So, back to Old Trafford, the scene of our last relegation. Hilariously we had managed to get a draw which pretty much scuppered Man U’s chances of winning the title that night. The Man U “fans” (only a minority are supporters in the sense we understand) are not good losers. They are all cockiness and wanting “chats” when they win (which of course is most of the time) but to quote Corporal Jones “they don’t like it up ‘em”.
We were camping over to the east of Manchester (in the Peak District – gorgeous) so we were at the usual Old Trafford pub very early for a 5.15 KO. As we opened the doors to let everyone out of the car it looked like one of those comedy routines. 5 adults got out, which seemed quite normal. But my car also has two fold up “toddler” seats in the back into which we’d managed to squeeze 3 rather large 16 year olds. We then opened up the hatchback to reveal another 16 year old sitting in the boot. There is probably some law against putting 9 people into a 7 seater car – but I’m sure there’ll be an exemption for travelling from campsites to football grounds (particularly if you have dark tinted windows so nee-one can see).
Into the ground and still nee black cats text. Grr, apparently it wasn’t working yesterday but it has been hit and miss all season. I rely on the text to give me a clue as to who is playing – otherwise I spend the first couple of minutes trying to work it out. By the time I’d done this yesterday, I then realised Chops wasn’t where I’d expect him to be and we were playing 4-5-1.
As you’d expect we spent most of the game fairly deep. I’ve read that we didn’t have a shot on target but that doesn’t really reflect the fact that we tried to push forward when we could – it is just really hard when you are playing the champions, even if they weren’t particularly firing on all cylinders. Jones of the dull surname and exciting forename worked tirelessly on his own and on this performance one could be cautiously optimistic about him as a buy. And we have a song for him – “Enwyne Jones” repeated to the tune we sing “Sunderland”. OK, not the most creative chant – but not one we use for anyone else at present.
I thought the biggest difference was central midfield. Here we really did compete, which was a huge comparison to the Wigan and Luton games in particular. But of course we were playing three there. Etuhu can do nothing but tackle – but to be fair to him (not a usual position for me) he does that well. With Yorke and Leadbitter there to pick up the second ball his tackling had a positive effect – as opposed to when we are playing a two man central midfield when his tackles often just end up with the ball back to the opposition. Yorke had a very good game. Can he do this more often or was this one pulled out for his return to OT? I know that is a very ungenerous thought but I couldn’t help have it. Maybe he too was benefiting from playing in a three man central midfield as he was not having to cover so much ground. Personally I am still looking forward to seeing Richardson back (I know he was poor for us but I am hopeful). I think we’ll play him in the centre rather than out left with Deano being out for the season (I am trying not to think too much about that – it makes me feel suicidal).
At the back McShane was pushed over to the right back to cover for Halford, who was suspended, which allowed Higginbottom to start. The ginger flash looked as useful at right back as he has in the centre and Higginbottom also looks good.
The plan was obviously working because throughout the first half Man U never looked that dangerous. Gordon had to make a few saves. He dealt with them well but they were all in the category of you’d be disappointed if he’d not got them.
The annoying thing from the first half was the referee having a usual Old Trafford game. Leadbitter went in to tackle Nani, who rolled around as if his legs had been removed form the knees – until that is the ball came back towards him and he leapt up to continue the attack. When the ball went out of play, the ref booked Leadbitter. You could just about argue that it was a yellow card offence. But even if it was it probably didn’t even get into the top 5 potential bookings (there were no other bookings). Maybe a minor point but it is part of the drip-drip grind-down down of non-big 4 (and particularly newly promoted) sides that refs contribute to in order that they can stay on the premier list.
Second half was moving along in very much the same way when Gordon suddenly made one of those saves that makes you rub your eyes in disbelief. The ball whizzed though and Gordon had to get down to his right faster than you think a human being could move. Unfortunately the only song we have for him is “there’s only one Craig Gordon”, which is tedious in the extreme. What’s wrong with “Don’t you wish your goalkeeper was Craig Gordon? Don’t you? Don’t you?” to the tune of “Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?”. That is a topper chant but we seem to be struggling to get it going.
Anyway tick followed tock and then the ref was worried we might get on the end of a ball coming into their box from the right so he blew for a free kick. Out in telly land you might have seen something but we were fuming up in the away end. We had had an hour’s worth of his shite by now. They broke, got a corner and scored – much to the relief of the ref I imagine.
There seems to be some argument as to whether Gordon could have got out for it, who was meant to be marking Saha and whether Murphy (on now for Jones) could have done more. Well it was down the other end so in HertsVision it was red shirts, white shirts, ball, oh shit. I hope that clears matters up.
We were never going to score and we didn’t.
I hate “plucky”. Was this just a plucky performance? I hope, and think, not. We need to work out how to be as strong in central midfield when playing 4-4-2 but the players put in performances that might have seen us come away from Wigan with a point or three and would have seen us in the draw for the next round of the Carling Cup. The two new lads looked encouraging and we hopefully soon have Edwards and Richardson coming back. The Reading game might be two weeks away but, to quote the cliché, it is a massive game. Let’s put in the same level of commitment both on and off the pitch.
We re-loaded the car and header into Manchester’s china town for a meal for 9. It is always dangerous arranging nights out after matches because you don’t know how bad a mood everyone will be in. Our group might not be totally representative but we were all pretty upbeat and enjoyed our meal
John aka Herts