Monday, 30 March 2009
Anonymous comments
To the "gaffer" self appointed of course where are you going with this.People seem to forgot when you win is it that long ago?I know your position as goalkeeper was threathened on Wednesday not by me I gave my you fullest support,even if you admitted you could have saved 2 of the 10 goals you let in.I haven't been happy with the teams play for a number of weeks,its not ABOUT winning its about trying and given it your BEST EFFORT which lately hasn't been forthcoming.Its not about solo performances and scoring individual goals. I unlike the "gaffer" haven't given up on you yet, people who want to keep fit should go to the gym and not play in a league.Our oldest two players should play in defence and not enter the opposition half,that may be a good start for the new season.When players have come off to allow the subs on they do talk and I have listened to their critism of their fellow players and most of my blogs apart from not mentioning the gaffer have reflected some of your views.Subbing is an issue people not coming including Gareth is not fair when I suggested to Leo I would time the play and tell people to come off so everyone had equal time he disagreed.So no progress. So to the persons who are not bothered about winning and make their views known and further depress the other team members I don't beleive you I have seen the team win and the pride was there.To move things forward I have played in and watched 5 a side matches for the last 36 years.Its easy older players play in defence and normally extend their playing careers.Danny Murphy (Fulham)admitted this on the box.Protect your goalkeeper sometimes its not about making a tackle its about holding the play up instead of getting beat and leaving your goalkeeper exposed. Many games Ive watched opposition goalkeepers have been weak but we have not been able to take advantage because of good defending.Simple rules stop the long runs its to easy to get beat, 5 a side is once again about passing the ball to each other, other teams have shown you time and time again.You forget these simple rules and you wont enjoy losing never mind winning.I have seen you pass the ball to each other and it worked mainly when Nathan played. I wish you all the sucess take care Don
Anonymous comments - Sniffers FC 25/3/09
After dicussion mainly with Allan prior to kick off when he suggested he wasn't bothered about winning and just wanted a kick around and suggested I should ask the rest of the team and I would find the rest of the team didn't want to win I was left wondering where the team spirit, pride had gone but I remember Allan had tried this one before.Charity begins at home and James lined up to play once more in a league match a sign once again Allan doesn't concern himself with wanting to win.No wonder no-one wants to play for us,seriously my wifes friends son plays for a team of people with learning difficlties and I can ring up if Allan wants the details.I am not going to comment on players apart from James who tried hard dispite his disability and scored 2 goals.Prior to the match, Allan's comments and the lack of team pride had left me with no will to live never mind any encouragement to watch the match.If Allan's influence is not discouraged the demise of the mollies is i'm sad to say assured. He says he never reads the blogs and therefore accordingly he will never learn.
Friday, 27 March 2009
The Gaffers Increasingly Frustrated Gob
Today the Mollie's officially hit crisis point and one wonders how we got to this point. What appears to have happened is a lack of communication about the founding ethos behind the team. I honestly believe that the team is geared to having a good time playing footy on a wednesday night, and if we win, all the better. We also have banter and rip on each other for faults both real and imagined. If i took all Lungboy's criticism to heart, i'd have hung myself by now. I will not have the blog censoresd and personally enjoy reading and writing them. If you take to heart every slight joke or criticism, don't read the blog! To my next point, we are not a win at all costs team and we will field players who genuinely want to play. We all pay our fees and can not carry good players who can't pay. Therefore, we will not field a strong team everyweek as we could not pay the fees Goals expects of around £385 every 10 weeks. Some players seem to have completely missed this point and used our newest member as an example of lack of will to win. To clarify, it is always my decision to field the team, and my first concern is to have the match fee covered and we need a minimum of 6 players to do this. We have no strength in depth, he wants to pay and play, therefore i make my decision to play him.
Sorry about the ranty nature of this post, but these issues must be put to rest for the good of the team. Normal service will hopefully resume next week, if we still have a team!
Sorry about the ranty nature of this post, but these issues must be put to rest for the good of the team. Normal service will hopefully resume next week, if we still have a team!
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Gaffers Gob: 26th March 2009 - Sniffers FC
On entering the bar area you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. What had happened in the last week to turn the normally placid Mollie's into characters from Shameless? Well if you look down the blog you can see an entry from our "Anonymous" commentator which is full of diatribe and half truths. This entry caused such offence that the team has become somewhat fractured. Anon's or DJ's comments he asserted were based on his belief that Alan and Steve don't play to win. What he seems to fail to realise is that we all play to win but that we put enjoying our football above trying to achieve promotion. Consequently, although we frequently get our backside handed to us by superior teams, we don't mind as we just enjoy playing the game for the fun of running around. In any event, last nights performance, showed the lack of foundation in our anonymous geordie cheerleaders beliefs.
