19 May 2006

Is it me, or is writing stuff during the close season sodding impossible? Everyone's on holiday, or more interesting in watching the cricket/having a life etc. And it's not as though AFCW is a hive of activity...

So anyway, what's been happening since I last updated? Well, not a great deal really. The SSC came and went in predictably anti-climatic fashion. Some kind soul wrote a report for me, you can read it at the end (after you've read my AC Milan article first, of course..)

Elsewhere, perhaps we're getting inklings already of DA's plans for next season. It's pretty much common knowledge that he wants to keep this team together. But now, because of some moaning bastard individual with astute tactical awareness at the MTM thing, he's thinking of a couple of wingers. Now, leaving aside the change in playing style (which might please some people), can we assume that if it goes bellyup, the guy at the MTM who suggested it will take full responsibility?

We are a club that likes to say how open and transparent we are. So I suggest that we make our fans adopt this approach. If you say that Battersby is shit on a guestbook and he scores a hat-trick next game, your post and personal details are published in the programme. Likewise, if somebody says the burgers at KM are great, and somebody comes down with a Spurz-type ailment, you are forced to eat the burnt leftovers...

DA does say that things are likely to be moving in the next 7-10 days, so by the time the World Cup starts there might be something to write about. So, while that's happening, I'll take a break from doing this and instead remind you of everything that happened last Friday at Woking....

 

“Woking back in unhappiness©“

We came, we saw, we conquer… well that WAS the plan. But right from getting in the car to go to Woking things just didn’t seem the same. No butterflies in the stomach of worry or anticipation. Being shepparded via another entrance to ease passage into the massive Bellway Stand, already full of Wombles; finding the only remaining seats were so high up we nearly suffered oxygen loss; everyone so; these were the things that made if feel so post-season, so last night of the Prom.

Perhaps this communicated to our players because the first half was like a training session practicing containment, and the second showing each other how NOT to score goals in a game.

So I don’t think anyone in AFCW was that surprised by Normans 1 Saxons 0 was the result. And like at the Battle of Hastings one decision decided the game… a refereeing error. Little came out of his box to clear a long through ball but the ref adjudge he handled*, booked him and from the resulting free kick they scored. We just knew that WAS gonna happen when the decision was made. Talk about déjà vu.

And so the die was cast. Much though we huff & puffed, and created 3-4 good chances it wasn’t to be. The last chance summed it up – Smeltz, purposefully side-footing the ball wide to the left of the goalie only to see Brennan block the shot!

Perhaps it was player and fan fatigue - a night when it felt like it didn’t really matter; where it became almost a chore to come –certainly there wasn’t the passion in the singing and support as at Fisher.

So K’s having bragging rights for now over us. Is it a stick they will beat us with? Probably. Accept it - we would have done the same to them. Let them have their glory. They earnt it - they scored, we didn’t!

There’s always next season to look forward to remember…

Plus points: The end of the season. Having now lost an ‘important’ game like this it should help the readjustment programme of losing again. Howard and Sargent who were both awesome. Took them apart when we played the ball on the floor (see Minus)

Minus points: We lost –which means no trophies and photo opportunity at the FunDay this Sunday. The midfield is STILL the problem – it is just not gelling (that’s not a pun). As someone said, individually they have it; collectively they don’t. Dissent – am I the only one fed up with players still questioning decisions 5 minutes afterwards? Kept playing the ball up in the air that played into their game plan.

The referee’s a…well, apart from wanting to be the centre of attention, the handball mistake and not protecting Barnes initially, he did ok-ish. A ref-assessor friend marked him 8 out of 10. Think we need some explanation of such things but hey! Also didn’t seem to like ANYONE questioning the decisions. Noticed a Mr S Cook was the reserve official ;-)

Them: can see why their last game was 3-3. The ability to score and concede in equal measure. The problem was we couldn’t take advantage. Larged it up in front of our stand when they scored. Suspect some fans might use that as an excuse to ignore next year’s PSF against Ks. Liked their No 10 who was a real handful for Frankie all night. Perhaps a younger replacement for Battersby if he moves on?

Rather than truth is…player comments: No criticism of the back four of Woolner, Howard, Finney and Sargent. The front two (Barnes and Batts) did ok when they got the ball! Midfield was again where we lost us the game. Daly wasn’t fully fit (went off after 70m); Garrard was anonymous (my daughter reckoned it was the Samson effect, what with his new haircut); and Plummer was …well, Plummer. Only Ursell came out with credit for his overall performance. Oh and Shane and Little Butts who in their 12 mins did almost as much as in the other 78. Opps nearly forgot Brennan. If I was DA I wouldn’t be offering him a go next year purely because I don’t think he has done enough this year to earn the chance. Simple.

Franchise watch: they sacked Wilson this week and rumours have a certain Charles Koppel sniffing around the corpse. Possible court battle looming. Might be the entertainment of the summer – know a few AFCW fans that would buy tickets to that one ;-)

Competitors’ watch: Jeff King and his millions have left Canvey Island for Chelmsford. Oh and to make it interesting Canvey quit the Conference and have joined the RPL. That’ll be a contest when it occurs next season.

[SW19 Note: Since this was written, Canvey won't be in the RPL next season, and instead we've got Hendon again. At least we're spared another trip to Essex]

So was it worth it? Not really – we lost

In a nutshell: Get over it and watch us lose the cricket. That’ll set us up nicely for next season.

