Welcome to the first Chester FC Fans' Jury.

We hear a lot from manager Jon McCarthy, his players, and chief executive Mark Maguire on these pages.

But this new weekly feature gives you, the supporters, a chance to get your views across in the Chester Chronicle.

If you would like to become a jury member you can email chester.sport@cheshirenews.co.uk.

Alternatively you can let us know your thoughts on our dedicated Blues Twitter and Facebook pages.

This week's question is a straightforward one...

What do you make of the season so far?

And, after a run of just one defeat in 17 league games has been followed by a sequence of nine losses in the last 11, here is what our jury members had to say...

Ian Saxby

"If you'd have asked me a few weeks ago I'd have given you nothing but praise for a season of real progress under Jon McCarthy. Most fans would agree that the team looks much more settled and players better organised than under Burr. Macca also seems to have engendered a real team spirit and in the first half of the season we had some great performances: the 3-0 away to Eastleigh; beating Dover 5-0 at home; the brilliant comeback at Tranmere; even the home defeat to Forest Green, where for large parts of the game we more than matched them.

"Off the pitch the Community Trust under Jim Green's brilliant stewardship is doing great things and our youth academy is once again a source of pride for all Blues fans. But, and it's a big but, the second half to the season has been nothing more than a horror show. I don't think the team is playing particularly badly, it's just that the players look a bit tired and many are playing despite a dip in form: a consequence of a small squad and an injury crisis.

Craig Mahon is one of a number of key first-team players out injured

"Tuesday night's defeat was especially cruel. You could tell that the team were really trying, they just lack confidence. We are now looking over our shoulders at the drop zone and I've got a terrible feeling it's going to go down to the wire.

"It's vital that Blues fans back the team and give our young players the support they need. It would be nice if some of our stay-away supporters could return for the last few games and help steer the boys to safety."

Andy Davies

"I thought we were on course for a really good season but we've been struggling for a few months now, the players' confidence looks on the floor. I think our luck changed when Johnny Hunt was wrongly dismissed at Solihull on Boxing Day, little has gone right since.

"There's been too much needless tinkering for my liking with players being played out of position too much and learning how to play in a different system every week. It's reminiscent to what was happening here exactly a year ago. I sympathise with Jon McCarthy with the injuries but a lot of this has still been unnecessary and a bit self-inflicted in my opinion.

Johnny Hunt cannot believe it as he is sent off at Solihull

"On Tuesday night the midfield didn't look like they knew when to press and when not to, something we had perfected to an art form earlier in the season. Switching things about too much has affected that, in the first half we stood off Macclesfield far too much.

"These two away games against similarly out-of-form sides in Bromley and Torquay coming up look crucial and a real chance to get some much needed points on the board."

Phil Dilley

"Convincing early home wins against play-off contenders Dagenham & Redbridge and FA Cup heroes Sutton United reinforced the hope that this team might have some teeth as an attacking force. From the draw at Aldershot in early September until the win versus Torquay a month later, we didn't concede, indicating a defensive strength to go with the attacking football.

"But it was in the next match that the season started to unravel. A spineless exit from the FA Cup at Southport was a disappointing way to end the clean-sheet streak and the resultant loss of potential prize money ended any hopes of significant strengthening in the transfer window. A further blow was the loss of assistant manager Sharps.

Southport players celebrate Dominic Weeks's deflected goal which proved the difference as they defeated Chester 1-0 in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round

"Despite these setbacks, the league form was still good enough to push us into seventh place and cautious talk of a play-off challenge emerged. That proved to be the high point and since then not only has our form been poor but, except for a spirited and valiant defeat against Tranmere, the performances have been consistently weak. We are now looking nervously over our shoulders at the relegation places.

"If we find a little bit of the early-season form in the run-in, there is no reason why we cannot finish mid-table. Our brief flirt with the upper reaches of the table probably set expectations too high but the subsequent capitulations have left the fans disheartened. Partly as a result of this, crowds are down which will inevitably impact on next season's budget. Perhaps a more consistently average level of performance but with more heart would have been better.

