Going Down? (Notts County at home; Peterboough away)

So, I will try again.

I have written every one of these blog posts fairly and with very little post editing. But the last two games left me frustrated and fuming – and, having said that I have to confess I went to neither. Not the Good Friday home game against struggling Notts County; after which Dean Smith’s run-of-the-mill deja dit quotes about doing all of the work, blah, blah blah, doing everything except score … couldn’t ask for more”  rankled. More even than the over-reporting of the ongoing election rabbit-rabbit-rabbit from the media. Sorry gaffer, heard it a few too many times now, it’s worn so thin its see-through  and needs throwing out (yes, yes, yes –even if it is your favourite!)

Instead I went, sore head, throat and all to a wedding (following the November stag party https://saddlersfan.wordpress.com/tag/tallinn ) on the edge of Wolverhampton. A dull day with warm rain and grey clouds. But the occasion? Exciting, colourful and complete with toastmaster, civil ceremony, glamourous costumes, dry ice, banghra drummers and three of the most entertaining speeches I have heard in a long time! A chance to meet friends old, recent and from many moons ago. Great atmosphere and the occasional shared sneaky peek at a smart phone to get the latest from Bescot.

During one of the musical interludes Andy and I discussed a foray down to Peterborough the following Monday.

But by Monday morning, bright, sunny and spectacularly warm neither of us felt motivated. A two hours plus  so-many minutes’ drive there – and back again; the probability of being trapped in bank Holiday traffic returning from the coast didn’t appeal to either of us … that and the fact I needed to get potatoes planted in the allotment!

So, what did we miss? Very little apparently because. I am home in time to hear the results on local radio and comments on the game. Some phrases stick in my brain:

“Walsall cannot score …” (You’re telling me I think as I hear it!) and:

“It’s now been six hours since Walsall scored.” (We managed a goalless draw).

The week began so well: big words in the local paper from Richard O’Donnell about Walsall “needing to be nastier”. I agreed with this sentiment on all levels. No finger pointing or blame apportioned, but more of a let’s-roll-up-the sleeves and get-stuck-in attitude. Commendable. But by Thursday Dean Smith is playing it down and confusing matters with far less gladiatorial “we are as nasty as we need to be” quote. Really?

Now after two disappointing performances in a table that changes like the Namib Desert dunes in a Northumberland gale we have moved up a spot, but are only two points away from the relegation zone.

Several days have passed  – I did not dare post the gloomy initial attempt – and, during that time in other news we have what is being described as the “most daring and sophisticated raid” as thieves apparently scaled down a lift shaft into a basement and drilled through six feet thick walls into a safety deposit box vault in Hatton Gardens, ransacking the place and breaking open an estimated seventy boxes before making their escape.

However, with police still “collecting evidence” nobody knows exactly what has been taken. It seems that even the customers who kept valuables there do not know whether their own goods (secrets even?) are secure. I am wondering what laws govern the keeping of safety deposit boxes. Is it known by the company what is inside the boxes? How does it all work? Indeed, could some of the customers be suspects?

Large deposits of crude oil are reported as being found by a survey in Surrey. Enough it is suggested to provide the U.K. with a fair slice of our needs in the next twenty years.  But it’s in Surrey and the locals are not happy. They don’t want their properties being disrupted, put at risk by the operations that might be necessary to recover the oil … and are also suspicious that this might be the thin end of the wedge, with fracking to follow. Always wise to be suspicious I guess.

This weekend sees the Grand National being run at Aintree. This is one of the craziest of horse races: massive course and enormous jumps and a large number of starters with all of the random stalls and falls that can make horse racing so enjoyable. This from the official Grand national website;

“The Grand National Horse Race is often called the world’s greatest steeplechase.

The race is one of the most famous steeplechases in the world. It is a unique test of horsemanship for the rider and also a test of a great significance for a horse.

The course is nearly two and a quarter miles in length and has 16 unique fences including the famous Bechers Brook. The fences have an added problem for horses, the famous drop fences where the landing side of the fence is lower than the take off side, this means the horse approaching the fence is unaware of the drop until in the air.

At The Chair Fence the reverse of this occurs. It is the biggest fence on the course and the landing side is higher than the take off.

In the Grand National the horses have to complete almost two circuits of the course and jump 30 fences and then complete a long 494 yard run in which has been the downfall of many in the past.

There are two fences that are jumped only once and this is on the first circuit and they are the famous Chair and the water jump.

Although the first ‘Official Grand National’ was in 1839 the race was first run three years earlier in 1836.”

