We are in Salford, so with an album cover being a picture outside the Salford Lads Club, it had to be a Smiths song. A lot was going to be left until I knew what the score was and how we played. There were plenty of options available if we don’t do very well. There was some ‘Panic’ in defence, ‘Frankly, Mr Shankley’ might have been said to a different manager, but (spoiler alert) after conceding two late goals within a minute, this title sums up my feelings.
Quiz time, with all the tangents I went off at last week I forgot all about giving the quiz answer from the piece after the Gillingham game, which was, besides Gillingham, how many other league sides have there been which have started with the letter G (all time), and if you’re really going for it, name them. There were four, only Grimsby Town are still in the league, the others from varying points in history were, Gateshead, Glossop North End, and Gainsborough Trinity.
Last weekend’s draw against Accrington Stanley was somewhat underwhelming after the previous weekend’s performance against Gillingham, which Scott Lindsey made reference to in his post-match comments.
I could have gone on for days with the preamble for this one, with having lived in Manchester before, so I took a load of that and channelled it into its own separate piece around football in Greater Manchester, which is at the link below.
During the week I read the most recent version of When Saturday Comes, two standout pieces for me in there were one on the difficulties Lewes are having with their ‘fan’ ownership model, and one on how, only six years before the Football League was set up, Walsall had two of the best sides in the country, and when they merged they were more of a force than Wolves, WBA, and Small Heath (Birmingham City), only for them to decline so they weren’t in the original twelve, and although they were founder members of Division Two in 1892 they never did end up hitting the big time and got overtaken by all the others.
Yesterday was the deadline for applications to become part of Tracy Island, sorry, the FAB, so now we need to wait for those who have applied to do the electioneering bit trying to get people to vote for them. We all know the likely candidates will be Jeff, Scott, Virgil, Alan, Gordon, and John, when we could really do with Brains, Lady Penelope, and Parker.
There are some other random tangents in this piece though. I came up to Manchester on Thursday and Avanti were their usual useless selves, only the three-hour delay. On Friday I went to see my mum in Morecambe and went for dinner around the corner from hers at the Hurley Flyer in the shadow of Morecambe’s ground. They just about managed to survive at the start of the season, and it isn’t a place we’d want to find ourselves in.
Pulling out of Lancaster station on the way I saw the Lancaster City ground, I tried to get a picture on the way back to Manchester, but due to more train fuckwittery it was dark, so have a sketchy photo that not even all my camera’s heroics could save. I remember reading about their 2006-07 season at the time, they got a ten-point deduction for going into administration, and only reached a positive points total in the last couple of games to finish the season on one point. They were relegated and went out of business. And somehow the Northern League allowed the phoenix club to stay in the division they’d been relegated to.
Anyway, back to today’s game, there is no current overlap of players between the two sides. Although looking through the Salford City squad, I did have to stop and do a double take when looking at the previous clubs of Fabio Borini, Chelsea, Liverpool, Swansea, and Sunderland in the Premier League, Parma, Roma, AC Milan, and Sampdoria in Serie A, which begs the question of is he lost? Did he think he was going to one of the Manchester sides only to be whisked away to Moor Lane?
Overall, our record against Salford City is in the positive, in the ten League Two matches played against them we have won four, drawn four, and lost two. But the record at Moor Lane isn’t so good, we have failed to win there, all four of the draws have been there, and the other game was a loss.
We are starting the day in nineteenth, we are seven places and nine points behind Salford City, who are just in the top half of the table, but it is tight up there as they are only four points off an automatic promotion place, and a single point from the playoff places. We are only two points above the relegation places, and if all the sides beneath us get results and we don’t then we could end up there by the end of the day.
There are no old football cards with Salford players on. Or any of their old players in previous years. Or old managers. Plenty of owners on cards from The Premier League era, but I try and avoid them like the plague. So only a couple of their stickers from the new Panini EFL collection.
I dug out some old programmes from the overflowing shelves.
I was up early and had a couple of hours wandering around Manchester taking photos, as the only ones I have from my five years living here are ones of gurning drunken fools in nightclubs taken on disposable cameras. I never paid any attention to the vast array of wonderful buildings in the city. Unless they had a bar in of course.
I went to the National Football Museum this morning. I can remember the building being opened when I lived in Manchester, when it was originally called Urbis, and it was a museum of the city, but it had changed to gigs and exhibitions by the time I left Manchester in 2006, and closed as Urbis in 2010 before reopening as the National Football Museum in 2012, moving from its previous home at Preston North End’s Deepdale. (Meanwhile we still struggle to get space at the Broadfield to put any of the exhibits from two museum exhibitions.)
On my way in they offered to take my picture, so here I am looking thoroughly underwhelmed between two trophies.
There was no mention of CTFC to be found anywhere, not even in the shop where there were prints of so many clubs, and old programmes for sale, but they all skipped from Coventry City to Crewe Alexandra, and there were lots of non-league clubs available.
