Imaginary Lines

By: Andrew Doherty
Date: 07/09/2024

HEAD Coach Artell repeatedly tells us that the team's progress won't be linear. I'm not sure if this is a defence mechanism on his part, or he's introducing us to geometry but whilst I can see that we won't win every week, he could be less oblique to use a linear analogy.

And what progress are we going to make if it's not linear - curved or parabolic? He says it so often that he must mean something by it. I'd have thought the obvious indicators would be the number of points we accumulate, and our league position. We can get thrilled about performances, but another Artellism seems to be, especially after a few days of reflection, that we were unlucky, the referee was suboptimal, gaining anything from the latest opposition was an achievement, if x had happened then y would have followed etc, thus masking what the rest of us saw. To be fair to Mr Artell, it must be ball-aching to have to give the same explanations before and after every match, something that previous manager Paul Hurst was awful at, and to his credit before this match he did give some insight into the player development plans while fulfilling the seemingly statutory obligation of reminding us that things won't be linear.

Actually, coming back to earth we're doing ok. We've won twice at home and whilst our two away performances revealed weaknesses and resulted in no points, I do sense progress in whatever geometric form. Today's game at Chesterfield will give a measure of progress. Newly promoted, Chesterfield's 5 - 0 win at Crewe was impressive but they haven't kicked on. This said, a 0 - 1 loss at promotion favourites Gillingham last week was not catastrophic. The home club released 999 tickets for hopeful Town fans today and all the tickets were sold as Town looked to move forward, in a linear way or otherwise. The starting line-up read: Eastwood - Warren, Rodgers, McJannet, Hume - Svanthorsson, McEachren, Green, Khouri, Vernam - Rose. Town wore traditional black and white today in front of the crowd of 9,325.

Town kicked off on this damp day in Derbyshire. Svanthorsson won an early corner. Hume's corner was long and found Rodgers who missed a good chance, screwing his shot wide from the far post. A swift upfield move saw Green find Warren who tested Chesterfield's keeper Boot. Town looked switched on at this early stage and were passing ball around nicely. McJannet found Khouri on 9 minutes. Khouri won a throw, and Town continued to press. Town moved up again on 12 minutes after an excellent Khouri tackle. Green crossed for Rose to head the ball down but Rose was offside. The build-up was promising. With 16 minutes gone, Town were dominating the game. Green's tenacity following a Chesterfield error saw him charge up the right and cross towards Rose who slid in and got his foot on it, but Boot was well placed. Chesterfield won a corner on 21 minutes in what was their first attack. Rose headed clear. Town's packed defence averted the danger. Markanday then found space to shoot from range but Wright got down well. Oldaker was then booked for hacking down a surging Khouri in the Chesterfield half. Vernam's free-kick was accurate but lacked power. Warren received a yellow card on 26 minutes when trying to hold off Berry on the left. Berry slammed the free-kick in towards the near post. The ball evaded everyone. Wright, who was initially on the near post but inexplicably drew himself away, made a desperate attempt to stop it but the ball ran over him into the net. Chesterfield 1, Town 0. Wright then almost gave the ball away with Dobra challenging, but Town recovered and staged an attack which resulted in a Boot save from Green. Town put together a good move around the 35 minute mark but it came to nothing. Svanthorsson did well to take a quick throw and received the ball back, only to be hacked down by Grimes. Vernam found Rodgers whose shot was weak. Town had another promising but ultimately fruitless attack on 41 minutes. Vernam was penalised for a foul on Tanton on 42 minutes, leaving Chesterfield in a good position on the right. Town defended well, and Dobra's shot was well wide. With 3 minutes added, Chesterfield attacked. Taunton crossed from the right. As half-time approached, Rodgers attempted to fight off Grigg but got into a tangle, allowing Markanday to slip in and drill the ball home from close range. So it was 2 - 0 at half time. Town had played reasonably well but were undone by poor goalkeeping from Wright, and Rodgers's failure to control the situation. All was not lost but Town needed to be more aware, and repeat the brightness that they showed in the early stages.

The second half started with a Chesterfield attack. Tanton crossed from the right. Khouri met it and in doing so flattened Rodgers. Svanthorsson, Warren and Green put together a neat move but Green's pass was poor, and Warren compounded it with a foul. Town attacked again on 50 minutes. Vernam picked up the ball in the Chesterfield half and ran forward. Seeing an opportunity Vernam sent in a curler from 25 yards with his left foot. It was perfection as the ball curled inside the left post with Boot well beaten. Chesterfield 2, Town 1. Chesterfield almost responded immediately when Grigg made a nuisance of himself, allowing Dobra to shoot from inside the box. Dobra's shot slid wide. Chesterfield mounted further attacks. Banks won a corner on 57 minutes. Vernam was booked for clipping the advancing Oldaker. Berry ran forward and the ball came back to Dobra whose shot was blocked, allowing Wright to gather safely. A through ball from Berry saw Grigg clear on 59 minutes. Wright raced out and got there first, his reward being to be kicked in the head by Grigg. The game was stopped on 61 minutes after McEachren was on the receiving end of a robust challenge from Banks. Vernam started a good move on 65 minutes. Warren's cross was sent to a dangerous space but for once Rose was slow. Two minutes later Oldaker fouled Rose on the right edge of the box. The referee decided it was a bookable offence so Oldaker now had two yellows and were down to 10 men. The free-kick was messed up and the move ended with Warren crossing to no-one. Chesterfield made a number of substitutions as they sought to secure the game. Wright made a good save from Tanton following a Dobra cross on 73 minutes. Rodgers had a wild shot on 75 minutes, proving why he isn't a striker. A lovely cross by Vernam met Green's head a minute later but Araujo did enough to shake off the threat. Wilson and Carson replaced Khouri and Hume. Town had a moment of luck seconds later when Metcalf's cross found Gordon who shot against the post from close range. The ball rebounded to Grigg whose rising shot struck the crossbar. With 82 minutes gone, a good through ball from Carson earned Town a corner. Rose was unable to control his header which went wide. Town persevered, and Svanthorsson was unlucky not to win a corner after wriggling between two defenders. Town did win a corner moments later. Vernam's low cross could easily have been knocked on but Boot was there first. Boot saved low again on 87 minutes after a cross from McEachren. Barrington then replaced Vernam. Town probed. Warren found Svanthorsson who crossed but Wilson's header was directly at Boot. 7 minutes were added. Carson was booked for a late challenge on Metcalf, at the same time stopping Town's progress. Ainley now came on for Green. Town battled and fought to break through with fluid football as Chesterfield lumped the ball clear, but Town's efforts were ultimately in vain. The final score was: Chesterfield 2, Grimsby Town 1.

I'm not sure where this game sits in the linearity of things but while the result was disappointing, there were encouraging signs in the display. Unlike performances in recent seasons where we've given up at the first sign of adversity or started playing aimless long balls, Town continued to work the ball forward in a meaningful way. The goals we conceded were due to poor concentration and technique. It was those mistakes which stopped us from winning today, so this area needs to be reviewed and worked in order that we progress upwards along the imaginary white line. But at least Town put up a decent overall performance, and if Mr Artell tells us it's a game we could and should have won today, then I would agree.

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