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TOTAL HUMILIATION "Dire. Rubbish. Wrong attitude. No commitment. Mediocre. Poor. No ideas. No ambition. No drive. Hopeless." Those were some of the genuine (and more polite) comments from fans at the end of last night's game and it would be very difficult to argue against them. Although the first half was about even, the second was one of the worst performances that I have witnessed at Park Lane in my seven seasons as a supporter. There are certain Canvey performances that stick in the mind from past seasons – Burgess Hill, Lowestoft, all games away to Croydon, Northwood in last season’s RLC, Slough in the FAC– last night’s Chelmsford game needs to be added to the list of poor performances. So what makes a poor performance? Is it lack of skill? Lack of fitness? Or lack of fire and commitment? An impartial observer might have wondered about the skill level of many of last night’s players. The inability to control a ball with the first touch, the dreadful passing and the lack of positional play reminded me of the skills levels I see when watching boys play for their school. The lack of speed of other players who were in positions where speed is paramount, might suggest that fitness is an issue. But the overwhelming opinion of everyone around me was that we were witnessing at least six of the players who appeared not to care whether they played or not. With so large a proportion of players giving it less than 100% (or in this case, less than 75%) it puts an enormous strain on those few players who are trying their best. Following the disappointment of Slough, Jeff King said that certain players had played their last game for the club. Obviously this was something intended to gee the players up as everyone has since played again for the club, but the geeing up has had no effect. Perhaps we now have to ask why the extremely knowledgeable management team at the club doesn't seem to be able to motivate the experienced and talented squad of players now on the books. But the foregoing moaning would appear to take away from Chelmsford’s accomplished performance where, without appearing to break into a sweat, they ran the second half entirely and had Canvey on the ropes for long periods. For one embarrassing spell their fans cheered each successful pass from one claret shirt to another – there was a lot of cheering. Chelmsford were very well organised and, having got the bit between their teeth, they settled back and got stuck into their game of football. Their players gave it 100% and appeared to be enjoying the match and enjoying watch Canvey squirm. Their defence was tall and strong, which made the high balls pumped forward for Cobby rather futile. In fact, without Neil Gregory the Canvey attack force appeared quite futile for much of the first half. It took Lee Boylan to introduce some passion when he came on for the second half. The one good aspect of the entire game was the understanding that existed between him and JK. Canvey were denied at least one penalty, but you have to ask if it would have made any difference as the one they were awarded was blasted against the crossbar by Paul Cobb. In fact it did bounce down and over the line but the referee would have none of it. Either way, it was a poor penalty and everyone around me was asking why Cobby took it in the first place when perhaps a better bet might have been to leave it for Lee Boylan. The penalty miss and the poor refereeing decision that followed it increased the Canvey frustration level and some of the tackles after that looked reckless to say the least. None more so than the one from Steve Parmenter which resulted in a straight red card. The decision was a bit tough but perhaps this was the only way Mr Ives (yes, he’s still refereeing!) felt he could get a grip back on the game. Down to 10 men and a missed penalty was the final nail in the Canvey coffin. From here on in they lost the plot big time and Chelmsford strolled home. Chennery scored a good consolation goal just a few minutes from time, but by now it was purely academic. Where do we go from here? Jeff must get the motivation right before this squad can hope to do anything. On paper this is an extremely talented outfit with years of experience at top level football. No mountain should be too high. But the players have got to show the fans, if not the management, that they want it. Unless they do, expect gates at Park Lane to plummet. The Yellow Army has been used to success and indifference is a bitter pill to swallow, especially at £9 a dose. Special mention must go to Jeff Minton who did his best to lift the game and always looked strong when he was on the ball. However, by comparison to some of the other players around him, anyone with even half a degree of passion would have looked strong. Match 'report' by a very depressed Merv. Teams
Weather Conditions: Chilly but dry. What did you think of
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