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It sounds like the type of job you get lumped with because nobody else will do it.

Great article again Paul

Paul: correction ahoy.

Paragraph twelve: we weren't promoted the following season, we missed the play-offs on the last day despite winning 5-0 at Darlington. It was the following season (07/08) we went up.

As a county fan, I recognise this article, but we've been here before in the 70's, in the 80's, in the 2000's, when 1500 was seen as a good gate, now 4000 is needed just to break even, when away games were had without enough substitues, Asa hartford etc, John Ward deserves better support, but so did Gary Ablett, what happened to him was a crime against football last year, he did the best with the tools available, kept us from being humiliated totally (I didnt expect a single win last year) and was sacked for his efforts, come on county, treat wardy right

Such a shame that so many clubs in the lower echelons of the English football pyramid are suffering in part due to the greed and self interest of the Premier League.

great article paul, i remember you doing an article on gary ablett last year and as you can see our fortunes haven't really improved since then!

i really hope wardy is given the job until the end of the season at least, he has blue and white blood running through his veins and along with Alan Lord and the very experienced Ray Mathais, we may just have a chance of staying up.

Paul, not a Football League follower as such, but another quality blog, always a good read.

There are few other Bloggers on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã who could do with taking note of the content of some of the articles you produce, concentrating on some of the unsung heroes of the game rather than just those with cash to splash

you can have clueless gannon back if you want me and 5,000 other vale fans want him out i will drive him to stockport for you if you want GANNON OUT NOW !!

Well someone has to go down, sorry Stockport. I've no hard feelings towards them but I'd love to see The Hatters replace The Hatters.

I thought Paul Simpson would succeed, he did a good job at Carlisle and had nouse in the transfer market, would be a shame to see Stockport go down.

Great article Paul, as a County fan I always look forward to your blogs as you seem to respect football at all levels, not just the top flight. If only there were a few more journos like you willing to look beyond the Premier League cash cow. Thanks mate!

A lot of my family live in and around Stockport, and I've been to more than a few of their games down the years. I'd like to see them do well, but as has been noted, someone has to go down. I also remember seeing Oxford United play Man City in the First Division as was, which just goes to show quite how much things can change.

Best of luck to a man doing a tough job in difficult circumstances.

Re: our chances, it's a tough ask now. All I ask is that we give it our best shot from here, then who knows. As for the BSP, difficult to say really. We really need to push the Council regarding the development of Edgeley Park and subsequent equal ownership with SMBC/Cheshire Sport/County all sharing a piece of the pie. The success/failure of our campaign to achieve this will have a huge bearing on how we'd survive outside the FL IMO.

hell boys, optimism, we're only 5 wins off the play-off places, we were deeper n darker before Jim (only county boss to win at wembley, still best footballing day of my life) Gannon took over, always be a county!!

Heart says we can do it, head says we'll fall short. A great win against Bury shows we can beat the best in this division but our inconsistency needs to disappear fast so we can put a run together. If County can stay up i think it will be at the expense of our nearby neighbours Macclesfield, with Barnet also in the bottom two. The derby on saturday against Macc is massive, if we can win that then we'll have a fighting chance of escaping the drop.

It seems as though the problem is the fact that managers are not given long enough to try and turn things round. Ward has asked how long he will be in charge but can't get an answer....probably until they can find another mug to replace him.

Not a Stockport fan, but I can't think of anything worse than Stockport being replaced in the league by Luton, a club that I hope go down and down and down. Vile fans.

It's refreshing to read these excellent articles about 'real' football. I would be amazed if County manage to stay up and Peter Ward undoubtedly has it incredibly tough. Too many people have taken advantage of County over the last few years and Ward is left topick up the pieces.

15 cup finals coming up!

In the past we've gone down with a whimper, last season being a prime example. If we don't manage to stay up this will definitely be the costliest relegation of them all, it seems to be in the balance whether we'll survive as a Conference club or not.

County fan here. Things are pretty desperate but we are by no means doomed quite yet. There are plenty of clubs who could start to plummet down the table. We might even win more than one game every 2 months.

And I am sorry to say that the dreaded 10/15/20 point deduction for going bust might catch some clubs. It might even catch us again, as we aren't well funded - however if it did, this time there would be no way back.

I'm almost certain Barnet are going down this season. They have played a lot more games than those teams just above them and their remaining fixtures are not as favourable either.

Dropping out of the football league isn't so bad, look at all the away days to beautiful cities in England that fans in the Conference get to enjoy.

"Such a shame that so many clubs in the lower echelons of the English football pyramid are suffering in part due to the greed and self interest of the Premier League"
Very little to do with the Premier League, more to do with paying out more than is coming in. Stockport beat my team, Rochdale, at Wembley to gain promotion. We had sold a couple of our best players that year to pay the bills and were outplayed by a team who hadn't, and who ended up in administration not long after. You do the maths.
The sooner clubs learn to live within their means the better.
However I hope Stockport stay up and wish them all the best for the rest of the season

Good article Paul.
Im a big county fan and there are some good points raised above regarding how crucial the next couple of games are and how the premier league has crippled lower league teams.

I suggest and I know other football league fans do that there should be an affiliation between teams in the top two divisions and teams in the lower two.

Its terrible when you look at the amount of spending city and Chelsea do and then you have teams like County, and in recent times Bournemouth,Luton,Southend,Plymouth,Palace the list is endless who are all struggling financially. You never would of thought the economy is the way it is based on premier league spending.

Arguably lower league fans are more loyal and its sad to see us so close to relegation, when a couple of seasons ago we were on the way to a positive future.

I think Barnet are gunna go down and its a close call for us, we have some very hard games remaining whereas macc face some easier opposition. It was a brill win against Bury and I just hope it boosts their confidence.

