Super bumper guest blog bonanza- its abit long- get over it Steve- I get a crack at this a few times a season and the punters want their moneys worth.
Tuesday night cup feverBEHIND THE SCENESI’ll start this blog with a touch on the goings on behind the scenes. I’m always conscious not to buy into mass online hysteria about various topics from queues to sidewards tvs on the concourse to digital ticketing, some of it is justified, some of it isn’t. But the club at the moment really isn’t doing itself any favours in certain aspects. What I will give the club credit on is the Quinn’s bar refurbishment. Smart, sleek, spacious and most importantly, more places to sit- still in keeping with SAFC history- but more modern. Well done. No change in the microphone system though, plenty of Micky Horswill shushing before reading out the starting 11 (if you know, you know).
There is something just not linking up behind the scenes at the club currently. I’ve spent time over the last few days attempting to find out a reason why my online ticketing account had ‘no permission to log-in’. I emailed the club, but I am yet to receive a response. I eventually managed to get a Preston ticket yesterday as they hit general sale by the skin of my teeth.
Tickets for last night’s game were showing as sold-out early afternoon (I’m assuming the club were releasing tickets block by block?). But showing a game as sold out- 8 hours before kick-off with probably less than 10k tickets sold in a 49k seater stadium is piss poor logistics I’d say? I’ve not (to date) ran a large football club. But just over 10,000 attended last night. Fair enough it’s a cup game on a Tuesday against League 2 opposition. But, surely someone at the club could see this as an opportunity to get people through the turnstiles. It’s the school holidays, kids are bored, people haven’t got a lot of money right now; why not have quid a kid, £5 adults, cash turnstiles etc etc- all mechanisms of getting folk into the stadium- then surely after a couple of bags of quavers and a pint- the club has made its return back on the cheaper tickets? Simple economics… Shirley?
Anyway, the football…
1st halfMowbray has put a fairly decent side out tonight; it shows there’s some willingness and motivation to win this game. Batth starting- some strange goings on at the moment about his current status at the club- I don’t understand getting rid- he was arguably the most consistent player in the squad last season for me.Not a great deal to discuss throughout the 45 mins but Pritchard showing his quality. Ba looks lost and his first touch poor throughout the half. Crewe doing what they need to.In true SAFCblog fashion, I missed Crewe’s goal as I needed a piss (priorities), probably for the best.Not a great first half of football.2nd halfA few changes at half-time- first introduction for Bradley DackPlenty of possession. Pritchard again playing well and having a few good attempts, but straight at the keeper. Dack playing well- I caught him barking at Bennette second half and telling him clearly what he wanted- this is the type of player needed at the club- someone who is willing to guide and bollock the young lads.The jury is fully out on Bennette for me, he looks absolutely panicked whenever he’s in possession.Rigg took his goal well becoming the youngest goal scorer in the club’s history- an amazing accolade- he’s showing a great level of maturity and he has the makings of a very good player.Bellingham has a superb first touchPritchard made a decent impact coming off the bench on Sunday- he doesn’t often play a full 90 mins- I assume this is because he’s kicking on in footballer years – you’d think he’d play some of tonight and either start against Preston on Saturday or come on as a sub- but he played a full 90- which I found quite bizarre. He did well through the middle, but he certainly isn’t the answer.
PenaltiesPenalties whether it’s a first-round cup draw or a play off final make me nervous. Fair play to Crewe- every player took their spot kick very wellSomeone was going to miss for Sunderland I felt- unfortunately Ekwah produces lacklustre effort and the keeper dropped down to his left to save.
Nothing in football is a given, and all credit to Crewe who came and did what they needed to- Sunderland should be beating Crewe 9 times out of 10- but that performance was screaming for an experienced, proven number 9- as was the game against Ipswich- that should be a big message to the board/KLD/Speakman and whoever else to get this striker situation sorted out.Long gone are the days that the salmon pants and the used car salesman from Oxford were in charge and thank god. No one wants to see the clubs’ owners wait until deadline day to sign the laziest fucker known to man on a multi-million-pound deal- but since Middlesbrough away last season the club has seen the need for another (proven) striker at the club- The alarm bells started ringing again at Fulham in January when Stewart was stretchered off
For those who know- Mr Methven forms the perfect mould for Bob Mortimers Barry Homeowner skit.“YAH YAH YAH, SIGN A STRIKER PRONTO-ROONEY”SAFC was a victim of its own success last season and without a doubt overachieved with the resource that was available- the big difference in that equation was a man called Amad Diallo. He’s no longer here, the championship is a far stronger league this season and unless the club start to act on the lack of firepower upfront- I can’t see a top half finish, never mind top 6. Football is a results business, often cruel and disloyal where scapegoats become common place. A couple more results the wrong way and the heat is on and unfortunately, I think Mowbray will take the hit.
All roads lead to Preston. See you all at Deepdale – FTM
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Decent for a change 😂😉