Not green around the Gills

It's a long trek to Gillingham, and I had one hell of a marathon trip back home, but it was worth it to witness the most complete Cheltenham Town performance of the season.

Pre-match, all of the talk was about Martin Allen, and the dreadful mess he left when he finally departed our club three years ago.

Tuesday showed how well we have recovered - but this was Mark Yates' 150th match in charge, testament to how much of a long-term task it has been to get the club back on its' feet.

It would have been very sweet to have gone down there and got one over on Mr Allen, but he did get the ball kicked into his crown jewels by Jermaine McGlashan, who has now earned hero status.

The reception given to the team by the 109 souls high in the Brian Moore Stand on the final whistle showed that a draw was more than acceptable.

In the first half we were exceptional - shades of our purple patch last season, and possibly our best 45 of this campaign.

We passed it quickly and accurately; broke with pace and incisiveness; closed down in midfield and defended strongly - all that was missing was a goal.

Kaid Mohamed came closest, forcing a good save from Stuart Nelson, Russ Penn had a header saved, Chris Zebroski shot wide, and there were other half-chances.

The second 45 minutes was equally impressive - but for different reasons, as we stood up to Gillingham pressure, soaking it up well and allowing them only two clear-cut chances.

Yatesy was able to pick what, on paper, is currently his strongest 11, with Steve Elliott, Darren Carter, McGlashan and Zebroski all coming back in.

Gillingham have been scoring goals for fun at home - three successive four-goal wins - but this was the first time they have been shut out on their own turf, and the display should give everyone optimism that we can mount that challenge to go one better this season.

That record tells you they are a good side, but so are we - and we showed it as we knocked them off their game in the first half.

They were restricted to one golden chance which Danny Kedwell somehow hit the bar from about four yards after Scott Brown saved from Jack Payne, while we had the chances mentioned above.

I felt our midfield trio of Penn, Carter and Marlon Pack were the key to it - they broke up the play well and Marlon especially looked to spread possession wide and they also supported our breaks.

The best of those saw Mo get through, and we had a three on one but that one was Callum Davies, and he made a superb tackle.

In the second half, Gillingham's midfield got on top with Romain Vincelot especially impressive, and they had the bulk of possession - but Scott Brown had one save to make, a brilliant flying tip-over from Chris Whelpdale.

The introduction of Deon Burton alongside Kedwell made Gillingham more dangerous and he was a threat, heading a good chance just wide of the post.

We didn't create much at all in the second half, but showed resilience and kept our shape superbly, led, as ever, by those two defensive rocks, Elliott and Alan Bennett.

With Captain Marvel Benno in the side alongside Stevie, we are undefeated in 10 games this season, letting in only six goals and keeping six clean sheets. Some record.

Nothing against Keith Lowe - he is unlucky to be left out - but Benno and Steve Elliott must be the best central defensive pairing in League Two. 

They are our best since the legendary Chris Banks and Mark 'Boka' Freeman - and I might even go as far as to argue they are better... Discuss.

They were backed up by the full-backs - Sido was his usual self, marauding forward and having to hare back after losing the ball, slicing the odd clearance, but getting the job done in his unorthodox style, and it was to his credit that Myles Weston was withdrawn early.

And Billy Jones - for some reason criticised by a few fans - had another steady 7 or 8 out of 10 game and, as well as defending stoutly and largely nullifying Gillingham's threat down the right-hand side and - once again - almost setting up a goal with his superb set-piece deliveries.

Up front, Zeb worked really hard, linking well with Jermaine, Mo and the midfield trio and justified his selection ahead of our other three strikers.

He currently looks the best bet to play as the '1' in our 4-2-3-1 system - but that is as much to do with his looking the sharpest and busiest of the three, as it is to do with Darryl Duffy, Jeff Goulding and Shaun Harrad  not hitting their straps.

Goulding came on late on Tuesday and did what was required - looking to hold the ball up and provide an outlet to relieve the pressure.

But our goal threat from the strikers is the one part of the team which is worrying me slightly at the moment.

Harrad has five goals, but has not scored since September 18, Zebroski has scored three times, while Duffy and Goulding have a goal each - so 10 goals in total from our strikers in 19 league and cup games, which is not good enough for a team looking to challenge for automatic promotion.

Mo, Jermaine, Darren, Marlon, Keith, Sido and Steve have also contributed, which is what is needed, but the forwards need to start firing - and I still think we need a 'proper' target man.
But that is for the future. Our display on Tuesday laid a marker down as we went to the side who have been the best in the division for the first third of campaign, stood toe-to-toe with them and showed that we can more than match the best.
They are a good side, with some experienced players and they will be up there this season. On this showing, so will we. 

I would love it if we beat them...

