Caldwell Still A Zero at Chesterfield

It could be a long haul for ex-Scotland, Hibs and Celtic stalwart Gary Caldwell at Chesterfield.  Following a 0-0 home draw with AFC Wimbledon in his first game after being appointed Spireites manager Caldwell and his team had last weekend off due to the FA Cup.  However, a more animated Caldwell in the technical area, following the opportunity to get to know his new team, did not bring a desired three points in the latest relegation dogfight at the bottom of Sky Bet League One.  A late header from skipper Peter Clarke gave 10-man Oldham a vital victory at The Proact Stadium and locals in a crowd of nearly 7,000 were unimpressed by Caldwell's 'keep ball' system which failed to produce an end result with only one clear cut shot on goal for the home side in the whole match. It was shades of Levein and Strachan leading Scotland and Caldwell would do well to throw away the manual marked "How to play like Scotland and get totally frustrated".

(c) Martin Rickett PA Wire/PA Images

There was a disconnect between the system Caldwell operated on the pitch and what the local Derbyshire public who support Chesterfield actually want. This is the county that has fans who saw Clough lead at Derby and Forest and, just over the border in Yorkshire, attack minded teams at both Sheffield clubs and Leeds Utd. They saw Chesterfield go close to reaching an FA Cup final in 1997 after two mammoth games v Middlesbrough, led by Scottish manager John Duncan, and win League 2 in 2011 and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in 2012 with now Oldham manager John Sheridan in charge of the Spireites, the third oldest club in English League football.  Oldham played the second half a man down after defender Anthony Gerrard was dismissed for an incident in the tunnel but they defended superbly and Clarke clinched the points with a far-post header in injury time.

Oldham went close after only 15 seconds when Ryan McLaughlin fired just wide from 20 yards and the visitors got into some promising positions before Chesterfield had the best chance in the 29th minute.  New signing from Manchester United, Sadiq El Fitouri. whipped a low cross in from the right which evaded three Oldham defenders but Dan Jones mis-kicked at the back post. 

Chesterfield were given an advantage at the end of the first half when Gerrard, who had already been booked, was shown a second yellow card as the players were going down the tunnel.  That forced Oldham to get men behind the ball and Chesterfield struggled to break them down despite the extra man, and the visitors almost snatched a goal on the break when Aaron Amadi Holloway nearly went clear.  But Oldham stunned Chesterfield in the first minute of stoppage time when Clarke capped a superb display with a header inside Ryan Fulton's left post.  Caldwell set up his team to be difficult to beat, as was also the case v AFC Wimbledon, but Chesterfield's lack of punch up front has shown you can't really play safe and hope to achieve safety.