firstdivision

For the second week in a row, we recreated one of the most famous full-time scores in our history. And we come away disappointed. it was a mad, fun night. Bit of passion on and off. Ticket chaos. I, like many others, missed the first 20 minutes. They didn’t have my ticket. But somehow rustled one up after a long wait. There were hundreds, possibly thousands - home and away - still outside the ground at ko. We played well. Williams and a few others were outstanding (eg Vyner and Dickie, Bell. Even Mehmeti got involved and lasted the course). I don’t know how we didn’t score in that second period of extra time. (Well, I do. It’s us…obvs.) We didn’t pass to Knight-Lebel at wing-back. He was just a body, trying to bottle up the right. I knew we’d lose the shoot-out. PL shooters and they took first pen (statistical bonus, as you know). I said to the bloke next to me when Bell was poised: ‘he’s going to miss this’. You could see it. But some poor bloke has got to miss. If Nakhi had converted his cross (delightful move by the way), we wouldn’t have needed the tears. Interesting night. Sad outcome. But better than listening on the radio.

Turn up, see who’s not knackered/unfit, and try to take on a side that is at home and has had six days to prepare. Tall order. Getting something from the game will be a significant achievement.

No one is telling you to be grateful. I was merely trying to give some context: one poster said we were in the doldrums. I remember drawing 0-0 with Chester in front of 3,000 at home in the 80s. That was the doldrums. And I wonder what would have happened if Dean Windass’ shot had flown over the bar.

Of course. I’m definitely on for beating Real Madrid in the Champions League final. It’s my fantasy day. But things aren’t as bad we can make them seem. And no one quite knows who can deliver what we want and when they will deliver it. We can guess but no one knows. So Liam Manning deserves some patience and a couple of windows.

Nearly all sport is about failure if you think about it. I know Manchester United supporters who are constantly bemoaning their lot. Best to try to enjoy the wins and not get too distraught about the losses. We support a club that’s never been that good. And probably never will be. But when the good moments come, they are a bit sweeter. I went to the West Ham game with my two daughters. It’s now become a cherished memory. Transient, yes. Because there’s always another round or a game to lose. But special in its own way. Nine seasons in the Championship is not to be scoffed at when you’ve seen us in L1 and L2.

I’m sure this is right. Not many would see a dog performance in the north in, say, the 80s, 90s, or 2000s. I remember going to Northampton in December 1983. We lost 1-0, stank the place out and had two players sent off. Might have been 400 of us there. There was no one to howl at in the evening, or anywhere to do it.

Wonder if the Stoke forum will be in meltdown tonight.

a) you’ve guessed wrong b) Preston managed to play some incisive football in the second half. They were very good, in fact. It was possible to play. We were poor and fortunate to get a point.

We’ve been in the Championship for the last nine seasons though. As I’ve said before, that compares extremely favourably with our 130-odd year history. And 15 of the last 17. I accept your point if the doldrums are anything but the PL.

Leeds also thrashed us 2-1 at their place earlier in the season. We barely got a kick at Leicester in a 1-0 defeat. We were pretty dire against Brum at home. And at home to Preston on the first day. It's not just now, it was then. Yes. we were poor last night and, yes, I was swearing a lot but we've generally been ok in recent weeks. And we played at Cov three days before and Leeds had a free week. Believe it or not, that does make a difference, especially against a very good side, who were much better than Forest as I thought they would be. I've watched City for 53 years. I won't be giving up until someone burns me. You take the rough with the even rougher, and sometimes the smooth. Calm down. Support. Be patient. It's the only way, I'm afraid. Not very modern, but the only way when you think about it.

So much success? I do like the odd afternoon nap but I must have nodded off for a bit longer than I thought.

This post is far too sensible. You won’t get much of a hearing on here tonight.

Expecting Leeds to be more of a handful than Forest last Friday night. Crowd needs to give it some of that underdog support. Be nice to see the South Stand actually full on a 'sold-out' night. I'd take a draw, unless we're leading with five minutes left #coventry.

