I tend to avoid reading match threads these days. I never look at them or contribute to them at the time of the game as I am too wrapped up in proceedings on the pitch to look on here. I have just read through most of the Bournemouth match thread which was a big mistake. The negative comments from even before kick off but especially after we go a goal behind really take the biscuit. These are from people, supposedly fans, ‘supporters’ of the team. All I read is a barrage of moaning and criticism which takes little account of the circumstances surrounding the game. If you point this out you become ‘Captain Hindsight’ (can’t believe I’ve resorted to quoting a fool like Johnson), commenting after the team has pulled a result out of the bag.it strikes me there are a few ‘Captain Hindsiight’s among our whinging fraternity on here who once the game has started are so keen to point out what Robins should have done or who Robins should have picked.
One poster puts the wave of negative comments down to the fact that football is a passionate game. If you are passionate therefore it is okay apparently to open your mouth ( or in the case of on here, start typing) before you have engaged your brain. I think I’m pretty passionate about City, attending almost all of our games home and away and spending too many hours thinking and reading about the club). I wouldn’t ever take the negative stance that quite a few have on here about Robins and about certain players. The minimum I would expect from my team is that they give their all in every game they play and that they never give up. As far as I can see we have a team that is doing that.I don’t expect us to win every game.
At the start of the game on Saturday Oggy mentioned that he had just counted something like £55 million pounds worth of talent that Bournemouth had out on the pitch, that didn’t include their bench. He estimated the value of our team at something over £4million (an over estimate perhaps as neither Gyorkeres or Hamer started). Money doesn’t always translate into talent but it is a factor that can’t and shouldn’t be ignored considering our team’s achievements both last season and this. We as a club are at a massive financial disadvantage. We are still playing with a good number of players who were with us in League 1.( Six of the starters on Saturday were with us in our promotion season, 2 of them in League 2.) Because of our finances, the team and the squad has to evolve, players who have been good for us can only be replaced by better players when the finances allow. I think that Robins and his team have managed this situation brilliantly. To have us where we are, playing the excellent football that we do is a fantastic achievement. Do our whinging friends on here give him credit? Not a bit of it from some, only snide comments about his lack of subs again etc. We even have one poster suggesting that Walker and Kane are not Robin’s ‘favourites’ and so are left out for Dabo and I think O’Hare. The inference here is that Robins would sacrifice the overall effectiveness of the team in order to play people that he likes. If there is one thing that is without a doubt, it’s that Robins has a ruthless streak (see Doyle, Grimmer, JCH etc).
Some players now seem to be the focus of these people’s anger. I think it is ironic that the ‘morons’ on Facebook are slated for their comments on Walker and Sheaf but it is okay for our friends on here to do the exact same to other members of the team. Dabo was slated throughout. He needed to be replaced, left out next week. He hasn’t had the best few games lately but he has sometimes been played out of position on the left or as on Saturday, at centre half. During our tremendous fight back at the end of the game he was integral to the way we pressed and kept the ball moving. I didn’t see any of the ‘Hindsight’s’ acknowledge this or the glorious pass he made inside the fullback to Kane during this period. Even when Dabo isn’t on top of his game he contributes positively with his energy and athleticism. His clearence in front of goal from Sharp last week was a point saving challenge. It’s not often that I agree with Grendle but I think he is absolutely right in his comments on O’Hare. We have one person on here who ironically has O’Hare as his avatar who seems to spend match time pointing out each mistake he makes. There is no recognition to the immense contribution he makes to our team simply through the way he never stops chasing and harrying opponents. If we didn’t have him in the team we would be far less effective. Like Dabo, even when he isn’t at his creative best, his contribution is a huge part of the way we play. His dribbling and passing ability are only one part of his game. Thankfully he seems injury proof because if he was out for any length of time I think we would struggle.
Kelly is apparently now past it. He is not at this level any more, if he ever was. Like Doyle he needs to be put out to lower league pasture. Now, Liam didn’t have his best passing game Saturday, but at the risk of repeating myself, he gives the team much more than that. It was him I think who pressured the Bournemouth player into the poor pass which lead to the sending off. He provided the assist firstly by nutmegging his player then having the grit and determination to keep going when he had lost the ball in order to supply the cross from which Godden scored. (another player who needed to be replaced according to a few posters on here). This is the Liam Kelly, not at this level, who had the skill to time and weight his pass to perfection for his assist against Bristol City and who smashed what was to be the equaliser against the Blackburn post with a tremendous shot. Let’s forget about his leadership and organisational qualities and bomb him from the team. Jodi Jones was another criticised. He was a player who looked like a 12 year old who had won a raffle to be in the team apparently. Let’s ignore his contributions to the pressure we exerted in the last 15 minutes.
Kane, Sheaf and Walker have become martyrs to our whinging friends, left on the sideline by a manager who doesn’t appreciate them ( but who somehow rated all three enough to spend his limited budget on bringing them to the club). I like all three players, like I do with all of our squad. I don’t think that they have been treated unfairly at all and the notion that Robins picks his favourites is just laughable. For what it’s worth, I think we would have lost that game had their player not been sent off. However he actually went because of the pressing the team were doing, the pressure that they were putting on the ball. In other words, good, never say die, football from our team. I also think that in the first half we played well. Bournemouth offered no threat until the 45th minute and we actually made the better chances against a team worth £50 million plus more than ours. Conceding that goal, a goalkeeping error rather than fault of team or tactics, meant that the sky had fallen in for some posters. This post won’t make any difference to them, but it makes me feel better.
