God bless the board...

[JJ Sefton]

...and all who sail in her.

 

[blade too long]

might just be doing it properly
after a few faux pas

 

[Esablade]

Sarcasm..gotta love it..eh?

 

[Cyprus Blade]

Sarcasm..gotta love it..eh?

Even better when some don't realise it

 

[blade too long]

blass them if this comes off

 

[grafikhaus]

Picking up on the (obvious) sarcasm of this thread, it makes you think about 24 hours in the life of a football fan. Friday teatime - and through to arriving at the match - I was thinking 'Why fucking bother?' This was shared by all the people who I sit amongst. 'Why bother, if they're going to sell anybody who rises above the dross we've been watching for too long?' Now, I think I know why we bother.

First off, the crowd. Magnificent. I looked at the kop (other viewing areas are available...) and thought 'You guys are the heartbeat of this club. Not the bean-counters. Not the here-today-gone tomorrow players.' The team emerged and it was obvious that they just looked bigger than last season. Has NA chanced upon that magic formula that so obviously eluded Clough? That big, powerful, athletic players are halfway there at this level?

The tribute to Woody was excellent (nice rendition of 'We ain't got a barrel...' from the kop and well joined-in by Chezzie.)

The match was most entertaining. If I was a Chezzie fan I'd probably feel aggrieved at going home with nothing - not even a goal - but that's football. I also thought the ref. couldn't wait to penalise any little thing against us but chose to ignore similar-looking 'challenges' by them. He gave them (yet another) free-kick just outside our box in the first half (South Stand side) and his attempts to 'pace out' ten yards were embarassing. As 'strides' go, Quasimodo could have done better and the Chezzie wall was 6-7 metres away at best. Having burdened refs. with a pathetic can of shaving foam and an inability to gauge what exactly constitutes ten yards/metres, why not scrap an ill thought-out 'plan' and equip refs. with Bosch laser measures? (Just a thought, and a bloody good one though I say it myself. )

Although under pressure, the defence stood firm but plenty of work needs to be done. It's also apparent that a few of the players have been given a lifeline after the vendettas pursued by Clough and it's up to them to seize their chance. Collins, Howard, Scougall etc. looked revitalised. So, all in all, a good day. I looked at McCabe and thought 'He's sold our best player, we win the next game and 23k turn up. You lucky bugger!'

An unnecessary detour after the game (SYPD/Durham's Finest had erected a 'hate wall' on Bramall Lane which went some way to funding their overtime/jaunt to Magaluf) delayed getting home, but a good day all round.

(Did anybody else notice, when Che was substituted, that he waved to the crowd? Do you think it was a farew.... No graf, stop it! Just stop it! )

 

[bornablade]

Excellent post Grafikhaus. There's still a lot of work to do and I'm pleased that Adkins picked up on this in his interview. We need to keep possession better than we did. The back four (five) were excellent. Really putting their bodies on the line. Last season I was in the Clough camp with regards to Collins but yesterday he was immense and his commitment rubbed off on others. Whatever happened last season if someone had just shown a little more maturity and settled that issue who knows where we might have been this season. But that defence was at times under undeserved pressure and we need to look further up the pitch for some answers. Were out strikers not holding up the ball long enough or was the choice of midfield not the right combination? Whatever, I have every confidence in Adkins getting it right.

Overall a great day. The attendance was incredible. Each season we fail to get promoted we have people saying 'can't see us getting more than 16k or 17k etc...' but they keep on turning up. Adkins realises the crowd potential. Just need now to consistently put it right on the pitch.

The tribute to Woody was emotional. So many memories of the guy.