By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Having slept on it, I must say yesterday ranked with the best of away days. It didnt start on such a positive note. We arrived at the ground at 2.40 to be greeted with a 100 yard queue for the one open pay gate. Tempers were frayed to say the least, with a number of Pool fans being refused entry after verbal altercations with over zealous stewards. As we finally made it into the ground 5 mins after kick off, a second pay gate opened to a chorus of sarcastic cheers.
First impression once inside was surprise at the great vocal away following. Secondly the large stadium was unusually full for a team languishing at the foot of the table. As we squeezed into a couple of the last remaining seats, it felt like an away day of old, with an electric atmosphere and tinge of stale booze in the air. Nice to see so many young fans given the tribulations of recent years. Plenty of middle age Stone Island also on show.
Sharp in the tackle, with Spearing leading by example, Pool looked like a completely different team from recent weeks. The 4-4-2 worked straight out of the coaching manual - Fonz and Feeney causing havoc down the wings, Nottingham and Bola overlapping dangerously, Virtue and Spearing imperious in the middle. With Tilt back and Heneghan in sharp form, the defence was a blend of coolness and controlled aggression. We took control of midfield early and bossed the first half with ease. Evans was a bit wasteful at times but turned well on the edge of the box to put in a great cross for Gnanduillet to head us into the lead. Play continued with Pool dominating and Fonz in particular playing out of his skin. My quest for a half time beer was quickly ended with one glance at the refreshment queue.
Bradford came out for the 2nd half with a bit more fire in their bellies, clearly having had a blast from Bowyer at half time. Play started off pretty much end to end, with Bradford looking more dangerous and Pool defending stoutly when required. A dangerous Bradford attack was superbly broken up by Spearing and Virtue picked up the loose ball and ran the full length of the pitch before lashing in Pool ‘s second with a piledriver. Lots of credit goes to Evans and Gnanduillet for diagonal runs which created the space for Virtue. Bradford came back fighting and won a dubious penalty as Tilt went to ground in a 50/50 for a loose ball. Mafoumbi, booked for his protest at the decision, then made a superb save to push the ball round the post. This was probably the pivotal moment in the game, at 2-1 momentum would likely have swung the way of the Bantams. From then on it was all Pool. It was great to see Pool keeping pressing, not content with holding on to their 2 goal lead. A good Nottingham cross and Gnanduillet header gave us our third, from then on it was an exhibition match. We continued to knock the ball about in a manner reminiscent of the days of Olly. Fonz then took out half a dozen Bradford players with a mazy run and inch perfect pass to set Taylor up for our 4th. Cries of ‘Gary,Gary what’s the score’ rang around the ground, as Bradford fans started to stream out of the ground. The Bradford consolidation at the end was a shame for Heneghan, Tilt and Mafoumbi in particular, as all had put their body on the line to keep a clean sheet. To me it looked like the cross came in too easily and Nottingham lost his man at the far post.
On the final whistle, the Pool players to a man came over to applaud the away support, most who had remained in the ground to return the applause. The walk back to the car past grumbling Bradford fans was uneventful and the drive home pleasingly easy. On reflection the day after, it’s hard to think of a better away day. I’m sure we’ll play better teams before the end of the season, but if we show the same blend of skill and passion we must have squeak of making the playoffs.
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
Good to get a progress report on Vitue. He is after ll our player.
How many away fans.
I remember going to Bradford and standing on the small terrace along the touchline. It was a bit weird with it being so small compared to the rest of the stadium.
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
Good to get a progress report on Vitue. He is after ll our player.
How many away fans.
I remember going to Bradford and standing on the small terrace along the touchline. It was a bit weird with it being so small compared to the rest of the stadium.
Edited. Oups, I posted a reply on the wrong thead
[Post edited 24 Mar 2019 12:03]
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
On Tuesday, I've got a specialist scientific company coming round to locate a slow leak. They use gas, thermal imaging, fibre optic cameras, and high tech listening equipment.
I've got to go to work as well!!
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
Wonder if he'll go with the same team on Saturday?
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
Lets see how we get on against Plymouth first. Home record since New Year is shocking, time to start putting that right.
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
The report on Virtue was particularly encouraging.
Let's be positive. We only need 2 or 3Â players to go on a hot streak, boost us up, and we could get in the play offs.
Would we be ready for the championship?
I'll tag the Bradford fans' comments on here to give this O/P a bump -
"If anyone is not a proper supporter, having left the ground just after the 4th goal, it would be me. Apologies once again The soft underbelly on show once more"
"Unfortunately I was long gone... can't even be bothered to get pissed off at this group of players."
"Don't think he can give it away Any potential purchaser will be watching closely what he does and could possibly pay next to nothing for the club Debt free and dross players free Not much option really "
"Not sure what he (Bowyer) can do with this shower but it's good that he cares and wasn't happy."
"That's another escape route closed then When or how can we offload these players Seems we are well and truly shafted"
"SHAMBOLIC SEASON. SPINELESS SHOWER. STEPHAN SILENT. SELL"
"
Just how low can you go? The goals we conceded today were laughable. With a few exceptions, the players didn’t show energy, drive or enthusiasm. If anyone is clinging to any shread of hope, then, sorry, you need your head read. I have been going since 1979 and, as you’ll realise, I’ve seen some shit in my time, but today was the pits. Just now, i can’t see me going back until the last game. You would expect some kind of personal or professional pride as an absolute minimum. I’m not sure I saw that today."
