Sevilla v Arsenal

Tuesday 27th November UEFA Champions League

Kev was "on the road" again...nipping next door armed with a bag of Fosters. We sat hoping to see the Gunners, with their smooth, silky football take on and beat Spanish high-flyers Sevilla.
What happened? The Arsenal were poor and got exactly what they deserved. Not good to watch but Sevilla are a strong team, full of International players -- while the team that Mr. Venger sent out was made up of too young kids and ring rusty old uns.... Gilberto and Senderos were awful. It was a Gunners team that looked like they had never played together before, and to be quite honest most of them hadn't! No Clichy, Gallas, Sagna, Flamini, Hleb, Rosicky, Adbayor, Diaby, Walcott.

I am in no position to argue with Vengers team selection, but playing a second string in the Champions League is not on, whether already qualified or not. Arsenal lost 3-1 and it could have been worse if Canute had had his shooting boots on...

Saturday .... looking at Eastwood v Prescot Cables ( this is to be on the UniBond TV site apparently) or South Normanton v Long Eaton...

Shepshed Dynamo v Brigg Town

Saturday 24th November 2007 UniBond League Div One South

Made the short trip down the M1 to the Dovecote on Butthole Lane - home of Shepshed Dynamo. They were taking on Brigg Town -- this was Lee Wilson and Jimmy Albans 1st game in charge since they joined from Gedling Town.

Got to the ground at 2:45pm and straight away bumped into James Whitehead ! Lee has moved quickly to secure the services of their former quality skipper at Gedling. Unfortunately "Topps" was unable to play - something wrong with the paperwork apparently.

After a quick chat it was off to the snack bar -- 2 sausage, chips and peas for me, with Kev settling for pie, chips, peas and gravy. Nice food but the tea and coffee was a bit wishy-washy!!

Brigg were second bottom of the table, with Shepshed 3rd bottom, so we knew this would not be a classic.. indeed it was not -- and it was flipping cold! Mind you, the trees around the ground serve well as windbreaks - this kept the chill bearable.

Shepshed took the lead 10 minutes in - a 25 yard effort from Lee Mellon looked to have been tipped over by Steer in the Brigg goal, but to everyone's surprise the ball crept under the bar.

Mellor added a second on the half-hour - the Brigg left back tried to clear the ball but miskicked comically, leaving Mellon an easy drive to double the score.

H-T 2-0

Chris Parr added the third with about 15 to go - a poor clearance driven home by the substitute from 20 yards out.

F-T 3-0

Brigg were not very good and look likely relegation candidates -- Shepshed? If Lee and Jimmy can attract more players of the calibre of Whitehead, they will soon be climbing the table......

Impressed with :

Robbie Banks on the right wing ( should work well with Topps)....

Lee Mellon : midfield general....

Ade Adelukan : quick as you like up top..

Joe and Sam Carter : defended well.....

No footie on Tuesday - the only game is Borrowash Vics v Blackwell MW in the Derbyshire Senior cup, so it looks like Sevilla v Arsenal on the telly.

Eastwood Town U19's v Matlock Town U19's

Thursday 22nd November 2007 North Mids U19’s Football League Div One

For the past three / four seasons, the Under 19 sides at Eastwood have been graced with a few decent players, and the team was always either first or second in the League, with a Cup thrown in at times for good measure …..the U19’s were necessary because players were needed to progress through the youth team to augment the 1st team squad. A few names that come to mind are Marc Stevenson, Deon Meikle, Lindon Meikle – these players are still at Eastwood. Ian Wheat is at South Normanton, Liam Garner and Jason Bedward are at Arnold – Ben Hutchinson is at Middlesborough, Junior Daniel is at Crewe. Now it seems that the Under 19’s can no longer attract players of that calibre.

This season P8 W0 D1 L7 F4 A23 Pts 1

It also seems that this path to the first team is no longer needed – any players that are needed can be brought in thanks to an injection of cash from the new Chairman. The end of an era looming? Time will tell.

Visited Coronation Park to see the Badgers youngsters take on Matlock. Watching this was hard work, let me tell you. Matlock had a couple of half chances well saved by the Eastwood keeper, but the visiting keeper was untroubled for the majority of the first half and neither team looked capable of scoring. H-T 0-0

Maltock did go ahead 6 minutes into the second half – a long shot rebounded off the post straight to a Matlock player who tapped in from close range. Eastwood tried hard for the next half-hour or so, but were killed off with 5 minutes to go, a shot from an acute angle beating the unlucky Eastwood stopper.
F-T 0-2

Anyway – Saturday – still undecided on Shepshed or Teversal ..

England woe

Wednesday 21st November 2007

No, we didn't go to Wembley, but Kev was "on the road" - nipping next door to wach the game at my house.

What can one add to what has already been said?

Well, firstly -- TACTICS -- whoops -- the 4-3-3 was not 4-3-3 it was 4-5-1 and that is not a formation that a home team should adopt . EVER!

OK - some damage was repaired in the second half, but why, oh why, when we had it back to 2-2 did the Coach tell his players to drop back? This just invited Croatia forward and ultimately cost the Coach and his Assistant their jobs... ( I have just seen the press FA press conference on Sky Sports News ). I am preparing my CV to send to the FA. Me and Kev will sort it out .. no problem.... !!!!

After the game we switched to Sky Sports News -- Alan Mullery was also decrying the "drop back" call, but had no idea who the little man was that was with McClaren issuing this order. Anyone know?

Secondly -- PLAYERS - unlucky with injuries but the players selected were not up to the job.

One by one

Carson -- too young -- James may have been a bit dodgy, but he is experienced.

