:00Daggers blunted by Rubies - Alun Parry's viewThere are guest bloggers this week as I missed the Dagenham game. First, Alun Parry's take on the game...
This week has been a week of great optimism for Cheltenham.
Three wins in a row for the second time this season and finally Mark Yates has got this team playing some real flowing attacking football.
This is the kind of form that really gets on my nerves though as we did the exact same Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-15900212256944407822011-10-05T21:25:00.001+01:002011-10-05T21:25:25.221+01:002011-10-05T21:25:25.221+01:00Unseating the ChairboysThe Johnstone's Paint Trophy can often feel like taking a step back into the land that time forgot.
For some unknown reason, I arrived at Adams Park at 5.15pm for a 7.30pm kick off, and was practically the first person there. Don't ask.
Even the Wycombe manager Gary Waddock wasn't there by then - he arrived just after me, and was also the last person I saw before I left at about 10.30pm, but he Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-26637176458919666302011-10-01T21:33:00.000+01:002011-10-01T21:38:11.824+01:002011-10-01T21:38:11.824+01:00Putting out the GasWhen I saw the team sheet at the Mem at around 2.20pm this afternoon, I was worried.
For the life of me, I could not work out why Mark Yates had picked the team he had - especially why Kaid Mohamed had kept his place and why Jimmy Spencer was playing as the lone striker.
The Cheltenham fans I texted the team to could not work it out either - one replying that it was a 'terrible team selection Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192990880882395066.post-83644003068254556952011-09-29T20:27:00.000+01:002011-09-29T20:49:09.494+01:002011-09-29T20:49:09.494+01:00Loan signing logic...?When I got to work this morning and saw that we had made a loan signing, it came as a big surprise.
I thought the squad was 'full' and that this was the group of players who would take us to January and beyond.
If that wasn't the case, then I would liked to have seen a striker come in, one similar in style to Jeff Goulding, who is probably the only player in the squad who doesn't have direct Mark Halliwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213925930859447352noreply@blogger.com0