Any expectation that we would take it easy after the 76th game unbeaten were blown away thanks to Richard Gere 2 Hamster 0*. The fact that it was cold and wet didn’t dampen (sorry) our performance which started off pretty well and sort of carried on throughout the whole game.
* – LEGAL NOTICE: This is an urban myth, according to here and Mr Gere’s lawyers. The hamster was unavailable for comment
Actually, let’s rephrase that. We gave them an arsewhipping. Certainly in the first half, where we renamed ourselves as Mr Whippy, wore a leather mask and jockstrap and handcuffed Dulwich to the bed. We attacked, put the ball wide/high too many times, and even managed to hit the post before Chris Gell was poleaxed strongly challenged in the box. Penalty to us, and after a bit of pushing/shoving and the ref and lino talking things over, Ryan Gray stepped up to slot home.
Second half? Well, basically, it was more of the same. DH tried to come back a little bit, but really didn’t look much. Instead, it was us playing the PVC clad dominatrix yet again, though it did take us until the 84th minute before Steve Gibson rifled it home.
Anyway, shall we?
Plus points: A win. Home. Clean sheet. Far more relaxed and professional. Using flanks well. Joe Sheerin coming on twice in a week without getting injured.
Minus points: Should have been five. Shooting a bit shit.
The referee’s a…..: Well?
Them: Bit narky in the first half, their #8 apparently being a bit of a moany wanker. Other than that, they were crap. That said, on my NLP rounds, I have been given free tea and a programme by their programme editor, so I can’t say much bad against them.
Spotted: (1) About 5 Lokomotive Leipzig fans, on a trip to KM from the snowy Saxony. Nice enough people, though sadly they hadn’t read FourFourTwo. (2) Busload of Luton fans who decided that going to the NHS wasn’t such a good idea. With a treat of “4-1 to the Luton Town” by the WB to boot as well.
Better red than dead: You might have seen some people wearing red today. No, it wasn’t the AFCW Friends Of Trotsky meet, sitting in their expensive clothes, drinking pricey wines and lambasting the rich, but instead it was a fan unity thing, this time highlighting Wrexham’s plight. Basically, Wrexham fans asked various people to wear red to show support, as they’re fucked thanks to an unscrupulous owner who has separated their ground and club (sounds familiar?)
It’s all well and good, I guess, but in the post 28/5/02 climate, do small protests in general really have the desired effect that they used to? Yes, it was suggested by Wrexham as a morale booster, I’m told that’s the intention anyway, but I remain unconvinced Wrexham’s very real problems will be helped sufficiently by a few hundred people wearing red shirts. Money, perhaps, or a Man U/Glazer style publicity drive would help them more. Our most effective form of protest came after 28/5/02 (think about it), and we of all fans should know what will help and what won’t.
The problems in football are way too deep for symbolic protests to work any more. It’s going to need a club like Wrexham, or Leicester, or Leeds to go under for people to take notice. It’s going to need a few more AFCWs to set up and get in the paper for people to take notice. Perhaps most importantly of all, it’s going to need a bit more monetary investment by fans to get into their clubs (be it through trusts or other forms of funding) to stop the clubs being decimated. The solutions lie in money because the problems lie in money. And as AFCW has proven, the real power still lies in the hands of the supporters, if they choose to use it. Until some sense of realism sets in, from all sides, we’ll be hearing a lot more Wrexham-type scenarios.
Let’s be honest here, when MK happened, the wider footballing world should have held its arms up in disgust, but it didn’t. Football has never been a principled, all-as-one family. If Wrexham go under, it’ll be Wrexham fans and some community-minded fans of other clubs who will give a shit. The rest? You guessed it. Our fans didn’t care for Aldershot, Newport and Maidstone, and I remember quite a few laughing at Palace. I wish Wrexham luck – christ, they need it – but red shirts don’t suit me….
Point to ponder: We played the ball a lot more on the floor today, and were clearly successful with it. Which begs the question, why did we change our style to a more aerial assault earlier on?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Phillo playing Sid Vicious’ version of “My Way”, hastily pulling the plug when it got to the lyric of “You cunt, I’m not a queer”. Shame. (2) How unusual is it to get an attendance dead on 3000? (3) Decided to go down the WB for the second half, and was greeted with a smell of cannabis. What do you West Bankers get up to?
Anything else? Not really. My Red Sox fleece’s hood came in handy today though. Oh, and WUP’s interview with Roy Cappel was pretty funny.
So, was it worth it? Quite possibly.
In a nutshell: Now, how do I get to Bashley?