On the way to the match yesterday, my two boys were surprisingly upbeat! In fact they were positively buzzing and I realised that they were SO nervous that they were over compensating. Funnily enough, once we were past Northolt, the car fell very quiet as I suspect we all realised the enormity of what laid ahead!! We were a little later than usual so, after parking we were too late for the youngest to get any autographs. We grabbed some food and took a walk to Westfield and back to kill some time. Once in the ground and whist watching the players warm up, word spread that Cisse was on the bench!! There then followed a debate between myself and a fellow season ticket holder who has become my and my two sons' "hugging buddy" after goals etc. He thought MH was right to continue with 1 up front rather than change a winning home formation, whilst I maintained that we needed to win and thus, Cisse should start alongside BZ! I still believe MH was wrong and too negative, but, as we all know it turned out ok in the end!! Anyway, the atmosphere was highly charged and Rangers started well with Taarabt nearly getting on the end of an early cross. However, after only a few minutes, Stoke missed their best chance of the entire game. Taiwo lost Jerome who ran onto a crouch flick on and was right in front of goal with a golden chance to really put a spanner in the works! Thankfully, Jerome sliced the chance horribly wide when it seemed easier to hit the target!! PHEW!! Stoke were proving to be as awkward as we all thought they would and were infuriating the LR faithful with their niggling fouls and blatant time wasting, all of which went unpunished by the very average Mariner. Mackie was having a torrid time against the huge and awkward Huth and Zamora, although isolated was having a disappointing game up front. The only real attacking promise came from Taarabt who had a good free kick saved only for Barton to hit the rebound into the side-netting when he surely should have squared to the un-marked Zamora. Barton and Derry worked tirelessly but were let down by a very disappointing Buzz!! The 2nd half wore on much the same as the first, with the crowd getting edgier and edgier as news filtered through that Bolton were 2-0 up v WBA. Jesus!! We looked down!! Cisse had been introduced, but to little effect (YET!!). Subsequent substitutions changed the game! Pullis took of two forwards and put on the ineffective Jones and a midfielder (Whitehead). Hughes sent on SWP and Bothroyd as a final throw of the dice. The disappointing Zamora and knackered Derry were replaced. Immediately Stoke found it harder to get out of their half with Crouch looking increasingly isolated. SWP made an impact and started running at Stoke. The minutes ticked on and the mood grew more and more desperate. Then SWP skipped past a couple of players and let fly, only for the shot to be deflected for a corner. Rangers had had a fair few of these but I never got excited about them, as we always seemed to lose out to the Stoke giants!! NOT THIS TIME! Ferdinand, who had wasted a good chance minutes earlier lost Crouch at the near post and glanced the ball on. It fell to Cisse who was, quite unbelievably un-marked 4 yards out!! He side footed the ball into the net which signaled a celebration like no other!! A massive roar went up as the ball hit the net and grown men were hugging each other as the enormity of what had happened sank in!! Then......news filtered through that WBA had got back to 2-2 at Bolton and we were in the land of make-believe!! Another massive roar greeted the final whistle and brought a pitch invasion fueled by disbelief and shear joy!! We're certainly not safe yet as Bolton only have to win 1 game against a team already safe.....but we're a darn sight better off than we were on 85mins!! Not sure my nerves (or Mrs Rangercol ) can take much more of this season!!! Player ratings and comments: Kenny - 7 No real saves to make. Kicking was sound. Slightly dodgy punch at the death Onouha - 7 Dealt with the pressure well, winning headers and getting in tackles Hill - 7 As above Ferdinand - 7 As above Taiwo - 7 As above Derry - 7 Worked tirelessly and kept the ball well Buzsaky - 5 Rather poor, but he never stopped trying Barton - 8 Wasted possession at times, but never stopped running and driving forward Mackie - 6 Got no change whatsoever out of the man-mountain Huth Taarabt - 8 Our most creative player and worked hard in defence too. Forced a good save with a free kick Zamora - 5 Rather poor. Didn't retain possession well enough (Crouch showed him how to do it!!) Subs: SWP - 7 Did well by running at their defence. His run and deflected shot led to the corner which resulted in THAT goal Bothroyd - 7 Did ok. He looks lazy. but I think he was trying his best to get amongst them Cisse - 8 What can you say? Did nothing for 30 mins and then got himself in the right place and put the ball in the old onion bag!! Thoughts?
Not far wrong there Col. Mackie was struggling against Huth who seemed to just wait for him to push the ball past him and then brush him aside as Mackie tried to go past. That avenue being shut off left Zamora totally isolated for long periods. Taarabt was our only source of creativity for most of the game but often missed good opportunities to play in team-mates. Cisse does what it says on the tin, f*ck-all for 35 minutes then bang! The match was reminiscent of last season's edgy Leicester match with a similar ending...
A few people have said that mate. I honestly didn't see that! Not saying it didn't happen mind. He's that type of player. What he did do was try to take the game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen. Played a lot of incisive passes imo.
