By Andy Munro.
Nobody in their right mind expected a decent return of points away to Chelski and the reborn Redscouse but I suppose I hoped we might sneak a hard earned point somewhere along the line. Failing that, damage limitation was what could best be expected but unfortunately we couldn’t even manage that.
It’s a concern that in both games, we obviously set out to defend but failed to do so in quite dismal fashion. Against Chelsea, we went a goal down before we had a chance to organise ourselves and, at three-nil down, a mother of all hammerings beckoned. The fact that the penalty spat between Seb and Craig G made local media headlines says something about our general level of performance.
Still, 3-1 wasn’t a disaster but the subsequent hammering against a Carrolless and Gerrard-free Liverpool was both unexpected and very disappointing. However, to blame the defence is too easy a solution because as even a Sunday footballer knows, if the ball keeps coming back, the pressure builds and even the best of defences will crumble. A Hleb who obviously doesn’t want to be covering himself in muck and nettles, playing behind a Cameron Jerome who has about as much control as Wayne R in a brothel, is not a recipe for success. Add to that the usual narrow midfield with only Seb as a wide player (I hesitate to use the word ‘winger’) meant we posed no real threat offensively. According to some of the Sunday papers, Keith Fahy was our best player and that perhaps says it all about the Blues’ performance.
If I’m honest, I switched off the radio when we were 2-0 down and I didn’t know the final score until Match of the Day. I might have known it was a disaster when Gary Lineker said, “Several games to go but stay up because there’s a feast of goals” – something that immediately sent a chill down my spine!
Luckily, results generally went our way although Wolves’ plucky draw against Fulham looks ominous. Equally, while the Hammers got a hammering, for long periods of their game against Chelski they looked far more dangerous than Blues managed to against the same opponents.
Two major reverses will not have done our confidence any good and the prospect for the ‘must win’ game against the Wolves doesn’t fill me with a great deal of optimism. With Martins and Ziggy seemingly happy to pick up their pay cheques for doing nowt other than nursing slight strains and Big ‘No Risks’ Eck unwilling to risk them, a further set of laboured performances look on the cards. This could well see us in the sticky stuff and I fear we’ll end up needing something from the last match of the season away to Spurzs…and probably getting hammered again.
I just hope I’m wrong and we get the minimum of four points that I think we need in our two remaining home games. I’ll certainly be cheering the lads on from start to finish against Wolves but the business end will be on the pitch and not in the stands!