All’s well…
It was a bit of a tough watch at times, but right now I’m sitting back with a cup of tea at SW19 Towers, reflecting on Wandsworth Arndale 1 Salford Precinct 0.
Today won’t win us promotion, just as much as our next game we lose won’t kick us out of the promotion push**.
** – and if we remain unbeaten until Grimsby away, it won’t matter if we lose that fixture.
But today helps. As will Fleetwood on Tuesday. As will Colchester next weekend. As will….
You’ll quickly gather that I’ll be struggling a bit with writing about the actual contest. It was a difficult game to watch against difficult opponents with a difficult lot of officiating to boot.
I’d even suggest that the one bit of proper skill was Stevens’ finish for our winner. And be honest – who thought he was going to square it?
Actually, it’s easy to forget that Salford almost equalised straight away, and Goodman thankfully lived up to his name.
Of course, time seemed to drag and it got a bit tense towards the end. Which wasn’t exactly helped by our keeper spilling a cross…
Still, a win is a win, although it’s telling that nobody is getting carried away right now.
I haven’t seen JJ’s video interview, although I didn’t know that this was his 150th game in charge of us.
There are still some who wish it was 15 games.
He and the rest of the coaching staff can take credit for where we are right now though.
Mentally, we seem to have collectively steeled ourselves for a tough run-in, where a dropped point really can make a difference.
Nobody is pretending this is going to be an easy run in, that we’re ready to graft like we haven’t done in ages.
Today was classic grinding out a result. It’s not pretty, and it makes writing reports afterwards on it a challenge.
But right now we’re doing what we need to. Many teams start faltering at this stage of the season, and we seem determined not to be one of them.
Anyway…
Plus points: We won. Clean sheet. Stevens scoring. Looking mostly solid throughout. Not fading. Lack of triumphalism.
Minus points: Shit game to watch. Just one goal.
The referee’s a…: Let’s be kind to him, and instead thank him for forgoing his place on the Salford bench and instead officiate this tie.
I don’t think anyone noticed, apart from 7000 of us.
Seriously, to say he lost it would be suggesting he had it to begin with. It wasn’t even reckless stuff, just things like running half the pitch to fingerwag at Ninetowns for no apparent reason.
Them: A decent side who like to play the Dark Arts (TM), but weren’t nearly good enough in the final third.
Got too many corners for my liking, especially in the second half, yet you never had quite the feeling of impending doom when they took them.
Was their player fouled in the buildup for our goal? And if so, why would you care if it wasn’t given?
Of course, we welcomed Kunt “Karl” Robinson to our humble abode. Nobody has yet posted anything about him being his usual self, but I’m sure there’ll be at least something by the time I publish this.
I think the thing with him is, you don’t respect him. With Steve Evans, at least you have a grudging admiration for the way he’s managed at the level he’s had for so long.
Robinson always gives me that vibe that one day he’ll get arrested for fiddling housing benefit. And I’m not alone in that…
Point to ponder: Doesn’t today prove that there’s about 7/8 teams who are all much of a muchness?
I left this bit until last so I could include the results from the 3pms. Walsall winning was annoying, although Bradford drawing was good.
Donny losing was preferable too, and the results today haven’t been too bad.
Everyone will take points off each other, and Salford aren’t bad although a tad dirty. But they showed that we would really have to fuck it up to fall out of the playoffs.
I’ll certainly not say that we might be one of the biggest scalps this season, although our back line must give other sides a bit of extra thinking.
What might also work in our favour right now is how we’ll likely react when we lose a game (because that will happen – probably in the next seven days).
For the first time in a good while, you can see us getting back into training the next day and making sure we don’t fuck up again.
You can call it bouncebackability, and while I’m loathe to go all Soccer AM it’s something I sense we’ve got.
Whether we ultimately prove to be good enough this season I don’t know. But at the very least – for once, our campaign isn’t over in February.
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) The people on the roof watching the game. Come on, they can afford a ticket. 2) Funeral directors being advertised. No comment. 3) Announcing over the PA that the second half will kick off in two minutes. Handy to know, although does make you feel you’re at the theatre. They’ll be calling us patrons next.
Anything else? Just a few little observations for the first game at PL I’ve been to since about Gillingham.
The new merchandise outlet between the south and east stands is a good idea, which is something I’ve never understood why we’ve not had before.
Considering that trying to get from that section to where the club shop is takes about 10 minutes and is not for claustrophobics, it’s a good idea.
That particular bottleneck today was particularly bad, by the way.
They have finally got a stall (or maybe two) that now sell hot drinks around that area. Which has only been three years in the making.
OK, maybe they’ll make a cup of tea with a dash of milk that actually tastes of tea rather than a tea-flavoured latte next time, but you can’t have everything.
I know I often say this, and I’m fully prepared to admit it’s probably some Baader-Meinhof phenomenon** in action.
** – once you know what it is, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.
But I’m sure there were more dads with lads (and ladettes) than I can remember for a long time.
And it does seem a thing at our games more than a lot of places. If you go to away games it’s sometimes interesting how few you see in the home end.
Additionally, we seem to have a higher percentage of that demographic than even Charlton and Watford (two venues I’ve been to recently).
I don’t have any fear that our attendances will drop off a cliff, because we’re getting more new blood in terms of support than ever before.
The club has to be careful about pricing them out, chasing the extra buck, although winning helps.
Oh, and one thing doesn’t change at Plough Lane – people around block 129 who try to start chants still can’t sing in tune…
So, was it worth it? Yep.
In a nutshell: One step closer.