In October 2007, when John Ward walked out on Cheltenham Town after the defeat at Port Vale, I was the sports editor of the Gloucestershire Echo.
That night was a busy, and a memorable one. I left the office at 4am after re-arranging the paper to get news of the exit, reaction and a match report on the Vale loss into the paper.
Nights like that were why I loved doing that job, and why I wish I was still doing it.
The following morning, we sat down and came up with a list of other potential candidates for the job, aside from the man left in caretaker charge, Keith Downing.
One name stood out on that list we drew up - Martin Allen.
He was available as he had just left Leicester after only four games in charge, his dad used to manage the club, he had done well at Barnet and Brentford - he seemed an ideal candidate.
I phoned him up to sound him out. He said he couldn't talk about it as he was still negotiating a settlement from Leicester - but reading between the lines, he was interested.
I then wrote a piece for the paper championing him for the job. Looking back, it is the one article in 20-plus years of journalism that I regret sitting down to write.
We also ran a online poll. About 80 per cent of those who voted (about 1,000) plumped for Allen to get the job. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and as we know, Keith Downing got the nod this time.
He was too much of a gentleman to ever say it to me, but I don't think he really forgave me for writing that piece - effectively I was saying he should not be given the job.
But he was, and when we beat Doncaster to stay up in League One, I sought him out in the Nest bar, apologised for writing that piece, and thanked him for keeping us up.
The start of the 2008-9 season was a difficult one. We conceded four goals against Northampton on the opening day, then at home to Leicester, at Oldham, and finally - fatally for Keith - at Hartlepool on a Friday night.
I recall seeing him walking across the Victoria Park pitch after that game, looking a haunted figure. It was also the night Michael Townsend became embroiled in an argument with fans at the final whistle.
Myself and some friends were in Edinburgh the following day, watching Hibs play Dundee United. In the pub before the game, the news came through that Keith had gone. It wasn't a great surprise.
Post-match, in the same pub, we got the news that Allen had been appointed as the new manager. That was more of a surprise - not in the person who was appointed, but more with the speed it was done.
Paul Baker described him as the fans' choice, citing the Echo poll from a year before. Hard though it may be now, it is difficult to argue with the chairman's assessment.
None of us had any idea of the rollercoaster which we had just boarded.
We knew Allen was eccentric in his methods, as there had been stories from Barnet and Brentford.
The 'Mad Dog' moniker should have been a warning for us, and you are left to wonder now if we investigated why he left Leicester so abruptly.
The gimmicks started almost straight away - at his press conference, the phone rang halfway through, and we were told it was Gary Johnson confirming the loan signing of Scott Murray (a deal which Keith Downing had already put in motion, but Allen hijacked and tried to take the credit for).
Then the press corps were marched outside, and Allen had photos taken by a sign saying 'Safety Officer'. Apparently that was him. He was going to take us to safety. Right...
Murray's arrival was the first of a ridiculous stream of arrivals. Loan signing after loan signing after loan signing came in.
We could only play five in the matchday squad of 18, and at one point we had nine of them on the books.
In the meantime, the players he inherited at the club were marginalised, transfer-listed, alienated, discarded.
There were substitutions 15 or 20 minutes into games, four or five team and positional changes from match to match, players being transfer-listed one day and then taken off the list the next, and staff members (notably Bob Bloomer) were summarily dispensed with.
Players were selected for a game or two, talked up by the manager, and then dropped just as quickly, and some of these loans were not cheap, despite the manager alleging that they were 'free'.
Some of them were good players - James Wesolowski (before he got injured at Tranmere), Murray and Ian Westlake were three I can recall - others were not... Tom Denton, Lathaniel Rowe-Turner and Johnny Hayes particularly spring to mind from the pit of mediocrity.
As well as the loans, we had the likes of Elvis Hammond, Barry Hayles and Darren Kenton arriving as he carried on trying to ship out more of the players he inherited.
Townsend went to Barnet, Allen wanted Shane Duff to go to Northampton, and Lloyd Owusu had to be shipped off to Brighton, and he also blooded several youth teamers long before they were ready. Some of them were out of their depth and never recovered.
Tales emerged that the dressing room atmosphere was not the best - on the terraces and elsewhere within the club it wasn't much better either.
Results were shocking - after a 2-1 win at Orient in December, we didn't win for 16 games.
There were stories of unconventional training methods, notably before the FA Cup replay at Doncaster where he allegedly had Lee Ridley throwing pieces of toast across for Ashley Vincent to head at a TV playing the part of a goal.
The story gets even more surreal when, after spotting Ridley was throwing the toast right handed, he was ordered to do it with his left, as he is left-footed. You just couldn't make it up. I am not.
It was gimmick after gimmick, signing after signing, and in the meantime our club was suffering, becoming more of a laughing stock from day to day.
There was the dressing down in the layby after the defeat at Hereford and fans being press-ganged into giving the team a pep talk...and don't even get me started on the dog or the increasingly tedious 'Martin's Message' appearing on the website or in our e-mail inbox every week.
After games, we never knew what to expect, and what mood he would be in. Wins could be followed by us being told the players were terrible and some of them would be transfer-listed - defeats by a staunch belief that his team was brilliant.
We were frequently admonished for 'negative questioning' - even on that run of winless games where there was absolutely nothing to be positive about, and at these press conferences, his 'stooge' Alistair Smith was a constant presence, for some reason or other. No-one really knew exactly why he was there or what his role was.
One thing we did know was that there would be at least four changes to the side and loan signing or two arriving in time for the next game.
We were careering back to League Two at express pace. The efforts of Ward and Downing in keeping us in League One were being wasted - as was the club's money.
It was being spent like water, so we were heading for administration as well.
Yes, the board can take some of the blame for allowing that to happen, and Paul Baker has subsequently acknowledged their culpability - but Allen is equally, if not more, to blame.
Every time a player came in, we were told by the manager that he was 'free'. No wages to pay, not costing us a penny. However, invoices for their wages would still come in...
More than half-century of players used in season 2008-9 is a stark statistic. No consistency in selection and low dressing room morale = relegation.
We even ran out of some numbers to print on the back of shirts. I think we got up to squad number 54 - it was an utter joke.
The start of the following season (after we had been told to expect a play-off/promotion challenge) was not much better, and after the 2-1 home defeat by Macclesfield he was gone, much to everyone's relief.
Any alleged off-field incidents are an aside. Woeful results on the pitch (13 wins in 61 games and 29 defeats) were sufficient for him to get the sack. If anything, he should have gone earlier.
Rumour has it that the board wanted to sack him after the 4-0 loss at Leicester in March 2009, but we had to put up with him for another seven months.
By the time he did go, we had only won three games on our return to League Two, Grimsby on the opening day, and at Bury and Rochdale, with last minute goals.
The low point was his penultimate game, the 4-0 defeat at Accrington. In my 32 years watching this club I have never seen a CTFC team surrender so meekly.
Poor Sam Cox ended up at centre-half on his only appearance for us - he is five foot six or seven - and that was the final straw for many... I have never heard or seen such venom thrown at a CTFC manager after a game as I did that day. That game sums up the disorganised chaos of the Allen era.
We were in a mess, and after John Schofield tried to steady the ship, Mark Yates came in to try to sort the shambles out.
This Christmas will be third anniversary of Yatesy's arrival, yet only now do you really feel that the club has come out of the other side.
The remainder of that season was spent making sure we didn't lose our league status, the second season was stabilisation as the financial position was worked on, last season was exceptional and this one has started well.
Only Scott Brown remains from the legions of players Allen used in his time here, and thankfully we have our club back now, and it is in a much healthier state on and off the field.
We have had a lucky escape.
Gillingham fans need to understand we are not jealous of their league position, and we have nothing against them as a club.
He has started well at Priestfield, but this is a man who brought our club to its knees, and nearly destroyed its whole fabric, and tried to ruin an ethos which took more than 120 years to establish.
The board were culpable for appointing him and for not saying 'no' to his ridiculous recruitment policy, but they soon realised the error of their ways and sought on a few occasions to cut things short.
Nothing Martin Allen did here was for the good of Cheltenham Town - it was all for the benefit of Martin Allen, his profile and his ego.
Some fans thought it was great that he was appearing in the nationals and on Sky Sports a lot - but he never talked about Cheltenham Town, just about himself.
I was delighted when Bobby Gould resigned. He did the honourable thing and walked when he knew his time was up, but Allen had no honour and no class, he just carried on wrecking the club from within.
Gillingham fans - things are going well for you at the moment, so enjoy it while it lasts.
We thought things were rosy early on in Allen's reign here, but it quickly turned rotten (see also Leicester and Notts County).
That's why I want to win on Tuesday, as much as I have ever wanted to win a match... I would just love it.