Incidently, I think some of Simpson's signings wernt great but I dont think you can fully blaim him.

Not sure what KHA is talking about. We sold Elding and Ashley Williams in our promotion season, two of our best players. And Liam Dickinson after we got promoted. It was the loan of 300,000 taken out to cover cash flow problems caused by the rugby club that was the undoing. Probably best not to make comments about things you know nothing about.

very sad whats happening to Stockport,the days of League cup semi finals and mixing it with the big boys in the higher reaches of the championship seem like a long time ago

Yes, sorry for not knowing the full details of County's transfer dealings, EP. However the facts still remain. You could not pay your bills, so at some point there must have been a lack of proper financial planning.

Just looked up the fees County received. Dickinson -£750K, Williams, £400K, Elding - undisclosed but I'm guessing it wasn't for a small amount. Potentially up to £1.5M received and administration was caused by a bill of £300K? Surely there must have been more to it than that or was the £1.5M spent without an eye on the future?

A sad state of affairs that Stockport find themselves in. However, they are still in a position to progress and one thing that annoys me in football is that managers and scouts look at players falling down through the professional system, rather than looking at potential non league bargains, who would cost less in terms of fees and wages.

Swindon Town have managed this brilliantly in recent seasons, namely with the signing of Charlie Austin.

However other clubs look at the latest batch released at Man Utd, or Liverpool and think they are getting the real deal.

I'm afraid not, and the time between 16-21 spent rotting in the reserves does nothing for a player, it is best that they are plying their trade successfully in the adult game as a lot of non-league youngsters are doing.

The north west is a hot bed of excellent amateur and semi-pro football, with players who fell out of the professional system at an earlier age (14-16) reasons for that will vary, but if the right players are given the right chance it can work out brilliantly.

However, I wonder what scouts and coaches expect "To score 20 in this league he must be scoring 90 in non league" No, i'm afraid this doesn't translate, some players are just as good at any level they play at.

Great blog. What's happened to us at County over the last few years is sadly reflective of what's happened to so much of the game. A combination of bad decisions on the part of those running the club, people taking advantage of the club for the assets (namely, Edgeley Park) and then the way in which the Premier League and Champions League has so warped the financials of the game to the detriment of the game as a whole.

We could still stay up and I don't believe that relegation would be the end of Stockport County - the BSP certainly isn't the end of the world in footballing terms - but it is a nightmare to have to worry more about you have a club to support next season rather than simply worry which division they play in.

COME ON THE COUNTY BOYS!

It all looks poor for Stockport now but just look at Lincoln. Struggling with you half a season and now just 1 defeat in 8 including 6 wins and we're happily in midtable obscurity.So there is a chance for Stockport, although the Imps do have Tilson, probably one of the best in the bottom division, Stockports rookie manager may find it a little too much sadly.

Interesting as ever, I enjoy reading about life outside the EPL.
As a Bolton fan I remember some cracking games with Stockport a few years ago, was the big guy called Kevin Francis?
Looks like a massive task and any momentum will help, good luck to them.
Clearly clubs of this size are in increasing danger of going bang as football continues to slowly implode.

ref to Scott John, Kev Francis is a RCMP (mounty) now, we built that big stand at the cheadle end with the money we got from him, with ref to the fees recieved for Liam, pilks etc, Jim Gannon, got a percentage of that, I think he ended up one of the highest paid managers outside the premiership

forget it boys, 1-4 to macclesfield? non-league football here we come :(

If Stockport can turn it around and be replaced by Burton in the bottom two come seasons end then that would be lovely....

@35 - Why?

Burton Albion - a club that lives within its means and generally does things on and off the pitch the right way. And a town with footballing pedigree (no pun intended)..
Anyway, they won't be relegated. They are in a false position at present. So there.. get gnashing those teeth..

What will relegate Stockport is the amount they concede, especially to those around them. We (Hereford) scored 8 against them, which obviously puts 16 between us in goal difference. Conceding 4 to Macclesfield, who hadn't won since November is another example. I've always liked county and was pleased when we got promoted together in 2008 but we've both had a mare ever since!

Actually I think the hardest job in football was taking over Southend United in the summer. About a month before the season started we had about 7-8 players on our books and a number of those were looking to leave. We also had a transfer embargo in place. We now have a squad with only one regular first teamer from last season, and one or two others. We're now only one point off the play offs.

The fact that Paul Sturrock has done such a good job is the only reason why it isn't considered the hardest job in football.

Steve Tilson (ex Southend) also has a claim for taking over at Lincoln. Again, because he's doing a good job it doesn't get mentioned.

Everybody thinks their club is hard done by (comment 38) but County went into admin for a debt of 300k,2 weeks wages for a prem player, then all our best players were sold off for a pittance, the rubbish was kept and put on a good contract, which meant we had to keep them or pay them off, fat chance, and then the league put a transfer embargo on us preventing us signing anyone. We could have loan players but they aren't really interested until it's payday, of course. On top of that, our Chairman at the time, when we were in the second tier,a few years ago, wanted his money back, so he also sold off our best players for £millions, then sold OUR ground to Sale Sharks, who now rent it back to us at a ridiculous fee. A recent gate of over 4000, after we paid rent, police and other expences, left £29 profit !! So we have no decent players, no money, no ground and relegation to non league is on the cards, you think you're hard done by.

The toughest job in Football is John Coleman`s, who has for years done a brilliant job at Accrington Stanley, where gates are less than 40% of the average for League Two.

39. Good for you. Southend couldn't sell their players and make any money because they hadn't been paid and were therefore legally entitled to walk, which they did. We didn't go into administration, we paid all our debts, but were left with nothing, including no players.

Paul, I have to say I love your blog - it's great to read about real footie that's outside the Big 4!