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‘In fairness to Mr Swann’ is a phrase I never thought I would read on the gasroom and I would never want to read again. He has never been anything other than unfair and unprofessional in his diatribes about our club and our manager and does not deserve an ounce of respect.

Wycombe Wanderers have, for the vast majority of the time, been a major part of my life since 1968. The decision to move from Basingstoke (the place we were dispersed to as part of the Government’s wider plan to move staff out of London) to High Wycombe was, I’m slightly ashamed to admit, very strongly influenced by my love of the local football club. So I’ve had over fifty years of pleasure, excitement, transient disappointments, highs and lows etc but, above all, I’ve made some very good friends along the way.

WanderersTV, the Gasroom, Dave Gardner’s Wycombe Wanderers Friends Facebook page and telephone conversations with Dave and other friends have been major compensations for not actually being able to savour the atmosphere at close quarters (!), the banter/general discussion before, during and after games and, not least, the numbing sensation of sitting with feet in an inch of freezing water in the front row of the top tier in the Frank Adams stand - admittedly a pretty rare occurrence !

Finally, a wonderfully unexpected development. Against all expectations and a background of unswerving allegiance to Arsenal FC, my son-in-law and grandson have been to a couple of recent games at Adams Park and say they hope to go to more games in future. They live in Lane End so it’s a slightly less arduous journey and a wee bit less expensive than the trip to Highbury or whatever it’s called these days.

It’s all pretty positive. COYB.

It was a great afternoon in no small part to efforts off the pitch as well as on. To make todays game happen in such difficult circumstances many staff went way beyond what many would expect. By way of just one example, our under pitch heating is on its last legs (understand it will be replaced close season), as a result a member of staff remained at the stadium all night so that when the system tripped and switched itself off they were there to manually switch it back on. And there are many many more examples where that one came from. We are lucky to have such dedicated staff. Let’s cut them some slack and give the club a break, time for some festive cheer folks.

I'm hoping he just turns to Dobbo and says "get the guitar" then plays 'Free Love on the Free Love Freeway'

RC is convinced that WW should be a Championship club & wants to build a stadium to match. When we were promoted to the Championship the club didn’t overspend & were able to use the income (albeit without fans during Covid) to cover the £3 million loss.

The problem this year is that Pete Couhig drew up 3 playing budgets in the summer, “A get back to the Championship quick” budget, a moderate budget & a frugal budget. They chose option one. If you look at the current L1 table the likes of WW, Oxford & the team from MK are very much under-performing, given their recent history.

Putting all our eggs in one basket (striving for the Championship) has seen us go out of cup competitions with a whimper. The FA Cup in particular could have brought in big prize money. WW are re-configuring the ground to bring in £20-25,000 v Ipswich. A win alone over Walsall would be £47,000.

My gripe with this is you can’t simply “budget for promotion”. Sunderland have proved this over the years. We got promoted by being “little Wycombe” with some great characters at the club. The bigger clubs simply couldn’t work us out.

Off the field I’d rather see us develop the ground cautiously. Let’s have an architect’s model of what it would look like - but only do it once (or if) we are in the Championship. I get the FA Stand needs urgent repairs, the pitch needs completely relaying & the terrace needs repairs. I believe there is a cultural difference here in so far as RC believes if you build a fantastic “facility” people will want to come. They will only do so if there’s a match they want to see.

In summary, we have gone for promotion this season with an unsustainable budget. At the start I predicted we’d finish 10th. Sides losing play-off finals often have a moderate season the year afterwards. The season is by no means finished & we could still go up - but it’s looking less likely. Having had a taste of it we’d all love to be back in the Championship but that can’t be bought - especially with a small club like Wycombe. We are now witnessing the fall-out.

Had a few hours to sleep and ponder the shambles of last night.

Firstly a lot of the animosity has been created by The Trust. The very people who are there to protect our interests. Not having the balls to shout out when they saw this financial trajectory is unforgivable. Not representing the 'tone' of the fans to the owners just simply jumping on the RC positivity train. And finally not being capable of communicating with the very people they claim to represent last night. Everything about The Trust screams unfit. Well meaning, innocents, staring at the headlights, whatever, the result is the same.

Onto Rob. I don't think he has bad intentions. On the contrary I think he has good intentions. Whether those intentions are possible in world he does not understand is my concern. And whether he feels the risks are relatively low, it's not as if he lives in Totteridge and the majority of the new debt he is planning will not be his.

At the end of the day we are passengers and have been since he took over. We are fortunate we still have a club but it is no longer our club, it his his club. Wether we are heading for a cliff we can't do a lot about it. We can try and express our wishes as a fan base but what are those wishes? The threads on this message board about who we should be signing next are always the most popular, so we have a hunger for success. I'm sure all fans do. So did Derby fans. At the end of the day Rob has simply tapped into this hunger and is offering to deliver. Why people are angry at that is confusing. Do we doubt him? Do we see that it is not possible? In our heart of ours do we know that our desire to sign a shiny new striker is a fantasy as we can't have that guy we can afford someone who has dodgy knees and is slipping down the leagues.

