A huge black mark against Wright and Murray’s credentials for the job today, and it all started so well for them. This was a winnable game, against a team full of fluster and bluster but who (if we’d used the resources at our disposal correctly) we should’ve taken points from.

Giving McCarron a deserved debut was a bold move and he played quite well on the right, although we didn’t use him as much to our advantage as we might have. His performance was good enough to warrant further inspection and his inclusion in the side wasn’t the reason why we lost today.

In truth, Hope and Sowerby wasted excellent opportunities in the first half which should’ve seen us comfortably in the lead and Devitt forced an excellent save from the Northampton keeper (who had a great game), however it was a different story after half time.

Hope became way too isolated upfront (he was probably too isolated most of the first half) and his strength is not playing with his back to goal. Despite his recent good form Grainger had an absolute stinker on the left, he was leggy, slow and stiff looking and his use of the ball was pathetic. We looked tired and disoragnised after half time and we were crying out for a couple of substitutions to freshen things up. Grainger was the obvious player to remove, Gillesphey was having a decent game at left-back, Grainger had shot his bolt. Hope should’ve been moved on to the left and we should’ve brought one of the strikers on – leaving McCarron on the wing to feed the target man.

What happened however, was shambolic tactical nonsense of the lowest regard. We wait until we’re two down before making the changes and when we make them they’re the wrong substitutions. McCarron had planet of legs left in him, but we replace him for the player he should’ve been crossing the ball to. And then Bennett on for Gillesphey? There’s no brains behind this, it’s just random panic. Grainger was begging to be taken off and we have Jason Kennedy on the bench. And the final substitution said it all, Hope was looking far more dangerous running from deep but we take an attacking player off for a defensive one, when we’re three goals down. I don’t reckon I’ve witnessed such managerial ineptitude in our technical area for a very long time.

We need a proper manager to take charge and we need one quickly.

As for Simpson, as he’s been playing at such a low level he understandably looked way off the pace of the game. His touch looked worse than Bennett’s, he looked poor in the air. He does carry a bit of bulk about him but struggles for a bit of pace. Also his attempt to finish a fairly decent cross from Bennett was utterly woeful. He looks way behind the pace of the professional game and he needs to find his feet quickly. We can’t afford to wait three months for him to get up to speed, he needs to raise his game by about 250%.