"As a fan for over 30 years I am used to the inconsistency we have seen. However, long-serving fans like me are not the sort of people the club need to be convincing. I would like to see more effort put into growing the fanbase rather than simply relying on the dwindling hardcore. Pricing is a big part of that but giving the manager a decent playing budget is paramount and this must be carefully balanced against expectations

Ryan Astles has been in fine form for Chester this season

"I would like to see the focus turn to next season soon. It is clear without naming names that certain players are just not up to the job but we do have the basis of a decent squad. Liam Roberts is a good goalkeeper but it is important that we have a first-team standard goalkeeper of our own, which Alex Lynch is. Johnny Hunt and Tom Shaw have both played much better under McCarthy and James Alabi has delivered the goals. While we expect to lose Sam Hughes in the summer, Ryan Astles has been a rock in defence, both metaphorically and physically. For next season, I would like to see us build on these positives in our squad rather than see wholesale change. Lynch and Astles show that we should look to pick up the best players from the Welsh league.

"The dream of league football sadly remains just that as long as better-funded clubs exist. For the time being as a club we must reset our plans according to reality whilst delivering an engaging proposition to sell to the people of Chester, which we haven't done well enough this year. It is only by doing this that we can hope to reverse the declining crowds and ensure both sustainability and progress."

Tom Grindley

"Our season was going very well up until the end of the year. I think the departure of Sharps is a big reason for our bad run as we looked a lot more organised and very difficult to beat.

"McCarthy has known for a while Akintunde will be out for a long period of time but have we brought in a striker? No. No club at any level can operate with two strikers. Kane's performances were a lot better when he had competition.

Kane Richards bundles in the Blues' equaliser against Macclesfield in midweek

"A little bit of inexperience from McCarthy maybe hasn't helped in our downturn in form. His man-management is very good but his tactics are questionable. I think the board were a bit quick to give him a long deal but I suppose time will tell.

"I'm worried that he has offered a lot of the current squad a new deal as this means some players performances will drop as a result of this."

Danny McNally

"This season has been a rollercoaster, a rollercoaster with a rather large drop. I was there at Gateshead on the opening day, by 5pm I already had the Conference North grounds guide up on my phone. However, things clicked, the team found a winning formula, and a very solid defensive tactic, which had great shape and was organised thanks to assistant Ian Sharps.

"Things were going brilliantly through September, October, November... then things changed. Sharps got a deserved move to Walsall, and the team lost their shape, lost their organisation, lost their clean sheets, which they broke records for just weeks before. I'm sorry, but all of this points to the work Sharps did and he has been sorely missed.

James Alabi has come on this season

"Iwelumo has come in and made a clear difference. Alabi has become a top player for us but there is no point scoring goals if we can't keep them out ourselves. We have McCarthy, an attacking winger in his day, and Iwelumo, who of course was a striker. Where is the defensive expertise coming from? It's clearly shown that Sharps was a massive part of that good form late in the year, and for me the number one signing in the summer would have to be a Sharps-like assistant, who can get back that organisation and shape we once had.

"I'm just hoping we're planning for a season in the National League. The pipe dream of play-offs is long gone and it's back down to the dirty work of last season to grind out results and keep ourselves as far as possible from those relegation spots."

Mark Worrall

"Let's face it, no-one expected Macca and his young squad to be holding its own in the top half of the table on such a tight budget, but for a while there were signs that we could actually push on and challenge for the play-offs.

"After a promising first few months of he season (even reaching as high as seventh), the Blues' form has since dipped alarmingly in recent months, not helped by losing our assistant manager Ian Sharps, key players to injuries and suspensions, cup failure and dwindling attendances.

Ian Sharps (right) is now right-hand man to Walsall manager Jon Whitney

"After a poor run of form, that optimism has since been replaced by disappointment and frustration, with the Blues now edging nearer to the dreaded drop zone.

"I like to think that this team has enough about it to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle, but I do wonder where we would have been if we had strengthened in key areas in January when everybody else did."