There was a lot riding on this match as if we won and Red Bull Utd lost, we would be promoted. Clearly, Wor Don thought we would throw this one and avoid the Premiership. It was a burning sense of injustice that the Mollie's took the astro turf on a cold and windy March evening. Unfortunately, as soon as the match kicked off, we were immediately out matched in terms of possession and movement. However, the Gaffer, in an uncharacteristic show of dexterity and movement, pulled out a number of saves at the edge of his diving range. It was unfortunate that his earlier saves went for nothing when he let a shot that was clearly going passed the post nestle into the corner of the net. Big Oops.
The Mollie's were being worked hard in defence and Steve and Leo were in danger of being over run. It seemed that as hard as we tackled, and as fast as we moved, they used their possession better and were more inventive in their movement and so created chances by the dozen. In contrast, when the Mollie's had the ball, we were knocked off it and gave it away before threatening their Goal. Gareth was again misfiring claiming a bad neck. What ever the truth, in the 4 years I've played for Mollie's, i have seen his level of speed and dexterity diminish as he has left school, got a job and started noticing beer and fags. Much like any old person, his mind is willing but his body can no longer do what the mind asks of it. That is my explanation for his consistent wishing to run the ball out of defence and being robbed of it by 2 to 3 players when he could easily have passed it. James problems kind of went the other way. Following his brilliance of 3 weeks ago, he continues to try repeating his incisive passing but tended to hit any other colour than dark blue. The one bright spot was his lone first half goal which at least stopped the possibility of a shut out which was very much on the cards in the early stages of the game. We went into half time about 6-1 down and looking down the wrong end of a really bad wedgie.
The second half was much improved. tactically we decided to hit shots at the opposition earlier and play slightly higher up the pitch. There was little point in holding back as we needed to win to stand any chance of promotion. James started to pass a little more accurately to link with Alan for probably the goal of the game which was through one touch passing and a first time shot. The match was very open in the second half as the Mollie's began to exert themselves. The gaffer has infrequently been given as much work to do as the game descended into you attack, we attack patterns of play. We started to hit the target and by my calculations, the second half finished 6-6. A far better return for our efforts and highlighting an improvement in our shooting accuracy. We still passed as if we were colour blind but because they constantly had 3 people in attack, we were able to catch them on the break. This was the biggest improvement on the first half when the only person not in our third of the pitch was their keeper.
And so ends possibly the most controversial Mollie's season for some time. It was a season beset by problems and one where a change of venue has been mooted. Also, we descended into a bit of infighting but hopefully no one can argue that we aren't all committed to trying to win if only for the fun of it. This season the Mollie's also found out how much we rely on Leo as he tends to stabilise the whole right flank and have an attacking as well as defensive impact.
Alan has lost, found, lost, found and again lost his shooting boots but makes up for it by covering as much of the pitch as possible in 40 minutes. James has followed the family trait of inconsistency by swinging from genius to madness week to week. i think his delicate equilibrium has been badly affected by Steve stealing the penalty taking responsibilities from under his nose. Steve has continued to be a defensive stalwart but is finding a taste for scoring goals he has previously not been far up the pitch to attempt. It is encouraging to overhear opposition cries every week as he barrels people to the floor. No doubt he continues to be our dirtiest player. On the odd occasion Robbie has played, he has been a solid performer in defence and gives Leo the cover to abandon being a wing back. In my opinion there continue to be encouraging signs and next season should be good, as long as we can play every week! There is little doubt that the names on the league from week 1 bear no resemblance to the names at week 10.
Team for next weeks kick off so far is Matt, Steve, Alan, James. Times will be confirmed over the weekend.
There was a lot riding on this match as if we won and Red Bull Utd lost, we would be promoted. Clearly, Wor Don thought we would throw this one and avoid the Premiership. It was a burning sense of injustice that the Mollie's took the astro turf on a cold and windy March evening. Unfortunately, as soon as the match kicked off, we were immediately out matched in terms of possession and movement. However, the Gaffer, in an uncharacteristic show of dexterity and movement, pulled out a number of saves at the edge of his diving range. It was unfortunate that his earlier saves went for nothing when he let a shot that was clearly going passed the post nestle into the corner of the net. Big Oops.
The Mollie's were being worked hard in defence and Steve and Leo were in danger of being over run. It seemed that as hard as we tackled, and as fast as we moved, they used their possession better and were more inventive in their movement and so created chances by the dozen. In contrast, when the Mollie's had the ball, we were knocked off it and gave it away before threatening their Goal. Gareth was again misfiring claiming a bad neck. What ever the truth, in the 4 years I've played for Mollie's, i have seen his level of speed and dexterity diminish as he has left school, got a job and started noticing beer and fags. Much like any old person, his mind is willing but his body can no longer do what the mind asks of it. That is my explanation for his consistent wishing to run the ball out of defence and being robbed of it by 2 to 3 players when he could easily have passed it. James problems kind of went the other way. Following his brilliance of 3 weeks ago, he continues to try repeating his incisive passing but tended to hit any other colour than dark blue. The one bright spot was his lone first half goal which at least stopped the possibility of a shut out which was very much on the cards in the early stages of the game. We went into half time about 6-1 down and looking down the wrong end of a really bad wedgie.
