Columnists

By Matt Owen

07/04/2008 - Fanzone: Display did nothing to allay fans' fears

When former loan player Lee Barnard waltzed through the defensive rearguard with just three minutes on the clock the writing was on the wall.

The whole game was a write off from the moment it started to the final whistle. Complete and utter garbage. On this showing it won't be long before we say hello to League Two.

Barnard's a decent player. We all know that and it was no surprise he was on target in his return to the Alexandra Stadium, but I didn't expect Crewe's backline to give him a present as early as they did.

We now have four games left and I'm still not sure which way the pendulum will swing. Previously, I have been confident that we will avoid relegation, I can't be sure after Saturday's performance.

I thought Southend would be tough. Still, I fancied us to grab a point, but it was obvious early doors that we were up against it and when you miss two penalties you can't expect to get anything out of a game.

When you're not playing well and you are awarded penalties, you must convert them. The first penalty was bad enough, but to miss another is just criminal and it is easy to see why some bookmakers have us as favourites to drop.

On paper, we now have four winnable games, but we will need to show a lot more in the remaining matches if we are to stave off the threat of relegation and the Cheltenham game at home now looks crucial to our safety hopes.

In an ideal world, victories at Yeovil, then at home to Cheltenham would put us on the verge of safety, but this is Crewe and I can see us dragging it out till the final match of the season against Oldham.

However this season ends, it should be viewed as a disastrous campaign and big changes are needed in the summer as we have massively underachieved.

Steve Holland cut a disconsolate figure at full-time. He looked like a man who was steering the Titanic in to an iceberg and you have to feel sorry for the guy. Talk about a baptism of fire.

His players have let him down big style this season, but he can't allow himself or his squad to feel sorry for themselves. It's still in our hands and he must be positive going in to the final four games.

Those players who have massively underachieved asked us to get behind them. I went to the Southend game with the intention to do just that, but when you concede moments after you have taken your seat it isn't easy.

An ex-player bangs in a double, while your side misses two penalties and plays like a bag of spanners. Forgive me if I find it hard to muster up the energy to encourage and cajole the players.

The whole day is best forgotten. It was like pouring buckets of salt in to a gaping wound. Then, on top of that, you find out your horse fell at the last fence in the Grand National and the beer under the main stand has gone up 10p!

Talk about kicking a man when he's down. I was just waiting for Gillingham to score a late winner and plunge us in to the bottom four, but thankfully their game at Millwall was confirmed as a draw.

Gillingham have now moved level on points with us in the table, but our superior goal difference keeps us out of the bottom four and hopefully league leaders Swansea will win at the Priestfield Stadium next Saturday and we can pick something up at Yeovil.