© - Ray ’Caravan Boy’ Armfield (was apparently going to use it on a SLP report but after Friday…. well, think about it)

* Spoke to Andy L at the Fun Day and he confirmed the free kick was given for handball. He said he didn’t handle it; ref said he did so he said it was accidental not deliberated. He also reckoned he had the free kick covered until it clipped Mickey Woolner’s head and just cleared his outstretched hand. :-(

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3 May 2006

To be honest, I was struggling a bit over writing Fisher Price 2 Hasbro 1, without making it sound like a love-in, a suicide pact or a 19 page post mortem on our season.

However, whilst reading today's Times (I'm intellectual, me), I came across this article from a guy called Daniel Finkelstein. He was talking about United's run in on Chelski, amongst other things. You can read the article here, but this caught my eye:

"...everyone had taken United’s winning streak and Chelsea’s few setbacks too seriously. Nothing had really changed. It was all in the timing. Teams do not win and lose in some kind of smooth, consistent pattern. They win a few then lose a few, possibly when you least expect it. Everyone was confusing the sequence of United’s and Chelsea’s results with their underlying ability. United weren’t catching Chelsea at all. It’s just that wins bunch. And so do losses."

Reading it, it summed up last night and indeed the whole season. We were probably destined to reach the playoffs, but that was about it. As last night showed, once the first 30 minutes showed us struggling, that ensured Leyton and Carshalton next season.

And to be honest, we're better off in the RP next season. A couple of people were saying last night that we would have struggled in the CS, perhaps fatally. Certainly Fi$h were better than us. Whether we would have done better with about 4 of our missing starting XI is up for debate - I'm not making excuses but how can you be expected to win games when you're down to the bare bones? One perhaps for the hysterical over-analysers who greet every single bad fucking result to dissect in their usual meticulous manner....

So, what do we need next season? Firstly, I think that DA needs to find two or three ways of playing and stick by them. It's no coincidence that our best form came when the transfer window ended. We have a good nucleus of players certainly, and sure as hell need to retain them. We need to work out how to avoid injuries, and also concentrate on our fitness (do we really not have a fitness coach?). A seriously good fitness regime in the close-season and who knows? And perhaps a tinsy winsy bit of discipline might not be a bad thing...

We might as well look to next season. We'll be tussling with Horsham instead of Hayes. At least going down there is always enjoyable. Instead of Eastleigh, we'll get Ramsgutter, worse luck. And instead of Sutton, we'll get Carshalton. That's our Boxing Day/Easter Monday fixtures sorted out already. I wonder how many people will go despite their, ahem, objection to their Franchise tendencies....?

We do get to play W&H next season, and nothing more than a good 6-0 stuffing will do me. There are some revenge missions for 2006/7 - even in our good spells we still didn't look too convincing. A good FAC or FAT run for once will do us nicely as well.

Overall though, we're not doing too badly. The general concensus is that we can only improve. There are teams who are in worse shit than us. Braintree, Swifts and Worthing have spent money that they can't really afford and look where that got them. At least with us we've got the backup of a 2k hardcore. How would Fi$h do if they went up? Or H&R? Braintree should do well, but they were clearly the best side last year. Next season, you do wonder if we'll be the team to beat. Being a moneybags side is no guarantee of success.

Anyway, enough of all that. I'm not writing about the game. I've got no desire to visit my own tombstone. Instead...

Plus points: We fought hard. Singing. Atmosphere.

Minus points: We lost. Season over. One game too far. Two relatively soft goals.

The referee's a.....: Strong and could handle the occasion well. Should have given us a penalty though :)

Them: Fair play to them, they're at the level we should be next season. Certainly unrecognisable from the side we beat twice. When you can get a guy from a Conference club back to lead your squad, you're probably going to be promoted. Tempting to go back to Champion Hill on Saturday TBH. Don't really seem to suffer the tall poppy syndrome either, though they were an ex-Conf club once.

Point to ponder: OK, this is going to sound perverse, but.... am I the only one glad the season has ended? SSC cup not included. Remember how you were feeling on Sunday/Monday/Tuesday before the game. Had we'd scraped through last night, the tension would have been unbearable come Friday afternoon. We all knew deep down that H&R would have done it over us. Personally, I blame all of those talking about ticket arrangements at KM for the Hampton game before yesterday.

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The world's crappiest flare being lit in the second half. Not so much Womble Ultras as Womble Uterus. (2) Why were both sides in away kits? (3) Sky Sports there, and reportedly showed the goals on SSN. Still, the loyal W&H fans will be taping it, watching it on repeat all day and masturbating furiously over it, all three of them. (4) Fairy cakes on sale in the bar. All we needed was a tombola with Famous Grouse as the top prize.

Anything else? Yeah. We still can't seem to win big games when it matters. And we'll always be in this division until we learn how to do so.

So, was it worth it? In the grand scheme of things, probably. Still hurts a bit though.

In a nutshell: Work in progress

And finally: That's it for SW19 for this season. No, I'm not at the SSC final, though hopefully some kind soul will write me a report. With luck, I'm doing new and exciting things instead. And watching the World Cup. There will be updates during the summer, just don't expect it weekly.

TBH I got a bit fed up writing SW19 this season, and as somebody last night said to me, it showed. So apologies if it wasn't up to standards of previous years. I've got one more year of writing left in me I think, maybe more maybe less. And anyway, I need a break....