The second half was much improved. tactically we decided to hit shots at the opposition earlier and play slightly higher up the pitch. There was little point in holding back as we needed to win to stand any chance of promotion. James started to pass a little more accurately to link with Alan for probably the goal of the game which was through one touch passing and a first time shot. The match was very open in the second half as the Mollie's began to exert themselves. The gaffer has infrequently been given as much work to do as the game descended into you attack, we attack patterns of play. We started to hit the target and by my calculations, the second half finished 6-6. A far better return for our efforts and highlighting an improvement in our shooting accuracy. We still passed as if we were colour blind but because they constantly had 3 people in attack, we were able to catch them on the break. This was the biggest improvement on the first half when the only person not in our third of the pitch was their keeper.
And so ends possibly the most controversial Mollie's season for some time. It was a season beset by problems and one where a change of venue has been mooted. Also, we descended into a bit of infighting but hopefully no one can argue that we aren't all committed to trying to win if only for the fun of it. This season the Mollie's also found out how much we rely on Leo as he tends to stabilise the whole right flank and have an attacking as well as defensive impact.
Alan has lost, found, lost, found and again lost his shooting boots but makes up for it by covering as much of the pitch as possible in 40 minutes. James has followed the family trait of inconsistency by swinging from genius to madness week to week. i think his delicate equilibrium has been badly affected by Steve stealing the penalty taking responsibilities from under his nose. Steve has continued to be a defensive stalwart but is finding a taste for scoring goals he has previously not been far up the pitch to attempt. It is encouraging to overhear opposition cries every week as he barrels people to the floor. No doubt he continues to be our dirtiest player. On the odd occasion Robbie has played, he has been a solid performer in defence and gives Leo the cover to abandon being a wing back. In my opinion there continue to be encouraging signs and next season should be good, as long as we can play every week! There is little doubt that the names on the league from week 1 bear no resemblance to the names at week 10.
Team for next weeks kick off so far is Matt, Steve, Alan, James. Times will be confirmed over the weekend.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Monday, 23 March 2009
Anonymous comments (SEC 18/3/09)
After taking a few days to calm down I looked back at previous blogs and it seems Allan ,Steve and James have not learned any thing from my previous comments.Watched the video and be ashamed. James was allowed to play whilst one of best players sat on the sidelines. It was clear in the bar before the match players were going to insure that promotion was not going to be an option. Steve and Allan openly boasted of their high goal scoring of the previous week and when I reminded them that their defending had let in 16 goals they chose to ignore the facts for the greater good of their ego's.
Back to the match with gentle thoughts and fears of bribes and betting syndicates. When I questioned( no footballing skills James was playing) and why Leo wasn't playing I was give Something about they had 6 players clearly a decision invovling(I've paid my £6.50 and I want my monies worth) clearly had raised its ugly head once again. It was evident during the match That team spirit and winning were sacrificed For A & S ego's ,Freekicks were used as rest periods back to the old ways.Watch the how the other teams handle the dead ball situations.Leo kept yelling but A& S totally ignored him and allowed the opposition time to get back while they rested.You two never learn Allan went back to his old ways of running forward into to the left corner until the opposition took the ball off him.
Simple rules pass the the ball to each other until a chance becomes available.You are not Ronaldo though I couldn't fault his running on the pitch.Steve spent a great deal of time on the ground looking up at the sky and possible could need to change the trainers. A&S ATTEMPTED to shout intructions to the other players whilst standing still after losing the ball mid field generals springs to mind a throw back to the days of John G but had the same effect of upsetting the other players. They say charity begins at home best place for it not on a football pitch were you paid good money to play.When James was on the pitch the Mollies played with 3 outfield players thats a fact. This was a league match not a charity match with promotion in the offering, he could have played in the second game which would have allowed Leo on the field.
Back to the match Robbie came into defence and on occasion drifted forward leaving Steve by himself to defend clearly boosted by the goal scoring feats of last week of A&S. Gareth had plenty of chances but failed to take them shouted at by Allen only upset him and by the end of the match the team's lack of wanting to win had him losing it very unusal for him. How ever the other team in conversation overhead after the match said he had alot of skill and was a pity he'd lost his cool.
Have I witnessed the demise of the Mollies unless you change yes, who wants to play for team of no-hopers. The local lads played with 8 players and the friendly match team had 12 players all wanting to play with pride for their team. No talk of I want my monies worth ( A&S )We need to draft in new players who are committed to the team not themselves. The decision not to go to Eastleigh wasa apprantly made because the pitch was too big and A&S would have difficulty, very charitable,More importantly however was the reason Leo was left on the sidelines and James allowed to play???? Gareth,Matt and Robbie pay their money too. To say I was disqusted and left the second match early would be an under statement.