Job done

Thank goodness that's over...
That was my abiding emotion after yesterday's game, as, when all is said and done, getting into the second round was all that mattered.
It wasn't about winning 6 or 7-0, or playing like Barcelona, it was about getting into the second round.
However, I must admit that having just watched the second round draw and seen us paired with Hereford United, our perennial bogey team. More of that later.
The Yate tie was a no-win situation for us - scrape through 1-0 and it would be deemed an embarrassment by some, win 8-0 and it would be 'so what, it was only Yate'. It was a day to win the game and move on.
That's what we did, and it gave Yatesy the opportunity to give one or two players a breather and allow others to stretch their legs after sitting on the bench or in the stand over recent weeks.
We got the perfect start in comical manner with Scott Thomas' second-minute own goal, and in games like this they say the early goal is what every team is looking for.
But you have to give credit to Yate for the way they responded to it - Tom Knighton hit the post and the full-back Jake Cox the bar with a free-kick which Scott Brown got a hand to.
I have seen a number of League v non-League ties, and on some occasions the non-Leaguers have come to spoil, and stop the pros in some 'agricultural' ways - but there was none of that yesterday.
Yate have some tidy players, left two up front all afternoon and passed the ball around nicely - no long-ball stuff, and battled away all afternoon.
The winger Matt Groves, Knighton up front and Danny Wring in midfield stood out for me, and their goalkeeper made some decent saves.
Yes, we could have scored more goals. Yes, some players were better than others, but winning the game was all that really mattered.
If we did have a problem during the game, it was over complication in the final third.
Especially in the first half, we got into good positions and players had worked a shooting chance, then chose a cross or a pull-back - or the opposite, shooting when team-mates were free.
Also, again, our quality in wide areas was found wanting - poor crosses, either under hit or over hit, letting us down on a few occasions.
In the end, 3-0 was about the right result. Yate's efforts didn't deserve a heavier defeat, and our performance didn't merit it either.
So what did we learn from our performance?
Defensively, not much. It was good to see Keith Lowe have another game, and a chance for Steve Elliott to sit out and come back fresh for Gillingham on Tuesday, and he has been ill anyway so no point in risking him.
In midfield, yesterday showed the importance of Marlon Pack to our team.
In the first half, we tried to play 4-4-2 with Lawson D'Ath and Russ Penn in the centre, Sam Deering and Kaid Mohamed out wide.
It didn't have the right balance for me, and we looked much happier when Marlon came on at half-time - but I do hope Lawson's knee injury isn't too bad, although he did tweet that he is unlikely to be fit for Tuesday.
Many fans have commented that Marlon hasn't been at his best this season. That may be true, but we don't have another player like him who can control a game.
He got a lot more space than he would in a League Two game, true. But he controls the tempo of our game and everything goes through him - he truly is our quarterback.
Up front is where we learnt the most.
We got to see all four of our strikers, but only one, Chris Zebroski, can came out of the game with credit.
Darryl Duffy looks a player badly shorn of confidence. He tries so hard, and I was willing him to get a goal or two yesterday.
But it is not happening for him, and the same has to be said for Jeff Goulding. He came on and played the central role, and had a golden chance to score.
That seemed to affect him, and there were a couple of crosses which flashed across the goal and were begging to be put away by him, and he failed to convert either. The second was a glaring chance.
Shaun Harrad hasn't scored since the Oxford game on September 18, and it looked like it yesterday. He has had an injury and been in and out of the side, but looked a bit off the pace yesterday.
Zebroski was the only one to hit his straps and seemed to feed off the Gasheads among the Yate fans giving him the bird - maybe we should tell him we are playing his old club, or that the ground is full of Gasheads every week...!
He looked sharp, direct and dangerous, getting the third goal after he hit the bar, and seems to be the only one of our four strikers to be in any sort of form, which is a slight worry.
We had 24 shots, 13 on target and only scored three goals - those stats show a slight lack of ruthlessness.
Then an hour ago I sat down for the draw, and wanted a non-League side at home, but expected Carlisle, Southend or Gillingham away.
Happily they came out early, and then Cyrille Regis pulled out our home tie, and out came Hereford courtesy of John Wark.
What a belting tie. I know I wanted a non-League side, but have to admit I didn't want Hereford - we never beat them!
Not since 1999, the 'David Norton match' at Edgar Street have we done so. At home, it's 1969 since we saw them off.
Add the presence in their ranks of Andy Gallinagh, Junior Smikle, Michael Townsend and Marley Watkins, and it makes it a real cracker.
Let's hope this time we can do it. I am fed up with losing to them, or playing badly and drawing.
But that can wait - first we have Mr Allen's league leaders at Priestfield on Tuesday night, and yesterday has helped to sort out what team Yatesy should play
Steve Elliott will be back alongside Benno, Darren Carter is fit to come back in, Jermaine will slot in again, and Zeb has booked himself the lone striker role - no one who came in yesterday did enough to demand keeping their place.
My team would be Brown; Jombati, Elliott, Bennett, Jones; Pack, Carter; McGlashan, Penn, Mo; Zebroski.
It starts a big month which will also take in a meeting with the equally lovely Mr Evans in a couple of weeks, the potential chance to see Edgar Davids play at Whaddon, and will end with s crunch Cup tie with Hereford.
Life is never boring at Cheltenham Town...

