My first game since September and, despite the result (not to mention being one of Adkins strongest critics) I left seriously impressed with both the team and its manager's performance on one of those inevitable days in the course of a long season when, sh*t happens.
As Pearce sloped off after seeing red, I said to my neighbour
"That's Alf done for the afternoon" Before Adkins saw the light and adopted the McDermott approach of getting the very best out of available resources whatever it takes, Le Fondre would have been sat next to Pearce within minutes. The fact the manager elected to retain our Championship player of the month in such adversity should give us all much hope for the rest of the season.
Playing a man short at this level for 80 minutes is a very tall order and, to state the blindingly obvious, something has to give. We needed at least one goal to get anything from the game and with just an ounce of luck here or there we would have succeeded. I thought our "
10" covered the ground amazingly well right to the final whistle and the 2 strikers insured Wedneday always had something think about in defence. Meanwhile, the pace of Obita and McCleary at full back meant they could get forward from time to time to good effect and half way through the second half our heavily worked central midfield was swapped for fresh legs. Yes, this all made us more direct and, yes, some tired legs misplaced a few passes but as a means to play almost an entire match one man and one goal down, it was nothing short of impressive ..........................what do some of you want, blood
With 11 men on the pitch we would have wiped the floor with a simply dire Wednesday, whose first half negativity beggared belief at times. What I didn't understand was everyone getting so upset with their time wasting. Whenever one of their players elected to give us a breather by rolling on the floor for a few minutes rather than running us into the ground with their numerical advantage, I was saying
"Thanks very much" With the benefit of subsequent media, in my view Pearce appears to have been somewhat clumsy and a tad naïve but this is a sh*t rule that we have benefited from in the past and one most centre halves succumb to more than once in their career. As an eminent Northern Royal observed as we left the Upper West, conceding a penalty and losing a man for the rest of the match in these situations is tantamount to double jeopardy.
Sh*t happens but FINALLY I'm looking forward to seeing this team perform with a full compliment and looking infinitely more effective than just a few weeks ago ............................better late than never, Nige!
