Ten games in and we sit bang in the middle of league 1. After such a bright start our form has gone wayward. Everyone is entitled to and has their own opinion as to what has gone wrong. The difference between success and failure can be down to small margins as we know only too well from missing out on promotion last season. If we had gone up would Westwood & Garner stayed? There is no doubt that the injury to Murphy has unsettled the defence, so when you combine this with a new goalkeeper settling in, it is hardly surprising that we are leaking more goals. It is unfair to blame Williams too much. Remember how shaky Westwood was in his first season?

Does John Ward know his best starting 11 is a question that I have been asked many times? Surely before you pick a team you have to decide on a formation and a players best position. Is Scott Dobie a striker or a winger? What is Danny Carlton's best position? Is Gowling a right back despite playing for Bournemouth as a centre back ? Which combination of midfielders works best? Dare I suggest that the increase in our squad size has actually contributed to the dip in form. Have we got a Rafa Benitez scenario with too much rotation?

Meanwhile, away fans continue to get the rough end of the stick. MK Dons was a classic example. Kids for a quid and adults at £10 and yet United fans had to pay full price. Forest had the right idea last season when they made it a fiver for everyone for their sky tv game. I was already uncomfortable about playing MK Dons. Their ticket pricing only aggravated me further. Can you imagine how we would feel if someone took our club away and moved it to Durham? I am proud and relieved to support a community club that is on a stable financial footing. I know that will sound boring to some but there is no point in having a honeymoon period and then ending up like Gretna is there?

The credit crunch is certainly helping to focus the minds of both clubs and supporters. I think our crowds are holding up reasonably well. We could certainly be a bit more creative in attempting to entice people down to Brunton Park. Discounts and offers do work - that's how MK Dons get 10k+. Our exiled supporters are now routinely car sharing and the groupsave 4 for 2 is used on the trains whenever possible. The quality of the communal food and drink brought on the trip has also dropped!

I have noticed a significant increase in the number of players with hyphonated surnames. Diesel Dickey recently made a full team. We now have two ourselves. Why are there more now I wonder? The youngest player to ever play in the league is even one of the members of the exclusive club. I wonder if it's a scam by football clubs to squeeze money out of supporters for replica shirts!

Our November Branch meeting will see the CUFC chief scout Stuart Gray popping in to do a Q & A session. This should give a great insight into that side of the club. We have representation in the fans feedback group which is a welcome opportunity for the fans to influence how the club improves the relationship with the fans. This is an appropriate step to take as it will allow fans to feel that they are being listened to. At least this is constructive rather than the bleating that invariably takes place on websites where fans often make irrational comments born out of frustration. We all want to see the club do well but calls for the manager to be sacked are completely inappropriate at this stage. The main thing I do agree on is bringing everyone back at corners seems to be illogical as we will never win the ball when it's cleared. I wonder what the opposition would do if we left four players up?

Simon Clarkson