Yesterday Was A Bit Like Christmas..........
Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:37 am
You knew it was coming, you were really excited it was coming, you planned for it for weeks, you had a great time and saw different people and some old faces, there were a few anti climatic moments and then when it was done, you were quite glad it was over and that things will get back to to normal. Well thats what I feel like anyway.
It was a great day I thought. Our little Club took 1,900 people halfway across the country, made some noise, put up a decent fight and came away as a Club in general with a lot of credit.
It appeared (or where we went it was case) that the Everton fans were a very friendly, old fashioned bunch. Love their football and their City, but very welcoming of everyone. A number of their fans in the Park End made a point of staying to applaud our players and fans at the end which was nice touch. Martinez showed great respect to us and the FA Cup with the team he fielded and the way the team played (unlike his counterpart from across the Stanley Park). Was also great to see all the things a Club like Everton do with young fans before the game and at half time, and the number of disabled supporters in the ground for the game. They claim to be the peoples Club and from what I saw yesterday, it would be a fair claim. Would be nice for a club like them to go on and win it (and we could say we lost to the winners!!!).
As for us, it was strange performance in many ways. A lot of people were saying we should have been a lot more up and at em, and got into them more, but I think the danger with that would have been we could have been picked off easily and been thumped!!! My biggest worry was getting done by 6 or 7, which in the end never looked like happening. It is also harder to take that approach on a pitch like that. At our place they would have struggled to ping the ball around as they did, but on that lawn they may well have walked through us if we weren't set up well. Also needs to be remembered that we were missing a number of people who had been playing recently for various reasons. Saying that, the lad from Forest was superb. If we have him at the back for a few weeks we should be hard to beat. Hardly played a first team game before and came in and played like that at 24 hours notice, in front of 31,000 people. Very impressive!!!
The train home was a great laugh, met lots of people as always, a number of the Board came and had a chat and thanked everyone for their support, and even the Plod seemed to have developed a sense of humour for the day!!!
It wasn't perfect, in terms of the result or maybe the performance, but we can all add Goodison Park to the list of famous places where we have watched our Club compete for the afternoon. And like Christmas, we know that a day out like that will come round again at some point!!!
Meantime, lets get those three home points on Saturday!!!
It was a great day I thought. Our little Club took 1,900 people halfway across the country, made some noise, put up a decent fight and came away as a Club in general with a lot of credit.
It appeared (or where we went it was case) that the Everton fans were a very friendly, old fashioned bunch. Love their football and their City, but very welcoming of everyone. A number of their fans in the Park End made a point of staying to applaud our players and fans at the end which was nice touch. Martinez showed great respect to us and the FA Cup with the team he fielded and the way the team played (unlike his counterpart from across the Stanley Park). Was also great to see all the things a Club like Everton do with young fans before the game and at half time, and the number of disabled supporters in the ground for the game. They claim to be the peoples Club and from what I saw yesterday, it would be a fair claim. Would be nice for a club like them to go on and win it (and we could say we lost to the winners!!!).
As for us, it was strange performance in many ways. A lot of people were saying we should have been a lot more up and at em, and got into them more, but I think the danger with that would have been we could have been picked off easily and been thumped!!! My biggest worry was getting done by 6 or 7, which in the end never looked like happening. It is also harder to take that approach on a pitch like that. At our place they would have struggled to ping the ball around as they did, but on that lawn they may well have walked through us if we weren't set up well. Also needs to be remembered that we were missing a number of people who had been playing recently for various reasons. Saying that, the lad from Forest was superb. If we have him at the back for a few weeks we should be hard to beat. Hardly played a first team game before and came in and played like that at 24 hours notice, in front of 31,000 people. Very impressive!!!
The train home was a great laugh, met lots of people as always, a number of the Board came and had a chat and thanked everyone for their support, and even the Plod seemed to have developed a sense of humour for the day!!!
It wasn't perfect, in terms of the result or maybe the performance, but we can all add Goodison Park to the list of famous places where we have watched our Club compete for the afternoon. And like Christmas, we know that a day out like that will come round again at some point!!!
Meantime, lets get those three home points on Saturday!!!