In all it’s a decent place to visit though, the ‘Black In The Game’ exhibition was particularly interesting, and I didn’t know about the Len Cantello testimonial match. Jeez. Although judging by some of the comments our ‘fans’ make about Tshimanga being lazy or useless or giving only one percent, which seem to be blatantly racist, I think they would be happy with such an arrangement.
It had been hammering it down (I spent a lot of time wiping water off the lens of the camera), and some might suggest that is normal Manchester weather, but I don’t remember it ever raining that much when I lived here, but that is probably the alcohol related amnesia speaking again. It hadn’t even occurred to me that the volume of rain may put the game at risk, but there were two pitch inspections, one quite late before they confirmed the game was on and they started letting people in.
They don’t have an official programme, it is more of a fanzine, and there was a single page on us, written by Sam Jordan, at the end of October judging by the rest of the contents, but there are some interesting items in it that could be expanded on by the upcoming CTFC fan written programme. The delay on getting in meant I could also go in the club shop and get the usual pen and fridge magnet combo.
And by the time the players came out for the warmup the sun was fighting to burst through the cloud cover and there was no more rain. (Talking to Bob, apparently the coach was in a permanent deluge for the whole journey up as well.)
There are forced changes in the starting lineup, with Charlie Barker being suspended, and Dion Conroy and Ben Radcliffe seemingly out injured, Jay Williams was starting in the back three (on the right as it turned out), Joy Mukena could only make it to the bench. And we were going with at least two up front as Kabby Tshimanga was starting. And in the early kick-offs Accrington Stanley kept their decent run going by winning, so we won’t be catching them no matter what the result.
Salford really embrace the ‘Dirty Old Town’ as part of their persona, with it being played prior to the teams coming out, and including it on a lot of their merch.
With Salford playing in red shirts, with white shorts and socks, it meant we were in our third, all black kit.
We start the game reasonably well and get an early corner which is taken deep and cleared. And then we have a decent break out from the back and a ball out to Harry Forster wide on the right of the penalty area sees him fail to wrap his foot around it and get it across. At the other end Salford get a corner, it’s headed out by Geraldo Bajrami and there is a snatched shot from the edge of the area which bobbles wide for a goal kick.
Attacking down the left there is a low cross into the box, and a shot is deflected behind for a corner, it’s taken deep and the keeper flaps it clear and Salford attack down the left and Louie Watson gets a yellow card for a pull back. The free kick is taken deep, and Harry McKirdy just runs it out for a throw. Which Salford make a hash of, the ref gives it as a foul throw and we get the ball.
A ball out from the back by Bajrami gets to Watson and he slides it into Forster in the box and his cross cum shot is caught by the goalkeeper. And again, Forster is fed in the box, the shot is saved and it falls to McKirdy who puts it over the bar from about ten yards. A big opportunity missed there, I think.
There are some industrial challenges going in from Salford players on the far side. Louis Flower gets levelled in a follow through and then Ade Adeyemo gets battered, and as Salford play on, they get it into the box, and a shot hits the side netting. Then they get a corner after some decent defending from Forster, it is swung outwards and cleared from the box, put back in down the right and we concede another corner. The ref delays it to speak to players pushing and shoving in the box. It’s taken deep again, half cleared, put back in and it runs out for a goal kick.
We’ve not been seeing a lot of the ball, and don’t seem to be getting to the second balls either, and we concede another corner. It is played out to the edge of the area where no one is watching, or awake, but the shot lacks direction and power and limps wide. When we do get the ball we have a break, Forster beats a couple of men and surges through the middle, and he plays it to McKirdy on the right of the area, and his cross shot didn’t really become either and it goes for a goal kick. Then we have a free kick on the left about thirty yards out. Forster scoops it into the area, but no one is on that wavelength and the goalkeeper collects.
Flower gets dragged back in midfield, and it was pretty much the last man, yet there is not even a yellow for the Salford player, unlike the one for Watson earlier. The free kick is taken deep and looks like it might have gone out, but Jay Williams gets to it and has a shot, which takes some kind of deflection but ends up in the back of the net and we lead 1-0, somewhat against the run of play.
Which seems to wake the whole team up, and they are playing much better now. Forster is fouled in midfield about thirty-five yards out, it is put deep to the back post again and various players are down injured and getting treatment. It looks to be a clash of heads and Williams is the one down for quite some time before getting helped off. When he comes back on a couple of minutes later, he’s got a big fuck off bandage around his head.
Salford pick up again and have some concerted pressure, a shot from outside the area is just pushed around the post by JoJo Wollacott for a corner which we clear as the board goes up to say there will be four added minutes, the ball is put back in and Reece Brown heads it clear only for it to be pumped in, Williams attempts to bring it down on his thigh but it comes off him straight to a Salford player who says thank you very much and rifles it in for an equaliser and it is all level 1-1.
They are straight on the attack again and get a corner, which is headed behind for another corner, which gets flicked on and scrambled behind for yet another one, which we flick out for the fourth on the trot. Salford get a head on that, but it is wide, we can all breathe again and the half time whistle goes with it all square 1-1.
