LIVE! From the RICOH Arena...It's Wood versus Beever
1 -v- 1
Coventry Wednesday
Whenever we play Coventry away there can’t be many Wednesday fans that look forward to the trip, in fact, we always bang on about soulless grounds and lack of atmosphere, can there be anywhere more soulless than this? It’s just dead…in fact it’s deader than dead, is there anywhere deader? I can’t think of anywhere.
They usually have huge banners outside advertising NOT the team…not the ‘Mighty Sky Blues’ but Bon Jovi….or Pink…or Boyzone…WHY? Why not be proud of ya footy team? Why not let everyone know in no uncertain terms, as they approach the ground, this is the home of the 1987 FA Cup winners…it’s a poor place for football IMO and I really don’t like going there…PLUS…we never get fook all from them…that doesn’t help I suppose…
Not this time though….none of that…I was out of bed and bouncing this morning, looking forward to it all, not only did I think we’d do well here today I EXPECTED something from the game….I was confident we’d get something.
I get up, go about me usual ‘good luck’ routine…we NOW very lucky clothes are all laid out for me…jeans, TWAT shirt, non black socks, non black shreddies…all an integral part of this good run we’re on…I couldn’t find a pair of non black socks to start with, for some reason I could find a sock of two different colours and considered wearing odd socks, it’s that important…it’s not all down to the football on the pitch ya know, we all play our part….this routine is my part.
| I got a right shock though when I started me shave…I noticed me first
‘ear hair’. Me first old folks ear hair…it shook me a little TBH…I mean accept growing old like but when it smacks you in the face with something like that you’re not really prepared for it…there it was in me left lug oil, sticking out at a right angle all proud and that…right ya bastard, I’m having you…tweezers were out and I tugged at it like billy-o…I’m sure the fooker kept ducking when I went to grab it…you know how hard it is to do these things in the mirror…I thought I was gonna be here all day but eventually I homed in it and grabbed the little fooker…a yanked… YEEEAAARGH! Fook me! It hurt like a bastard. |  |
These ‘old age’ hairs must be rooted to ya core because I’m sure I felt me innards move upwards and I’m positive me other ear is slightly inwards now…I did that continuous dabbing you do to see if sommat’s bleeding…dab…look….dab…look..dab-look-dab-look-dab-look..it gets quicker and firmer almost like you’re wanting to make it bleed to prove ya point…It was a wound I had to carry all day…
Anyway, I get on me way…I decided against an ear bandage and went to pick the young un up and get some petrol…
Then I got stuck behind the most annoying sod ever at waiting for petrol…I saw him come out after paying so pulled up behind him, thinking, he’ll onny be a second and I’m in…
WRONG!
Why do people do this?
Why do they take 5 minutes to fuel, 2 minutes to pay and all fooking day to get sat right in their car?
