On a completely different subject – the Save Sherwood campaign draws to a juddering halt this weekend. I will not accept any more signatures after Sunday.
I am disappointed that we did not get more signatures, but it was fun while it lasted. Click here to see the petition.
Save Sherwood – over and out.
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After the shocking news about the near-death of Clive Clarke on Tuesday, there was a lot floating about on the messageboards about the reaction of players, officials and supporters. I was following the match on the Internet, so all I saw was that the second half didn’t start, a little later reports filtered through via the BBC website and Radio 5Live.
However, my Dad was there, and this is his account from the lower tier of the BC Stand:
“The first odd thing to notice was the paramedic etc running into the tunnel
followed by their manager with the players doing what looked like team talk
in the open. Then the announcement came about a 15 minute delay in restart,
then 10 more minutes and by then the radio concluded that some medical
emergency has taken place. CC and Martin Allen came out to announce abandonment on
grounds of a player taking seriously ill but Allen could not speak. He was in
tears.. There was some initial booing and jeering by both sets of supporter
but after CC repeated his statement there was all round applause.”
From my limited medical knowledge, it sounds as though Clarke was in the best place – if the heart attacks had happened at home or on the street, the paramedics may not have arrived on time. A sobering thought, given the tragic death of the young Spanish player the previous day.
We have heard little news since Wednesday, so we have to assume that his recuperation is going slowly but surely, and no news is hopefully good news.
I know it should go without saying, but get well soon.
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The line up
Smith,
Chambers, Morgan, Wilson, Bennett,
Clingan, Lennon, Perchio, Commons,
Agogo, Holt
The First Half
Shit. In a word.
No effort at all from the players. A gentle stroll in the sun.
No, that’s not fair – for the first fifteen minutes it was a half-hearted jog in the sun. Which then turned into a gentle stroll in the sun. Worst was Commons. For someone who was supposed to be playing on the left wing, he seemed to find himself on the right hand side, getting in Clingan’s way an awful lot. Best were Sammy and Wilson. Wilson, in particular, looks an excellent defender. Big and strong, mobile with decent positioning and not afraid to tell the others around him what they should be doing.
But it wasn’t enough to stop Leeds scoring.
The Second Half
Better. In a word.
The players came out and decided to put some effort in. Again, it was Clingan running the show when going forwards but this time everyone else decided to run as well. This scared Leeds greatly, who, to be honest, only really had one tactic – niggly foul (well concealed) to win the ball and punt it forwards.
Our goal looked pretty flukey – big hit into a crowd, deflection (couldn’t see who off) and in. We then proceeded to pepper the goal without actually scoring – worst offender being Bastians (on for Commons) opting to hit it with his left, meaning he missed the open goal.
Of course Leeds then managed a break away resulting in Beckford (who was lucky to be on the pitch after the ref decided against giving him a second yellow) stealing the points with the game in injury time.
The Positives
We were awful in the first half and the players listened to whatever CC had given them and went out to attack in the second half.
Wilson looks a fantastic signing.
It’s great to have Sammy back.
Junior did a lot of hard work for little reward.
The Negatives
Leeds, while limited in skill and tactical know-how, managed to play for 95 minutes whereas we could only manage 40.
Commons was utterly useless, wandering all over the pitch and getting in people’s way.
We should have won and didn’t.
My wife, in her first game for ages, commented “I enjoyed it, but it was quite sad. Where was the width? You used to have those two little fellas [Brennan and Louis-Jean] that bombed up and down the wings creating chances. It was far too narrow – no wonder you are struggling“.
Man of the Match
Sammy.
Conclusions
The second half was good. But not good enough. Overall I’m still disappointed. Leeds are nothing special and we could have won (especially if you compare the talents of each respective player) but we have the same old problems – and they are all mental. Why can’t we play for 95 minutes? Why the lapses in concentration? Why are we being linked with Colin Wanker (of all people)?
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So Graham Poll has gone on record as saying that John Terry’s behaviour on the pitch has eroded his status, to the extent that he should not be captain of England anymore. Maybe Poll has a point; the trouble is that all the senior England players are just the same – Gerrard, Neville, Ferdinand and Terry all lead the charge against officials when a decision goes against them – so who would be captain?
The other factor is that Poll’s pursuit of a media career has reduced his credibility to almost zero – and the way in which he made his point smacks of sour grapes.
As it happens, I think that John Terry is the new Alan Shearer – although he likes to portray himself as the lion-hearted captain and talisman, a symbol of all that is good about Chelski and England, I wouldn’t trust him, prone to “gamesmanship”, and I strongly suspect that there is more going on than meets the eye.
STOP PRESS!
While trying to find a decent reference for the above story (sadly I couldn’t find one, so the Daily Mail link will have to do instead – although I did initially hear the story reported on BBC 5 Live), I also stumbled across this allegation about John Terry – no idea whether it is true or not, but it makes for interesting reading…
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Obviously this is a big match. The fans are getting excited. Someone has already suggested a chant of “How cold is it in Leeds?” (the answer being -9).
Adding further spice to the occasion will be the return of David Prutton – I would imagine that he will be greeted by a mixture of boos and indifference. What odds him getting sent off?
In other news, Nathan Tyson has played and scored for the reserves (or should I say champions?), leading to speculation that he may play tomorrow. The club deny it, but given previous form, I would not be surprised to see him on the bench. It also seems as though Davies, Cohen and Lockwood could remain on the sidelines for some time. Damn.
Sitting in Capital One Corner tomorrow – should be a great atmosphere (at least at that end – the Trent End ain’t what it used to be), and let’s hope that Leeds remain on minus nine for another week…
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Guinless says we don’t hate Leicester City. But I definitely disapprove of Gary Lineker. That “nice guy” image is totally undeserved.
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The last week of August will now see two big matches – after Leeds at home in the League, we have now been drawn to play the bin robbers at home in the Mickey Mouse Cup!
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As the Sherwood campaign has taken over this page a little bit, I have handed over all campaigning duties to the dedicated site www.savesherwood.talktalk.net. This includes a summary of why the campaign is running, some correspondence from the club’s marketing department, Robin Hood, and the Great Bear himself, and of course the online petition. Please do keep signing up, I will leave the petition open until the end of the month.
However, as I have stated on the front page, we have won a minor, but significant victory – Sherwood may yet make appearances this season! Bearing in mind that the club still have not told me who was consulted as part of their decision-making process, I like to think of this as a small reminder that we, the fans, can make a difference in the way that our club is run…
Thanks to all those of you who have sent in messages and signed the petition – this whole project was never meant to take up this much time and energy, but it has been a real experience and your support has made it all worthwhile.
savesherwood@talktalk.net
www.savesherwood.talktalk.net
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Updated 2nd August 2007:
I was interviewed on Radio Nottingham’s breakfast show this morning to discuss the campaign to Save Sherwood the Bear. You can listen to the interview on the BBC Radio Player; this link will take you to the start of the show, so you will need to forward by about 1 hour 45 minutes.
The BBC Nottingham website is also hosting the campaign.
To show your support, email savesherwood@talktalk.net, with your (real) name and location (e.g. “Rishab Baruah, West Midlands”). All support is much appreciated.
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