WOULD you like the good news or the bad news first?

Let’s start with the good. Last Saturday against Scunthorpe, Town got three points, kept a clean sheet and confirmed their place in the play-offs.

Peter Clarke was decent at the back and Danny Ward added some much needed width and quality to the side when he came off the bench.

Ian Bennett also had a decent game between the sticks.

Apart from that I can’t think of many other positive things to say.

It was my first visit to see Town in many years so I was really hoping to be excited by what I saw but, sadly, I wasn’t.

Town fans have been telling me for ages the centre midfield area is lacking and Diego Arismendi and Anton Robinson did nothing to suggest the supporters aren’t spot on.

But rather than look at individuals it was the collective group that disappointed me most.

So many players did their own thing. In no area of the pitch did players hunt in packs.

It was all about individual effort but little team effectiveness.

Lee Novak and Jordan Rhodes, who have very similar styles, didn’t work together at all which surprised me when you consider how many goals they’ve scored.

At half time I said to my son they’ll have had a dressing down and should come out firing in the second half.

The game was there for them to win but they came out for the second period taking free kicks and throws in a pace that was so slow and lethargic it was painful.

It needed some energy, some fist pumping, some dynamism.

I’ve played in hundreds of games like that and it’s much easier said than done, but fans will forgive anything if they see power, passion and endeavour.

Town are 11/4 to be promoted and as a bookmaker, having seen what I’ve seen, I’d be happy taking as many bets as possible on Town to go up, because they look sadly to have lost all momentum to their season.

I sincerely hope I’m wrong and Town do make it to the Championship this season, but at this moment I wouldn’t be putting money on it.

AS the plaudits came in for Chelsea and their incredible ‘backs to the wall’ performance in Barcelona, one thing annoyed me so much I ended up sending a ranting tweet during the game.

I thought Fernando Torres was a disgrace when he went on.

He didn’t seem to care about working back, showed no urgency at all when in defensive positions and looked like he didn’t want to be there.

Nobody seems to have asked the question: why on earth was he standing on the half way line watching his exhausted colleagues defending for their lives when he should have been back with his fresh legs helping the cause?

An awful attitude.

He really doesn’t deserve the credit he’s getting for scoring the equaliser.