Richards - too young -- ran out of puff after an hour! Good player, but failed to deliver.

Campbell -- too old, experienced but now not good enough.

Lescott -- who told this guy he was England standard, goodness knows!

Bridge -- had a mare -- usually reliable.

Wright-Phillips -- too lightweight -- knocked off the ball too easily.

Barry -- had a 'mare.

Gerrard -- had a 'mare.

Lampard -- for once and for all someone tell the England boss that Gerrard and Lampard cannot play together.

Cole -- tried his best, but ineffective really.

Crouch -- top player -- both myself and Kev rate this striker so highly -- Liverpool don't even play him!

Beckham -- oldie, but goodie - only McCLaren knows why he didn't start the Croatia game.

Defoe -- England class? -- not a big fan of Defoe.

Bent -- is this bloke a striker? Is he England class?

Thirdly - the stadium. No idea of the final cost - but no roof? Fans wearing plastic bags to try and stay dry after paying an arm and a leg for a ticket? A pitch that is crap! We watch Unibond and NCEL games played on much better pitches. Tear it down, sell the land ( must be worth billions! ) -- get either the builders of the Emirates Stadium or the guys who built the Millenium Stadium to erect a new National Stadium somewhere in Birmingham.

Rant over

Carlton Town v Goole AFC

Tuesday 20th November 2007 UniBond League Div One South

Before leaving for the ground, I checked on the UniBond website to see if the game was still on - saw a news headline " Wilson takes over at Shepshed".
A bit of a stunner really, Lee Wilson and Jimmy Albans have put together a great team at Gedling Town, but the chance to manage at step 4 rather than step 6 was one that the duo could not turn down.
Arrived at the Bill Stokeld Stadium and straight away bumped into Lee and Jimmy ( Shepshed v Stocksbridge had fallen foul of the weather). Lee said straight away that he had enjoyed his time at Gedling, but pointed out that he has left the Riverside club with a great squad and wished them all the best for the future.

Our first visit to Carlton since pre-season -- have to say that the pitch is superb - no evidence that this game was ever in danger of being called off.

After some early sparring, Goole took the lead on 23, Rose tapping home - a poor clearance from the Carlton keeper setting up the chance. Smith levelled inthe 38th minute, rounding the Goole stopper superbly before slotting home.

H-T 1-1

Great chip cob at half time -- very nice!

Carlton started the second period on the front foot, and with a bit more luck and a little and a bit more clinical finishing, should have, could have been 4-1 or maybe even 5-1 up. Thomas, Chaplin and Gent wasted golden chances, and were made to pay 6 minutes from the final whistle when Bray fired home to give Goole the lead, a lead they defended until the end of the game.

Had a bit of banter with the Goole keeper - this added to the evenings enjoyment - a half decent game between two skillful, well organised and commited teams... excellent evening!

F-T 1-2

Moral -- score when you are on top!!

Saturday -- choice between Teversal v Dinnington or Lee and Jimmy's Shepshed v Brigg.

Saturday 17th November 2007 results......

Other results from games we decided not to go to...

UniBond
Eastwood Tn 2-2 Frickley Athletic
Ilkeston Tn 2-0 Gateshead

NCEL Prem
Arnold Tn 2-0 Brodsworth MW
Glapwell 5-0 Thackley

Blue Sq North
Hucknall Tn 1-4 Hyde Utd

CML
Gedling MW 2-0 Grimsby Borough
Greenwood Meadows 2-2 Heanor Tn
Rolls Royce 0-4 Askern Welfare

Gedling Town v Cradley Town

Saturday 17th November 2007 F.A. Vase 2nd round proper


Arrrggggggggghhhhh --- bloody extra time on a freezing cold afternoon. We never flaming learn!!!!

What started out as a quite pleasant November day ended up with us both frozen through, and left Kev wishing he had taken his long-johns out of their summer storage!!

We went down by the Riverside to see if Gedling Town could advance further in the FA Vase. We got there 10 minutes before the KO, and decided to have a pre-match cup of tea....well -- if you know the Riverside "tea room", you will know it ajoins the changing rooms, and while enjoying our cuppa, the visiting Manager could be heard giving his team talk --- this consisted of a few meaningless phrases intermingled with a shedload of effs and blinds. Now I know I swear a lot, but this guy was ridiculous ( mind you, I didn't tell him that - he was well over 6ft and built like a brick out-house)!

Neither team created a deal in the 90 minutes of regulation time .. Alan Jefferies missed a couple of sitters and Nick Kennerdale headed against the bar, but it ended 0-0. The highlight really was the Cradley Manager carrying on his tirade of foul language throughout !!!

3 minutes into the 1st period of extra tie, Ben Cobley and Sam Saunders combined well to trip the Cradley no. 16 - the referee quite rightly awarding a penalty that was despatched with some style.

H-T ET 0-1

2 minutes from the restart, James Whitehead hammered home from 18 yards to level the scores after some slick midfield play. Then just as the players were contemplating a replay on Tuesday, Gedling went and snatched victory. With just one minute left on the clock, a ball to the far post was met by Whitehead, bringing a terrific save from the Cradley keeper - but he could only watch in anguish as Tim Wilks slammed home the loose ball to seal the victory and put another £1000 into the Gedling funds. F-T 2-1

NOW -- and you have to trust me on this ........after the Cradley penalty, I kept telling Kev not to worry - Gedling would win 2-1 ...HONEST !!

Tuesday -- options limited. Not many games at all, so we are looking to visit Carlton Town who take on Goole AFC in UniBond Div One South.