{"id":292056,"date":"2023-10-02T21:32:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T21:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=292056"},"modified":"2023-10-02T21:32:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T21:32:43","slug":"history-beckons-for-cheltenham-after-nine-games-without-a-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/history-beckons-for-cheltenham-after-nine-games-without-a-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"History beckons for Cheltenham after nine games without a goal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>History beckons for Cheltenham after nine league games without a goal, with Saturday&#8217;s 2-0 loss to Lincoln extending dry spell to 146 days<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cheltenham&#8217;s 2-0 loss to Lincoln edged them towards an unwanted record<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>They are a game away from the longest goalless streak in English league history<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Robins have also taken just one point from their opening 10 games<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It hasn&#8217;t turned 1pm and yet the Golden Eagle pub is already starting to teem with fans proudly displaying their colours.<\/p>\n<p>It is a small space into which supporters of both Lincoln and today\u2019s visitors, Cheltenham, are packed. They exchange the odd jibe but when they part, they do so with well wishes for the season and firm handshakes.<\/p>\n<p>A pair of Cheltenham fans occupy one of the booths running down a side of the pub. They look, well, happy. But they could be forgiven for feeling down in the dumps after their team\u2019s start to the League One season.<\/p>\n<p>The Robins have lost eight of their first nine games, with their solitary point coming from a 0-0 draw with Portsmouth.<\/p>\n<p>More concerning is that the previous weekend\u2019s 3-0 defeat by Stevenage set an English league record of nine games without a goal to start the season. In total, it has been 146 days since Cheltenham struck in the league \u2014 that was last season. \u2018It was one I planned a while back but the way results have gone I wasn\u2019t exactly buzzing for today\u2019s trip,\u2019 says Cheltenham fan Scott McIlquham.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/22\/76048245-12582091-image-a-136_1696195271917.jpg\" height=\"554\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Lincoln&#8217;s 1-0 win over Cheletnham on Saturday moved the Robins towards an unwanted record<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/22\/76048241-12582091-image-a-137_1696195842649.jpg\" height=\"417\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>They are now goalless in their past nine games, one off the all-time record in English league football<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It just doesn\u2019t look like we\u2019re going to score a goal. We hit the crossbar last week. It\u2019s been difficult to watch at times\u2026 but I still come to the games.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>His travel companion Mark Hands, who has supported the club since 1976, adds: \u2018You\u2019ve got to support your side, haven\u2019t you? The thing is, this goal drought is not going to go on for ever, so you do have that kind of hope.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When I got my ticket for today, my wife said to me, \u201cWhat have you bought that for?\u201d I replied, \u201cOptimism\u201d. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d she said. I replied, \u201cI want to be there when we score\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Cheltenham supporters knew they were in for a tough season after a summer of change on and off the field. Star striker Alfie May, who recorded 23 and 20 league goals in his last two seasons at the club, was the last Robins player to hit the net back in May \u2014 before moving on to Charlton.<\/p>\n<p>The club also lost three key members of backroom staff, including director of football Micky Moore to fellow League One side Shrewsbury.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s confidence. They\u2019re not a team wildly worse than everybody else. We\u2019re not horrendous,\u2019 says McIlquham.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Don\u2019t expect too much this afternoon,\u2019 warns Hands, who has already used pint glasses as defenders to help illustrate the team\u2019s tactical flaws this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Manager Wade Elliott was given the boot on September 21, with former Port Vale boss Darrell Clark announced as his successor on Friday. He will be under no illusions about the difficulty of the job after watching his new team\u2019s performance from the stands at Sincil Bank on Saturday. A first-half brace from Lincoln\u2019s Danish defender Lars Sorensen sealed a 2-0 win.<\/p>\n<p>In truth, the visitors looked no more likely to end their drought than they have all campaign and the 118 fans who made the trip returned home empty-handed once again.<\/p>\n<p>There had been optimism in the away end before kick-off. One supporter vigorously waved his arms at the players as they warmed up in an attempt to get them firing. Those arms were quickly crossed as another painful afternoon wore on.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/22\/76048657-12582091-image-a-139_1696195936331.jpg\" height=\"466\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>They have missed Alfie May (right) who scored 43 league goals in his last two seasons at the club before moving to Charlton over the summer<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/22\/76048703-12582091-image-a-140_1696196039968.jpg\" height=\"435\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Former Port Vale boss faces a tough task after being appointed Cheltenham manager on Friday<\/p>\n<p>Draw a blank in tomorrow\u2019s game against Fleetwood and Cheltenham will equal the record for the most games without a goal in English league history.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We\u2019re still good enough to be in this division,\u2019 says Hands, with a thump of a fist on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If you put a ship in the sea with no rudder on it, where\u2019s it going to go? Nowhere. If you put one on it, you see where it goes. Clark is our rudder.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>For the supporters\u2019 sake, you have to hope so. Otherwise, the good ship Cheltenham will be sinking faster than the Titanic.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12582091\/Cheltenham-Lincoln.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>History beckons for Cheltenham after nine league games without a goal, with Saturday&#8217;s 2-0 loss to Lincoln extending dry spell to 146 days Cheltenham&#8217;s 2-0 loss to Lincoln edged them towards an unwanted record They are a game away from the longest goalless streak in English league history The Robins have also taken just one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>History beckons for Cheltenham after nine games without a goal - 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