Back to the match with gentle thoughts and fears of bribes and betting syndicates. When I questioned( no footballing skills James was playing) and why Leo wasn't playing I was give Something about they had 6 players clearly a decision invovling(I've paid my £6.50 and I want my monies worth) clearly had raised its ugly head once again. It was evident during the match That team spirit and winning were sacrificed For A & S ego's ,Freekicks were used as rest periods back to the old ways.Watch the how the other teams handle the dead ball situations.Leo kept yelling but A& S totally ignored him and allowed the opposition time to get back while they rested.You two never learn Allan went back to his old ways of running forward into to the left corner until the opposition took the ball off him.
Simple rules pass the the ball to each other until a chance becomes available.You are not Ronaldo though I couldn't fault his running on the pitch.Steve spent a great deal of time on the ground looking up at the sky and possible could need to change the trainers. A&S ATTEMPTED to shout intructions to the other players whilst standing still after losing the ball mid field generals springs to mind a throw back to the days of John G but had the same effect of upsetting the other players. They say charity begins at home best place for it not on a football pitch were you paid good money to play.When James was on the pitch the Mollies played with 3 outfield players thats a fact. This was a league match not a charity match with promotion in the offering, he could have played in the second game which would have allowed Leo on the field.
Back to the match Robbie came into defence and on occasion drifted forward leaving Steve by himself to defend clearly boosted by the goal scoring feats of last week of A&S. Gareth had plenty of chances but failed to take them shouted at by Allen only upset him and by the end of the match the team's lack of wanting to win had him losing it very unusal for him. How ever the other team in conversation overhead after the match said he had alot of skill and was a pity he'd lost his cool.
Have I witnessed the demise of the Mollies unless you change yes, who wants to play for team of no-hopers. The local lads played with 8 players and the friendly match team had 12 players all wanting to play with pride for their team. No talk of I want my monies worth ( A&S )We need to draft in new players who are committed to the team not themselves. The decision not to go to Eastleigh wasa apprantly made because the pitch was too big and A&S would have difficulty, very charitable,More importantly however was the reason Leo was left on the sidelines and James allowed to play???? Gareth,Matt and Robbie pay their money too. To say I was disqusted and left the second match early would be an under statement.
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Gaffers Gob: 19th March 09
Against all odds, the Mollie's agreed to play back to back footy matches, and against even longer odds, we completed them, although no doubt we are all suffering the following day.
Much like watching England play Football, Rugby, Cricket or any number of other sports, the league game against SEC was an abject disappointment. Our relative league positions and 5 a side experience promised a win and 3 points for the Mollie's, but as ever, the Mollie's flattered to deceive. In recent matches the Mollie's scored goals with abandon but leaked them with an equal lack of care. It was therefore with some optimism that the reintroduction of Robbie would tighten the defence whilst the return of Gareth would maintain our run of free scoring football. However, these best laid plans were not to be. Despite facing an injured stand in goal keeper, Al, James and Gareth could not hit a barn door with any great regularity. Therefore, although we let in 10, which was 6 less then the previous matches, we only scored 5. The big difference from last week was Leo's self imposed absence. Clearly, the Mollie's have missed his athleticism in defence and threat up-front. No doubt, he has revelled in the added attacking responsibility since Big Mike went on his sabbatical.
He had an immediate opportunity to show his worth when he played in the following match against 24/7 from division 1. The team appear to have as many players as a Rugby squad showing incredible strength in depth coupled with minimal on pitch time. They also had a player who hit the ball with utter ferocity leaving Robbie with stinging legs from blocking his shots. They also had a very good goalkeeper who saved shots and held the ball well. However, i do not believe that 24/7 are any better then us, but we suffered in the second half of the second match through the expected lack of stamina. However, that is not to take away from the teams much better performance than in the first match. Leo had the freedom to attack the right flank whilst Alan was a constant threat on the left. It was positive that James scored in the second match but this did prove to be a difficult night for him. Equally the gaffer did have a disappointing second half in terms of distribution. However, thankfully, all the return shots were saved. No one appears to know what happened to Gareth when he subbed himself. However, he had left Goals by the time the team entered the bar area.
It is prudent to dread the video that was taken of the first match and will likely soon end up on You Tube. The Old Sea Dog is hoping that it will be like Steve's New Boots but in my opinion, it will be a bit of a horror show. I take few positives from the opening match of the night other than it should have removed the possibility of promotion. However, on reviewing the league, it is still a mathematical possibility if we win next week and Red Bull United lose.
Kick off is half 8 next week.
Much like watching England play Football, Rugby, Cricket or any number of other sports, the league game against SEC was an abject disappointment. Our relative league positions and 5 a side experience promised a win and 3 points for the Mollie's, but as ever, the Mollie's flattered to deceive. In recent matches the Mollie's scored goals with abandon but leaked them with an equal lack of care. It was therefore with some optimism that the reintroduction of Robbie would tighten the defence whilst the return of Gareth would maintain our run of free scoring football. However, these best laid plans were not to be. Despite facing an injured stand in goal keeper, Al, James and Gareth could not hit a barn door with any great regularity. Therefore, although we let in 10, which was 6 less then the previous matches, we only scored 5. The big difference from last week was Leo's self imposed absence. Clearly, the Mollie's have missed his athleticism in defence and threat up-front. No doubt, he has revelled in the added attacking responsibility since Big Mike went on his sabbatical.
