WHEN it comes to ways and means of self-destruction, nothing should come as a surprise as we yet again found a way not to win.

Snatching a draw from the jaws of victory away to a very average Alfreton Town on Saturday was just another game to highlight why we’re staring relegation right in the face. Every week, I try to come up with a reason why we might turn this ship around, but when we throw precious points away with such regularity like on Saturday, it becomes harder and harder to see the positives that we all need to cling on to for the remainder of this season.

Whether it’s an ill-timed poor attempt at a Panenka penalty, ill-thought out attempts to pass our way out of danger or simply (allegedly) bopping an opponent in the penalty area, we have pretty much managed to utilise every known way to throw a game away.

Sadly, like most people in the ground, I didn’t see the major incident that turned the game on its head so I don’t know whether we are indeed playing Iron Mike Tyson in goal or whether the Alfreton player is fighting a losing battle with gravity. What I did see throughout the game was a referee who didn’t seem too keen to help us out.

From the first exchanges in the game where Terry Galbraith appeared to be elbowed, it became apparent that we weren’t going to get much from the referee. I don’t like blaming the referee and as such, that we gave him a decision to make, regardless of the manner in which the Alfreton player found himself on the ground, it was our issue, not his. We just had to keep our hands clean for a couple more minutes for a massive three points and we simply couldn’t do it.

Ultimately, Tommy Wright will be responsible for the results of the team. The simple matter is they haven’t been good enough since he took charge. However, I don’t subscribe to him being solely responsible for our plummet to the depths of the league. Some of his tactical choices have been questioned, rightly or wrongly, but where I do have some sympathy with him are the factors that he simply can’t mitigate for. He can spend all the time on the training ground working through how he wants the players to go about their business, but he can’t stop the acts of lunacy that happen week in, week out. But if they continue to happen – and sadly I have no reason to believe they won’t – the responsibility lands at the feet of the manager.

When our previous manager departed, the directors had to learn a whole new process in terms of recruiting a manager. Sadly, if things don’t change in the next three or four games, they’re going to have to start learning how to deal with a failing manager. I certainly don’t wish that process on them given how highly they regard Tommy Wright and how much work went in to his appointment.

I’m desperate for him to turn this around as he talks a very good game and clearly wants to succeed with our club. I also think we can flourish in the long term under his leadership if he can get us out of this mess. Unfortunately, there is only so long we can play Russian roulette with the relegation zone. At some point in the not too distant future, we may need to accept that this simply isn’t working and a change is required before it’s too late.