Not in the year I'm talking about. So wrong again. Or there is the team who got to the Final and never played a Pl club until the Final. So get going you've got a lot to get through.
I think the problem here is if you point out maybe we had a bit of luck under Bruce then people take that as belittling his achievements so thanks to Dennis for pointing that out. Is still true though regardless regarding the luck side of it , we didn't have the hardest team to beat in the play-off final after scraping to Wembley by the skin of our teeth in the end and the FA Cup run was undeniably the easiest we could have possibly have had.
Portsmouth v Cardiff FA Cup Final 2008 - How the **** those two teams reached a cup final is beyond me, they were both appalling sides, it's one of the worst games I've ever watched live.
Not really Although I expect some of their fans that had been watching them for years in the doldrums wouldn't be in the slightest bit interested in the opinion of the person pointing it out
I dont have to you said you cant think of another team to have such an easy run. you obviously dont know much. Go look it up.
Gosh I'd never realised at Derby when we pissed on them in the first leg just how lucky we were on the day. Maybe Derby had an injury crisis? Maybe they were resting their better larkers? That 0-3 scoreline certainly flattered us, and I'm sure it was nowt to do with SB sussing them out, preparing us better, it was probably all down to his luck again. A bit like when we luckily beat Boro and Burnley 3-0. So much luck.
We played well yesterday - especially in the first half. Had quite a few shots and the Scunny keeper pulled off some great saves. Only one or two lapses in concentration allowed Scunny in, and one of those was right at the end with Jakupovic pulling off a good 1-on-1 save. The other was an unmarked header in the first half, which Jakupovic acrobatically tipped over the bar from close range. Clucas and Maloney struck up a good partnership in central midfield - seemed to play in a diamond with Clucas picking the ball up deep and Maloney playing more advanced, supporting Diame and Luer. Felt a bit sorry for Clackstone - thrown in at the deep end. He looked hopeless against Grimsby at right-back, but did a decent job at centre back against Scunny and was a few times left on his own, isolated, having to pick up 2 Scunny players - but didn't panic and did a good job. I hope Bowen keeps up his performances and is able to make that step into the first team, as he's been the highlight of pre-season so far. The anti-Allam/pro-Brucie chants were hilarious. "Stand up, if you love Steve Bruce!!" *everybody stands up* "Sit down, if you hate Allam!" *everybody sits down* *repeat* ...some of the oldies in the crowd looked buggered! haha. It was such a unified crowd - men, women, children - young to the old all chanting for Allam Out. Peter Odemwingie was in hysterics at his name being chanted so much - my favourite being; "Allam Out, Peter In - Allam Out, Peter In..." At the end Snodgrass and Davies came over to the crowd, you could see the situation has angered them and they came over with the look of huge respect for the fans in a 'we feel the exact same way you do, we're in this together' kind of way.
No not really. I'm not suggesting he was a **** manager, not at all, just that it needs to be acknowledged that he ****ed up a lot more times than most care to remember and I won't easily forget that. Taking a team worth the better part of £40 million quid and losing to Rotherham, Leeds and Preston was unacceptable. Not beating the likes of Leicester, West Brom and Burnley when it mattered was unacceptable. Getting to a cup final doesn't smooth over that for me, it might for those easily pleased Amber tinted visioned people, but not me. He went out fighting for the club, which is good and that's commendable, but honestly, I was hoping he'd be replaced at Christmas. Then it was the end of the season. I've got my wish, let's hope the next guy can take us up a level.
Good report, thanks. Interested about your last para, seems to rubbish all those 'Davies was pissed off about losing his captaincy' stories.
Snodgrass and Davies definitely seemed more annoyed than others - others clapped from the centre circle. Snodgrass and Davies came up to the fans - Snodgrass did some really proud looking strong claps with a look on his face as if to say 'top effort, you're saying how I feel' and Davies came over with his chin raised and bottom lip out like post-fight a boxer and then did the two-handed bow of respect to the fans. You had to be there to get the sense of it fully, but you could see it in their faces.
