I know he didn’t score, but that was too good a headline not to use…
So, Happy Holidays and all that bollocks. And what better way to enhance your festive period than, er, Merton Borough 0 Stevenage Borough 0?
Hell, I can’t even think of a decent alternative scoreline description for this one.
To be fair, I would have taken this result before the game started. It was a bit of a weird vibe beforehand, namely nobody had any sort of expectation we’d do anything.
And while it’s true eunuchs would have more chance of scoring than our starters right now, I think we deserved the point.
Perhaps not did enough to win it, maybe, but if St Evenage had managed to convert their last-minute throw ins then yesterday would have been a kick in the teeth.
With an extra knee to the gonads for good measure.
I didn’t have time to do a post-Northampton update, and the planned Xmas Day writeup didn’t happen (primarily because I couldn’t be bothered).
But whilst that game was a masterclass in how not to defend, we did at least get that bit right yesterday.
Granted, there was too much passing at the back for my liking. And we’re only a mindless blunder away from another 0 points.
Apart from their free header in the first half, I don’t think they had (m)any proper chances.
Sure, our pants collectively turned a shade of brown in injury time, when they got throw-ins that got launched into our area.
And did anyone else nearly suffer an Xmas aneurysm when Bishop ran out to collect one of them and failed to get his hands on the ball?
You’ll notice I haven’t done much running commentary on the actual game, and that’s because there wasn’t much to write about.
Perhaps the best bit of yesterday was seeing Stevens and Hackford return for a ten minute cameo.
They didn’t get a chance to do much, but I guess JJ is bringing them on slowly. We’ve got two more games in the next seven days, so there’s plenty of opportunities for them.
To be fair, Sasu made a bit of a (positive) difference as well. Guess that hat-trick against Cardiff’s thumbsuckers boosts the confidence.
All in all, I’ll take the point. It was as solid as it was unspectacular, and we really do need to go for the win against Exeter.
Whatever day that’s on. That’s the trouble with this time of year, you end up losing track of what actual day it is.
Today’s Saturday, which makes me think yesterday should have been played today. Maybe we’ll score if we try again this afternoon?
Anyway, while you’re working that all out…
Plus points: We didn’t lose. Clean sheet. Better at the back than Northampton. Return of Stevens and Hackford.
Minus points: We didn’t win. No goals. Sense that a mistake was inevitable.
The referee’s a…: Clearly didn’t want to spend any more of Twixmas doing post-game paperwork than necessary, because he let a lot go.
And I mean, a lot.
While it made the game flow, one did suspect that sodomy in the centre circle would have been waved away. Although he did crack towards the end and give a free kick for an innocuous shoulder charge.
Them: Considering they’re fifth in the table at the time of writing, they weren’t really all that.
Defended well, and unlike us you got the impression they had more about them so they didn’t make a blunder. But up front, they were on a par with us.
You get the feeling they’ll end up falling out of the playoffs and not doing enough to get back in them, and that there are better L1 sides than them.
I know they’re not the biggest club around, and public transport on Boxing Day can be shite, but it wasn’t a good turnout by them one bit.
It’s not quite Franchise levels of non-attendance, but if they’re riding high and they’re taking that amount to what is a relatively nearby game, you do wonder how long they’ll stay in the Championship…
Point to ponder: Do some of our players have a lack of understanding with each other?
There were times yesterday when one player decides to play the ball into an area, with the assumption another of our players will be there. And then there, well, isn’t.
Once or twice you can maybe understand, but it happened far too much.
And it’s not like there’s the excuse of it being early in the season – it’s the 27th December now, the season has been going for about five months, and yet we still can’t work out who goes where?
What do we do in training, exactly? Do we have relationship guidance counselors as much as nutritionists, physios and caterers?
Or is it a case of one particular player being too smart for another one?
This is one of the problems about building a squad on the cheap, because you have to pad out genuine quality with others who are really playing at a level too high.
There’s been times in games not just from yesterday where you wish whoever was supposed to be on the end of a ball was a bit smarter, because they could have done some damage.
Maybe next month we’ll be able to dip into the loan market and get somebody who does have the required brainpower for L1?
Hell, let’s see if anyone from the PFA’s Summer Camp is ready to work for minimum wage…
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) The LED ads looking more like what I imagine LSD is like. The generator blowing up before the game is coincidental, I’m sure. 2) Wickes and Home Bargains car parks deserted. Couldn’t we have taken over at least one of them for parking for just this one game?
Anything else? To give an idea how old and decrepit your editor is – yesterday was the 40th anniversary of my first ever away game.
It was at Selhurst, we won 3-1, it was pissing down, and I naively thought that it would be like every week.
Annoyingly, I can’t find that game on Youtube (though I’ve definitely seen it), but I remember how fun it was to see us win away.
Fast forward to Boxing Day 2025 and there will be 10-year old kids going to (one of) their first games yesterday and end up loving it.
Sometimes it gets forgotten, especially at AFCW when some of our fans get ultra-obsessive about the DT, but football is ultimately there to be enjoyed.
The Xmas/NY period has traditionally been a time to get newbies turning up and maybe get them hooked for life as a result.
That was definitely the case with us yesterday, if the merchandise sales were anything to go by.
I wonder how many buying AFCW-branded goods were at one of their first games and were hooked enough to want something?
It wasn’t just yesterday, by the way. Your editor was outside PL the Sunday before Xmas on other duties, and the amount of families coming out of the store with garb was interesting.
Maybe being in L1 helps, but I’m sure we’re getting more new fans through the gates these days.
If we are, than that’s even more healthy than first thought.
Of course, you have to start giving these newbies a good reason to come back each game, and that does mean a better product on the field. There’s been many cyber-inches of words written on that, and will continue to be so.
But for now, remember your first away (or home) game and think about how care-free it was and why you decided to return.
Because yesterday, there were more than a few doing exactly that at PL.
Oh, and one final mention about that Boxing Day in 1985 – I was in the Arthur Waite stand and I thought it was a dump back then too…
So, was it worth it? At least we didn’t lose.
In a nutshell: The most wondertime of the year, apparently.