CTFC - the next generation

Over the past few days, I have had the chance to watch the CTFC under-18 side play twice - and on the evidence of the two matches our future is in good hands.
One of their number, Joe Hanks, made his first-team debut against Exeter last Saturday, by my reckoning the 17th 'home-grown' player to represent us in the Football League.
He was also the 180th player to don the red/ruby in those games since August 1999, so 17 home grown players in that number is almost one in 10.
But it must be said that the majority of them have started less than 10 games - only the Duff brothers, Dave Bird and Andy Gallinagh started more than 100 games, and behind them, Theo Lewis started 18 times.
After that, Adam Connolly, Michael Jackson, Gareth Hopkins, Marley Watkins, Kyle Haynes, Michael Wylde, Josh Emery, Jake Lee, Will Puddy, Jack Durrant and Luke Corbett made sporadic appearances down the years.
Others, notably Jamie Edge and Jamie Price, were snapped up by bigger clubs, and only recently brothers Courtney and Tyrone Duffus went to Everton.
But we have never managed to do a Crewe, and unearth a Nick Powell-type player - but the new Football League academy rules mean that sort of transfer may not happen again, and clubs like us may end up being short-changed if some of our youngsters are prised away.
In recent years, our managers have had different approaches to the youth set-up - some have embraced it and others largely ignored it, but with Joe Hanks being given a chance Mark Yates is definitely in the 'former' category.
A notable thing for me from the two games I saw is that Russ Milton's under-18s mirror the formation being used in the first team - 4-2-3-1 - and he also champions the same style of neat, passing football that the first team look to employ, so if these lads do progress it might smooth the transformation somewhat.
Academy manager Milton fully understands the ethos of the club, as does his head of coaching, some bloke called Jamie Victory. I think he also played a bit in the red and white.
We also have Keith Knight and Tommy Callinan coaching the under-16s, so there is some CTFC history entrenched in the system at the top echelons.
Knighty was there at Seasons joining me in freezing half to death last Friday afternoon while watching the League Cup game with Oxford, which was handy as he was able to mark my card about one or two of the players on show. Neil Howarth was also watching the game.
Hanks didn't play as he was 24 hours from his Exeter debut, and the side were edged out 1-0 in a tight game.
It was decided by a shot which slipped through goalkeeper Harvey Rivers' hands and was adjudged to have crossed the line.
As goal-line technology has not reached Seasons,  the assistant referee gave it.
Our lads had chances, and were helped by Oxford going down to 10 men, but couldn't get back on terms.
Four days later, it was the under-18s' big day - the start of the FA Youth Cup, and their chance to play at Whaddon Road, against Maidenhead in the first round proper.
Looking on their website pre-match, Maidenhead were unbeaten for 10 months, had conceded two goals this season, and beat Forest Green in the previous round.
Impressive - but our lads were 5-0 up at half-time, and despite Hanks missing a penalty, racked up an 8-0 win, playing some great football and doing a ruthless job on their opponents.
Of the starting 11 on show, only four - Hanks, goalkeeper Dale Reaney, defenders Keiran Thomas and Michael Gonzalo, are second year scholars, and so will learn their fate this summer.
The other seven, hat-trick heroes Bobbie Dale and Harry Williams, defenders Elliot Keightley and Spencer Hamilton, midfielder Adam Powell and flying wingers James Bowen and Zack Kotwica still have another year to progress and impress.
There were a number of scouts there - I was told that one had come to specifically watch one of our players, and some big clubs were represented, and our lads will definitely have impressed them.
Goalkeeper Reaney did not have much to do - one low down save and a late tip-round the post, and aside from conceding the goal against Oxford, Rivers looked a capable young keeper.
Full-backs Thomas and Keightley were both able to get forward in both games and did their defensive duties adequately.
Thomas (Pitbull to his mates... and boy, does he like a tackle) also found time to finish off a great move with a good finish for our fourth goal against Maidenhead.
He got an injury against Oxford and came off at half-time, his replacement Callum Marshall having a good second half, and also doing well as a sub against Maidnhead.
The centre-backs Hamilton and Gonzalo both looked comfortable with the ball at their feet, and weren't afraid to bring it out of defence rather than launch it, although both did play some nice cross-field balls in both games I saw.
Gonzalo also moved into midfield against Oxford and looked comfortable there as well, and, as the taller of the two, Hamilton did well in the air
Powell is a tall midfield player, must be 6ft 2 or so I would guess, and he had two good games, while Hanks was impressive against Maidenhead (we will forgive the missed penalty).
Harry Williams was my man of the match against Maidenhead, playing in the role behind striker Dale. He took his goals well, set up another and won the penalty which Hanks missed.
Maidenhead never got to grips with him at all, and he also did well against Oxford, where he played in the deeper role alongside Powell in Hanks' absence.
In both games I saw possibly the most impressive thing of all was our wide play, with Bowen and Kotwica.
Both looked very direct, tricky players, not afraid to take players on, and - as is key with wingers - also able to get quality crosses in.
In the first half against Maidenhead, Kotwica was virtually unplayable, twisting the poor left-back in knots before he went off injured. He was quieter after the break - but Bowen repeated the dose on the other flank.
Both gave good support to the lone striker - who was Dale against Maidenhead and Lewis Morana, a taller target man once on Exeter's books, against Oxford.
Morana battled away against two strong Oxford centre-backs with Dale coming on later and then starting against Maidenhead.
He linked well with Bowen, Kotwica and Harry Williams, and took his three goals well, showing a good poachers' instinct to seize on rebounds and take half-chances.
Against Oxford, Ed Williams (who scored a cracker in our pre-season game at Bishop's Cleeve) started behind the front man, and he replaced namesake Harry late on against Maidenhead and took up where he had left off, buzzing around, finding space and causing problems.
They now face AFC Wimbledon away in round two after this win, which shows that we might have some real promise for the future in our youth system.


