THE Blues finally won their first home game of 1997 last Saturday in a subdued one-nil victory over Frickley Athletic with the winning goal coming just 40 seconds into the match.

The game was watched by just ninety-three people, the lowest attendance of the season at Barton Stadium and followed a convincing away victory at rivals Witton Albion the previous Tuesday.

But the mini-run of form may have come too late to save John Bingham's job as manager.

He said: "Things aren't right at the club at the moment. But if someone has got something to say about the situation then I would prefer them to come and speak to me directly.

"The ideal way to do this would be to get around a table with everyone who has views on the subject and thrash it out.

"I'm trying to look on the bright side at the moment although I'm not happy about what's been going on over the last few weeks.

"Things have got to be sorted out over the summer for me to still be here as manager but I don't know if they will be.

"There have been a lot of mistakes made this year but I think that things should have been kept in-house and sorted out behind closed doors.

"The lack of support hasn't helped. The players never even seem to get clapped on to the pitch which helps their confidence. These things matter.

"At the start of the season, we did have a great deal of depth in the squad and it all looked good, but we've been forced to sell players like Chris Blundell and Paul Newton who gave us back-up.

"It was a poor game last Saturday and not a great one to watch, but I do think we've improved since last year.

"No players ever go out to play badly. Sometimes it just happens. David James didn't go out to play badly for Liverpool last Saturday, but it just didn't go for him. The test of strength at a club comes when players leave or get injured and you have to see what you've got in reserve. You have to have patience as sometimes players don't gel together. It's something that takes time."

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