Down down, deeper and down

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Oh dear.

There's no escaping from it, it's been a rotten few days for Chester City. A poor run of form, albeit something fans should be used to by now at this time of the season, because it happens every year, has coincided with a potential exodus of players to leave the squad looking frighteningly thread-bare.

The club is trapped in a vicious circle right now, where a reduction in fans led to a lower wage cap, so the squad has to get smaller, so the manager's options are increasingly limited, so the results are poor, so there is a reduction in fans, which leads to a lower wage cap, so....well, you get the picture. Add to the pot a 'credit crunch' (you might have read about it once or twice in the news), a deserted City FC shop on Watergate Street - save for the poor staff who work there - and the reasons for cost-cutting mount up.

Trouble is, this ever-tightening noose is so restrictive now, it's difficult to see how the club can recover from this so-far so-poor season. Numbers are down to about 20 for the squad, including long-term injured Stephen Vaughan. The depth, sad to say, is just not there.

It all means manager Mark Wright can only do so much, repeating his tactic of three seasons ago of trying to force narrow wins and scrape to get the points required for safety. But his hands are tied from not being able to bring any new blood into the squad during the January transfer window (unless he can get something in the loan market pronto. Someone. Anyone!), and not having many options on the subs bench means the tactics will always be pretty one-dimensional.

What is worrying is the club could still yet sucked into a relegation scrap, with Bournemouth certainly not out for the count just yet in their efforts to overcome their pre-season 17-point deduction.

Inevitably, fingers of blame get pointed at all ends in terms of who is responsible for this gradual spiral of doom occurring in the first place. The truth is there have been several factors, but naming and shaming won't bring the hundreds of disillusioned fans back to the Deva Stadium.

Right now, there is great concern if the club doesn't improve its current trend, it'll be playing in the Blue Square Premier (or whatever the Conference will be sponsored by), if not this season, then probably next.

Perhaps circumstances will change radically. This is Chester City, after all, where you should expect the unexpected. The club is still up for sale, for one thing...