Back on Track!

It's been an eventful week at Chester FC.

Following the Nantwich Nightmare, so much was said, and vented, but we all just wanted to get back to winning ways on Saturday at home to North Ferriby, and the lads were clearly of the same mindset, whipping United 6-0 in front of a decent gate of over 2100.

It was the perfect response. Iain Howard & Chris Simm recalled to the team that they'd been dropped from a few days earlier due to their lateness, and I'm sure people now realise why that had to happen, and when I saw them on the pitch before the game as I walked in, I gave them a bit of banter about the fact that they were here on time this week!

In my blog for The Cestrian last time out I was writing about big wins, but I didn't actually think we'd get such a big win on Saturday as the team we were playing were half decent themselves, but when I saw that they'd only been able to name 3 subs, hopes were lifted.

It was fairly even early doors, and North Ferriby were looking like a team who had done well the past few seasons, having been involved in the Play offs, but as soon as Simmo scored their was only going to be one winner.

Then, step up Iain Howard - a beautiful step over and drag back of the ball led to a pass for Simmo to run on to and collect his second of the match, when he slid the ball under the keeper, Simmo admitted after the game he was knackered by the time he got to the penalty area - well at least he didn't get his feet all tangled up again like the FC United game ha ha!

It was then Iain's turn though to put the ball in the net, and how, a special scissor-cum-overhead kick that found its way into the corner of the net to put the Blues 3 up - this was the icing on the cake, but the cherry would follow later!

Think Brad & the Harry Mac enjoyed that one!

In a week when many have demanded Bradley Barnes gets a look in, Neil decided to introduce him to the match, and what a great reception he got too - and in just a few minutes he had everyone cheering after blasting home in front of the Harry Mac - he couldn't have been better placed!

Barnesy didn't get long to celebrate his though as Robbie Booth let fly from the edge of the area, and with the aid of a deflection made it 5-0, a great goal, and well deserved for Boothy who has been working extremely hard to get where he is now.

The scoring wasn't over then either, as Matty McGinn - quite possibly one of Chester's best ever loan signings, was upended in the penalty area, and he got up dusted himself down, and blasted home another spot kick, 6-0!

So, a great day for The Blues, and everyone feeling much better thank you than the previous Monday, and that's what we all needed, confidence back again - well done boys!

It was a football dominated few days, probably didn't go down too well at home, what with the England match on Friday night, the Chester match on Saturday, board meeting on Monday night, England match again on Tuesday night, followed by the Chester game at Ashton on Wednesday - wall to wall? You betcha.

So, to Ashton, and I still can't believe the weather the other night, I bet the subs were pleased to be sitting on that bench, as it couldn't have been much fun out there in that torrential rain, it was bad enough watching from the sides!

Iain Howard - great at pens apparently

I did a bit of Boardroom duty at Ashton, and I have to say that we were looked after superbly by the Ashton officials, had a good chat about Iain Howard, being a previous player of theirs and they informed us that he is deadly from the penalty spot, so we'll be looking for that in future Cup games if needed!

What a start we got off to though,and Simmo was the hero again, he really is on fire at the moment, and long may it continue - he's been running his plums off recently and now he is getting the rewards with the goals, but I don't think anyone was expecting such a quick start the other night in that rain, but we pretty much dominated that game, and deserved the second goal, although for some reason watching the match, you never feel comfy until we get a third.

That didn't come, but the rain did, and fair play to Pat Cluskey, who was taking the kit bag home, his car must have weighed a ton going back, and Jimmy would need more than Daz Ultra to get that crap off the kits!

We're back to Friday again, and another away day at Worksop tomorrow, let's hope the boys bring the points home again, and we can push on in our quest for the title!

Bring on North Ferriby!

It's been a long week for Chester fans, having experienced both the highs and lows of the game in the past 7 days, with a thumping win at home to Stocksbridge, followed by a thumping defeat at Nantwich.

Not the best away day we've had

Much has been said about the performance and result at Nantwich, so I won't touch on that, but some people should take a look at themselves with their over the top criticism of "the club they love" - we've all seen bad games involving Chester, christ knows the last ten years have seen enough crap performances to turn us into manic depressives, but we have come out of that era, the last thing we want to do is see the club head back into it thanks to abuse of the players, who if that is continued are bound to be affected by it.

The one thing that the lads need is the fans behind them, when things are not going well, they need encouragement, not slating personally, like what happened on Monday.



Nasri accidentally downloads Arsenal Fans greatest hits

I often think about what players feel about fans when they hear scrams of abuse from fans (in genaral now, not talking about Monday), and you only have to look at Samir Nasri, who decided to up and leave Arsenal after the disgusting songs from Gunners fans which upset the player, how the hell you can take pride in singing a foul mouthed song against your own player is beyond me. That player decided to leave the club, when it appeared he was going to be staying, and that I'm sure would be on players minds when hearing such abuse.

Players need confidence to do well, and the rewards are the performances and goals that we'll see in front of us, but we need to be on their side if they are to do well.

It's been a big media week this week, with several good things coming out following Monday, which has lightened things up around the place.

The Guardian did of course do a lengthy feature on the FC United game last Wednesday, and I'm just so pleased that we put on our best display of the season, and maybe beyond that, in our 2-1 win, which I know the boys from The Guardian really enjoyed, so much so, that when I went to do my interview with them the following day, they actually bought not one, but two club scarves, their way of saying thank you, and helping the club at the same time.

About the same time we had the NATV footage too, which was cracking, everyone was awaiting this, and we were kept waiting due to a dodgy PC fault, but thankfully the footage came through, and we've all enjoyed remembering what a quality night it was.

Just this morning, I've had a request off BBC Wales, who are looking to do a feature with the Club, I think they are looking at the fan-owned picture as a whole, and want to see how we have managed to get Chester FC off the ground, so expecting some more cameras at the Kendal game on the 14th September.

Time to look forward to the North Ferriby United game tomorrow now, and it is of course Non League Day, with the emphasis on getting first timers to a non-League match, based on the fact that there are non Premier League games due to the international break this weekend.

Martin Huxley has designed a great poster, which we are aiming to be in most pubs across Chester, and we've got volunteers covering most of them, and hopefully it will entice a few newbies to the Exacta tomorrow as there will be nothing to do for those Liverpool, Everton, Man Utd & City fans, so they may as well come on down to experience 'football as it used to be'!

Ladies link up with Blues

Yesterday I did a quick interview with Dee 106.3 who were referring to our press release about the link up with the Chester Ladies team, this is something that we are delighted to be involved in, the Ladies team have been going for 19 years believe it or not, but have never been officially recognised by the Club, but now things are set to change, and with a change of name from Chester City Ladies to Chester Ladies FC, it's another box ticked when it comes to Chester FC in the Community.

So, we're all set for tomorrow then, and the entertainment at half time will be provided by the Ladies, who are taking part in the Crossbar Challenge, hopefully they'll enjoy the experience, and the crowd will get right behind them!

I've been trying to get a Legend down here for Saturday, but time has conspired against me, although I did try a few, including Peter Jackson, who has stepped down at Bradford, but he is away, unsurprisingly trying to get away from it all for a couple of weeks, and another one attempted was Billy Stewart, who couldn't make the game, as he is currently away with Northern Ireland's Under 21s until next week, so hopefully we'll see Billy, Billy Stewart (clap clap) down at the Exacta soon.

Okay, that's it for now, looking forward to a good show from the lads tomorrow, and hopefully at 4.50pm tomorrow we'll be looking at the table with Chester on 13 points.

Come On You Blues!!!