Over the past few weeks most of our time has been spent worrying whether we'll have a pitch to play on due to the weather but just as the cold snap disappears, we are back to worrying whether we'll have a pitch to play on due to the complex land and planning situation.

March is the month in which clubs are assessed for their ability to safely see through the following season and regular readers of these columns and attendees at our fan meetings will know we have been to the wire every year as the football authorities assess the situation with our stadium plans to make sure they are happy there is no risk of another Tooting-esque departure before they issue us the licence to play the following season. For a league competition there is nothing worse than a club disappearing mid-season so for them prevention is better than cure, better to exclude now if there is a risk of disruption later. Overall, the football authorities have been supportive, but they are expecting a final resolution to our stadium saga this time round.

The judicial review may have been the end of the planning process, but it is only the start of the development phase. Our director for planning, Mark Weatherald has a tough couple of months ahead dealing with a combination of club, stadium owners, developers, council and football authorities in what looks to a layman like me as playing Tetris while plate spinning, standing on one leg. ‘What's the hold up with starting the new stadium’ is the question I am most frequently asked on the terraces and the best answer I can offer is that whilst everyone involved is finally in agreement on where we need to get to, there are multiple views on how and when to get there. Our job as a club now is to make sure everyone keeps one eye on that mutual goal and the other on the ticking clock.

Seeing as I have started down the path of addressing frequently asked questions in the spirit of transparency, I should also address the other two which are goals and player discipline. There is no hiding from the fact that if like me you attended the last five games home and away you will have seen us ship 18 goals and it may be fun when the goalfest goes our way as it did at Welling we are highly unlikely to repeat our unbeaten month of December with that record. It is a problem but you will know from his interviews that the manager is not shy about facing up to problems and dealing with them head on. I also think we need to be level-headed; we didn't think our problems had all magically disappeared when we were top of the form guide a couple of weeks ago and so we shouldn't read too much into a bad run especially when a settled team in good form is unsettled in each game by new suspensions which naturally brings me to that third question.

We can't hide from the fact that discipline is a major issue and so after the flood of recent comments I do want you to know that we’re not ignoring it. There is nothing better than grit, fight and passion to inspire players and fans but it is obvious to all that having lit that touch paper a couple of months ago we failed to retreat to a safe distance and it’s more than blown up in our face. Once that fire is set it is not only hard to put out, but it also quickly spreads. Reactions worsen, referees begin to expect it and adjust their approach which in turn increases the sense of injustice and so reactions worsen even more. That’s not an attempt to shift blame, we started the fire so it’s up to us to put it out as only then can we expect to be treated equally again and have a full squad available for selection each match. During November and December we received more cards than our opponents on only one occasion whereas this month has seen us rack up the most cards in every game as our reputation has begun to proceed us so the club is working together and with the authorities on these incidents to ensure we can reverse the trend and turn down the heat to a level the fans enjoy rather than fear.

Today we welcome Eastbourne Borough and with them Miquel Scarlett who was on our books last season so while I can’t believe I am invoking the commentator’s curse by writing this, who knows, perhaps we can reverse all these trends with an ex-player not finding the net for once, no cards and perhaps even a clean sheet.