Although the immediate proximity to last night's full-time whistle makes Billy obviously emotional (never a good time to post - sleep on it), he has some valid points. NC definitely has some searching questions to answer after last night - and getting into verbal spats with fans behind the dugout isn't the time or place to do it.
The only highlights for me from last night are Done's goal - sublime - and the refs. excellent performance. The guy next to me asked my prediction before kick off. He seemed incredulous when I said 1-1. His attitude was 'but it's only Peterborough'. More of which later. Just before their utterly-inevitable equaliser, he asked 'still sticking with 1-1?' I said 'Oh yes. Posh have been in charge for 30 minutes and we haven't a clue how to stop them.' At 1-1 and with their goalie pissing about, I said 'They'd be mad not to go for a winner. We're there for the taking.'
Once again, we've blown a chance with MKD and Swindon imploding. It's an open invite for a team - Bradford, maybe? Donnie? Chezzie? to mount a charge which the present imcumbents of the play-off places would appear to be incapable of resisting.
So on to NC.
- Why did he pull off Done? (Here, I expect the usual 'he was injured' bollocks.) So...
- Why was he happy to see us play the last 15-20 minutes with ten men? Flynn could barely move! Bring Adams on, anyone?
- As well as Done did, he was always facing an uphill battle against their huge defenders. Maybe time to realise that physicality gets you out of this division, not the faux-Arsenal approach we started the match with?
And that's just for starters. I've been to every home game this season (don't go away anymore, but it's obvious the pattern is much the same). In each game, we could have won. Or drawn. Or lost. There's no confidence, no consistency and I'd argue that we're fortunate to be as highly-placed as we are. We're incapable of taking a game by the balls, like Preston did at Oldham last Saturday. Yes, I know, '
only Oldham...'
Autos
have gone, but this presents another ideal situation for us. Let Bristol & Preston run away with it, they deserve it and either would see us off over two legs in a play-off situation. Rather hope for meetings with rapidly-fading and unconfident teams like the two I've previously mentioned.
I'll end with 'but it's only Peterborough'. On Saturday it'll be 'It's only Fleetwood'. Leaving aside history, potential, crowds etc. which count for fuck all when that first whistle goes, these team are packed with young, fit, physically-imposing athletes who are playing for their futures. If we haven't got the basic skill (and last night would suggest that we certainly haven't), sport is about horses for courses. Extremely tall guys will usually beat short guys in tennis and cricket. And in football, a couple of 6-foot+ defenders, facing ill-considered boots in the general direction of their goal will usually trump skillful but tiny guys.
Our plastic 'tiki-taki' will
not get us out of this division.
