Well, I’m glad that a 500 mile round trip for one of the most stupid kick off times ever was worth it, and Tykes 0 Typecasts 1 was a nice reward. We missed loads of chances, so did they, and it’s not inconcievable that the game could have finished 4-4. Still, it’s an away win and a welcome one at that. Rob Gier can count himself lucky to stay on the pitch or unlucky that he got caught out twice, depending on your point of view.
Good games for Pecker, Trond and Damien. Still reckon that in general we look about half a yard off the pace still, again, serious thoughts about our general level of fitness still persist. It was an entertaining game for the (ahem) masses on Sky, and for those who couldn’t go – hope we looked good. We sure sounded good.
The 2¢ worth:
Plus points: We won. Away. Third clean sheet in a row. The fact that we kept on going for the whole 90 minutes (shades of vintage WFC?) and not settle for the point. Nobody really had a stinker. Can you remember the last time we scored a winning goal in the last minute?
Minus points: Can’t help thinking at times that our defence seems to still shit itself whenever put under pressure.
Where to improve: Ball. Net. Foot. Goal. The four main things you need to score a goal. Unfortunately, our attackers seem to miss one of these components out.
Quotes: “Tommy Tyke gave me some sweets last time. I let him feel me all over” – un-named WFC fan before the game. And you reckon I’m warped?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The weather. Was that fucking cold or what? (2) Why did Dean Blackwell, REMBE and Steve Allen follow the team bus in their own cars? Can’t we get a bigger coach? Or is the amount of beer that JH is storing in the back of the bus taking up three seats? (3) Seeing “Scabs Out” and “Coal Not Dole” written on a wall by the ground. The miners strike was 16 years ago – kind of reminds me of that Jap soldier who kept thinking WW2 was still going 30 years later. (4) Barnsley fans streaming out after their goal. Guess they had no confidence whatsoever in their team coming back.
Nice: Harry waving to us (WFC fans) not one, not twice, but three times when we chanted his name. We still love him.
Dump: Sheffield. And Barnsley.
Next week, I’ll be justifying what Pinochet got up to: Am I the only person who thinks that Rob Gier was a little hard done by yesterday? First challenge was stupid, but bearing in mind the Barnsley guy was offside anyway when the ball was played, and I suppose his yellow card was a bit of evening out. Second one? Well, the Barnsley guy did go over the top of him……
Take a look around:
For anyone who still believes that football was much better in the “good old days”, examine the above evidence. For those who weren’t following football pre-Taylor report, or for those who have forgotten what it was really like, the stand we were put in was basically a death trap. The wiring (above) was at the back of the stand, and it wasn’t new cabling either. The toilets (below) were, ahem, “fully ventilated”, ie without a roof, and there wasn’t much in the way of plumbing either. And this is the year 2000. Worse is that the rest of the ground is nice and new. Ah well, with luck this stand will be condemned soon and they can rebuild it. And the next time some When Saturday Comes reader goes on about how horribly sanitised todays grounds are, show him the above before twatting him. Oh, and the “legendary” pies were shit as well.
Dumb: The kick off time. Behind Torquay away Boxing Day and Nottm Forest away Boxing Day in the league of “World’s Stupidest Fixture Scheduling”.
Scary. Still: Dean Blackwell’s footing.
Was it worth it? You’re god damn right it was……
In a nutshell: Cool. Literally.
Meanwhile, Drillo’s book should be out soon, should be interesting to read (and probably a bit more factually accurate than OGEM’s effort, though that shouldn’t be hard). Anyway, couple of snippets from the book are coming out from the Norwegian press, and this bit confirmed something : the man who was solely behind his sacking was KIR. If SH had remained, so would Drillo. That kind of buggers up the theories of a few people doesn’t it? Hopefully, it will lay to rest the often-held view that Drillo was an R&G lackey, though somehow I doubt it.