The warm feeling generated by last week’s win over Arsenal is still with me, dissipated not a jot my Wenger’s assessment that “Sunderland were aggressive but you expect that. I think that they tried to stop us from playing, sometimes on the fringes of the rules” See how I cleverly missed out the qualifying clause at the end “but that’s part of the game”, just to make him sound even more silly? That’s a bit of a cheek from him considering there was hardly a bad tackle in the whole game apart from the one on Campbell that could have seen their man sent off. Ah well, sour grapes make poor wine, Arsene. The warm feeling must have spread to Sunderland ladies, who, on Sunday, beat Arsenal ladies. Only the second time in 63 games that they haven’t won, apparently, and our girls came from a goal down to win at Hetton. While Sunderland ladies pack bags at supermarkets to raise cash, Arsenal flew their two Scotland-based players to Ponteland and picked them up with the Arsenal first team bus. They turned out with the captains of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, hundreds of international caps and several MBEs. I won’t reveal what the Station Hotel Sunday afternoon debating society reckoned that MBE stands for, but well done ladies. Chelsea at Hetton on November 29 th, so get along if you can.

Not only Wenger was having a daft dig at us, Dave Whelan of Wigan reckoned that last week’s 9-1 defeat at Spurs was Brucie’s fault because he left some dodgy signings behind! Perhaps Whelan shouldn’t have sold Palacios and Valencia. There’s protecting your manager, which is fair enough, and then there’s talking shite, which is what that is.

So, we should have known that it wasn’t going to be our day when the bus when from Thinford back through Bish, took stones off both wall on the bridge at Barney, and basically made the bumpy ride from Hawes to Burnley seem like a test ride on a memoryfoam mattress. Needless to say my back isn’t speaking to me tonight. Early doors at the Golden Lion in Lancaster, and the secret room that we’d somehow missed for the last decade. Greta stuff, even if the pub dog kept one chair very much its own. Then a very pleasant hour in the Borough, reciting tales of the Raj while enjoying the rocking chairs and chatting to the local branch of the Man City supporters’ club before hoofing it down to Wigan.

After the Lord Mayor of Tottenhams’s show? Too right it was. We lined up
Fulop Bardsley Turner Da Silva McCartney
Steed Cana Hendo Richo Reid
Marvellously recovered Bent

…and it didn’t quite work. You know for certain that a team that’s just been whupped 9-1 isn’t going to fall over as easily the week after. At least the bar staff at the JJB where up for a bit of chat and a laugh, unlike the dole-wallahs at Birmingham, so we were in a good mood for the start of the game. Shame the players weren’t. While Richo fired just over, they hit the foot of the post through through Scotland, and Scharner, despite sporting possibly the worst haircut in the history of football, dictated the game. Turner and Da Silva won almost everything that was thrown at them, but for once Reid couldn’t find a killer ball fro all his trying. Cana and Hendo won most of the challenges, but the wide men couldn’t find the right pass. There were close things at both ends, with Fulop making a great save from Turner’s header probably being the closest.

Despite the fans making more noise than should be expected from humans, it just didn’t work for us. We tried to get the ball wide, but Reidy simply couldn’t find the target - not close enough to Bent.

At the break, Campbell came on for Steed. I have to say that today was one of the times when our new-look one up front hasn’t worked, and I was glad to see young Frazzle on the pitch. With his bit of extra pace, Wigan started to look a wee bit ragged, and Richo shot just over. We needed more of that, to be honest, while in the middle of the park Cana and Scharner went at it like a couple of gladiators. Shame the funny-haired one got the better of what came out of the tackles. When we made a real arse of covering the man running in, they scored. Still, at least ten to go and we had been at least as good at them so there should have been a chance for us, especially as we seemed to speed things up in the latter part of the game. Campbell should have scored but couldn’t get his leg in the right place, we had a couple of shots deflected away, and Healy and Zenden came on to try their luck, Both had chances either saved or just wide. Not to be our day, but if it has to be our day, we need to fight to make it so. One of he least effective midfield displays of the season so far – we won the ball often enough, but just couldn’t seem to find Bent, or later Campbell, with the final ball. Reid hit plenty in, but they were either too long, too short, or simply wide of the mark. Pooh.

So, if Brucie’s midweek claims are true, he’ll be on the M6 all weekend kicking his players back home. We do seem to be turning into a home side, which is a shame,as and my mates spend a great deal of our disposable income following us away from home. Daftly enough, we were still eighth after MOTD, but we really do need to get some points brought back from foreign parts. Maybe there was something in Wenger’s claim that we won’t be any good until we can do something against teasm not in the “top four.”

Man of the Match? Turner and Da Silva looked the business, while the midfield, as I’ve said, functioned only sporadically meaning that Bent was feeding off scraps all afternoon. For me, Fulop was the top man with several crucial saves and takes.

Overall? Big Dogs Bollocks.

Sorry, but keep the faith anyway

Keep the faith

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