For more information on our youth system, go to http://www.ctfcyd.com/site/index.asp

Catching up

Before we get down to business, an apology.
Due to a combination of laziness and lack of time, this blog has been neglected, and judging by a few messages on Twitter and comments in the bar before and after games, some of you have missed it.
Well, you poor, misguided souls, I have finally sat down and will try to get things back on track.
The last post was after the 1-1 draw at Wycombe, where we played very well, and should have taken the win against a very poor Chairboys side who, since then, have sacked boss Gary Waddock and have Gareth Ainsworth in temporary charge.
We have played 11 games since that afternoon in Buckinghamshire, and I am not going to catch up on each game in the detail I have done in the past - I will just give a little precis of each one (just hope I can remember them all...)
The first was the home game with Southend, which ended in a 3-1 home defeat, thanks mainly to more suspect defending, especially from set-pieces.
It all started well enough with a goal from Jermaine McGlashan and all seemed well with the world, until we got the shotgun out and proceeded to fire it at our own feet. Repeatedly.
As half-time approached and Yatesy was preparing a 'you've all done very well' team-talk, Southend turned the game round in the shape of about 10 minutes.
Britt Assombalonga, one of the best loan signings this season in League Two (no bias here as he is a Watford player, it's true...), skinned Keith Lowe and after a bit of pinball around the box Sean Clohessy, who scores about as often as a monk in a brothel, fired in the equaliser.
Then, our defence, disintegrated for the second home game running after the Accrington debacle.
Ryan Cresswell had a free header from a corner which hit the post and Assombalonga tapped in the second, then Mark Phillips had the freedom of Gloucestershire to make it three,
That was the end of that, but in true footballing cliche heaven, we had a game the following Tuesday to make amends.
It was against Oxford, and we were lifted by the return of Alan Bennett from injury, and he made a big difference, with Steve Elliott looking much happier with his partner in crime next to him.
We did look much more solid, and scored two cracking goals through Darren Carter - his first since signing for us - and Shaun Harrad's fifth of the season (and as it turns out, his last goal...).
Peter Leven did convert a penalty after Bennett fouled James Constable, but this was our first Tuesday win since we beat Stockport in March 2011. Yes it's true...
Next stop was York and if I am being honest it wasn't the greatest game, finishing 0-0, but it was a big day for me - my first 90-minute commentary on BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

