So much for Before The Lord Mayor’s Show.
After the euphoria of the Liverpool draw, it would have been easy to forget that we still have some League games to play in, and preferably win. The first of which was York away, which thankfully we did.
Here’s what Silk wrote:
There were so many pleasurable things about yesterday’s match. We won. There was no hangover from THAT draw in the FA Cup.
We won against a side below us and without a home win all season. Francomb added another three assists to the one he got last week and we scored by getting on the end of crosses three times.
We even got the surreal pleasure of holding on to a one-goal lead even with six minutes injury time – you don’t get that feeling of relief when you are comfortably 3-0 up do you?
It was also good to see Neal defend a lead by going from the solid 4-4-2 to a more adventurous 4-3-3. Even Barry Fuller went on an attacking charge in injury time.
The only minus points were we got done by the same short-corner routine twice.
We have now won two games in a row and we have a very winnable game at home to Mansfield next week. Is the start of our charge to the play-offs?
In the wider world of football Birmingham City won 6-1 with only 7 shots on target and 35% possession. What does that tell you about football?
I don’t know about you, but I treat a 3-2 hanging-on win like driving up a one way street the wrong way – it may be thrilling but you’ll probably hit a car and break your neck.
Still, a win is a win, and for a change the amount of grumbling on various social media outlets was kept down to a minimum. OK, there are still issues about our ability to defend corners, but that’s something to work on more and more.
And who knows – perhaps Neil Cox will finally work out that putting somebody further up the pitch might actually help…
It’s fair to say that we could have been sitting here on this very sunny Monday morning gnashing our teeth about being distracted by the FAC game. However, to our credit we managed to put that to one side.
Indeed, could this draw have done us a big favour? There are eleven prized – very prized – first team spots up for grabs on the 5th January next year. I’m in no doubt that NA has told them that none of them are guaranteed, and December is the month they have to earn them.
York was a winnable one, and that’s exactly what we did. The other three (Mansfield, Pompey and Exeter, in case you’ve forgotten) are the same as well, and even just one or two wins will help us.
We always struggle at this time of year – the stats about our winning record in December since 2010 don’t lie. If ever was a time to right that embarrassing wrong, it’s now.
There is a danger that Saturday could end up as another inconvenience. It could be treated less than another important League game, more a sideshow in getting FAC tickets.
While a couple of losses probably won’t matter, it won’t do our collective focus any good, and it’s not a habit I’d want us to get into at this stage. And besides, we’ve now won twice this month already, and it’s a rather nice feeling.
One has to wonder about the CB situation, especially about the loans, and certainly in the case of Barrett it might be worth inquiring about getting a permanent deal done on NYD. I don’t know if it can be done, but if you can cancel a loan, then cancel the player’s contract, then sign him up ASAP it might be worth doing.
Oh, and when does Goodman return to Millwall?
Onto the main distraction. I’m sure we’re watching Liverpool games with a lot more interest at the moment 😉 One suspects that Jamie Shea will need his best David De Gea impression, although I think we have a more solid back line than Yernited right now.
Come to think of it, MMK and C-Mac would improve the team currently third in the PL right now.
The Scousers play AFCB on Wednesday, and that might give us an idea of how to approach the game. Bournemouth aren’t top of the Championship by accident, and as somebody who regularly covered their games last season I hope they do find themselves in the top flight in 2015/16.
One reason for that is Eddie Howe creating a unit. On my rare visits down there this season, I’ve sensed that there’s a togetherness and a will to do well. I got that impression as far back as last season, and don’t be shocked if they win this week.
Can we say the same about ourselves right now? Are we enough of a “unit” ourselves to pull off what would truthfully be an upset? Well, NA was certainly gushing about our resilience after York, and we’ll need a helluva lot of that.
But as written last week on SW19, this upcoming game could make a lot of people. Manager, players, and probably a few others beside.
Anyway, it wouldn’t be AFCW without ticketing issues. I guess that postal/personal applications are the only way we’ll keep out touts and other undesirables. The fact you can’t order online isn’t really a surprising one, but not particularly convenient for many.
Like many things involved with the club’s workings, it’s pretty much Heath Robinson and unsurprisingly collapses when it’s put under pressure. With luck, those who want (and deserve) tickets will get them, but those who live long-distance may be pretty well fucked.
Well, perhaps. It’s one of these occasions where if you’re quick, you’ll probably get a ticket. The Scousers are going to have 900 or so – police advice, apparently – which means that if capacity is going to be 4800 there will be 3900 up for grabs.
We have 2600 or so ST holders. Most of those will be taken up, either by those who own the ticket or given to somebody else who can be vouched for. So if we assume that 2200 will be used, that’s 1700 or so left.
If the stat your editor heard about people holding both ST and DT membership is correct – roughly 800 hold both – it pretty much means there will be an extra 700 who can get their tickets via being DT members*. And not forgetting shareholders of the PLC.
* – that figure also hints at a long-held belief at SW19, that the bulk of people who are members of the DT only do so because it’s a donation and gives you better chances of getting stubs. Or in other words – most people aren’t interested at all in AFCW politics…
So there will probably be more tickets available than you think, although it’s best not to assume that. Those on the ticket register may dip out, but equally they may get lucky.
With luck, once all this is over, it will force the club to properly examine – and more importantly, implement – proper ticketing databases and computer systems to deal with it. Even without all brainpower and brawn being put into the NPL project, these sort of fixtures may happen more and more now. Especially if we start doing ourselves justice on the field.
Imagine us drawing Franchise at KM? We won’t be able to sweep things like that under the carpet much longer, which is something this club tends to do far too often.
But if the three point deduction last season was a wake-up call for our admin, drawing Liverpool has shown another weakness in our infrastructure. But then, this is a nicer way to find that out.
We have so much potential from this upcoming cup tie, on and off the pitch. I just hope we use it…