Uh oh, we're in trouble, Chester's demise could burst our bubble

Another day, another defeat to some shite team I hadn't even heard of five years ago.

Even Radio Cambridgeshire seem to realise how poor we have become, mercifully deciding to stop broadcasting live commentary of last night's 2-1 defeat at Salisbury and blaming "technical issues". Listening to 90 minutes of static would have probably been more enjoyable than the match.

At least it was only in the trophy, but with every passing defeat the pressure continues to mount on Lingy's slender shoulders. Personally I still think he'll turn it round and am unconvinced that another managerial change would be particularly constructive; you might get an improvement in the short term but the new man would encounter the same problems as the present incumbent - someone else's players, someone else's assistant manager, and no money with which to remedy either situation. Certainly bringing in a long ball merchant - the kind of manager that is usually successful in a crisis situation - like the currently unemployed Mark Cooper is unlikely to be effective with the squad we have.

And please put me right if you think I'm being a bit blaze, but I'm still confident we're in little danger of being relegated. Chester and Grays are already down, and over the course of the next 16 games there are bound to be at least two other teams who are shitter than us. However, I'll be slightly less confident if Chester go to the wall, which looks a distinct possibility after they failed to fulfill their fixture last night. As most people are probably aware, losing the six points we nicked off the Deva Stadium outfit this season would leave us just one point and two places clear of the drop zone.

For once you can't entirely blame the Conference administrators for the Chester situation - afterall they inherited this problem in the summer from the football league. However, they shouldn't have let them start the season, and having allowed them to come this far I expect they're going to give them every chance to finish it in some form or other. Blue Square have yet to renew their title sponsorship deal, and acquiring a new backer for the league would be rendered all the more difficult if it were forced to limp through to end of the season minus one member. With this in mind I don't think we should get too despondant just yet; keep the faith people, we'll be fine. Maybe.