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halfaperson
Allan Clarke
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
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 Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 4:31 pm Post subject: Carlisle (a) 3rd Nov 2007 |
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Well it had to end didn’t it but the manner in which we let certain victory slip away should have alarm bells ringing out all over the camp. It was absolutely shameful how we let possibly the worse football team ive seen this year out fight, out run and out muscle us for those last 35 minutes. No disrespect to Carlisle they got what they deserved but the manner of their rudimentary and one dimensional football suggests it aint going to be class only that gets you to the top of the league.
The day started off so well. The Lake district is one of the most beautiful areas of Europe. When its drenched in crisp Autumn sunshine there is no finer landscape in the world for my money. Even the dreary M6 was forgiven as we made our way towards those beckoning fells with every tree competing to show off those blazing autumnal colours.
The usual massive police presence saturated the town of Carlisle. As early as noon the pubs were full of fans, most good natured but the few who weren’t succeeded in making it an edgy afternoon at best. It’s the same everywhere we go these days. Every little firm in the land wants a look at us or at least make a show of it. I’m not advocating it, but all this does is get the Leeds boys even more expectant of a brawl so they go ready for it. It all goes to produce an atmosphere of hostility.
Wouldn’t normally give it the time of day but we went to the Yates bar. The biggest reason been my imminent trouser disaster if an outlet wasn’t forthcoming and very pronto  . However I sense too much detail has been provided already  . The pub had a fair few Leeds fans in already including a crowd we know are from the London area. My mate who has a knack of allowing local characters to latch onto us did it again. It was from this young fella we learnt all about Carlisles drugs scene, restaurants. Hooligans, residential areas and how to mix beats on a 750 pound mixing deck (I kid you not). We asked him about a pub called the Howard I had in mind. It was he said and I quote. "Fucking shit man, expensive and full of teachers who took the piss out of him while he was at school and if he ever went in there again he would end up in Prison for murder" . So on we went to the Howard followed by this would be genocidal teacher exterminator .
The pub was full of Carlisle fans who were sound as you’d expect in such a pub. Thankfully none were school teachers so our newly acquainted friend contented himself with a pint of Fosters and found another local to talk about drugs with.
So we finished the afternoon session there in the very enjoyable company of Pat, Donny, Essex and a slightly tipsy Pikey.
After a 20 MIN Walk to the ground we took our place amongst the 3500 other Leeds fans behind the goal in the open end and down the side in the stand.
Carlisle started of the first few minutes as you’d expect. They came at us with energy and got a few corners that were easily dealt with. We very quickly took complete control of the game though. We passed it with aplomb and found space all over the park. It genuinely seemed a stroll and that we could score anytime. Carlisle had one tactic and that was to get the ball forward into space as quickly as possible and hope their fairly fast front two could latch onto them. It was not to be as our back four easily soaked up all these punts and breaks and found our midfielders with simple short passes. Time and again we found our front two with short balls. Prutton was operating on the right hand side and together with Seb we effectively looked like we had two wingers. Our only concern seemed to be with Tresor Kandol. The only pass he seems to want to make is to Beckford. Prutton very often was in a good wide position ready to take the pass only to find Kandol turning inside and either look for Beckford or disappear amongst a mass of defenders.
We did create a fair few chances and opportunities. Dougy had a belting shot well saved when it seemed destined to go in. They headed one off the line from Carole I think. Beckord forced a good save from the keeper as well. Even the goal seemed like hard work when it eventually went in. They could have cleared the ball twice before it fell to Beckford who finished with the calmness and confidence he is currently basking in.
Even though we went in at half time as usual there was the niggling feeling every Leeds fans has when we are in the lead. We should have put the game beyond Carlisles’ reach by half time. How many times in the past have we been in this position. It is particularly gauling when we are clearly streets ahead of the opposition in terms of quality.
In fact the second half carried on for five minutes or so in the same vein. Certainly Carlisle had been given a talking to at Half time. They seemed quicker and more aggressive. Same tactics but they worked really hard to close our midfield down and stop the supply to our front two and wide men. This is when we started to crumble and I can put it down to a few factors. If we don’t sort out this we can kiss goodbye to promotion.
