Sanny - Sky Sports Expert

Shakers still sailing

Posted: 10th March 2010 14:31

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Shakers still sailing

Alan Knill: Worked wonders

Criticism comes with the territory of being in football, I'm afraid, so why does Alan Knill let the literally 'odd' fan get under his skin?

Bury FanZoner Sanny Rudravajhala.
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After the euphoria of the Rochdale victory, I was a little wary of an 'after the Lord Mayor's show' effect trickling through the side.

Thankfully it didn't look like it was coming as we had an excellent win away at Bradford but arguably since then, the Shakers have stuttered.

It's a familiar situation, 668 minutes without a goal from open play is worrying indeed and echoes the 683 minutes of exactly zero goals that fell between the back end of last season and Lowe's deflection that won us three points at Port Vale. This is further exacerbated by the most recent draw coming against the worst side in the division, Darlington, on Tuesday.

So for the second time this season I have to ask what exactly is going on?! Now that I am exiled in the bright lights of Barnet, I have only managed to catch our 1-0 win against Shrewsbury and our frustrating, albeit entertaining, stalemate in my back garden of Underhill in the last few weeks.

Peroxide

There was entertainment at the Bees both on and off the pitch. From that showing, we looked infinitely the better side, creating a hatful of chances only to have our fingers burnt by the peroxide prowess of Jake Cole in the sticks. In the stands, there was a good atmosphere but it was the half-time entertainment that was truly brilliant.

Picture my Hindu, vegetarian mate Himi, sat on the terraces trying to find out the half-time scores on his phone. Then, try and imagine his disgust at the rather rotund bloke who decided to stand a few steps above him and eat a burger so messily, that tiny bits of half-chewed beef started raining down onto his arm, phone and coat!! Perhaps my highlight of the season!

A quick look at the club messageboard reveals that there appears to be a little more than being unlucky at the heart of our lack of goals. As I have said before, Alan Knill has worked wonders at Gigg Lane and I think what always needs to be kept in mind is that without him, we would be battling with Barrow rather than Barnet by now.

Frustration

However, the philosophy of 'if you can't win, don't lose' is leading to frustration from sections of the fans. Football is a squad game and part of the reason we came unstuck last season was from keeping a virtually unchanged XI throughout.

Similar things are now afoot and whilst it is obvious that the team going out is our best side, is there an argument for freshening it up? Whether it is physiologically or psychologically, fatigue is bound to play a part in diminished levels of performance and the question is whether Knilly trusts those on the periphery perform as well as well as the starting XI... there's only one way to find out.

The other major gripe that the messageboarders have is with the gaffer's gripe abut the fans getting on his and the players' back. Since I have a 'portal' through which to speak on behalf of our support, I feel compelled to mention this here.

Personally, as the guy with (one of) the drum(s), I always try and generate an atmosphere in a positive fashion. Similarly, so do the vast majority of our supporters and I would argue that any boo-boys are a tiny minority of a relatively small crowd.

It is quite disheartening however to hear reports that we have all been tarred with the same brush as some idiot in the main stand who decides to take issue with all things Bury FC in as vocal a way as possible. On the other hand, that idiot has paid a lot of money to 'support' his team and is well within his rights to express himself in any manner he sees fit.

Perspective

Criticism comes with the territory of being in football, I'm afraid. As others have pointed out, if one of the players has a go at a spectator the manager would be quick to stamp out such unprofessionalism, so why let the literally 'odd' fan get under his skin?

Anyway, this is all sounding very pessimistic, if not ridiculous, for a side that is currently third in the league. Every side goes through a bad patch and if our poor form constitutes one defeat in 10 games and being unbeaten in five then clearly we must be destined for great things!

In fact, just writing that puts it all into perspective. We are competing in a time where teams are going into vast levels of debt and risking administration to try and keep up. We are ahead of sides that have far greater support levels than our own and we have a team capable of beating any team in the division.

The Good Ship Shaker has hit a bit of a cold front but other teams better batten down the hatches because this ship is far from sunk!

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