Off The Post Blog: Ten games in to the Darren Kelly dynasty at Halifax
By Luke Ramsden
Following another calamitous defensive performance on Saturday in FC Halifax Town's 3-6 home reversal against Braintree Town, we sit 10 games into the most unsettling and worrying era of any Halifax Town manager of recent times.
When Darren Kelly was parachuted in with only 10 games gone of the 2015-16 season to replace Neil Aspin, there were elements of positivity in the appointment but elements that were nevertheless clouded by trepidation at the job being giving to a man who's only managerial achievements to date included a disastrous spell at the helm of Oldham Athletic.
Aspin's former God-like status had been eroded in 2015 via a bad run since the turn of the year with both results and performances giving the Shaymen faithful little in the way of cheer. The board pulled the trigger potentially prematurely following a slow start and a Summer recruitment campaign that looked to already be creaking.
Seasoned journeymen were spliced together with youthful, untested at National Level upstarts in a manner that was unlikely to cover the gaps evacuated by a core X1 last season that served Aspin well.
What Darren Kelly arrived to was a side bereft of confidence, motivation and floundering in our 3rd season at non-leagues top table.
What we have seen since has stumbled from the flabbergasting to the embarrassing and most emotions in between. Largely on the negative scale.
A 1-7 home defeat at the hands of Cheltenham set the scene for what was to follow. A 0-3 vs Woking at The Shay here, a 0-7 away loss at Grimsby there. Becoming a laughing stock is becoming par for the course as Kelly struggles to get a handle on exactly what players are coming in / are available and how he wants them to play. Defensive solidity continuing being the key issue.
Most recently, a team that played exactly how a non-league team in the FA Cup 1st round should not play, limped out 0-4 last weekend against Wycombe and any marginal positives there were destroyed by another 6 goal cavalcade rolled out by the mighty Braintree on Saturday.
Town are now 1 shy of conceding the same amount of goals as last seasons total, have shipped 35 goals in Kelly's 10 games at the helm and the rhetoric from the man in charge slaloms between the naive to the criminally positively insane.
What next for The Shaymen? Rock bottom, 10 points from safety and a -28 goal difference. Worse deficits have been overcome but this club shows few signs of recovery and relegation and a rethink of recruitment from top to bottom for next season seems the most likely result.
A recent poll on fan forum theshaymen.net voted 80% in favour of releasing Darren Kelly from his position immediately. The Northern Irishman may have all the positivity in the world but the fans patience is already wearing thin and faith that the board or the manager are currently fit for purpose is in short supply. A long, hard Winter could be in store at The Shay.
Luke Ramsden has followed Halifax Town in both its incarnations for the last 15 years. Anyone who followed the Shaymen in our first season in the Evostik Div 1 North will agree that Rossendale is the coldest place on earth. Follow @FCHalifaxTown for the unofficial fanfeed on FCHT.