I write this shite most days, at the start of last season I thought it would be good to collaborate with bloggers from our opponents, sadly this didn’t work out. Day 1 got off to a flying start when the Oxford Blog said, making jokes about Robert Maxwell was inappropriate and they weren’t interested, when Jack Ross went to Hibs I was approached by hibs.net to write an article about Jack…. fucking boom 💥, apparently they are more bothered about his tactics than his wardrobe though, so that didn’t have legs either. What had started off as fairly promising, ended with the various Hibs Fans getting upset about about a language technicality…
So with a heavy heart it seemed the idea of SAFCBlog Collaborations was over before it really began? About a year ago I started reading a Blackpool FC Blog on twitter, @cooksleft or mclfoot.blogspot.com for computer types – it’s class, SAFCBlog is often rated at 6/10, mitch cooks left foot is arguably no worse. Given Blackpool are also in Division 3 the idea of a Collaborative Matchday Report was resurrected, sadly more misery awaited….
Take 1 – Boris calls the game off the day before it is scheduled due to the emergence of COVID, (everything will be back to normal in few weeks I’m sure)
Take 2 – The game is postponed due to our array of International Susperstars being required to warm the benches of their Home Nations
Take 3 – SAFC catch COVID and the game is off again.
We will of course play them twice at some stage this season, so watch this space…
When Two Worlds Collide…
Whilst the SAFCBlog Collaboration Roadshow is yet to really catch on, tomorrow we play Doncaster and I have a mate who supports Doncaster. Furthermore whereas I just write shite and paste pictures, he’s literate and intelligent. Adam Emberton has kindly written a preview from a Doncaster perspective, no pictures but better than reading this shite, over to you Adam……
First of all, I would like to thank SAFC blog for the opportunity to write again for a solid 7/10 blog, maybe it’ll reach the dizzy heights of 7.25 after my distinctly average attempt at pre-empting Saturday’s clash.
I believe I mentioned this back in November for the alternate fixture at the Keepmoat, but this is a big game for me. I’m a DRFC fan that lives within a stones-throw of the SOL, and there is no one more gutted than me that I won’t be gearing up for a big Saturday away (home) day with Rovers friends and Sunderland friends alike due to all this Covid malarky.
It’s currently an exciting time to be a Doncaster Rovers fan. We’ve got a fantastic manager, a vibrant, creative and hungry set of players and despite the loss on Tuesday against Fleetwood, we’ve come off a run of 9 wins in 11. It would be hard for any fan to complain at that. I will happily sit here and admit that I was sceptical about the loan policy that Darren Moore seems to have adopted. We have a knack for bringing in young players on loan from Prem/Champ sides who are looking to make a name for themselves. As a long-term strategy, it still doesn’t sit well with me, BUT, how I can argue at being sat 5th, 4 points off the top, with a minimum of 2 games in hand against all of the teams above us? So in essence, I’ve been quite happy to be proven wrong, and that’s why Moore stands on the sidelines coaching my club on a Saturday, whilst I sit in my scratching my arse, logging onto iFollow.
There’s no doubt there have been times where we have ridden our luck in that fantastic run. We’ve brought in Ellery Balcombe on loan from Brentford as GK and he’s been outstanding. Aside from the 2 penalty saves against Lincoln to help us secure 3 points at Sincil Bank, he’s kept 4 clean-sheets and we had only conceded 7 goals prior to Tuesday night in the last 10 games. Taylor Richards, on loan from Brighton has been phenomenal and really come into his own. Yes, I admit, in my summary of our home clash with SAFC, I gave Richards some criticism, but he clearly read SAFCblog after the game and thought he better sort himself out. I worried for the loss of Whiteman to Preston, as he was our Captain/key player and he really did feel like the glue of the squad, but we haven’t looked remotely impacted by his move, and I can only attribute that to the tactics and decisions of the manager. We’ve been busy in the Jan transfer market, bringing in John Bostock in midfield, Omar Bogle upfront, Scott Robertson on loan from Celtic, Elliot Simoes from Barnsley and resecuring the loan of Josh Simms from Southampton, who has been outstanding. My biggest worry at the start of 2021 was the depth of our squad and that eventually our luck would run out. Naturally, if we didn’t have the squad, we would run out of steam and slip down the table. Moore seems to have pulled out the stops, and clearly has one objective on his mind, and I’m all for it.
Onto Sunderland. Being a regular reader of SAFCblog and having friends of the Mackem persuasion, I tend to get an honest view of the current picture both on and off the pitch at SAFC. Our record against Sunderland is quite frankly crap. We were abysmal in November, and how we walked away with a point I will never know, but we did and I know the more disappointed fans on the day were those on Wearside. We are yet to play well at the SOL, or infact score a singular goal. We indeed look a different animal to the side we did in November, but we cannot allow ourselves to crumble at the occasion. Wyke seems to have grown in confidence infront of goal, and it seems as though the re-introduction of McGeady has made an impact into the side. But a club on a run of form like ours, with goals coming from all angles, needs to look at the current defensive situation at SAFC with Willis now being ruled out for a lengthy period, and take advantage. Both DRFC and SAFC are going into Saturday on the back of losses from Tuesday, I sincerely hope our loss doesn’t impact our momentum. If the defeat at West Ham in the cup is anything to go by, a little drag back to reality for the players isn’t always a bad thing and Moore gives me confidence that he knows how to motivate the players after a loss.
SAFC are not in a league position they want to be, nor a league they want to be, and rightly so. SAFC are a huge club and being a resident of Roker, I know how important the club is to the city, and I sincerely hope they eventually get back where they belong, I just hope Saturday isn’t a stepping stone for them.
DRFC players to watch:
Taylor Richards
Fejiri Okenabirhie
Matt Smith
Prediction: 2-2”
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Huge thanks to Adam for this⚽️👍
Hard one to call tomorrow, when we drew down there we were much the better team, (apart from the last minute of stoppage time), Doncaster were abject – a few months on, their form is better than ours and they are well clear of us in the table, funny old game? Adam very kindly wrote a report of the game for SAFCBlog that day and whilst more eloquent, pretty much shared these sentiments, here’s some Exclusive SAFCBlog Graphs that further tell the tale of the game…
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Big game as discussed.
With Blackpool to still play twice and tomorrow’s game less than 24 hours away, the idea of Collaboration is alive and well. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t…… I guess you’ve just got to be patient and persist with these things?
SAFCBlog – Collaborative Unsocial Social Media – FTM
