Contracts to be played for at Galabank
Our midweek hoodoo returned as brought our recent winning streak to an end at Galabank on Tuesday night.
We can comfort ourselves slightly with the thought that it has not affected our play-off position too much and, besides, five wins in six games isn't at all bad.
We were disappointed to lose and there's no doubt that it was a blow in terms of actually winning the title, but our ambition was always the play-offs and we remain in an excellent position to achieve that.
Galabank will host Clyde for the second time in five days on Saturday. Photo: SNS
It has been an incredible run of wins we've just had and we hope to get back to that by reversing things when we face Clyde again at home this weekend.
I'm not sure there could be a better game for us to be playing in although I'm sure Clyde are possibly thinking along the same lines.
The reason I say this is because the defeat is obviously fresh in the memory and is what we used as our main motivation when we beat Queen's Park at Hampden last weekend.
We had been up there only a couple of weeks before and let ourselves down and were keen to make amends.
We managed to do that on Saturday past with a decent team performance in terms of hard work and solid defending and we came away with our very first win at the national stadium.
The "re-match" against Clyde this weekend will be slightly different in that I don't think we let ourselves down in terms of our performance.
We couldn't believe we were a goal down at half-time and even after the break missed two great chances from free headers before Clyde scored their second goal.
We were guilty of missed chances and poor defending, certainly for the second goal. Some might say, and have already said, that the first goal was also a mistake but I'm going to let big Craig Sommersgill decide for himself on that one.
He will know better than anyone else in the Annan dressing room whether his wall was lined up correctly and I'm not going to tell him any different as I'm no goalkeeping coach.
Craig has been excellent for us recently and will continue to be so for the remainder of the season.
It's incredible to think that I've only a few weeks left remaining on my contract at the club and that I could have just six or so games left to play.
It is something that I have been aware of probably since the turn of the year but it hasn't been playing on my mind. It's not something I'm particularly worried about and I'm fairly relaxed about things.
I didn't know the manager wanted me to stay until after we had just finished the second last game of last season so I suppose it's too early for me to be expecting anything!
I'm sure it's a sign of how things have been going recently as there hasn't been too much talk between the players about next season.
We can't think too far ahead as we're concentrating on what's happening now and making sure we finish the season being successful.
There are a lot of other players in the same situation as myself at the club but that's the situation most players find themselves in all over the country at the minute.
Clubs are not handing out contracts much longer than 12 months...if you're lucky.
It's common now for players to sign deals that kick in from the first game of the season and continue only until the last, meaning that there is no income during the close season and pre-season training and matches.
That's something that I've been used to since I joined Annan all those years ago so it's nothing new.
Time will tell if I've got another 12 months of the same to look forward to.
Hi there, I'm Chris Jardine, midfielder with Scottish Third Division side Annan Athletic. I hope, throughout the season, I can give you a good insight into life at the newest Scottish League club and maybe even a few laughs along the way.
Comment number 1.
At 1st Apr 2011, GhodFatherHooper Neil Francis Lennon wrote:I hope you get a new contract, i enjoy reading your blogs i know a few boys that play/played in the lower leagues and it doesnt get the coverage it maybe deserves. Obviously its not the best to watch but its just as passionate as any other leagues in the world.
Maybe if you stay Celtic might get a tie at Annan next season!!
good luck on your promotion push
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Comment number 2.
At 2nd Apr 2011, adam wrote:I, on the other hand, a queens park fan, dont believe you played well against us at hampden last weekend. Queens park were by far the better side and in no way deserved to lose. they had far more chances and annan were only in the qp box about 3 times. Qp deserved at least point but annan didnt deserve the 3 points. and i was also dissappointed in the fact annan had to resort to fouling everytime qp got near there goal. it shows what a poor diciplinary side it is as they cant face getting beat. so in conclusion, queens park were cheated and deserved a win.
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Comment number 3.
At 3rd Apr 2011, jpannan wrote:Hi Chris
I watch Annan home and away and read your blog's with interest, however I feel that you have overstepped the mark by questioning big Craig's lining up of the defensive wall.
Statements, comments, observations of team mates who may have made a mistake are for the changing room ONLY! I just hope team morale has not been affected.
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Comment number 4.
At 5th Apr 2011, tomslaford wrote:Hi Chris, what is your average crowd at Annan ? , just wondered if there was a bigger crowd at my chippy?
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