Damn. Black Cats 2 Brown Dogs 1, our away record plumbs new depths but what’s worst of all is that we definitely deserved something out of this game. We fought hard, a lot harder than recent years, and at the end the players looked totally dejected that we’d lost this one. Which makes a change from some occasions I could mention….
So, the game? Maggie wasn’t back, though Double H was. We certainly looked a lot more solid in defence, a fact acknowleged on the radio. Once again, however, our midfield seems hellbent on trying to get the team relegated – I lost count of the amount of times we gave the ball away in midfield. Last count it was 2,346,325. That said, we saw Walid and Trond making their way into the middle of the park. Trond was certainly solid, he combatted well, won tackles he shouldn’t have won and generally looked the biz.
Walid was very good in the first half, sadly he went off the boil a bit in the second. Hughes wasn’t really that special, some of his crossing was good, but his free kick taking was AWFUL. We’ll still miss him when he goes, but not nearly as much as we will think when Wild Thang returns. Euell had a better game than previous, well he only showboated and lost the ball once or twice. Still reckon we won’t miss him. Up front, Lund and Gayle laboured quite a bit, Gayle certainly thought he was playing Rugby Union half the time, the amount of times he put the ball above the bar makes me think London Irish should put a bid in for him.
The general concensus seems to be that we played much better, showing a lot lot more committment, but we still lost. Why? Luck. When you’re down the bottom (and any team who has fought relegation will tell you this), decisions and the rub of the green tend to go against you. I haven’t seen both Mackem goals on TV, but one was a rebound off one of our players and the other one was disputed so much that Euell got himself booked for protesting too much.
Yeah, our goal was a deflection and a half as well, but they had more luck than we did. Honest. I thought the game was even, I certainly don’t think we’re playing like relegation candidates, even if results suggest otherwise. One thing, Wednesday on the Wednesday is massive. Defeat is unthinkable. Even a draw is really not enough. Let’s hope our recent good work is rewarded with a positive result for once.
I think that REMBE has played his last game for WFC. Apparently he was told he was going to be on the bench, threw a massive strop, claimed that he should be starting, and we turned round to him and said to him that he’s never going to play for us again. Or something. We don’t miss him that much, the atmosphere seems to be a bit better since that’s happened. It also seems indicative of what is going to happen this summer, looks like dusk is starting to come on the Night Of The Long Knives…..
How To Ruin Your Legacy Big Time, perhaps? Fash has accused Drillo of ruining WFC, accusing him of changing things etc etc. Fash’s source for all this is one Robbie Earle MBE, who as explained above finally pushed his luck too far, and really Fash’s comments should be dismissed out of hand. Sadly, I think they’ll be “celebrated” more than anything. Now, I would prefer it if Fash wouldn’t stick his nose into our business like this, it’s got nothing to do with him, the fact that towards the end of his playing days he didn’t exactly assist WFC much by not training, whoreing himself to the meeja etc (just like REMBE, in fact), and his justly earned legend status is fast becoming tainted.
The fact that the press – NOTW amongst others – have leapt upon this like a journo on a trans-sexual prostitute further incites the situation – and as said previously so many times, the one thing that WFC doesn’t need is this sort of shit. Just one thing which all those who support Fash and REMBE in this could answer for me – how come there was none of this nastiness and backbiting towards the management team last season when DK and MH were fucking up and the players didn’t want to know, which is one of the major factors for our poor season? Answers on a postcard please.
Speaking of the NOTW, their main jist of the anti-Drillo report was that he only said a few words to the press and therefore it shows that he doesn’t care about WFC. Yeah, I’m having trouble working that out as well (bearing in mind that the team were booked on the 6.30 out of Newcastle, ensuring they only had an hour at the most to get there from Mackemland). They seemed to gush that Harry and OGEM were always coming up with quotes, which may say very little about Drillo and pretty much everything about journos. Besides, wasn’t there plenty of times when JK played the silence card……?
Things could possibly be looking up, at least in sheer pragmatism terms. Some jerks published some “Olsen Out” posters for Sunderland yesterday, few if any, were held up and it seemed as though most people treated it with disdain. Hopefully they’ll get the message, though given the minds of the alleged perputrators, I don’t think even a bullet to the brain would sort them out.
UPDATE: Looks like Drillo will be staying at WFC for next season, which should please those without goldfish memories. Who says? One BRG, no less. Interviewed on Norge TV, he said “Egil has done a solid job in Wimbledon. He came late to the club, and the season has been hard with a lot of injuries”. Now, we all know what the dreaded vote of confidence can do to a manager, but it’s quite pleasing to see that our new owners in waiting have a bit of pragmatism about them. I think we’re already seeing the signs of what’s really going to happen come the summer months : I think the “he came late” comment above may have said it all.
Meanwhile, George Graham had the “Graham Out” chants at Spurz vs Liverpool today. The fact that Spurz have underachieved chronically since 1991, when they decided to sack managers on a whim, should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks my optimism in the last paragraph is misplaced.
Little known fact from last night, you probably knew already that the players came back via Newk station. Anyway, in case you’re wondering about heads dropping etc, you’ll be pleased to know that the players themselves know that Wednesday Against The Wednesday is vital. Just to reassure you.