Thanks Col, excellent report. The tension in the air before kick off, in and around the ground was incredible. It was the sort of atmosphere you get when someone's been told they are seriously ill or lost their job. Regrettably somebody in PU started a rumour that WBA were 3:2 up kicking off an even greater celebration although short lived. Agree with your ratings and, given what happened, it would be interesting (though irrelevant) to known why MH left him on the bench to start with. Trust? Protection from cards? Fitness?
Cheers mate. Must admit when I watched the game back Cisse was blowing very hard towards the end!! Maybe he just isn't fit enough, although he started against Chelsea!
Give it a rest mate. My dear old Dad used to tell me that if I didn't know what I was talking about I should keep quiet, rather than opening my mouth like you and confirming it!!
Been waiting for this Col, the first reliable account of the game ( along with Judo if course) I have had. Son sent texts and grunted a bit on the phone, from which I gathered a pretty stressful afternoon. 3 points was the expectation, and delivered. Strange things happen on the last day and nerves play a part at the top as well as the bottom but have to say the Manchester teams are a class above the rest, so despite being in the Etihad at least half my attention will be on Stoke. One thing the boy did say was that the LR crowd was immense, good on you all present.
SB....the atmosphere was electric mate. The noise after the goal and up to the final whistle was something else!!
Couldn't believe they would do it deliberately but I heard it up there too. Couldn't get my phone to confirm...... Very frustrating, on edge enough as it is!!
All comms went down on Sun afternoon for me so i only saw the game tonight. Wow. Not sure if we just got lucky or if MH got it spot on. Our Team got stronger and stronger as the game went on. Only one team was ever going to win this game. We got the luck today that has been missing for most of this season. Thought we were nervous, which is understandable considering what was at stake. Just a few thoughts: Might sound crazy but still undecided about Taiwo. Looks great at times and then can look so ordinary. My jury is still out on him. While Barton was not prominent in many of the reports after the match, i personally thought he gave us everything. He deffo seems more focussed lately. Deserves his place in the team but not as a creative player. We need to buy at least one creative CM player this summer regardless of what division we are in. Perhaps buy an experienced player and a young understudy. I really thought Buz was poor. Just gave the ball away too often. Has to go. Zamora has good games and bad. Not his best. No been consistent. This is a problem going forward. If Cisse is fit and not suspended then he must start. We must find a system that gives Adel more of a free role. Very difficult for MH to have anybody on the pitch who does not put in a 110% shift but Adel can't hurt the opposition from our half. If we continue with 4-2-3-1 then he must play centrally in a midfield 3. I hope MH has only employed our current system to keep us safe. I am not a fan of the way we are playing football but will accept it in our current situation.
Much as I hate to disagree with you mate .... But did Cisse really deserve an 8? Does being involved in the game for 5 seconds, regardless of how dramatically, real warrant that? I had Derry as MOM. He tidied up possession all match long, very rarely wasted it and put in some crucial tackles. A less attacking role than Barton, but one he plays superbly. Was Bothroyd really better than Zamora? Zamora fought against 4 giant centre backs for over an hour, he never gave up on a pretty thankless task. What concerned me was that we were still pumping crosses into the area when we weren’t winning any headers, where was plan B? We needed to be turning them and running in behind, but our passing wasn’t up to scratch. I’ve had a few strange looks today out in the real world, then I realised it was because I still had my fists clenched. I was still celebrating the win! The noise inside the stadium was incredible. Hopefully this will end up being one of those seminal matches, one that significantly shapes the future, one we can proudly claim that “we were there”.
Quality reading col as usually. I do agree almost everything you wrote but have to say that taarabt get very tired after 60 minutes. Before that he was MoM. Cisse was almost invisible before he scored but not quite because he did have that good header from taiwos center which sörensen saved brilliantly. Certainly our best chance on the second half before the goal. My man of the match was barton (with little edge over derry) because his work rate and overall battling all over the pitch was just admireable. If he only just would have pointed that header of his little better on the first half. Many peoples here (including myself) have said that kenny is the worst keeper in EPL ,but yesterday was his seventh clean sheet this season and third in a row at home. He has certainly cames good after his horrrible midwinter form.
Not fit!! Bad news! He must be knackered from that paper round someone said he's doing on the Cisse thread!! Thanks for a great write, could almost feel the tension again from your report, I felt it bad enough here! Agree with your ratings etc. Mackie has muscled his way past most smaller quicker PL backs, but Pulis was smart to put Huth up against him. Bringing on SWP earlier for Jamie could have been a smart move, as Jamie was going nowhere yesterday .
bb We all see things differently Roller. I thought Zamora was poor, but maybe Bothroyd didn't do enough to merit a 7!! Probably shouldn't mark the subs. Although I thought SWP made a real impact. As far as Cisse is concerned, I think that goal could be priceless. He deserves an 8 for being in the right place and coolly stroking the ball home!! You see them missed! Just my opinion. You're right about the noise in the stadium....something else!! How did it look from your point of view when all 3 stands in front of you rose to celebrate the goal?
Have ever seen the really old film about Moses? The stadium rose like the Red Sea being parted, but it was the noise that got me. I sure they must have played Pigbag, but we couldn't hear it! I've been in the School End lower tier 3 times this season, it has never been like it was yesterday. Absolutely awesome.
