It's an bulging in-tray at Peterborough United for better managers than Robbie Savage...

Peterborough United can’t score a League One goal – it’s four in eight games now – and they can’t stop conceding daft ones, as at Stockport County on Saturday when Ben Woods delivered the worst attempted clearance since Jonson Clarke-Harris at Hillsborough on that infamous play-off night.

This one wasn’t so damningly costly as it was the only goal of an early-season game rather than the end of a promotion dream, but it served to highlight the job awaiting whoever succeeds Luke Williams. Basic skills and competency have been sadly lacking so far in a season that’s yielded five points in those eight games.

Posh, who are next-to-bottom, are a point and a place better off than last season, one that ultimately yielded 53 points, so all is not yet lost at least, but the new boss will need to be considerably better than most employed by the current chairman.

However it was good to hear from Darragh MacAnthony for the first time since he axed Williams a week ago. It was also good to hear him pour cold water on a rumour suggesting Savage had emerged as a hot contender for the vacancy.

That would be the Savage whose well-financed Forest Green Rovers side sit 12th in the National League after conceding three times in the final 20 minutes at Sutton United yesterday. The Savage with no Football League experience as a manager and who runs a media career alongside his full-time job. Increasingly MacAnthony does as well, but as he isn’t expected to spend every day at the training ground, pick teams or deliver team-talks he can.

Managing Posh is no job for a rookie. Savage would increase the profile of the club, but in their current plight drawing more attention is not a good thing so the benefits he would bring to London Road, as far as I can see, are zero.

MacAnthony would also have been aware of the largely negative reaction of Posh fans to the Savage rumour. He may also have seen the reaction of Forest Green fans who seemed delighted their manager might leave. “I’ll drive him to Peterborough myself,” said one. The chairman might now deem it not worth the effort negotiating, and paying for, the release of Savage with Forest Green’s even more high profile chairman Dale Vince, a man he doesn’t care for much, judging by podcast comments of the past.

Anyway it seems like it will be the end of this week before a new man is announced and taking care over a crucial decision is the right thing to do. I just hope MacAnthony has some wise counsel with him in the interview process to avoid making the most unpopular appointment since Graham Westley.

Posh need a new boss to realise that playing two wingers who find it difficult to cross a ball is not a winning strategy. Until substitutes Ethan Williams and Chris Conn-Clarke arrived on the Edgeley Park pitch with 12 minutes to go there was barely an aggressive pass or cross that reached its intended target. Williams, a natural winger, was at one point sat on the bench while two central strikers – Danny Ormerod and Bolu Shofowoke – operated in wide areas. Within 60 seconds Williams had fired a cross across goal that Ormerod really should have converted.

Star forward Harry Leonard isn’t playing well, and he spurned a through ball from Conn-Clarke that was so good it demanded a goal, but it’s also possible to feel sympathy for him. There is little quality around him, and that will remain the case until a fit, and hopefully, focused Matt Garbett returns to action next month.

Yesterday Posh fielded two players who prefer to operate on the left in a three-man midfield so balance was always going to be an issue.

There was a defensive highlight to consider though. Teenager Lucca Mendonca and Josh Feeney defended their penalty area impressively and the former really should be above Dave Okagbue in the Posh pecking order in that position. Okagbue doesn’t make the best of his superior physical attributes so why not pick a player clearly more comfortable on the ball, with better mobility and more sharpness in the tackle?

One of many questions for the preferred candidate from over 80 applicants.