He had an immediate opportunity to show his worth when he played in the following match against 24/7 from division 1. The team appear to have as many players as a Rugby squad showing incredible strength in depth coupled with minimal on pitch time. They also had a player who hit the ball with utter ferocity leaving Robbie with stinging legs from blocking his shots. They also had a very good goalkeeper who saved shots and held the ball well. However, i do not believe that 24/7 are any better then us, but we suffered in the second half of the second match through the expected lack of stamina. However, that is not to take away from the teams much better performance than in the first match. Leo had the freedom to attack the right flank whilst Alan was a constant threat on the left. It was positive that James scored in the second match but this did prove to be a difficult night for him. Equally the gaffer did have a disappointing second half in terms of distribution. However, thankfully, all the return shots were saved. No one appears to know what happened to Gareth when he subbed himself. However, he had left Goals by the time the team entered the bar area.
It is prudent to dread the video that was taken of the first match and will likely soon end up on You Tube. The Old Sea Dog is hoping that it will be like Steve's New Boots but in my opinion, it will be a bit of a horror show. I take few positives from the opening match of the night other than it should have removed the possibility of promotion. However, on reviewing the league, it is still a mathematical possibility if we win next week and Red Bull United lose.
Kick off is half 8 next week.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Gaffers Gob: 16 March 09
Apologies for the delay in the publishing of the latest Gob. Reasons have been a mixture of crazily excessive workload as well as shame over the gaffers recent performances in goal. This admission in no way justifies the scandalous criticism that has been published on the blog.
To be fair, the gaffer still firmly believes that the ref miscounted last week and we actually beat Ali Jazeera. In any event, the team did perform well with a makeshift attack. In an absolute rarity, all outfield players scored. Alongside this, James is looking more assured up-front although he did tend to suffer and drop back when tired. What has been positive over the last two games is the way the Molly's moved the ball around and scored from all areas instead of relying on a focal point up-front. However, concerns and irritations continue about the lack of penetration or threat whenever we get a freekick.
i feel i should report on the Gaffer's and Lungboy's man-date to Pitch Invasion in Eastleigh. Overall saving on fees would be £7 per week. There were some significant differences in the rules which will take some getting used to and the pitch appears wider and longer allowing more room which would be good for Gareth. The starkest difference is the lack of head height rule which means that Mike can get away with his adventurous shooting. Keepers kick out and there are throw ins and corners. Also the D is in play to outfield players. That's good for me as i feel more comfortable dealing with attackers up close rather than long shots. The goals are narrower but slightly taller. Overall, i would say that the game looks as fast as Goals but with the extra area on the pitch, players will likely run further. I also noticed that keepers tend to run more to collect the ball and kick out. Alongside this, i was disappointed with the lack of a bar or changing area. Certainly, a season in Pitch Invasion will be a new challenge, but overall, I'm not convinced that it will be a positive change. The other option is a different 5 a side area in Millbrook, but this is on a Monday and i definitely don't want to change to a Monday night as i like playing mid week.
I guess that this issue will likely raise it 's head again in the future. Tomorrow sees the unexpected return of Robbie to the defence at a pre 8pm kick off. The opposition is unknown to us but they have not had the best start to playing at Goals, so hopefully we can pick up more points as Leo will be given more freedom to play further up the pitch.
To be fair, the gaffer still firmly believes that the ref miscounted last week and we actually beat Ali Jazeera. In any event, the team did perform well with a makeshift attack. In an absolute rarity, all outfield players scored. Alongside this, James is looking more assured up-front although he did tend to suffer and drop back when tired. What has been positive over the last two games is the way the Molly's moved the ball around and scored from all areas instead of relying on a focal point up-front. However, concerns and irritations continue about the lack of penetration or threat whenever we get a freekick.
i feel i should report on the Gaffer's and Lungboy's man-date to Pitch Invasion in Eastleigh. Overall saving on fees would be £7 per week. There were some significant differences in the rules which will take some getting used to and the pitch appears wider and longer allowing more room which would be good for Gareth. The starkest difference is the lack of head height rule which means that Mike can get away with his adventurous shooting. Keepers kick out and there are throw ins and corners. Also the D is in play to outfield players. That's good for me as i feel more comfortable dealing with attackers up close rather than long shots. The goals are narrower but slightly taller. Overall, i would say that the game looks as fast as Goals but with the extra area on the pitch, players will likely run further. I also noticed that keepers tend to run more to collect the ball and kick out. Alongside this, i was disappointed with the lack of a bar or changing area. Certainly, a season in Pitch Invasion will be a new challenge, but overall, I'm not convinced that it will be a positive change. The other option is a different 5 a side area in Millbrook, but this is on a Monday and i definitely don't want to change to a Monday night as i like playing mid week.
