Calling out for a (local) hero

WE may be having April showers right now, but down at the Deva Stadium it never rains but it pours!

Last week I was leaping around my lounge (knocking a cup of tea flying in the process) as "Goal! Ellison (90mins)" flashed up on Sky's Gillette Soccer Saturday. The Blues are staying up, the Blues are staying up! I was in ecstasy! On Saturday, I stared open mouthed as we let in two very poor goals against a mid-table, mediocre Lincoln City side and once again the spectre of relegation hangs over us. Then, if things were not bad enough, and praying that Butler and Partridge will be fit enough to play at Wycombe on Saturday, the club suddenly announces that Butler and Dinning, two of our most experienced players, have been suspended - only for the PFA to deny they had been suspended two days later.

What is going on? Is this why Stephen Vaughan appointed Simon Davies as manager - because by Saturday we will have practically the whole of the youth team turning out anyway!!!
While I confess that I do not know the reasons for the apparent problems with Butler and Dinning, it made me consider the loyalty that there is in football these days. When I started supporting Chester as wee school girl, it was quite normal for players to either have come from the local area (and how me and my friends loved to stalk them in Woollies!!!) or they would move to Chester lock stock and barrel for a few years (if they were good enough).

Nowadays, how many players stay for more than one or two seasons with the same club and it seems the norm for players to travel hundreds of miles each day to training. I understand this has a lot to do with the high cost of housing, schools and the stability of managers, but you do wonder how good all this chopping and changing is for a team each season and how loyal players really are to the cause, as in our case, of avoiding relegation. Yes they do have pride and won't want to be part of a relegation side, but come the end of the season/their contract they can be off never to fight the Chester cause again! Meanwhile, we the loyal fans can only stand and stare as more shenanigans unfold. We will still drive hundreds of miles and spend hundreds of pounds just to support our beloved Blues, all in the hope of getting another vital three points. Which is why we feel so let down and hurt sometimes by those that we worship and adore each week. It is a cruel game.