Firstly, our petulance. I don’t know who they think they are but our players simply can not openly chastise and cajole the referee with such aggression and arrogance as they showed on Saturday. The referee was indeed a total arsehole and he made a number of incredible decisions especially in the second half but we really have got to expect this and rise above the scumesque reaction.
Typical was the free kick he gave them that led to the first goal. No way did Prutton commit the foul and he got himself booked for his protests. Here is the focus of our problems. When we react like this we get rattled and when we get rattled we lose our concentration. When we lose our concentration we lose or composure and that leads to losing our class. This is exactly what happened on Saturday and perfectly demonstrated when Frazer headed a useless cross out for a corner when he had time to do anything he wanted to. They scored from the resulting corner with a simple near post header that we normally defend with ease.
This brings me on to a second aspect of our play that is becoming increasingly worrying. We still had plenty of time to get back in the game and maybe even win it. Despite the refs increasingly bizarre whistle blowing antics and an incredible refusal to penalise them for a blatant hand ball that broke up one of our plays we were still able to get the ball into attacking positions. (This last decision by the ref had yours truly reduced to a gasping foul mouthed frenzy the likes of which haven’t been seen since Cecil Parkinson used to appear on Question Time  ). The last twenty minutes were a woeful example of how our forward play has been deprived of all aggression and energy. You would have expected us to have rained shots and crosses in but we seemed intent on trying to walk the ball in. What is worrying me is that with our fantastic start we seem to think our obvious quality will always shine through and win games. This is most definitely not the case in this division. It’s difficult but we have got to be able to mix it up a bit more. There will be games when we need to be more robust and hopefully this is where Constantine can help.
We have been taking a tactical gamble this season by keeping Prutton in a wide position and thereby leaving our central midfield a little overrun. This has paid off for us this season but Prutton was taken off along with Carole to be replaced by Da Costa and Constantine. Maybe Wise was trying to mix it up a bit and try something a bit more direct. We did revert to a more direct style through the middle but the only chance we had was when Beckford broke through down the right. He must have been caught between a shot or a pull back to the waiting Constantine and the keeper easily gathered the ball up to the bewilderment of the Constantine.
To add insult to injury they got the third from a position in the corner flag where you would have expected them to just try and waist time and all hope vanished. "We are top of the league" their ecstatic fans chanted as we left the game almost on full time to make our way back into Town despondently. We had been mugged really by a team who got in our faces ruffled our feathers and albeit with a lot of help from the ref succeeded in breaking our composure. Every team in the division will be taking note and doing the same. We have got to take lessons and let our football do the talking.
The fraught pre match atmosphere was still about on the way back to Town. There was a sizable mob of Leeds fans obviously waiting and ready for something but thankfully not bothering the many decent Carlisle fans who just wanted to get back into Town. It was a bit of a throwback to previous eras though and one that I sincerely hope doesn’t escalate into a new era of it.
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Gopher
Boobmeister
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Location: Riding on the window lickers bus, first class.
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nlag
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halfaperson
Allan Clarke
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nlag
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halfaperson
Allan Clarke
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 693
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| Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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From where I see it its how you see it. There seems to be some kind of honour (if that’s the right word) amongst the mobs about who you fight with. If some mob have a go at scarfers as they call them, they get slaughtered and ridiculed by the others so they don’t usually bother and keep it to themselves. That was deffo the case with the Leeds mob on Saturday that we saw.
Now I don’t want a return to mass brawling and indiscriminate kickings like in the 70s and eighties but like you, as long as they keep it amongst themselves Im indifferent to it. The trouble is that some mobs like Swanseas' and the cretins at Huddersfield don’t seem to have this code. Youve always got to be aware and on your toes. Its still pretty safe and highly unlikely youd get involved in anything though
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nlag
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) More and more posts I read across the few forums refer to increasing aggro. Now I don't care if a few like minded hoolies want to meet and kick lumps out of each other....So long as that is how it stays.....Where is it in your opinion?....I travel alone, or with maybe one mate, the last thing I need is a kicking from a bunch of burberry chavs at any given station.