I guess that this issue will likely raise it 's head again in the future. Tomorrow sees the unexpected return of Robbie to the defence at a pre 8pm kick off. The opposition is unknown to us but they have not had the best start to playing at Goals, so hopefully we can pick up more points as Leo will be given more freedom to play further up the pitch.
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Every Molly Maguires Home Shirt - KIT (part 1)
All the blue shirts worn by the greatest Molly Maguires defender in their history, including the skin-tight US shirt, and the controversial black shirt. Send your Molly Maguires shirt pics to lazarushall@yahoo.co.uk
Top - Bottom (L-R)
Original Home (Umbro)
Home 2005-2008 (West Ham)
Away 2006 (Converse)
Away 2008 (USA National)
Away 2008 (Australia National)
Home 2008-present (Melbourne Victory)
Away 2009 (West Ham)
Goal 2006-present (Melbourne Storm)
Top - Bottom (L-R)
Original Home (Umbro)
Home 2005-2008 (West Ham)
Away 2006 (Converse)
Away 2008 (USA National)
Away 2008 (Australia National)
Home 2008-present (Melbourne Victory)
Away 2009 (West Ham)
Goal 2006-present (Melbourne Storm)
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
9:8 Ali Jazeera FC 11/3/09 7.00pm
DREW 16-16
Matt, Leo3, Steve4 (2 pen), James3, Alan6
It’s not been the most fun of recent weeks in the real world. A reality TV star continues to die in my living room. Schools and shotguns remain synonymous. No one stays locked up for murder anymore.
Matt, Leo3, Steve4 (2 pen), James3, Alan6
It’s not been the most fun of recent weeks in the real world. A reality TV star continues to die in my living room. Schools and shotguns remain synonymous. No one stays locked up for murder anymore.
So I retreat back into my selfish little personal bubble, and enjoy partaking in a cracking little football match, with more spills than a two fingered Hooters girl, and more thrills than a Michael Jackson O2 residency.
With Gareth crying off, pigtails pulled, the team were down to five, and each individual player was going to have to step up and shoulder responsibility for attacking and defending in required measure. In recent games, we’ve not been shot shy - on two occasions striking 15 and 17 goals on our way to delicious victories. Of unfortunate note, our defence has been porous poor, conceding goals of 10, 15, and sweet 16 on two occasions.
This game met both the above criteria - a pinball, ping pong, NBA street match, that saw waves of attacks crash against each, as two footballing galleons, just stood there and cannonballed the fuck out of each other.
On the strength of tonight’s performance, and their scorelines of recent weeks, Ali-Jazeera must go through strikers and keepers like Tottenham. Some games they can barely score a fistful, other games, like tonight, they shag Matt with the age of consent.
Their keeper immediately gave himself away as a novice, passing the ball out with his feet, and conceding a penalty within a minute. As everyone stood around, and Alan and James decided who would take the penalty, Steve, the desperate old bugger, trotted to the ball, paused, then slotted home, surprising all and sundry. Amazingly the ref allowed it, and we were off the mark.
With only five players, the Molly formation chose itself. On the left wing, Alan was grafting, and running at defenders with staggering energy, linking up superbly and often with James, who was given the task of pressuring the last defender. On the right hand side, but significantly deeper, Leo was being all wing-back, balancing his direct one-touch shooting, with supporting Steve at the back, who himself showed off his definitive tackling manoeuvres to superb effect.
A second penalty award soon followed for a foot in the area, and again Steve barged aside James to slide the shot under the keeper. The taste of a hat-trick was almost on the tip of his tongue.
On the right wing, Leo was maximising his efficiency by using as little effort as possible, never running with the ball, and instead passing the shot away quickly, or just smashing it goal wards for another long range net buster.
On the left wing, Alan was retaining the ball, dominating his marker and striking home goals from all over the park, always willing to make that run from deep onto the edge of the D to get a couple of lucky breaks, or superb interventions. A match that finally saw him able to answer Leo’s question at the end, of “How many goals did you get?” with an inconclusive lost count answer.
Up front, the young boy of the team, was having to use all of his youthful zeal to harry and chase their defenders, and then assist Alan in the counter-attacks. James stepped up to take our third penalty, but only because Steve had already got his hat-trick by this point, and promptly smashed it against the post, which luckily rolled right back to him to slot home at the second attempt. Down the pecking order he goes.
He got used to the fact that it was his responsibility to stand in front of their centre kick-off, after being shouty reminded half a dozen times, and will hopefully accept the one occasion of criticism of his man-marking that allowed the opposition through to goal, without a repeat hissy fit, in the same way, every Molly player shouts abuse at each other on the pitch (by which I really mean just Leo shouting abuse at just Matt). Tell the darts team to stick their bench warming up their arse, and James will continue to be vital to our play, performing some exceptional through balls from deep, to set both Alan and Leo up with goals.
