AFC Fylde a season defining game.

[Colin Appleton]

To me Saturday's match at Fylde will send out a clear message as to how far our club has come since getting promoted into the National League.

With the money we've spent on bringing players in over the summer and the move to full time football to me anything short of a victory is really unacceptable A draw I could just about live with but if I were Paul Casson and we lose I can't see how he can continue to support the current managerial set up. I'm not suggesting if the worse happens on Saturday anyone should lose their job but at the very least someone should be brought in to help out with the coaching side of things.

If we win and win well, I think Darren Edmondson will be able to quite rightly show that this club is moving in the right direction under his stewardship but a defeat especially a heavy one, would put him in a very difficult position.

In the mid-eighties Alex Ferguson turned things round with a vital cup win at Nottingham Forest. We all know what he went on to achieve in the game hopefully Darren Edmondson will carry off a similar feat this weekend.

[xerxes]

to me nothing short of a victory is really unexceptable.

I think you mean anything short of a victory.... although I suppose that depends what 'unexceptable' means - can't find it in my dictionary.

Personally I can't regard any one game as season defining. If we lose, but win the next three league games I can't imagine too many people complaining. That said, I think the FA Cup should be taken very seriously.

[Colin Appleton]

Seriously thanks for that Xerxes I'm one of the first one to complain about bad Grammar, I've changed it. Ok should have said ones.

[Shaun]

In the mid eighties Alex Ferguson turned things round with a vital cup win at Nottingham Forest....

Sorry to pick this up, but it was January 1990 I believe. He'd had about 4 years and it was widely accepted that his job was hanging by a thread. Then Hughes played a superb ball into Robin(s?) and that was that....almost complete domination for the next million years, boringly.

As for the thread - win, lose or draw - I won't be reading too much into anything before October's even out.

[mrsenario]

Well thats certainly put pressure on the management and team for saturday. There are defining moments in sport and for us to miss out on a 12.5k windfall and a potential tie against a league club at home followed by Home games against Grimsby and Torquay all in a week would ruffle any owners feathers and quite rightly take a long hard look at some individuals and management team. Maybe its a bit unfair to compare with the great Sir Alex scenario but quite rightly its a fantastic measure to see if any progress has been made. I like change if it requires it, but not radical, just calculated and methodical, but we shall see as we reach this crossroads in our exciting journey...its never a smooth journey!

[McMark]

A lot of people know and remember the lifeline not to mention the lift the FA Cup has brought to the town in previous seasons. Last season was an embarrassment for all associated with the club. I would accept a draw and a replay where we progressed to the next round. Other than that if we played them off the park but they got a flukey goal may be excusable, but it is the cup and anything is possible!

[Steeley]

I wouldnt be calling for any heads if we lost, however it will be interesting to see the manner of how we play. We should be well up for this, ala the Daz n Dave era, but this seems to be something Edmo struggles with.

Ill stick with my view that unless we are in serious relegation trouble we should be keeping edmo at least until the end of the season.

[Colin Appleton]

Yes you're right Shaun it was 1990 he took over in 1986. I was at Ron Atkinson's last game in charge a four one defeat at Southampton the match was played at the Dell I think it was October/November 1986. It could have been a League Cup tie.

[Middleton Nick]

I would hope for a full strength team and beat Fylde first time up.A good cup run won't do Edmo any harm but sometimes you look at our performances and wonder what is going on.

[audigex]

It's a cup game, I agree with "I wouldn't be calling for any heads if we lost" - in cup games, things can go either way: it's not comparable to the season at large. Don't forget that we got beat twice by Fylde last year and still topped the league ahead of them, a single result means little.

And at risk of agreeing with Steeley twice in one post - it's how we play I'll care about

[spirit of 1990]

I can't for one moment think Edmo wont be taking this anything other than very seriously after that shambles last season. If big changes are made to "rest" players and we get walloped there'll be plenty of shit hitting the fan and heading Edmo's way.....and rightly so, Edmo owes us on this.
Back to the OP, I can't see any time this season when his job will come under threat simply because of the inconsistency. That might sound daft but we lose or draw a stupid game then put it right for a week with a good one. So long as we're well away from a relegation place and gates don't start dropping below 1000, I think he'll get another chance next season.

So no, not a season defining game imo.

[thegaffer77]

No it's not.
Hope we win though.
Don't like them much.

[andyg]

You can correct me if I'm wrong "Colin Appleton" but reading some of your posts (please don't get me to quote one because I'm not going to trawl through to find anything)as well as this one I really feel you want this management team to fail.

[mall]

There is something eerily familiar about Mr. Appleton's posts,don't know what it is, but it seems to be a way of wording sentences that I have heard somewhere before.
Cant quite put my finger on it.

[barrowaberdeen]

Season Defining:

Bath City at home about 5? years back (we lost)
When we squeaked through at Gateshead away in the trophy
Alty away when Simon Wiles broke his leg
Wukkies away when we were bottom: won
Wukkies away: Shezza Free Kick- won
Lowestoft away last season: won

This one? Not for me. I think we will continue on our merrily inconsistent way with occasional bursts of blind optimism or meltdowns as we oscillate between 11th and 19th.