This is the season of goodwill

Photo: -ALAN HOWARTH

ATHLETIC boss David Dunn in reflective mood as his side slipped to defeat against Crewe.

SOMETHING seems rotten in the state of Boundary Park. The standard on show at Crewe and, broadly, in the previous two outings which resulted in defeat, has simply not been up to scratch.

The product is weak — particularly at home. With one game left to play, five victories in a calendar year with four different full-time managers is an abject record.

Fans have a right to be brassed off. But despite on-pitch woe and the understandable frustration over the still-incomplete north stand, there exists a reasonable argument that at least some of the vitriol bouncing around at the moment is unwarranted.

Actions of a minority of visiting fans towards the players’ at Gresty Road apparently led to the decision not to applaud supporters at the end for fear of stoking the flames further.

It is terribly sad when at this level — with the biggest earner on £1,900 a week, driving Vauxhalls not Bugattis — to see such a disconnect develop between supporters and players.

The manager, too, has come in for plenty of criticism, some of it fair and considered; this is a results business and results have been poor.

But consider manager David Dunn’s comments about fans’ sarcastic reactions at Chesterfield. This wasn’t an all-out attack on supporters, as some social media factions had it.

He saw what a caustic effect similar events had on a confidence-free Swindon side earlier this term, causing their struggling players’ heads to drop.

Dunn works from dusk to dawn to steer his side to wins and — rightly or wrongly, and whether or not it was right to broadcast it — he felt the ironic cheering of a weak shot on target simply didn’t help those efforts. Togetherness, not division, was his message.

Athletic appears to be in a rut right now. Many fans’ patience has expired waiting for matters to improve. When devoting not only hard-earned cash but also emotional energy to a cause that seems hopeless, it is natural to lash out.

But an outsider might view a situation far from terminal. The North Stand still isn’t finished and many feel let down by that. Rightly so. Promises have been made and broken.

But this is clearly a club continually stumped for money and the focus is on getting the godforsaken thing finished while maintaining a competitive squad on the field.

The North Stand will be finished, chairman Simon Corney has insisted. So take that promise and consider his promised future of additional income that can be put back into the playing budget.

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that things might just get better soon?

And while Athletic’s form at home is awful, on their travels the side has lost once all term. This is a club sitting three points off 17th in the table, not one staring into the abyss and, like Tranmere this week, considering their next FA Trophy opponents.

Find a way to defeat Millwall at SportsDirect.com Park, nick a point at Coventry and enjoy a Boxing Day bonus of three points at Blackpool.

Is that ambitious? Certainly. But we are in a forgiving month and hope has not totally expired just yet.