After winning on a Tuesday, the next task was to win on a Friday, and that was executed rather easily, if I am being honest, when we saw off Morecambe 2-0.
Our new deadly goalscoring machine Darren Carter got them both and either end of the match - after two minutes and two minutes into stoppage time.
Then we moved on to Bristol Rovers, and it was a great night at the Mem and Chris Zebroski continued his run of goals against old clubs after netting at Torquay with the winner - which was exactly what we deserved.
Fleetwood were next - and what an incident-packed game this one was.
We started very well, but fell behind at half-time with David Ball's scrambled goal - but credit to Yatesy as he changed the system to 4-4-2 and with it came a brilliant turnaround.
Shaun Harrad and Jeff Goulding came on, and Jeff equalised from a corner, then Sido Jombati powered in a near-post header from a Billy Jones corner for 2-1.
I have to say that Fleetwood were the niggliest, nastiest team we have come across this season, and it erupted after Junior Brown - their one outstanding player - equalised in the 92nd minute.
Jamie McGuire then tried to provoke Steve Elliott by barging him and celebrating in his face, but Alan Bennett took the bait and confronted him, being shown a red card.
McGuire was a nasty individual for his needless reaction to the equaliser, but Benno should have known better, and he has had to serve his time.
It meant three games out for him so soon after coming back from injury, and gave Keith Lowe a chance to come back into the side, but he played at right back when Oxford came back in the JPT.
We led twice, but once again defensive frailities cost us dear - although it must be said I am not exactly heartbroken that we have gone out.
After Jeff Goulding scored a much-needed goal against Fleetwood, it was Darryl Duffy's turn to end a long run without a goal, and it was a superb finish.
But we gifted a goal to Tom Craddock before Keith Lowe smashed us back in front again - only for us to give it all away again.
Harry Worley got a free header at the far post to equalise, then James Constable and Leven's penalty ended our Wembley dreams... if we had any in the first place.
More importantly, it was the first game of Benno's three-match ban, and the other two were tough-looking games at AFC Wimbledon and Bradford.
At Wimbledon, we played well and fully deserved our win. Marlon Pack smashed in the first and Kaid Mohamed headed in the second and - despite some good crosses and problems caused by our summer transfer target Byron Harrison, who got a late goal - we came away with the win.
It was another success against a bottom half of the table side, and we faced a sterner test at Bradford, and it was another stirring 90 minutes.
We led through a penalty, won by Jermaine and converted by Marlon, then Jermaine should have had another - which was more stonewall than the one we got (hope you are keeping up here).
Nakhi Wells then dived to try and win one back as the 10,000 Bradford fans finally woke up and tried to get their side back into the game.
He wasn't booked, but was soon after for clattering into Marlon - that should have been a second yellow, but in true Ronald Koeman style he was still on the pitch to convert the penalty Bradford finally got in first-half stoppage time.
It was given away by Sido, who fell over then palmed the ball off Craig Forsyth's foot for some reason, and that turned the game against us.
Wells scored again and James Meredith added a third, then Darryl was booked for diving late on, with a fall nowhere near as ridiculous as the one Wells was allowed to get away with unpunished.
So we went down 3-1 - a defeat which is our only one in the League since Southend after we took six out of six from the Devon double against Plymouth and Exeter (never in doubt, as we usually do beat Devon clubs at home!).
Now, against Plymouth I felt we were a bit fortunate, a view not shared by Yatesy in his pre-match interview for the Exeter game, where we mentioned his perceived 'negativity' of the Robins Player coverage of that game.
We fell behind to Conor Hourihane's goal, but fought back to win with Billy Jones set-pieces being headed in by Steve Elliott and Kaid Mohamed.
Happy days that we got the win, but Plymouth had two penalty shouts, missed an open goal at the death and, when we went to 4-4-2 for much of the second half, had a lot of possession and several chances.
Yatesy went back to his 4-2-3-1 later on and we won the control back, but unlike the Fleetwood game the move to 4-4-2 did not seem to work.
The game also saw yellow cards for Sido and Russ Penn, their fifth of the season, so they sat out against Exeter - not that it made much difference.
Yatesy had been looking for a loanee, and in came Lawson D'Ath from Reading, with Keith Lowe at right back, and Darryl Duffy given his first league start.
The first half was even, but once D'Ath finished off a superb move after a one-two with Darryl, the result was never in doubt.
Unlikely hero Lowe added the other two finishing off headers from Steve Elliott from a combined distance of about three yards, all of which was adequate punishment for Exeter boss Paul Tisdale's decision to where purple cords on the touchline, and a very silly hat to top it all off.
The game was also notable for Joe Hanks' league debut. The 17 year old midfielder has been around the first team squad for much of the season, and got his chance with 10 minutes to go - let's hope it is the first of many games for the teenager.
As if that wasn't enough of a shock, Yatesy deemed that 3-0 was a big enough lead for him to risk getting Danny Andrew out of the ice box he has been in for the best part of a year and let him loose on the pitch.
So that's brought things up to date, and we go into the break for the FA Cup this weekend sitting in third place - and still some fans don't think we have hit top gear.
If that's the case then we have some treats in store in the coming weeks and months - hopefully starting after the Cup tie with our nesxt League game at Gillingham, now managed by... oh you know... whatsisname...

An opportunity missed

OVER a season, you will get results which surprise, frustrate and annoy you in equal measure.
This one was definitely in the 'frustrate' category, as even those with the intellect of an amoeba would have left Adams Park knowing we should have had the three points tucked away in our back pocket.
After four goals between them in the reserves, Darren Carter and Sam Deering were unsurprisingly brought into the starting line-up, and there was also a first start of the season for Keith Lowe.
It was Keith's 100th League and Cup appearance for us, and consigned Harry Hooman back to the bench after his difficult afternoon against Accrington.
For a few days before the game, it looked like Alan Bennett would be back against his old club, but now we are unlikely to see him until York next weekend at the earliest.
So Mark Yates, having decided to take Harry out of the firing line (rightly in my view) turned to the ever-dependable Bilston Cafu - and he took three minutes to make an impact with a great finish.
Unfortunately it was past Scott Brown, who could do nothing about it - but it could have been prevented further up the field.
From our corner, Nikki Bull caught the ball, threw it to Dennis Oli, he fed Joel Grant, and one cross later the ball was in our net. No tackles, no pressure as the ball travelled from their penalty area to our net.
Before that, we had two corners and has started well, and that own goal was as bad as it got in the first half.
As poor as we had been against Accrington, this was the total opposite.
I can barely remember the ball coming into our half during that first period, and there is no argument that we should have been in front at the break.
Our passing and movement, especially from our central midfield trio of Carter, Deering and Marlon Pack, was too much for Wycombe, and we looked a threat out wide, especially down the right.
Deering and Kaid Mohamed missed good chances, and we had a few long-range efforts, then we got a stonewall penalty after Pack was fouled and up stepped Shaun Harrad to smash it in.
Wycombe had been no threat at all, and also lost two players to injury - Oli and Matt Spring - in that half, and it looked odds-on for us to go on and win the game.
But to Wycombe's credit, they were better in the second half, led by Gareth Ainsworth, who has tormented us in the past and kept Billy Jones on his toes defensively.
It was a sweltering day, and was hardly a surprise that Mark made three substitutions - with two of the players introduced, Jeff Goulding and Chris Zebroski, having good late chances to win it.
But they weren't taken and we had to settle for a point, and I have been surprised by the somewhat negative backlash to the result.
Before the game, I would definitely have taken a point from Adams Park as I thought pre-season that Wycombe would be in the mix this season.
But as it transpires it might have been a good time to play them - they recently sold hotshot striker Stuart Beavon, had a few players missing, lost two more players during the game and it seems they had pressed Ainsworth into action (although he was their best player and won their man of the match award).
Yes, we should have won the game as it turned out and I understand people being disappointed that we didn't do so, but some of the reaction since the game has, I feel, been disproportionate and over the top.
We are not going to win every game, and it is arrogant to believe that we will. There will be disappointments along the way.
Much of the post-match ire was aimed at the subsititutions, and especially the decision to take Jermaine McGlashan off.
Once again, Jermaine had angered the home fans by (in their view) going down too easily and too often. On this occasion, I think it was 50-50 on that front, and I wonder whether this was a factor in Mark taking him off.
Shaun Harrad was limping slightly when he came off, and Sam Deering had run himself silly before he came off, and I cannot argue with the changes - put it this way, Mark has made worse substitutions in other games than these.
The fact that Goulding and Zebroski came on and then missed chances could have coloured some views on the decisions - Zeb's chance was the best in my view as he screwed his shot wide.
Jeff was denied by the goalkeeper with a good save then put a late shot over the bar, and we had to settle for a draw.
I am not going to get too deeply into the alleged incident involving Jeff towards the end of the game as I didn't see him make any gesture, and I wasn't in the away stand to hear what may or may not have been shouted towards him.
Anyway, no player should ever be gesturing towards rival players or his own fans, and if Jeff did that, he is out of order.
But equally, I also find it disturbing if some of our fans have started turning on certain players only five games into the season.
It's not only Jeff. I have  read on the Nest and Twitter this week that Billy Jones is 'not good enough', only five games into his CTFC career, and Darryl Duffy (a player desperately in need of a goal and looking very low on confidence) is also coming in for some criticism.
We need 'better back up' apparently. Darryl needs fans to help him through a rough patch, but instead it seems that some fans are only happy when they have a scapegoat or two amongst the squad.
I find that sad and wish it didn't happen, but I guess it is the case at every club and I find it one of the more distasteful sides to the modern game.
The manager said the other week that Mo was his 'favourite player' - with tongue firmly placed in cheek. Unfortunately for some of our players, they are not favourites with anyone it would seem.
The likes of Marlon, Jermaine and Sido, it seems, are impervious from any criticism at all, but practically everyone else in the squad would appear to have their share of detractors.
What happened to getting behind everyone in your team? Surely it isn't rocket science to work out that certain players perform better when there is a positive atmosphere coming from the terraces?
Why should there be ANY negativity anyway? We have eight points from five games and sit in 9th place, which is hardly a disastrous start.
I read somewhere this week that the games with Southend and Oxford this week are 'must win' games and it would be a disaster if we took less than four points from them. Really?
Well, here's a fact. If we beat Southend tomorrow, 11 points from 6 games will mean we will have made our best start to a Football League season in 12 years.
Hardly a disaster that, is it?