So I guess it down to a little soul searching. Do we want the dream of success at all costs? In which case get behind Rob and support him all the way. Do we want a sustainable club in league 1 (occasionally league 2) then prepare to cut your cloth on and off the field.

And a final note. If anyone is aiming personal abuse at Rob on social media or even on the terrace when you have had a shandy just do one. Seriously, do one. You embarrass yourself and your club. And for what aim? Just don't

The league and non league is full of clubs of rolled the dice to have a go at reaching the promised land (whatever that is to them). Sometimes financed by a sociopath sometimes by debt mountains. Even those clubs who made it subsequently failed as their dreams weren’t sustainable.

It might seem defeatist but sometimes you just need to know your limit and be at peace with that. For some of us we are in the promised land. Just because someone who had never heard of our little club til 4 years ago thinks differently doesn’t mean that they are right.

Just saying.

My first ever WW match was the FA Cup 1st Round. Wycombe v Slough Town, November 1970 in front of 7,000 fans at Loakes Park. 52 years later we lose at the same stage in front of just 2,319 fans to a League Two side.

I think the problems aren’t just “a temporary blip” but can be clearly split into 2 parts. Firstly, off the pitch. Today’s match was officially downgraded as soon as the announcement was made to close the Frank Adams Upper. How many people decided not to go because they couldn’t sit in their usual seat? Very worrying though was the lack of children at Adams Park. The Family Stand had very few indeed. I noticed this v Peterborough and also Cambridge (a midweek game but in the half-term holidays). Today was the FA Cup for goodness sake. Why not kids for £1 after the success of the numbers at the Morecambe game?

Decisions made by the club have also helped to alienate some of our older (& longest-attending fans). Many of those kicked out of the Woodlands Bar two years ago simply haven’t returned (sadly priced out). Some relocated to the Honours Lounge for one season but we’re then kicked out of there to facilitate a bigger boardroom.

All this talk of increasing crowds leaves me with a wry smile on my face - they should stop losing fans before trying to find new ones! The official rhetoric seems to assume that better facilities (& inevitably much more costly) will attract more fans. All the club seem interested in at the moment is people who are high-spenders. Loyalty and length of supporting doesn’t seem to have any place at Adams Park today - unless it comes with a wedge. It’s all about increased revenue streams whether it alienates our core fanbase or not.

On the pitch we have been under-performing lately as many have pointed out. Personally, I have been infuriated by our approach to cup competitions in particular. We have never played our first-choice side & hoped to win with a weakened side. Where did we get? Losing Stockdale, Stewart, Akinfenwa, Bloomfield & Harrison in the summer takes a lot of replacing. We’ve recently resorted to some dreadful stuff to watch. I sincerely believe we have some very good players who need sorting out. I don’t want to see GA leave but in the light of the loss of so many key influencers I’d like to see a top coach come in & develop an improved use of the players, especially counter-attacking away from home.

My gut reaction is the heart is starting to be drained out of the club, which makes me very sad. Results on the pitch will ebb & flow (but need dealing with). Off the pitch worries me more. The club needs to realise that die-hard supporters are different to casual spectators & need respect & accomodation. If you remove the foundations of your house it will never remain standing when the next storm comes along. WW should not be “just about the numbers”.

The snow fell hard, on a humdrum town

This club has dragged you down

It's December 1990, Gazza's in his prime

But down in deep High Wycombe

It's challenge trophy time

Look, it's hard to understand this

But I swear to God they cheered

All around the local community

Peterborough were revered

A different time, but the same old (new) place

Adams Park, so fresh and new

Local interest, national interest

Just what can (little) Wycombe do?

Tuns out nothing

It's a Football Focus meme

Motson in his hated coat

Killing all our dreams

God, the profits outsiders made that day

As the angel snow did fall

While we lost some decent revenue

And no-one kicked a ball

That sheepskin coat shaped football

For 20 years or more

When all it was in truth was bad news

For the backroom lads on Final Score

Time's moved on, things have changed

It doesn't snow these days

Motson's coat is in a skip

Somewhere out near Hayes

So drink it in, the FA Cup

Remember that brown coat worn by Beeks?

And somewhere in a flatland field

A Swann man turns and shrieks

A word of praise for Stryek, what a find he is proving to be. As others have said, his kicking is inconsistent but we are comparing him to Stockdale whose distribution was exceptional. He commands the six yard box and when he makes saves he always pushes the ball wide so there is little danger of it going to an opposition player. I think he’s been excellent.