We notice that Salford have AIG sponsoring on their shirts and wonder if that’s down to the contacts of the owners. Although to me it only reminds me of the jokes after Manchester United went out to Juventus in the Champions League semi-finals when the final was going to be played in Athens. All the memes had it as Almost In Greece, and Another Italian Goal.
Into the second half and we start well, get down the left and McKirdy plays it through to Adeyemo in the box, he cuts inside and then plays it across to Forster who looks like he air kicks it, but the ref has seen something and points to the penalty spot. Thanks very much, we’ll take that. Or maybe not, McKirdy takes, and whilst it is better than his last attempt, it is saved and goes for a corner.
Pet peeve time. Everyone is moaning that he missed the penalty. He didn’t, it didn’t hit a post, go wide, or go over the bar. It might not have been a good penalty, but that is a world away from a missed one. It was saved, not missed.
The corner is swing in, and put back out towards Forster, he is tackled but the ball gets played back in only for the offside flag to go up. Salford break and play a ball into the box, it is well saved by Wollacott, but Salford keep the pressure on, a shot on the edge of the area is blocked out for a corner, it is swung in, played out, and put in again but Wollacott collects. The ref books Tshimanga who is chasing back down the wing, and it looks to be for a pull back, which is taking the piss, where is the fucking consistency on this? The free kick is swing in to the near post and there is a touch and the ball goes into the corner in a ridiculous slow motion scene, the stadium announcer gives the scorer as a Salford player but surely the wrong-footed-ness of the non-reaction would suggest it might have been an own goal. Whichever it was, we trail 1-2.
A ball to Flower in the Salford half sees him fouled and a Salford player get a yellow card for the challenge this time. It is taken into the box and we keep recycling it, Bajrami is bundled over on the left wing for a free kick. Forster takes, and takes the defence by surprise as it squeezes in at the near post from an acute angle and we are back level at 2-2.
Salford attack and have a shot from the edge of the area which goes wide, and the ref manages to slip over and fall on his arse as it happens. We take the opportunity to make some substitutions, with McKirdy, Flower, and Adeyemo coming off, to be replaced by Jack Roles, Dion Pereira, and Kaheim Dixon. And Dixon is straight into action with a shot from the edge of the area which he pulls wide right. A ball is in to Tshimanga in the box, he turns back inside and shoots, it flicks a defender and is saved.
A quick break and Salford get a cross in; it goes all the way across the six-yard box untouched (thankfully), and we manage to get a goal kick. We go down the right, Dixon plays it to Forster, he pulls it back to Brown and he steps inside and shoots and it is just wide. A ball in and Roles and Tshimanga attempt shots and then it falls to Pereira and his shot is blocked and it spins out for a corner. It is taken short to Roles, and he swings it into the box and Williams gets his bandaged head to it and it nestles in the back of the net and we lead again 3-2.
Salford attack and a tackle in the box has the fans behind the goal screaming for a penalty and then screaming at the ref when he only gives a corner. It gets half cleared and put back in, but it is an easy collection for Wollacott. Josh Flint plays the ball into the box to Pereira, but his cross is just behind the two players in the middle. Salford break and win a corner, and it’s headed out, then played back to the corner taker, but he is offside.
Flint has a couple of storming runs forward out of defence in quick succession, on the second one he plays it to Roles who has a shot from thirty yards which just goes over the bar. A quick Salford attack sees a ball played out to a man on the right wing who is all alone in his own postcode, the cross goes to the back post and is bundled in, and it is back to all square 3-3.
We lose the ball directly from the kick off, and the ball is played to a striker in the box, he beats Wollacott to the ball and slots it in and in less than a minute we’ve gone from leading to losing 3-4. Seriously, what the actual fuck just happened there?
The Salford players are now throwing themselves to the ground in extra from Platoon style. The board goes up for five added minutes. Most of which we spend trying to attack and fashion that one decent chance, it’s all a bit too frantic with a lack of composure, and it could be worse, Salford break and have a one on one with Wollacott who pulls off a great save to keep the score at 3-4 as the final whistle goes.
What a strange, frustrating, infuriating game. Played like prime Rob Elliot games at this time last season, scoring three goals away from home and not even getting a point.
But somehow, we stay nineteenth in the league, with everyone below us either losing or drawing, but we are right in amongst it in a relegation battle.
Quiz time – Apart from Salford, how many other current league sides beginning with the letter S also use the City suffix in their names. (And of course, feel free to name them.)
We have a ten-day break before our next game as it’s FA Cup round two action next Saturday and a team that wasn’t us (Scott Lindsey’s words) were knocked out. The next game is a fairly local trip away to Bromley on Tuesday the ninth of December, the ticketing for which has caused the usual whinging bastards on the forums to whinge out all their usual agenda laden diatribes.
And now that this is typed up and posted, I’m thinking about heading off to Rusholme and the curry mile for dinner. I already know that Lal Qila, although still there in name is now closed and so there can be no post meal Vimto lollies when they present the bill? But I’m just feeling totally drained now, the rain has started in earnest again, and am toying with the idea of the unthinkable, coming back to Manchester and not going for a curry. It’s been one of those days.
Come on you reds.