Player by player
Scott Brown: Hardly had a save to make all game, such was our domination. No chance with the own goal.
Sido Jombati: Got forward well to link with Jermaine down the right hand side but delivery poor. Defended well when he had to.
Billy Jones: Also an asset going forward and as usual with his set-pieces but had his hands full with Gareth Ainsworth in the second half.
Steve Elliott: Solid enough, and dealt with the long balls they were sending downfield and showed composure to start our attacks going again.
Keith Lowe: Recovered well from the own goal and was very good for the remaining 87 minutes, nearly grabbing a goal and dealing with their occasional threat.
Darren Carter: Excellent full debut. Composed on the ball, intelligent passing and calm touches to prompt our attacks and linked well with Marlon.
Marlon Pack: Poor last week, but superb this week as he and Carter ran the game. Confident on the ball and always involved. Won the penalty.
Sam Deering: Seemed to have plenty of space to play and influence the game. Missed an excellent chance in the first half.
Jermaine McGlashan: A big weapon all game as most of our attacks went down the right. Got very few decisions from the ref - hope he isn't getting a reputation as a 'diver'.
Kaid Mohamed: Not as big a threat as Jermaine. Made some decent runs and got into good positions, but then either didn't shoot or picked the wrong pass.
Shaun Harrad: Emphatically put away the penalty and worked hard, showing good touch, especially with his back to goal, but didn't have many chances.

Substitutes
Chris Zebroski (for McGlashan 68): Looked happier on the right hand side, and had a very good chance to win it for us.
Jeff Goulding (for Deering 74): Again playing in 'the hole' but had two good chances, one was saved well and one over the bar.
Darryl Duffy (for Harrad 78): Usual effort in the time he was on but looks very low on confidence. Needs a goal so badly.

Accrington Stanley ... who are they?

