We need ambition

By Mark Butler

Without a doubt, last season was totally disappointing. After coming so close to the play-offs the season before, I was left with the impression that we were only a couple of players short of a promotion push. So, naturally, two of the biggest assets were sold for low prices (Marriott and Wainwright) and weren't replaced. However, with the signing of Rush, play-off hopes didn't seem unrealistic in August.

I don't need to dissect the results that followed because we all know how disastrous they were. The most annoying thing was that so many problems were so familiar - Brace and Humes getting injured, Russell and Chalk getting picked no matter how badly they played, the lob-sided system, and the inability to turn possession into goals. But all this was compounded by new problems - McGregor and Hardy seemed panicky, Ward lost his consistency and fitness, Neil Roberts couldn't get into the team even when fit (why?) and worst of all, Rush wasn't living up to the hype, and there was Cartwright. He started the season solidly, making some fantastic saves (not just at Maine Road), but the backlash seemed to come overnight after he single-handedly lost three points at Oldham. From this moment on he was making mistakes all the time - he couldn't catch crosses, he couldn't kick, and he was making the rest of the team nervous. It hurts me to criticise a Wrexham player like this, but Cartwright is not a Nationwide League goalkeeper, and I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see him again.

There were some excellent players though - Gibson and Edwards looked promising, Carey was solid again, and I think Ridler is extremely under-rated. But two players deserve special credit. Dean Spink proved everyone wrong at centre-back (but I still don't want to see him upfront again), and Dave Brammer was the player of the season by a country mile for many. Like Spink, Brammer was far from being a crowd favourite, but he really turned his career around. He always gave 100 per cent, but his actual ball-playing improved a lot, and his shot from distance was becoming a real menace. It was a shame that he never really seemed popular, but he deserved his chance to play in a higher division, and maybe he could have done better than Port Vale. At this point, I should say that those supporters who gave him abuse at Wigan should be ashamed of themselves, and if I'd been Brammer I probably would have given them a V-sign as well, as they were so unsupporting in such a vital game.

Although debating whether Brian Flynn should go or not is pointless, as he will be around for a while yet because of his contract, it has to be said that he has made some strange decisions. A man who doesn't change tactics for four years, regardless of results, doesn't exactly give me confidence, and although he changed things in the last few games, I can't see how playing one man upfront is going to stop our goal drought. And why does Flynn still not take a chance on the young players? With the promise they showed, I'm stunned that Edwards, Gibson, Thomas and Roberts didn't play more. Yet again, you have to question the club's ambition.

The stability of the club has to be a major priority, but there have been obvious gaps in the team where players needed to be signed, but it just never happened. It is good that we are not going to bankrupt ourselves by working beyond our means like Crystal Palace, but we could end up like Carlisle who risked the League future by refusing to spend any of their money. This is made more frustrating by the quality of our loan signings, who were all excellent - Wright, Cooke, Elliott, Whitley and especially Carl Griffiths. It was clear to everyone that he was well worth the £100,000 that Orient wanted, and I'm amazed that we couldn't find it just this once.

Despite all this, there are reasons for optimism - the new stand, the resilience when it was so needed (especially away) and the fact that we've shown Cardiff up again, even if we didn't make Wembley. If the people who run the club have brains in their heads, the club's failings will have been made obvious, and they should learn from this dreadful season. Walsall's appalling '97/'98 was turned right around, and they only spent £60,000. It could happen to us.