With the world’s top leagues having a month break as their players head to Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, League One and Two continues with a full roster of fixtures with Cheltenham Town nearing the halfway mark of their League season.
So what better time to give the side a ‘mid-term’ report and delve into how the team’s season is getting on?
Cheltenham Town
In short, the Robins have the third smallest budget in the third tier, meaning anything above the relegation zone would realistically be a success for the team. Currently sat in 19th place in the table, surely that would be good enough for the Cheltenham fans to be content this season.
Looking deeper, however, there seem to be underlying problems that some of the more vocal fans have after 17 games of the season.
Changes in management
It is never easy for a fan base to say goodbye to a club legend as they did in the summer when Michael Duff departed for Barnsley. The fans adored Duff, who took the Robins from the bottom end of the League Two table to title winners and then the club best ever league finish last season.
Coach Wade Elliott was the internal appointment, stepping up to head coach at Whaddon Road (now known as the Completely-Suzuki Stadium), where he had been a coach for the past two seasons. For a first permanent job as the main man in charge, it would seem like a daunting task for someone who had one match- a 1-0 win for Bristol City against Middlesborough in 2016- on his CV.
Style of Play
Elliott has stuck to his guns and continued to deploy a similar style of play that was put in place by his predecessor. Five-at-the-back with wingbacks getting forward to support the three in midfield, with two forwards pushing the opposition’s defensive line as far back as possible.
It has been ever increasingly difficult to keep this ethos up as injuries, lack of fitness, and numerous injuries have offset the system at different stages of the season.
What has been a worry for many fans is the lack of support for the forwards this season. Ryan Broom returned to Cheltenham in a great deal for the club but has been utilized in several unusual positions since signing.
The ugly scenes during the embarrassing loss at home to eighth-tier Alvechurch in the FA Cup proved too much for some fans, who questioned why Elliott chose to go with one recognized striker on the pitch in what was a very defensive 5-3-1-1 formation against weaker opposition. Especially since Charlie Brown, Christian Norton, Dan Nlundulu, and Alfie May were all on the bench.
Injury List and squad depth
Before the start of the season, like many Football League clubs there was an overhaul of players with loanees returning back to their parent clubs and the big loss of centre back Will Boyle joining Championship side Huddersfield.
Ask any Robins fan whom they could not lose due to injury and the answer would be simple. 22-goal man Alfie May. The forward came into the season having been injured over preseason but netted on an opening day against Peterborough. The forward found himself being stretchered off the pitch in October’s 2-0 home win against Shrewsbury Town.
May and his regular strike partner Nlundulu have found themselves both side-lined through injury recently, leaving Norton- who is yet to score his first professional goal-, Brown and Lloyd as the only option up top.
Saturday’s draw at Portman Road against Ipswich saw the matchday squad stretched so much that youngsters Abdulai Sambu and Reece Hutchinson were recalled on loan.
Currently, the side is without Will Ferry, Taylor Perry, Caleb Taylor, Ryan Jackson, Alfie May, Grant Horton and Ben Williams.
League Form
It has not just been the league form as of late that has been worrying for the Robins. Two league wins in seven, adding in losses to West Ham’s U21 side in the Papa John’s trophy, and the loss to Alvechurch in the FA Cup, things do not look pretty at first glance.
The home win against Bolton Wanderers in early October almost set a benchmark of performance level that has yet to be matched since. A difficult away loss to promotion favorites Sheffield Wednesday preluded what seemed to be a vital run of matches against teams that would too be fighting near the bottom of the table.
An embarrassing 1-4 loss at home to Bristol Rovers was followed by a 1-0 defeat at the Pirelli Stadium, where the side failed to have a shot on target against bottom-of-the-league Burton Albion.
Four points from two matches against relegation rival Morecambe and Milton Keynes helped edge out a five-point gap to the drop zone.
How has it been going?
If you offered survival to a Cheltenham fan last season, they would have snapped your hand off, so to have a five-point buffer to those in the drop zone is great. However, Nlundulu is leaving in January as his loan ends and there must be someone lined up ready to make a difference in the side. The style of play currently is not pretty, but that comes with the number of changes needed to cover injuries. At full strength, the team have shown they can battle against anyone, as those names are added back into the team sheet, the confidence will return.