"That is the worst display I have seen at VP for a long long time. We are a bunch of softies, we don’t tackle, and stand off, we don’t run and track, we just let them run through us. I left after the 4th goal goes in only the second time as a supporter for 50 years. Where is the guts? Where are our hard men? We are going down and not one of them gives a toss. I say to whoever ownes this club, first job is to clean the crap out, yes it will be expensive, but has to happen or otherwise we will drop to non league and then we will be done!! We just cannot go into league 2 with this load of crap, we will get turned over every week. We need players who wants to wear our shirt, who actually feels pride in wearing it, and wants to perform in front of the fans. They have to be the right character. This isn’t about the manager it is about the strength of the squad, and every single one of them better have character, strength and be prepared to fight for City. I am angry and depressed. "
"What a gutless, useless team, not fit to wear the shirt, worst team I have seen in 40 years! Beggars belief they can call themselves footballers and make a wage from it!! Also we have some deluded fans, applauding that team, how & why can they on that performance?? "
"I am normally quite vocal at games, but that performance sucked any fight I had left in me into backing this shower any more. Just want this season to end now, and not see any of them again in a City shirt, except perhaps Caddis. I will be renewing season tickets out of love for the football club. However, we need to urgently hear now the intentions of Rupp now that we have virtually been consigned to relegation. Personally I hope Rupp is gone sooner rather than later, and a new broom comes in and takes over. Rupp is just as much to blame as Rahic for the decline of our club since they took over. New owners, and a manager appponted, whether thats Bowyer or somebody else, it needs sorting as quickly as possible, then we can plan for league 2"
"eft after 3rd goal. Only 2nd time ever left that early and both times have been this season says it all. This is the most gutless set of city players I've ever seen. A disgrace to the shirt."
"Looking on the bright side, I have 2 spare seats on our minibus to Charlton next week "
"I think Rahic signed most of these players using a supermarket trolley. No doubt found them all on the bargain shelf and the result is they are all "off" before anything could be done with them."
In short, there are many other comments on this note - Problems of player recruitment.
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
I'll tag the Bradford fans' comments on here to give this O/P a bump -
"If anyone is not a proper supporter, having left the ground just after the 4th goal, it would be me. Apologies once again The soft underbelly on show once more"
"Unfortunately I was long gone... can't even be bothered to get pissed off at this group of players."
"Don't think he can give it away Any potential purchaser will be watching closely what he does and could possibly pay next to nothing for the club Debt free and dross players free Not much option really "
"Not sure what he (Bowyer) can do with this shower but it's good that he cares and wasn't happy."
"That's another escape route closed then When or how can we offload these players Seems we are well and truly shafted"
"SHAMBOLIC SEASON. SPINELESS SHOWER. STEPHAN SILENT. SELL"
"
Just how low can you go? The goals we conceded today were laughable. With a few exceptions, the players didn’t show energy, drive or enthusiasm. If anyone is clinging to any shread of hope, then, sorry, you need your head read. I have been going since 1979 and, as you’ll realise, I’ve seen some shit in my time, but today was the pits. Just now, i can’t see me going back until the last game. You would expect some kind of personal or professional pride as an absolute minimum. I’m not sure I saw that today."
"That is the worst display I have seen at VP for a long long time. We are a bunch of softies, we don’t tackle, and stand off, we don’t run and track, we just let them run through us. I left after the 4th goal goes in only the second time as a supporter for 50 years. Where is the guts? Where are our hard men? We are going down and not one of them gives a toss. I say to whoever ownes this club, first job is to clean the crap out, yes it will be expensive, but has to happen or otherwise we will drop to non league and then we will be done!! We just cannot go into league 2 with this load of crap, we will get turned over every week. We need players who wants to wear our shirt, who actually feels pride in wearing it, and wants to perform in front of the fans. They have to be the right character. This isn’t about the manager it is about the strength of the squad, and every single one of them better have character, strength and be prepared to fight for City. I am angry and depressed. "
"What a gutless, useless team, not fit to wear the shirt, worst team I have seen in 40 years! Beggars belief they can call themselves footballers and make a wage from it!! Also we have some deluded fans, applauding that team, how & why can they on that performance?? "
"I am normally quite vocal at games, but that performance sucked any fight I had left in me into backing this shower any more. Just want this season to end now, and not see any of them again in a City shirt, except perhaps Caddis. I will be renewing season tickets out of love for the football club. However, we need to urgently hear now the intentions of Rupp now that we have virtually been consigned to relegation. Personally I hope Rupp is gone sooner rather than later, and a new broom comes in and takes over. Rupp is just as much to blame as Rahic for the decline of our club since they took over. New owners, and a manager appponted, whether thats Bowyer or somebody else, it needs sorting as quickly as possible, then we can plan for league 2"
"eft after 3rd goal. Only 2nd time ever left that early and both times have been this season says it all. This is the most gutless set of city players I've ever seen. A disgrace to the shirt."
"Looking on the bright side, I have 2 spare seats on our minibus to Charlton next week "
"I think Rahic signed most of these players using a supermarket trolley. No doubt found them all on the bargain shelf and the result is they are all "off" before anything could be done with them."
In short, there are many other comments on this note - Problems of player recruitment.
A friend sent me this today. Dad and grandad should have their own show 😃
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
