I must admit the decision not to travel had something more to do with our current form. To say the euphoria post Mansfield had evaporated would be something of a massive understatement. Not even the biggest Barnet fan would have expected such a result from the first leg. My sympathies lie with the Centre Spot boys who to ensure an Apex reduced price rail ticket to London booked on the morning of the first game. I tried to console them suggesting that they were bound to enjoy the pleasures of a day in London.

Why oh why wasn't I there? I was pleased to hear that the boys put in a better performance with young Gazzgazhi making his first team debut. Better still a hardy 84 souls still ventured to Underhill. The funniest incident of the night happened when the travelling fans entered their fifteenth minute of 'Peter Fox's Red and White Army' the ever sensitive London Police asked some of the boisterous few to calm down otherwise they would be ejected. Now at this time Exeter City were six nil down on aggregate and needed a miracle and a mere seven away goals to keep us in the competition. One wag thought 'ah my chance of escape' so he told the Copper, who must have had a sense of humour bypass, where to go and multiply. The result: 83 away fans and an early pint in the Red Lion.

In my resignation report at the AGM I have stated my reasons for departure, and hope that now the Club may accept the Supporters' Club in a better light. Dave Bennett has hinted in his statement that many of my rantings were taken as personal insults. First, this editorial is only a personal opinion and not those of the Supporters Club, and if individuals are not allowed those I might as well support Dynamo Moscow; secondly, I dispute that anyone who has taken the Football Club to the verge of extinction is above criticism. I have an opportunity here to apologise, unfortunately I will defer this until there is a change for the better in the Boardroom management of this Club.

I smile with interest at the current unrest at our beloved neighbours Plymouth. Just exactly what have they got to moan about? McCauley is a maverick, allegedly one of those socialist millionaires. Where has he gone wrong? It appears that the fans have sided with the manager, despite the fact that it was Dan's continuing brave investment that brought Colin W. (thank you GTC....biesfa) to the West Country. Bearing in mind he had already risked a small fortune with Peter Shilton. True he has been at the Club through relegation, but rather than give up he brought in his man and bought promotion albeit via the back door at a lucrative Wembley six-seventh place play-off. It shows there must be more money in Rotolocks (what ever they are) than in watches. It is obvious if there is a power struggle between a man from Exeter and promotion winning manager who the thickies from the Lyndhurst (that's those who pay for a seat and the spend the whole game stood on it) will back. Unfortunately Dan has miscalculated this fact, the thickies will ignore the obvious in that they are losing £300,000 per year (and that's in a good season) and not criticise Colin when they "travelled like, and played like a Sunday side" just because he had to stay in a 3* hotel rather than Colin's choice of 5* opulence, poor loves. (I am not sure I have seen Plymouth ever play any different to a Sunday side). It will be interesting to see if their red card protest gets any further than ours did, but that Dan's so thick skinned.

People underestimate how quiet your average Exeter City supporter is. By comparison your Argyle fan would turned ballistic faced with coming bottom of the Football League, and Port Vale fans probably would have torched a Director's car or two. And dear, what of Brighton, their Director's sold their ground to pay-off debts and hope to ground-share with south coast rivals, otherwise they will be chucked out the League. Sound familiar? Did we run on the pitch to get games abandoned? did we riot? did we let off fireworks outside the back of the Boardroom? At Exeter City they get four pages of criticism in a fanzine once in a blue moon and a peaceful protest after our fourth home defeat out of seven. You lucky people.

