Peterborough United’s promotion dream has been extinguished, although chairman remains bullish, new midfielders imprisoned in a formation that doesn’t work, but Fergie critics should save their breath and Sammie showed promise, a weird League One and a referee rant

Of course the super optimistic/confident/loyal/pasionate/deluded (delete as appropriate) chairman thinks the League One play-offs are still a possibility which is remarkable as he’s watched all of the recent games.

Like the rest of us he’s seen a stubbornness to ditch a playing formation that hasn’t looked like working and a dreadful dip in form by a couple of key men which has helped lead to a run of one point and one goal in five League One matches since Posh went second with a 0-0 draw at Bristol Rovers on December 19.

That’s right it’s just ONE GOAL IN SIX MATCHES - a statistic worth shouting from the rooftops - for a team boasting the top goalscorer in League One who is partnered up front by a £1.3 million club record signing.

I have every sympathy for a chairman who, along with his co-owners, has generously funded another promotion push. Even the fall from grace of his favourite player, Marcus Maddison, prompted more support for his manager, the increasingly beleagured Darren Ferguson. Three midfielders have arrived in January with no noticeable improvement in standards, possibly because the newbies have been imprisoned in a midfield diamond that is too easily bypassed and too often fritters possession away.

I know Darragh MacAnthony is proud to be known as Posh chairman so for him to offer to give up the title if a play-off place doesn’t materialise is no small thing even it’s effectively a cosmetic gesture with two co-owners now on board, one of whom could easily step up with no change to the club’s decision-making process.

Other things we learnt yesterday (and, like Ferguson, I’ve even found some positives)...

1) League One is weird this season, Posh will go within a point of the play-off places if they beat Wycombe at home on Tuesday (January 21) as it’s the only match in the division. If they then win at home to Rotherham next Saturday (January 28) they could well jump into the play-off places as a couple of top sides are still in the FA Cup. Obviously winning is the hard part, especially as the next opponents are second and first in the table respectively. Posh could improve greatly on the last few performances and still get beaten.

2) Ferguson’s post-match comments re formations and changing personnel for the Wycombe game came as a relief. The stark difference between the first hour at Wimbledon when the midfield diamond was employed and the last half an hour when it wasn’t clearly registered so expect big changes on Tuesday. I’m not sure he’ll play three centre-backs and wingbacks at home (I’m not sure why it was ditched after the draw at Bristol Rovers though), but with Sammie Szmodics now on board and Siriki Dembele available again a 4-2-3-1 is a possibility. Posh only have one striker on song so why not find a formation requiring just one?

3) Ferguson is not going to be sacked. That was a certainty even before the chairman’s bullish late-night statement so panicking Posh fans should save their breath and their typing fingers.

4) Szmodics showed in the second-half what a good signing he could be. His finishing lacked match sharpness, but his fitness was strong and his runs into the opposition penalty area caused problems. His presence should make the loss of a distracted Maddison easy to bear.

5) The rest of the midfield remains too lightweight. Josh Knight’s return can’t come soon enough. The ball players in this Posh midfield need an enforcer. Just before the only goal yesterday, Dons midfielder Anthony Hartigan ran right 20 yards right up to the edge of the area before a Posh player challenged him.

6) Posh still haven’t won a game after falling behind this season. However their response to the opening goal was good yesterday. They created numerous chances after ditching the diamond.

7) Darren Ferguson was impressively diplomatic after the game yesterday when asked about the performance of referee Darren Drysdale. Ferguson said: “The officials are humans, they will make mistakes and the assistant might have made three bad offside decisions against Mo Eisa in the first-half. But we have to get our own house in order. I have enough to do without worrying about officials.’

I, however, am not bound by the threat of disciplinary action and I say referee Darren Drysdale delivered the most pitiful performance I’ve seen all season from an official. His fitness is impressive, but his eyes appear to have gone such was his random decision-making. Like many referees he can see every little nudge by a striker, but ignores all blatant holding offences by defenders. His judgement of most decisions involving Ivan Toney appeared consistently one-sided against the Posh skipper. He missed numerous clear fouls and basically allowed a timewasting home goalkeeper to take the mickey, just minutes after cautioning him, for timewasting obviously. Drysdale has been a bad official for a decade. He is the Mike Dean of the lower divisions using theatrical signals which fail to cover up the sheer dreadfulness of his decisions. The referees coming through must be truly awful for this man to keep his Football League status.

Rant over.