At the back Steve was surprisingly not getting run over, run away from or run around. The opposition loved to try and run through him, and his superior tackling as the last man, with Alan and Leo overlapping back, was profiteering of the highest quality. He even managed to score a couple of real goals, as an energetic full-on forty minutes would’ve left him very sore, but very happy, in the morning.
And yes, Matt. Even though he conceded sixteen goals, this time it was actually difficult to fault his performance. The opposition’s shooting and the skilful opportunities created by their yellow-shirted MVP, were presenting fast and furious angled drives, that even on his greatest day, the gaffer would have difficulty getting to.
Although whether Matt actually conceded sixteen goals, or really perhaps a couple less, was the subject of much conjecture. We’d finished the first half a solid 10-7 up, and held a grip on that three goal lead up to 12-9. After that, it all got a bit hazy. Somehow the opposition dragged themselves back into contention, as our lead suddenly became 13-12, as we skipped through time, with barely any memory of such routing going on, and it finally surprised us to learn that Alan’s last goal of the match, was just enough to snatch a draw from the jaws of invisible defeat. The ref, for all his fair decisions, advantage playing-on and complimentary comments, showed himself up to be a real dunce with the numbers, and so the Mollys finished the match dazed, confused, slightly bruised and bemused.
Still, a draw saved us from a place in the top two, and the still present threat of promotion to a division where we would get ripped to pieces, so not all bad.
After the match, Matt and Leo went off on their epic man-date, holding hands at the romantic pitches of Pitch Invasion at Eastleigh Football Club. It wasn’t the best man-date I’d ever been on (that’s still with you, Deano baby) and quite frankly was a bitter disappointment. As I type this now, I struggle to think of any advantages it had over Goals, other than it was cheaper. Atmosphere-wise it was dead - you’d actually miss the thuggery, the chavs, the entourages, the characters. There were no supporters, absolutely no noise on the pitch, no shouts of “fuck, yeah” or “shit, missed”. There was one bloke collecting money, no bar, no TV screens, no burger van. It was the very definition of low-key.
As Matt rightly sweet whispered in my ear, it would be purely about the football, but even then I’d question that. We watched two top teams going at it, for about ten minutes, and not once did I see a goal. With balls going out of play, there wasn’t the constant pressure and speed, but the pitches weren’t even that big enough to allow space to run or pass into, so shots were still ridiculously ambitious, and at goals that appeared smaller in width than at Goals. You wouldn’t get a sixteen-all here, believe me.
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
9:7 Red Bull United 4/3/09 9.15pm
WON 17-15
Matt, Leo3, Robbie1, Steve1, Alan4, Gareth8
The key thing you have to remember is that I don't deliberately set out to criticise our erstwhile leader and goalkeeper. It just comes naturally. I want you, dear reader, to keep in mind, that we won. That we won, even whilst conceding 15 goals, when in any other game we would've probably lost. That the gaffer let in two less goals then their keeper.
Matt, Leo3, Robbie1, Steve1, Alan4, Gareth8
The key thing you have to remember is that I don't deliberately set out to criticise our erstwhile leader and goalkeeper. It just comes naturally. I want you, dear reader, to keep in mind, that we won. That we won, even whilst conceding 15 goals, when in any other game we would've probably lost. That the gaffer let in two less goals then their keeper.
Now. There had been initial apprehension leading up to the match that we would get duffed up again by the heavy hitters Local Lads. Matt teased us with rumours and counter-rumours of cancellation, but in the end, the match was on against a new team slotted into the Lads' position. Leo contemplated Red Bull United being a professional looking, sponsored shirt outfit. Steve theorised a bunch of young hoods who liked to drink Red Bull at the weekend. Well, some of their foot work looked suited for an under the influence dance floor.
When we saw them in the flesh, they certainly looked to some Molly players as 'do-able'. Robbie was incredibly chuffed upon the sight of their keeper, declaring himself the third fattest man on the pitch, but would ultimately put in a performance that made him the best fattest man of the match. Congrats.
However, the team started shoddy. Too much loose lost ball in the middle third saw Matt concede a weak passing shot, and then Leo pin-balled a tame wide shot into his net for an obvious own goal. The opposition were playing like the rookies they were, getting used to the surface, the back-pass rule, and the prohibition of entering the D. But we made them look good. Their touches were initially awkward, and they frequently got caught on the ball. Positionally they were sound enough and their confidence steadily grew throughout the match, to the point where they were solo trying to run the ball out of defence from deep, when the keeper was the easy safe option.
