They think it's all over for Peterborough United, but is it? 'No', according to the League One table, but a resounding 'yes' according to the evidence of our own eyes

Not when the campaign started with a come-from-behind 3-2 win at Cheltenham Town and not when a multi-promotion winning boss returned to steady the ship in January.

The daft thing is Posh are still within range of the top six. Sixth placed Bolton Wanderers are wobbling and their next fixture is at League One leaders Sheffield Wednesday.

Darren Ferguson’s side are nine points behind the Trotters with two games in hand, the first at lowly Burton Albion on Tuesday. Win and then win at draw kings Lincoln City and Posh will probably be close enough to cause concern to a side that thumped them 5-0 not so long ago.

The problem with this scenario is the evidence of our eyes. Since bashing Plymouth Argyle at the end of February Posh have stumbled to a home draw with a poor Charlton side, failed to land a shot on target at Wednesday, scrambled past a limited opponent in Shrewsbury with a late goal and been humbled at home by 17th-placed Cheltenham who were well worth their 3-0 win at the Weston Homes Stadium.

This side has too many weakness to have a serious shot at the play-offs and all of them were exposed by a better-organised, tougher and quicker opponent who also had the best forward on the pitch by a country mile in two-goal Alfie May.

TALKING POINTS FROM CHELTENHAM DEFEAT…

1) It’s been a struggle for Posh for most of this season, but they’ve had one consistent ‘get out of jail’ card. They’ve sort of kept in touch with the good sides by beating all the bad sides. Before yesterday Posh had won 10 and drawn one of 11 games, to pick up 31 points, against the current bottom eight. Including yesterday that means Posh have collected just 23 points from their other 24 matches. Posh also started the season in superb style at home, but in 2023 alone they’ve been beaten 0-3, 0-5 and 0-3 at London Road. Before yesterday Cheltenham were the lowest scorers in League One.

2) At least there was no attempt at a defence from beaten Posh boss Darren Ferguson. He didn’t try and blame a dreadful playing surface for a calamitous display, but he did use ‘ill-disciplined, unprofessional and horrendous’ to describe it before claiming the players didn’t have the mentality to be successful. All of it was unarguable and presumably partly designed to ensure a response for a game at Burton Albion where much better Posh sides than this one have been beaten in the past.

3) Ferguson reckoned he could have made five subs when he made two after just 15 minutes or two. One wonders if he considered replacing goalkeeper Will Norris who seemed half asleep in the opening stages? Probably not, but his place should be under threat after a performance so lackadaisical it became quite scary. He was embarrassingly rooted to his line as Cheltenham won the corner that led to the opening goal and, although he was beaten from 50 yards by a moment of genius, his reaction to Alfie May’s brilliance was far too slow. As for his kicking, which appeared a strength when he first arrived, he is over-confident and casual with the ball at his feet and a charge-down appears inevitable. He had one blocked yesterday with the rebound falling kindly for Posh.

4) Of course Norris can’t shoulder all of the blame. It was horrific in front of him. The 5-2 romp against Plymouth should have given the likes of Kwame Poku and Ephron Mason-Clark a huge lift as they were both outstanding that day, but both have shrunk to the extent the latter was hooked with only a quarter of the game gone. It seemed a strange decision as his strength and speed should have been persevered with ahead of the less powerful abilities of, say, Harrison Burrows. Posh have played four times since thrashing Plymouth and not scored one goal from open play.

5) Magnificent May was given his first professional contract by Ferguson at Doncaster Rovers. Fergie warned of his former player’s excellence ahead of the game and yet 20 minutes from time there he was all alone to deliver the final nail in the Posh coffin from 20 yards. It was another great strike, but another shambolic piece of defending by Fergie’s men.

6) It’s getting to the stage when Posh might as well use the rest of this season as preparation for the next campaign. The players who will still be here like Kabongo Tshimanga need to be seen so proper plans can be made. It probably shouldn’t happen just yet, although some changes will probably be seen at Burton, but you may as well finish 17th as seventh. Motivation certainly wouldn’t be an issue for those who have been on the sidelines most of this season if they want to be involved in 2023-24.