Many time champion jockey Tony (A.P.) McCoy has said he will retire “on the spot” if he finishes first. This is a colourful and highly skilled rider (born 4 May 1974), a Northern Irish horse racing jockey, currently based in England. He was named  BBC Sports Personality of the year in 2010, becoming the first jockey to win the award.^[2]  McCoy has been Champion Jockey every year he has been professional. Even in his first season riding in Britain, as an apprentice, McCoy won the Conditional Jump Jockeys Title with a record 74 winners for a conditional jockey. McCoy claimed his first Champion Jockey title in 1995/6 and, as of 2013/14, has won 19 consecutive Champion Jockey titles. McCoy has won almost every big race there is to win, including the Grand National.

Second big sporting institution of the weekend will be the annual Cambridge versus Oxford University boat race. Up the river Thames for 4.2 miles, this race was first held in 1829. This year, for the first time three races will take place on the same day – over the same Putney to Mortlake course – ladies, reserves and first teams.

Meanwhile Walsall will be facing Fleetwood in another big test. Of nerve and skill. It would be very hard to watch us sink into league Two, especially after such hopes at the start of the season.

It’s a funny old game I guess.

Port Vale: Away

Written on 6th April, 2014

I drove to Bescot to get the tickets for the Vale game. Burslem is not one of my favourite places in League One, though I have been there many times: it’s not so far to travel and there is usually fierce, not-quite-derby tension that brings excitement and skill out in both teams.

Driven in by my brother – cheers mate – and picking up Cully and Drew en route. Back lanes drive was a new way to get there for me, passing none of the landmarks and roundabouts I would normally be looking out for … and that’s not so easy from the back of an Alfa Romeo. Great parking spot and, hey there really was an oat-cakes shop (though it was closed) near the ground.

Brisk stroll; the ground looks so small and bodged together, with a patchwork ethos and stands that do not match. The roof of the stand we were in is apparently from Chester Football Club and so low it holds the sound in. The small-ish Walsall choir were buoyant, deafening (great support!) and, frankly discordant.

Grabbed a bite to eat at the café*: two coffees, two ciders a pie (only meat and potato) and a Mars bar. The cider was sticky and overly sweet.

That passion I was expecting (way back in the first paragraph)? No signs of it in the first half. Vale looking dangerous. Walsall looking a little lost and Ngoo in to replace suspended Westcarr didn’t quite work. The kid is talented, confident but doesn’t somehow fit in. Long legs like a young giraffe, very willing. Maybe just not enough match practice yet? Brandy looked tired and short of pace. James Chambers, unusually, was both out-paced and out-thought by the Vale winger, but we were hanging in there when the half time whistle went.

Playing towards us in the second half we seemed to have a better grip. Play was undoubtedly rougher – scuttlebutt going round the ground was that the teams above us (that we needed to lose to keep our remote play-off chances alive) were actually losing. Both teams here could capitalise on that – if they could win.

Some dubious refereeing decisions given both ways. Some harsh tackles: both ways, some diving: both sides … but when our centre half Paul Downing and a Vale player, Tom Pope, got tangled up in the penalty box – penalty.

Scored!

Cue substitutions: Brandy off for Lalkovic, Ngoo off for Bakayoko and Baxendale (largely ineffective) off for Hewitt.

Cue the traditional weekly last throw-down frantic paced everything and the kitchen sink and his wife and gundog melee as we hammer the Vale defence to get an equaliser and – in our eyes a shred of justice. Equaliser? Hell no; lets win the game!

I can never quite understand why we need to go one down before we start to play properly. Indeed there is a suggestion in the car as we drive back that we should hypnotise the team before the game, trancing ‘em into thinking we are one – nil down. Light the blue touch paper, stand back and watch the fireworks.

It’s history now, we don’t manage it. But there was a spirited first performance from Bakyoko, young but not afraid to get in with the big boys and their flying boots.

Elsewhere, the long-running saga of the Hillsborough Disaster continues. During my life there have been a number of football disasters, this being the worst of them. I cannot begin to imagine the torment the families of the ninety six people who died at what should have been a marvellous occasion have been put through. I salute their grit and determination to have genuine justice. It cannot have been easy.

Brighter news is that Birmingham City Ladies will be playing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final after beating Arsenal. Women’s football is booming at the moment, credit to everyone who has made it happen. Can we get a team at Walsall please?

And more international matches will be played at Bescot. My guess is that it is due to having the national training centre (St George’s Park) at Rangemore, because the games will be shared with Burton Albion. They are part of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite Qualifying matches and will be played in May.

A horse from just down the road in Worcestershire won the Grand National while we were struggling to overcome the Vale and today Oxford hammered Cambridge in the Universities Boat Race.

*Oh yeah, the name of the café?

Would you Adam and Eve it ?