Incidentally, I hear through the grapevine that the Club are going to give the 12 or so young lads who 'stormed' the pitch lifetime bans. I detect a hardening of the Board's attitude, perhaps they are digging in for a long and bitter war. It maybe that the alterations rumoured earlier in the season was to convert the Boardroom into a Hitleresque Berlin bunker. I am sure there are not many people who read this tripe that don't know what the Sports Ground Act is all about. Running on the pitch seemingly is a criminal act. At Exeter though in the past there has been a sensible application of the law. There has been no such punishment for encroachment, frustrating as it might be to watch away fans to run on the pitch to goad the home fans when they score. (regularly it's Welsh Clubs for some reason), that is until now. Our Stewards more than anyone should know what is illegal and what is not, why then, if this is how the Club wishes to pursue this offence, do they help these away fan criminals back over the fence rather than arrest them? Now the precedent has been set I expect to see any future transgressor given the same penalty. Or is it just a case of ban them for life so their protests won't be heard. One way of dealing with dissenters I suppose, it's no wonder they must have built a bunker. Come on Moscow! Have they got cause for complaint? whilst some of the Manager's tactics, like the defending of corners for instance, has caused some unrest around me in the Cowshed. I'm not sure that despite Ed Hogg's mainly sympathetic notes in the Echo, they were directing their abuse at Foxy, the same lads were singing his praises only minutes before in the shed. I feel it is more a statement of frustration of the team's steady decline culminating in our present shoestring line up. Norman Warne, not a fair-weather fan in the slightest, but a realist (as opposed to pessimist like me), summed it all up more eloquently than I ever could in his recent letter to the E&E. The reply from Mr Frowd, although eminently diplomatic did miss a glaring point. What is the point of making a small profit for the first time in living memory if we are face next season with trying to become profitable in the Conference? There's the rub - do we stop competing with the likes of Scarboro' (who are paying a reputed £1,200 per week for Andy Richie) to consolidate our position in the lower reaches of the table or do we speculate and risk bankruptcy. There will be no choice unless there is a change in the attitude of management, where is the future? Apparently, this year we have budgeted on crowds of 2,500 or thereabouts, next season do we try another season of consolidation, this time building a team around an even smaller budget, this time based on crowds of 2,000. Just how will this vicious downward spiral end? There are no more second chances as more and more of the Conference Clubs get their grounds sorted.

New investment? well that sounds like the answer, a Dan McCauley without the ego for instance. There still might be a problem though, Ivor apparently was offered £100,000 to be injected into the Club if he went upstairs to the post of President and allowed some new blood onto the Board. Ivor scotched these rumours in the Echo saying that he would willingly step aside if the offer was right and the take over as from someone who would carry on with the best interests at heart.

The first problem is the offer, is the Club worth now what Ivor has thrown at it? That's after the ground has been sold and the best players transferred. One has to presume that there will always be this chasm between Ivor's perceived value and the true worth of an ailing third division club. The other predicament has to be the qualification on "best interests", just how is this to be assessed? Is death by a thousand cut-backs in the best interests? Let's face it, this is not Manchester United, there are no bloody assets left to strip.

On a question of saleability, how does any prospective buyer read the article in the E&E business section - CITY FC ASK FOR CASH. A copy is included elsewhere in the mag. Looks like it's begging bowl time again. In this day and age you need to offer goods or services in exchange for money it's only mugs like us regulars at the Park who regularly give cash and expect nothing in return. Don't the powers that be think that the people of Exeter are getting pissed off with hearing the same old story? just how many times do they expect that they stick out the begging bowls before it falls on deaf ears?

What about painting an albeit false but up beat picture for a change? CITY FC'S BOLD NEW PLANS would have made more encouraging reading, along the lines of:
"Exeter City, just two months out of Administration, launch new matchday business package with a hope to attract new sponsors. David Bird, Exeter City's Commercial Manager, said that although the Club still had minor debts, this would not prevent them from offering the best value corporate entertainment with a sporting theme in the area. The new package would include options of a golfing breakfast, luncheon with guest speaker, transport to St James Park, live Nationwide League soccer, Post match buffet including debriefing with Peter Fox and man of the match, or Dinner after the game on the Club's premises. Mr Bird added, I am very excited about the new scheme which has caused quite a stir and bookings are filling very quickly, which is no surprise as the entertainment can be tailored to suit all clients interests or budget. The package starts at a mere £25 per head. Potential Customers are asked to Contact Mr Bird on Exeter 50292, for a copy of the new GCE (Grecian Corporate Entertainment) Brochure, he will also be pleased to personally discuss your requirements."
Lets try and be a bit positive shall we?

The following extract from an article was given to me by a Supporter recently, it is reproduced from a 1956-57 match programme. I rest my case.

The Chairman writes ...

