Worrying times but boss could do with a bit of luck
IT never takes long for the knives to come out in football, especially among supporters used to seeing clubs hire and fire managers rapidly.
As such, Jake Buxton is already under pressure with Burton Albion after a start to the season which has seen them win only once, at home to Accrington Stanley 11 games ago.
The Brewers also eased past Accrington on penalties in the Carabao Cup after a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes but that is a small consolation.
At least Buxton is not having to endure unwelcome chants from supporters at the moment but, as ever, social media is a toxic place.
Boardrooms can be toxic places too. Graham Alexander has been sacked by Salford City this season without losing a League Two match. Garry Monk has just been sacked by Sheffield Wednesday despite eating into a 12-point deduction at the start of the season, albeit that has since been halved.
Monk’s career shows what it can be like to get yourself on the merrygo-round of clubs with high expectations.
He did reasonably well with Swansea City in his first job but was gone in 18 months and has now managed five clubs in six years as a manager. Frankly, that is ridiculous but that, sadly, is the world of football we live in.
It is also a reminder that we should be grateful Ben Robinson and Burton Albion do not, for the most part, operate in that world. The Brewers buck the trend in football. Albion’s followers have largely been immune to it. The statistic that Paul Peschisolido is the only manager Ben Robinson has sacked in his time as chairman comes easily to mind, the Canadian leaving after a winless run of 14 games.
It is a number that Buxton is edging uncomfortably close to but I would argue that these are very different circumstances – and that the manager needs a break.
In Peschisolido’s run, the Brewers went five games without even scoring; they scored two goals in an eight-game losing run and it was getting on towards the end of the season, with relegation a distinct possibility.
This time, they have set out on a season in the most extraordinary circumstances, with a reduced budget and with a new manager finding his
We should be grateful Burton Albion do not operate in that world. The Brewers buck the trend in football.
feet in his first job.
Naturally, we would all have liked it to go better so far, Robinson and Buxton included.
Buxton is not getting everything right but he has also been notably unlucky in several ways.
The early-season injury list was uncomfortably long and perhaps difficult to avoid given the length of
time the players had been out of action, albeit this was the case for every club.
Buxton has not yet had the chance to field his likely first-choice side in any game.
In defence, there have been lengthy absences for Michael Bostwick, Neal Eardley and John Brayford.
The wait for a clean sheet, now 22 games, has of course been too long but the defence certainly looks more solid with loan signing Sam Hughes in the middle of it.
In attack, Charles Vernam is demonstrating what a blow it was to lose him to injury two thirds of the way through the first game. As long as he now stays fit, it looks like a matter of time before he is either scoring or putting chances on a plate for teammates.
The loan signing of Niall Ennis also looks like it could bear fruit. On another day he could have been looking at three assists and a goal of his own against Blackpool a fortnight ago.
Nothing has been unluckier than the game against Shrewsbury Town last week, in which the Brewers did virtually everything right and were seconds away from a morale-boosting win and clean sheet.
They really did not deserve a 99thminute equaliser to take both of those away and, once again, 99 times out of 100, the opposition would not have scored in those circumstances.
Similarly, Kane Hemmings might reasonably expect that the ball would not take a bobble – as it clearly did – just as he was about to tap in from four yards against Barnet in the FA Cup on Sunday.
Even with the bobble, more often than not, the ball would have gone in from that range, even off the bar, rather than stay out.
I am not suggesting everything is otherwise fine.
Confidence is now clearly a factor. Too many hopeful long balls are being played when the Brewers are plainly better attacking with a short passing game.
One or two players need to be standing up and taking more responsibility for trying to make things happen in midfield and at the attacking end of the pitch.
And then they – and Buxton – need a break, or two.
This is written ahead of last night’s meaningless EFL Trophy tie against Fulham Under-21s and whatever has happened in that, realistically, has no bearing on the situation.
All eyes now turn to a more difficult task, away to Hull City on Saturday.
Hull were in disarray when relegated from the Championship last season but, like another half-adozen clubs at least, are a big fish in League One with relatively substantial resources.
As a result, they are coping well so far, with seven wins and three defeats, to sit fifth in the table.
They will be a tough nut to crack and one Burton have not cracked in two previous meetings, recording defeats of 4-1 and 5-0 in their second season in the Championship.
It would be a very good time to upset the form book.
Alarming as the League One table looks, though, it really is still early days.
Jake Buxton was used to battling adversity in his playing career.
No-one can doubt his willingness and determination to do so as a manager, too.