The highlight of our away trip to Forest for me had to be finding out that Bert and Ernie, of Sesame Street fame,are Scunny fans, or maybe it was a couple of fans who didn't want to be seen watching such a woeful performance from their team? Other than Michael O'Connors second penalty in a week, won rather easily by Ramon Nunez, to put him top of the clubs scoring charts not a lot went right for us. Relegation was confirmed on the back of this game. Were Forest that good or were we just that bad ? A bit of both i think. Good luck to them in the play-offs, the 27,00 fans inside the City Ground that day deserve their day in the Prem again, it was the best atmosphere i've seen for a long time !
The last week of the season was broken up by the fans forum at Glanford Park. Manager Alan Knill, Assistant Chris Brass and David Beeby took the questions very well. Knill is quickly becoming a fans favourite, he handled all of the questions asked to him very well, giving a few pointers into the direction the club will take for next season, but not quite giving away enough to spoil his chances in the transfer market. He did though reveal that there was no clause put in his contract during his move from Bury that would stop him from returning to his former club for any players. (More on that later) Also Mr Beeby did well to answer questions on the board level very well, a few fans seemed to want his head on a plate but he did well with what he was asked, regarding ticket prices, bringing in more fans and budgets for next season.
Portsmouth came to town in much the same situation as us. They had nothing to play for after a long season, i still think its sad that their Manager Steve Cotterill has worked wonders at the club, proved today by the fact that he only had for players on the bench. It was good to see so many Pompey fans inside the ground, an end of season trip to Scunny would put off most fans, but these fans have been through a lot in the past couple of years. Players, owners and managers come and go but the fans have stuck with them through thick and thin recently. They were in good voice throughout the game which made for a good atmosphere, a good job really as the Iron fans were even quieter than usual. Fans have struggled to get behind the team at times, only in the last six weeks or so, since the introduction of Knill, have the fans had something to really cheer about. Since his arrival the team have shown a lot more passion and desire, many of them knowing they are playing for their futures. A lack of fight has been evident for the most part this sesaon, Ho w many times have we started a game, done well for the first five minutes, conceded a goal after less than ten minutes and then fallen apart. Ramon Nunez scored another fantastic goal for his collection, taking advantage of a poor clearance from Pompey keeper Jamie Ashdown, beating two defenders before scoring a peach of a shot from the edge of the area. We had a few other decent chances but couldn't score, so it was no surprise when David Nugent scored through a crowded area to get the draw. The players came out onto the pitch for a lap of appreciation after the game. I got the feeling it'll be the last time we see Joe Murphy and David Mirfin grace Glanford Park as Scunny players, along with Josh Wright the three seem destined to leave the club during the summer. I don't blame Murphy and Mirfin for wanting Championship football, both have done well and deserve to play at that level. Josh Wright has struggled for most of the season, his only real highlight being his goal to put us 1-0 up against Man United way back in September. A good attacking spark was missing until the arrival of Joe Garner and later Nunez on loan. Even those two couldn't save us alone. Garner looks a decent player, but he probably doesn't have a future at a Forest team pushing for the Premier League. Leeds have taken up the option of a further year on the contract of Nunez, possibly lining him up as ready made replacement for a Premiership bound Robert Snodgrass. Its these kind of unpredictable players we'll need next seson to get us back to the promised land of the Championship. If Michael O'Connor hadn't been out for 12 games from January to mid March we might be looking at still being in this league next year. He is going to be pivotal in any success we have next year. Alan Knill has hinted at the fact O'Connor will be offered a new contract and the player himself has vowed to stick with us for the forseeable future. Knill has got the best out of the former Crewe man in recent weeks and should be able to help the player become one of the best in League One next year.
The biggest problem we might face is bringing in, at least, a couple of proven goal scorers. A couple of strikers Knill has worked with in the past have been linked with us. Will Hoskins apparently nearly signed for us when he was a free agent last year, before signing for Bristol Rovers, but with their relegation to League Two the striker will be a hot property after scoring 17 goals he may prove to be too rich a signing for the Iron. Adam Le Fondre also fits the bill, with rumours we've been watching him at the end of the season. His 23 goals for Rotherham will have attracted a few adiring glances yet again and recent reports say the Millers front man is ready to leave for pastures new. Knill worked with both players during his time at Rotherham so he may have an ace up his sleeve so to speak, i'm confident that if the club were to back the manager with enough money then one if not both players may end up here. Another player recently linked with us is Man United winger Nicky Ajose. Knill took the youngster on loan at his former club Bury where he has done well in their promotion season, the only spanner in the works could be the fact that a few Chapionship teams are reportedly interested in the winger. Another player worth looking at could be Ashley Grimes. Just released by Millwall, the 24 year old has shone at times in a Lincoln team that has fallen through the trap door into the Conference. A decent midfielder/striker who seem to know where the back of the net is would surely be worth a punt ?
With 17 players under contract some will surely have to be moved on. Rob Jones has done ok at Sheffield Wednesday, maybe they will take a gamble on the man who has mostly struggled in his time at Glanford Park. Ian Morris (remember him) hasn't played too much football at League Two winners Chesterfied, Paris Cowan-Hall was a panick signing from Baraclough. Young players like Rory Coleman and Johnathan Williams don't seem ready to make the step up to first team football. Who knows what will happen, all we can say is that it will be a different Scunthorpe United that takes to the pitch on the first day of next season. This will be Alan Knill's Scunthorpe United, a very different animal to the Iron that started this season under Nigel Adkins. Hopefully the new man in charge will have the same midas touch as our former physio. I could really enjoy a trip to Wembley, be it in the play-offs or the JP Trophy, we'll all be there with the "Ginger Mourinho"
For now i'm looking forward to a long summer of speculation and rumours, just like every year, hopefully this year we'll finally see a replacement brought in for a certain Mr Hooper.
A few pictures from my last couple of matches
Forest
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/galleries/Nottingham-Forest-v-Scunthorpe-gallery-3511057-detail/gallery.html
Portsmouth
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/galleries/Scunthorpe-United-v-Portsmouth-gallery-3534370-detail/gallery.html
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