"Dear Supporter,
There is no use denying the fact that we are going  through a tough time.  Gates have been
falling off, expenses increasing and the relegation bogey is just around the corner.  There is
only one thing to do when adversity faces us and that is to pull together in the true spirit of
sportsmanship to put the Club back on the Football Map."

the article continues:

"We do not want to borrow money, but we do want to make it so that we can, by so doing,
improve our playing strength and our ground here at St James’s Park.  Remember IT IS YOUR
TEAM. We in the board room can only spend what money we have available and it is up to you
to help us to do all those things that are necessary to produce better football under better
conditions at St James’s Park.
A. S. Line,
Chairman
	
Cheques or Money Orders should be made payable to ‘Exeter City Football Club Appeal Fund’,
or donations may be handed in at the Secretary's Office after the game or at any other time"

To talk football rather than total bollocks for a change (however readers will consider this as probably bollocks as well), congratulations to Peter Fox in maintaining enthusiasm with such in difficult circumstances. The stars have been ripped out of his squad with the likes of the three Marks Came, Cooper and Gavin. The last two on that list certainly had their critics, probably not for their respective lack of skill but for their general attitude towards the Club. Someone hit the nail on the head recently whilst discussing our slide over the past few seasons, he termed it as a dilution of talent. Nothing scientific, but you have think back to the Championship season, when Scott Hiley left the Club he was replaced by Minnett, and when he went Robinson came in, and later he was substituted by Parsley, and so it goes. How can you compere Hiley and Parsley?. This is only one position apply that logic throughout all eleven places and you see why we are where we are. Against this backdrop the manager is expected to entertain you and I. This dilution cannot continue if we expect to maintain our League status.

Currently we are bobbing along the bottom of the table, occasionally spirits are lifted by performances like those against Lincoln and Carlisle, but joy is short-lived an inevitable defeat in the following game dumps us back from where we have just escaped. Is it too early for pessimism? It is true we are only a few points adrift of a healthy mid-table position as very few points separate most of the teams in the division. The worrying thing is that when we play poor we lose (Northampton), when we play well we more often than not still lose (Chester). I still remember our relegation in the early eighties, I thought at the time we were desperately unlucky to lose many of our home games that season, but at the end of the season when you looked at the table and we were a huge number of points off the pace you had to temper the stories of bad luck, rub of the green, finger of fate etc. and admit we were just not good enough.

Now, back to the present day foxy must be allowed to bolster his team of largely squad players with some potential match winners. This has to happen now rather than at Easter, last minute panicking on the transfer market didn't work with Cooper here prior to our relegation from the second and it didn't happen last season at Plainmoor. It is frustrating to hear the manager talk of bringing players in after a defeat, for it not to happen and then be postponed for a week after a good result only for it to start again seven days later after the next defeat. To give Foxy the benefit of the doubt it is not him being picky but it must be difficult finding the right player within his available budget.

Pleasant it is to have the delights of young Lee Hodges in the side, it is worrying that one of the lynch pins in the side is on loan and will eventually have to go back from whence he came, the chances of anything more than a temporary deal are remote. Where is the hustle and bustle in midfield going to come from when he is gone? Perhaps a return by Dazza could be the answer with goals coming from the midfield, but then again should a player with such an excellent reputation try and return, he would have so much to lose. Can he still do it? Will he play within the wage structure? Who'd be a football manager? Well at least in Peter Fox we have a hard working, honest and above all loyal manager, who still has the backing of the fans. I don't want that to sound like a vote of confidence from the Chairman either.

Mind you I don't suppose that is ever a likely now we have got divine inspiration. Apparently Peter Fox was chatting to the ebullient sponsors after our recent home win against Carlisle. All present were pleased that Foxy had turned around the fortunes of the game after a crap first 45 minutes. The manager had made a switch in formation here and there, so and so had dropped back to pick up the free man etc. When suddenly (as if by magic) the Chairman appears, he says that we were lucky that his friend Uri Geller had phoned at half time and had willed Exeter to win, after all we desperately needed the three points. He left as quickly as he had arrived and it was no surprise that Peter Fox could be seen shaking his head. Perhaps the next City kit should have a lucky rabbits foot collar, or we replace the ball boys with lucky Devon Pixies. Remember, I don't want any City fans walking under ladders on your way to the next game.
Keep Your Fingers Crossed and Above all Keep the Faith.