I thought that by holding off writing this for 24 hours or so, my feelings over this limp surrender would have mellowed in the cold light of day. They haven't.
Going into this game, I couldn't find anyone who thought we would not win the game.
All the predictions I read were 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1... a cakewalk, pipe and slippers job it seemed.
Maybe that was part of the problem. That was the view of the paying customers, maybe it was also the view of those who crossed the white line, so they thought going through the motions would be acceptable.
After all, this is the season when we put right the wrongs of last March onwards, and cruise majestically to a top-three place and march relentlessly into League One. Not on this evidence.
I know it is one game, I know we have only played four games this season. I know this was our first defeat of the season. I know we are still three points off top spot. I know all that.
But all that doesn't stop the alarm bells ringing after as inept a home performance from a Cheltenham Town side since the current manager took over.
It had the hallmarks of some of those displays at home under previous managers. You remember them, the abject surrenders where a limp Cheltenham side is rolled over by a side who are set up well and, quite simply want it more.
We have seen lots of them away in recent times too - Crewe, Stevenage, Southend, but at home they have been a rarity in more recent times.
I usually moan about fans booing the team off. I certainly would never do it myself, but am not going to criticise those who did so yesterday.
Positives? Not many. The final whistle was the main one...
Now I know players have off days, but it is a rare thing when all 10 outfield players choose to have theirs at the same time - however I don't think they were helped by the manager's choice of system, and seeming reluctance to change it.
Our success and best results since he took over have come with a three-man central midfield, but he opted to change to a 4-4-2.
That left Marlon Pack and Russ Penn to be over run by Stanley's trio of Will Hatfield, George Miller and Luke Joyce - but we have seen that happen a lot when we play a two-man midfield and come up against a trio.
We just never seem to be able to cope with it. The extra man always has the upper hand, and surely it should have been changed at half-time.
Marlon was as poor as I have seen him in a Cheltenham shirt. Wasteful in possession far too often, and well closed down by a Stanley midfield who chased and harried all game.
The same went for Russ - unable to impose himself on the game, and was outbattled - something which has rarely happened since he has been with us. Maybe it's the new completely shaven haircut - Samson-style, it may have taken his strength away.
It seems to me that Marlon can not play in a 4-4-2. Very rarely have I seen it work with him in that system as the deeper role he can play in a three suits him and allows him to get on the ball more and play the 'quarterback' role he seems to relish.
Up front, Chris Zebroski and Shaun Harrad were paired in a new-look partnership which didn't make an auspicious start.
Part of that can be put down to the way the game panned out - a goal down in four minutes, 2 down at half-time and the game gone a minute after the break - but the link-up play was fleeting, they were left isolated and the service was negligible.
In the opening minutes, I thought the Stanley back four (and Aristote Nsiala in particular) looked nervous and shaky, and was there for the taking, but we never got a head of steam up to put them under concerted pressure.
Both Shaun and Zeb had a couple of half-chances, but neither looked like scoring and I would have have had one of them off at half-time (or even before) to go back to 4-2-3-1, with either Darren Carter or Sam Deering coming on.
Jermaine McGlashan got into plenty of good positions out wide, and was our main threat - until it came to the time to deliver a cross.
Time and again he hit the first man, and was unable to pick out the ruby shirt. That is the part of the game he needs to work on.
He has the pace, his upper body strength is surprisingly good as he displayed when he took on two defenders and fed Mo in the move which ended with his volley being well saved, but his crossing is erratic.
Mo and his yellow boots lasted an hour on his return from injury, but looked a bit rusty. He should have scored in the first half but got no power in his shot. There were a few flashes of pace but that was it.
As for the back four...
Much of the spotlight will fall on Harry Hooman, and rightly so I'm afraid.
Alan Bennett is fit again, but pre-match you would not have found many people who would have argued with the decision to leave Benno on the bench and keep Harry in the side.
He was voted player of the month for August after some excellent displays in a side which has kept two clean sheets in the first three games, and he has set up one goal and nearly scored himself as well.
But four minutes in, his error led to Padraig Amond's goal, and you saw the confidence drain out of him.
Instead of attacking the ball as he has done on the first four games of the season, he was letting it bounce, and was part of the collective hell from a corner that led to the second goal for Miller.
Then, it was he who hung back to play Romauld Boco onside for the third that consigned the second half to a slow, lingering death, which left us with 44 minutes until the final whistle put us out of our misery.
Post-match, I have seen many comments saying that Yatesy should have given him the hook and sent Benno on, or criticising the decision to play him in the first place.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and Yatesy has made plenty of bold decisions in his tenure, and he opted to leave Harry in there, and unfortunately it has backfired.
I think Mark did the right thing in leaving Harry out there. To have taken him off would have killed his confidence even more. The game was gone anyway, so better to use it as part of the learning curve.
Now he can sit down this week with the DVD, learn from his mistakes, go back on the training ground and come back a better player after a return to the bench. Benno has to start at his old club Wycombe next weekend.
Steve Elliott will be happy to see his oppo back alongside him, I would suggest. He would have had the job of lifting Harry up and seeing him through the game while having to also deal with Amond's excellent movement and the runs of Hatfield and Boco.
Billy Jones was the better of the two full backs, although Boco caused him plenty of problems, he did send in some useful set-pieces again.
Sido was his  usual mixed bag. It seems to be sacrilege to criticise him, and he often seems to get man of the match for not doing a great deal, but he was poor defensively and better going forward.
That is a problem as his position in the side is right back, and defending should be his priority - as a mate of mine pointed out in the post match inquiry, if his name was Tom Smith and he didn't come from Portugal, he might get a bit more flak rather than seemingly being above criticism for poor performances.
Danny Andrew was pilloried by fans for his defending but lauded as he was 'good going forward' - I don't believe Sido has started the season well from a defensive point of view.
Scott Brown was not at fault for any of the goals - the 10 in front of him afforded him no protection at all, only serving to heighten the surprise that it took 60 minutes for any of them to be replaced.
Another topic pre-match was the bench. The six outfield players sat there were Carter, Deering, Bennett, Keith Lowe, Jeff Goulding and Darryl Duffy.
A Championship-class midfielder, our club skipper, the 2010-11 player of the year, last season's 15-goal top scorer, one of our marquee summer signings and a striker with 20 goals in the past two seasons for us.
By common consensus, it was one of the strongest benches we have managed to field in our 14 years of League football - and it should have been used quicker.
As I said earlier, at half-time or even before, we should have matched Accrington and gone back to our tried and tested 4-2-3-1, but we stuck with 4-4-2 as Mo was taken off with Duffy coming on, and Zebroski moving wide again.
That the starting line up stayed out there so long almost seemed like a punishment - you have got us into this mess, now it's up to you to try to get us out of it.
Finally, Carter and Deering came on and for 14 minutes we went back to our 'usual' formation but it was too little too late.
Overall, we have to hope this was a one-off, and one poor performance in August does not derail a season.
We now have three tough-looking games - Wycombe, Southend and Oxford in the next two-and-a-half weeks.
It's not make or break this early on, but it's a test of character and heart coming up a little earlier than we had hoped.
The manager has been rightly lauded for his summer recruitment, and the squad he has at his disposal is one of the best we have ever had.
His job now is to find a system they are comfortable with and the right blend of players to make it work.
He admitted post-match that he got it wrong this time - let's hope it's not long until he gets it right.

I am not going to do a player-by-player. It speaks for itself that everyone was poor, bar Scott Brown, who is excused as the three goals were not down to him, rather the ineptitude of those in front of him.