I’m sure Anis is a lovey chap and all, but I honestly think he might cause me to have a stroke before the end of the season.

Coventry 2 Bristol City 2 - one of the most famous results in our history. Fair to say I don’t feel quite as elated as I did in May 1977.

My sense is that part of his thinking is that he wanted McCrorie in but couldn't quite trust him to be right-back after so long out, not least because he couldn't last the game/pace. He also recognised that Tanner has been defensively excellent. The formation also lets Pring play further up the pitch. Something like that, while also recognising that it might work against a team like WHU where we needed to be really sharp defensively. I'll be interested to see if we go to a back four once McCrorie is fully match fit. Or if his plan all along was to play McCrorie and Pring as wing backs.

Joe needs to be careful. There’s a fragile fine line these days between a good tackle and an aggressive one. Some refs will have seen that last night and have it their minds in future. As I’ve said before, there’s a difference between what we want the laws to be and what they are.

1980-2004: six seasons in the Championship (two of which were relegation seasons) 2004-2024: 15 seasons in the Championship (including a play-off final + one relegation season.) I don’t know if he should sell or stick but surely we are a more stable/successful club under him than we were, albeit not as successful as we would like/some think we should be. (I know we were coming back from financial disaster in 1980 but by 84-85 we were close to the second tier again). 1980-2004: six seasons in the Championship (two of which were relegation seasons) 2004-2024: 15 seasons in the Championship (including a play-off final + one relegation season.) I don’t know if he should sell or stick but surely we are a more stable/successful club under him than we were, albeit not as successful as we would like/some think we should be. (I know we were coming back from financial disaster in 1980 but by 84-85 we were close to the second tier again).

Let's hope so. It'll be lively on here if we lose five in a row. (Mind you, it'll be lively on here if we don't win five in a row.)

It was also what I would call a long-ball/set-piece pitch. It was not easy moving the ball quickly along the ground (unless you are technically excellent like Manchester City etc). My observation on that is did we have the players to change it? McCrorie, in a re-jigged back line, possibly only had 20-30 minutes in him. Knight-Lebel has hardly played. Could we go more direct? Not obviously so if you look at the bench. Also, all coaches would expect their team to be able to deal with the first goal (and the second really). But Preston did have more menace after the changes. Max's save from Keane must have been close to his best of the season.

Also, Watford is followed by Coventry (a), Leeds (h), Boro (a), Southampton (h). Good luck with that little lot.

If all the decisions had been poor, we wouldn’t have been in the Championship for 14 seasons in the last 20. Life - probably even yours - is full of good decisions and bad.

I agree. Let’s see. Liam Manning has had 13 games in charge and no transfer windows. I’m afraid some patience is required, however frustrating yesterday’s defeat was - and it was extremely frustrating. We were awful in the second half.

Who said that stats are the only thing that matter? I was merely offering some perspective to the observation that we’ve failed for 20 years. Also, I got quite excited at Watford on Boxing Day, at West Ham last week (albeit I had to keep quiet because I was among the home fans), at home to Plymouth earlier in the season, watching the second half of the Hull match, watching the last fifteen minutes at Rotherham etc. I really loved the backs-to-the-wall win over Sunderland as well. Unless you support Man City or Spurs, there are bound to be dull moments. Actually, the dull moments make the exciting moments more special. I can remember some dross from the 1970s, eg a 2-0 NYD defeat at home to Orient, a home defeat to Forest the year we got promotion (21 Feb 1976). I could go on…some perspective, you see.

Well, 14 of those years have been spent in the Championship, Lew, which is considerably better than the 20 years previously and actually compares pretty favourably with the spread of our 130-odd-year history. All depends how you look at it. I would say the last ten years have not been matched since the 70s. But it’s hard to find any perspective these days. That’s not to say I’m not desperate for greater success but we’ve been pretty ordinary for a large part of our history, and more ordinary more often than recently.