Where did it all go wrong?

FRUSTRATION is etched on the face of John Sheridan.

Sour end to season so full of promise

HOW did a season that kicked off with such promise end up going so horribly and spectacularly pear-shaped?

That is the question on the lips of every Athletic fan who witnessed the team’s dramatic demise in the second half of the campaign.

Indeed, the results over that period would have had seen Athletic relegated from Coca-Cola League One had it been replicated over the whole season.

The contrast in form and fortunes before and after Christmas could not have been further removed.

The players I have spoken to privately insist previous manager John Sheridan had not lost the dressing room, although events on the pitch suggested otherwise.

And they were unable to give an explanation as to why a team which challenged for promotion for six or seven months should lose its way in the last third of the season.

Obviously there were problems off the field, as underlined by the trouble which flared up at the night out at Belle Vue, an incident which became known as ‘dog-gate.’

Significantly, Athletic failed to win any of their next 10 matches, only ending that miserable sequence on the last day of the season with their win at Walsall.

I have a theory about went wrong – the unsettling effect the many loan players had on the team.

Athletic began the season with a comparatively small squad which was close knit and they were never out of the top two until they suffered their first league defeat at Stockport in early October.

That was the match in which Daniel Jones became the first of 11 loan players to appear for the club.

I am not suggesting the signing of Jones contributed to the defeat at Stockport, but soon after the trickle of temporary signings became a flood.

There was one period early this year when Athletic had seven loan players on the books, though only five were permitted to play at a time. That is the stage when things began to go horribly wrong.

It is also my opinion that the loan players brought in were no better than the existing ones which defeated the object of them being brought in.

That is down to either bad luck or bad judgement of players by Sheridan.

Take the strikers, for example. Darren Byfield, Steven Kabba, Brett Ormerod and Dean Windass contributed only two goals, a massively disappointing return.

Windass also added to the unrest after he was dropped with justification following a return of only one goal in nine games.

In hindsight - and I accept that is a valuable commodity - wouldn’t it have been wiser for Sheridan to stick with Lewis Alessandra?

The youngster managed more goals than the four established loan strikers put together and the experience he would have gained from playing the whole season would have stood him in good stead for the future.

Alessandra showed in scoring a brilliant hat-trick against high-flying Scunthorpe that he has the ability to cut it at this level.

In my view, the large number of loan players was responsible for the sacking of Sheridan.

Athletic suddenly had a big squad and Sheridan admitted that some of those not featuring were whinging.

In fairness to Sheridan, his first job in management was by no means a failure as his teams finished sixth and eighth and this season mounted another play-off bid.

But it is fair to say that Sheridan had lost his way during his last couple of months in charge and that was the reason for his departure.

There was no evidence that he was going to arrest the slide, something caretaker Joe Royle was also unable to prevent in his nine matches at the helm.

The problems were too deep-rooted for the quick fix Royle had hoped to administer.