19 May 2000
As we got back after the game to a clan gathering, Mogga arrived home (25
minutes after the game had finished) - he lives opposite. My young
cousins who were with us went to commiserate. He said he was just "so
sorry we couldn't have turned it round for you". They said they were
proud. He was obviously very depressed.
Such a strange feeling after the game, but in retrospect it can only ... More...
9 May 1999
Well, they did everything we asked of them. George threw caution to the
wind, played 4-4-2 (dropping Thetis for Petta) and told 'em to go for it.
And they did: Wilnis (and occasionally Clapham) completely forgot they
were suddenly "last line of defence" full backs, and although we began by
raining in efforts in on the Sheffield goal in one of the most
breathtaking 20 minutes of football I can remember, it was ... More...
24 Apr 1999
Just unbelievable. Who was the bloke who went on 6-0-6 afterwards and
said that supporting Ipswich was the most stressful thing he'd ever done
in his life? Too right. I've let myself calm down a bit before writing
this. To lose at home against the bottom-of-the-table side reduced to ten
men well before the end? Only Ipswich...
Like Tuesday against Swindon, we passed sweetly despite the atrocious
conditions, and we dominated the possession, but ... More...
5 Apr 1999
Well it was never going to be as easy as Swindon, but after Saturday I
thought this was going to be the inevitable nil-nil. After ten minutes
even that looked optimistic! But we sorted ourselves out and were well
worth the three points. Can't remember the last time so many different
MotM suggestions were proferred on the way home though! QPR had an
organised defence, and Kiwomya was dangerous when receiving long balls
(which ... More...
6 Mar 1999
There is a God (the sort that decides the outcomes of games that is, I
don't mean Micky Stockwell). We "lost" the first half convincingly
against a well-organised team who dominated the midfield, and although we
held our own in the second half, it was debatable if we were the better
side. Back to 5-3-2 at the start after Tuesday night's 4-4-2 shenanigans,
with Petta given a roving brief in midfield as a ... More...
2 Mar 1999
Last home game we were creating chances from all over the place and not
putting any away, tonight we had about the same amount of possession yet
created hardly anything - but managed to score three times. Just like the
Oxford match however, we weren't mature enough to slow the game down and
put our foot on the ball in the last 15 minutes, and the end was a
frantic scramble ...again. Someone's ... More...
20 Feb 1999
Laugh? Cry? Be pleased with the slick interplay? Or despair at the
atrocious finishing? I don't know what to think. The only time I can
remember us missing so many chances in a game was the away match at
Portsmouth back at the start of the season. Individually, the players had
great games. As a team, they performed marvellously. And yet... and
yet... get them within 10 yards of the goal and they ... More...
30 Jan 1999
That's better. Not just because of the result, but
we played more as a team than against Everton or Grimsby. And we shouldn't
find the scoreline too disappointing; Port Vale were much better than their
recent form and position suggests. Harewood looked like a useful loanee
(when he went off on one run down the wing, Emile Heskey or what?) although
he was trying too hard to impress and often went for the ... More...
9 Jan 1999
Bloody awful, the worst we've played all season without a doubt: there
seemed to be a disease called "can't pass" and it affected everyone.
We've played badly a couple of other times this season but not let in a
daft goal, so scraped a 0-0 but today - despite the fact we had most of
the possession - we deserved the kick up the pants that *yet another*
home defeat should give us. ... More...
26 Dec 1998
Just a brief one: some good individual performances against a weak and
fairly disorganised Pompey. Alan Ball played all three subs at half time
and he'd probably have played eleven if he could. Portsmouth won the toss
and elected to kick against a very strong wind in the first half, the
thinking being that if they could hold their own for 45 minutes, with the
wind at their ... More...
12 Dec 1998
Firstly I have to say that I enjoyed this game more than the awful
Birmingham game last week, despite the fact we lost. Does this make me a
bad person? But Barnsley are an ordinary side, with probably even more
injury problems than we have, and it's worrying how easily they found us
out: run straight through the middle (our biggest weakness) then change
formation and see how slow we are to react ... More...
5 Dec 1998
Very poor match, below par performance, great result. Maybe the gods are
on our side this year. We deserved at least a draw (Birmingham were a
strong side) but we've played better and lost. The defence were
magnificent, and they had to be with Burley's rather dodgy tactics and
team selection at the moment. You couldn't fault Richard, who was
commanding in the air, but in truth he had little to test him, ... More...
3 Nov 1998
Not very convincing, the team were devoid of ideas and a draw wouldn't
have been harsh. But given that at least four of the side were rubbish, a
win was quite an achievement. Burley has obviously put them under strict
instructions to go back to the short passing game, but whilst the likes
of Stockwell took this very literally (and it somwhat stifled his
performance), others found it tough, and the inevitable result ... More...
17 Oct 1998
In any good season you have to have matches like these. We are poor but
the other team are worse (fortunately). Hands up who'd have liked to have
seen Alex come off the bench on 75 minutes? On the positive side, I'd
take Vernazza and a couple of million for Kieron any day. Otherwise, if
you weren't there, you didn't miss anything, and I suspect this won't be
a match which sparks long ... More...
29 Aug 1998
Disastrous result, doubling our league defeats in 1998, but really not
that bad a performance IMHO. Sunderland will be the best side we fact
this season, for a start, and they proved why with the excellent
opportunism they showed in taking advantage of Stockwell's injury for the
first goal. The second was just a lucky break, and a great finish
(Richard almost did enough, sending Phillips so wide that he had to
produce a ... More...