After the initial weak start we stamped our control onto the football, and Leo displayed simply awesome technical displays of one touch shooting to smash home three long rangers in quick succession past their reactionless keeper. Their keeper {remember he conceded two whole goals more than Matt} was clearly the weak link in their team, a pretty static, leg heavy brute, and Gareth was determined to butcher him into tenderised meat. Gareth punished him for a blatant hand ball outside the D as Leo chased down a long ball from Matt, and would go on to at least a further seven goals. Alan ably supported the frontline, and the link-up play between him and the G-boy was almost godly to behold, but a magic piece of solo magic, saw the old timer control a long pass with one touch, drawing him inside off the left wing, and then thunder home the ball with the second touch.
At the back, we were never exposed, or lacking bodies. There may have been a couple of questionable positional moments, but Robbie or Steve or both were always loitering at the back, and when the opposition came running at them, the tackling was exceptionally holding up their attacks, and frustrating their forward play. This was a constant battle of attack, and counter, counter and attack. Leo was freed up to harass up and down the right wing - Matt actually managing to find him off the wall on a couple of occasions, and the tracking back by Alan and Gareth meant Red Bull never had an easy shot {still remembering that we conceded 15 goals?}.
With Gareth working through his shot repertoire, Leo having bagged his hat-trick early, and Alan consistently menacing throughout the match, it was either the greatest surprise or the obvious of fate, that Robbie and Steve would complete the outfield scoring. Robbie lashed a long range central shot that cruised home, like a charged power shot from a soccer video game, and Steve, in the second half, stepped forward into the centre circle, and whip curled a trademark peach into the bottom corner.
At some point during the first half, the ball got skied over the fencing. Accusing fingers pointed at Leo should instead be promptly put up their owner's bums. And in the most selfless display ever, the referee reticently earned his match fee by running back indoors to get another ball (and a spare) whilst the theme music to the slow-mo bit of Chariots of Fire played in his empty head. Ten minutes later, and I was ten minutes older, and the match re-started, with a little Molly momentum lost.
Half time soon rolled around and we were 10-6 up. It felt like more, but we (and I use the term vicariously) had let in some soft ones. We had been organised, disciplined and we played with some semblance of teamwork. We discussed their poor keeper {remember, one of the two fattest men on the pitch}, and the need to shoot on target; the need to take better, quicker free kicks in their half; and confirmation that Leo did not hit the ball over the fencing.
By and large, the second half was just as incident packed as the first, but you'll have to excuse the memory of which half said incidents took place. Firstly, there was the greatest piece of recent skill from a Molly player, as showboat Steve outdid his marker, by backheeling a pass to himself off the sidewall, and then having the vim to take the ball back on and away. Gareth weighed in with a stunning tight right side angled drive that smashed into the goal off all three posts, and there were a couple of pure passing movements from one end of the outfield to the opposition's onion bag.
Matt contributed to the scoreline in numerous ways. The gaffer pulled out an emphatic right-sided diving save of shot-stopping brilliance, and also saved another hard hitter whilst supposedly being distracted by Leo's shout of "KEEPER!". It's called giving advance notice. But he also made a great save with his arse, as a shot almost squirmed through his legs, and he fell onto the ball, sucking it up into his cheeks. Like Foghorn Leghorn laying an egg, or Butterbean riding a space hopper.
Of course, we'd happily accept this goalkeeping methodology to the alternative of letting in goals through the legs, as Matt contrived to do on at least two occasions, on one occasion actually deflecting it into the net off his inner thighs. Worse was to follow as a soft central shot from the Red Bull's big man, having been effectively closed down by the defence, to limit his shooting to a soft central shot, then hit that aforementioned soft central shot, which wrong footed Matt, and glanced through his dipping fingers like a gentle stream into the net. What followed was not the usual tirade from Leo, but a angry eff and blind from Steve, of all people, incensed that we seemed to be throwing away all our good work.
And that's exactly what we were doing in a good (as in long) spell of the second half. Matt's central throw outs were not so much as being intercepted as being greeted with a hearty hug and a cheeky pinch on the bottom. Some of team (i.e. not me) were playing ridiculously unsafe balls that had little margin of error and were putting us under the constant pressure of the counter. The opposition trusted their keeper little and were happy to run it from deep, and we too seemed less inclined to play the safe short ball to keeper, or the safe long ball to nowhere.
Their big man was a constant threat, and Leo and Alan both felt the brunt of walking into the brick wall. Leo getting unfairly bounced away with a shoulder charge that went unpunished, and Alan trading studs, falling to ground, and getting the kick awarded against him. Indeed, direct free-kicks were being thrown around in abundance as the game turned scrappy, and we attempted something we had no scooby doo about - being hard. Frustration was creeping into our subconscious as we lost focus on playing the ball and more on gipping at the ref for his lame decisions. A couple of late steady goals from Gareth allowed us to hold onto a lead that we didn’t realise we were so close to losing.
Robbie continues to have a winning talismanic effect on the team, like a golden Buddha, and Grandpa Steve continues to rehab nicely from his groinal injury. The team looked fitter, and it was good to see Don back on the scene, sexy leg stockings and all. And there was a beautiful wafting smell of shit that raped our nostrils to further enhance a fantastic action packed game.
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