 | Put the sweets in the glovebox….take sweets out of glovebox, open one
VERY FOOKIN CAREFULLY…look for somewhere to put wrapper, DROP THE FOOKER
ON THE FLOOR YA TWAT! Put sweets back in glovebox, make sure it’s
secure…Get shades…look at self…..adjust shades….chat to mate…check
shades…offer mate a sweet…shades….chat….shades….hair….shades….look under
seat…..shades-satnav-SHADES-SHADES-FOOKIN SHADES…FOOK OFF WITH YOUR
CHUFFIN SHADES…FFS just fookin move! OK so we’ve got some sunshyiiiiiiiine but it’s not new, it’ll be there again and we all know ya shades look luvverly….JUST MOVE YA FOOKIN CAR! Slow people in petrol stations…GRRR! |
Eventually we get off…me heart attack put on the back burner and we pick Hoyland and Kizza up and we’re finall away…
It’s a steady enough trip down there and uneventful other than passing the Wednesday team coach and hanging out of the car windows to cheer at them, so we arrive in plenty of time to make the meet up at the pub…
The jukebox is getting some right hammer…Hi-ho-Silver Lining and Hey Jude pretty much non stop, accompanied by the Wednesday male voice choir…The problem with this pub is it’s almost outside our house so you need to set off on the long walk with plenty of time…
| As we’re walking we pass the ‘former Wednesday players turned pigs
training camp’ and see Bromby, Geary and Quinn up to their knees in
shit, oinking like good uns….I think every Wednesday fan passing this
real pigsty must have made some comment along the same lines…these were
much better looking than the other 3 Little Pigs though. We get in the ground and after we’ve put our bets on…including Woody to score first and last, (Very popular bet ‘Woddy to score’ amongst the Wednesday fans queuing at the bookies) we take our pies and betting slips up to our seats. |  |
THE MATCH
 | When the teams come out of the tunnel to our left Coventry were sporting
a commemorative white shirt to mark England’s participation at this
summer's World Cup, while at the same time supporting the country's bid
to host the 2018 tournament. Woody had been made captain for them…he was
on the programme cover, he was in the middle he’s done a blog, he was
in the car park, on the burgers, in the beer tent…everything about today
was Woody day and Coventry felt the need to let us know they’d got one
of our prized assets. When his name was read out and throughout the game when he touched the ball there were chants of ‘Money Grabbing Bastard’ and loud booing which were harsh IMO…but as Tommo pointed out, he didn’t necessarily agree with it but if it put him off and meant we got an advantage then who cares? As it was he had a decent first half did Woody and he needed to have really… |
It could have been 2-2 in the first few minutes, it was end to end stuff but we slowly and surely took control as we started to play some really good football but just couldn’t quite make the break through, it just didn’t drop right for us at the crucial moment and at the back we were excellent all the way across.
It almost seemed as though it was gonna be one of them frustrating games. A game where we play them off the pitch but can’t quite make it pay and apply the killer blow. In fact someone said if it had been us on the receiving end of this much good play we’d probably have been about 5-0 down and I know what they mean. It wasn’t simply down to brilliant defending by Coventry it was just that the ball dropped behind our striker or it bobbled or wouldn’t sit down or went just wide…there were loads of things that almost seemed to conspire against us to prevent us finding the goal we richly deserved…when Leon finall got it all right and caught the ball beautifully on the half volley…he twatted the ball into the net with the keeper absolutely nowehre…and it was a proper twatting….we were off, celbrating like fook, only to see, when we emerged from the bundle of jubilant bodies the goal had been ruled out by the ref, apparently Tudders had fouled or blinked or done sommat that he didn’t like…the goal looked sound to us and we were well fooked off.
The Wednesday fans were in fine voice now though and mingled the great songs with chants aimed at Woody, there was a little spell where it was non stop at Woody and quite loud…. And his case wasn’t helped when he should have been booked for a high boot at Leons head which, incredibly, neither ref nor linesman saw.
Nolan throughout the game was fookin wonderful but in this half there was a snapshot of him and what he brings to this team…he knocked the ball past the defender and sets off to run onto it, he gives his man a good start and even allows him to get there JUST ahead of him but then outmuscles him to get back onto it…superb stuff.
The balls he puts down the line…curved to perfection and just the right amount of weight, the defender has no chance because they can’t turn quick enough…it’s simply superb to watch.
Half time came and there had been only one team in it after that opening few minutes, this first half was everything the Watford first 45 wasn’t, we had flur, we had passion, we were quick and decisive and at the back we were as solid as we ever seem to be these days…Coventry had just had a nil-nil drubbing
For the second half we moved seats, we went right to the back…it’s a fair way but a decent view.
| Coventry simply had to improve this half because we made them look truly
dreadful and to that end made 3 subs at start…one of them being
Morrison...Now I know folk don’t like him but I do…I love his passion
and his commitment. Every single game means something to him, he never hides or shirks his responsibilities and I tell you now, if we’d had players with that tenacity, that work rate and that grit and determination we wouldn’t have been in the shit we have been over recent years. When he got the ball on our right with Nolan still upfield from a petered out attack it looked ominous but Purse went over to meet and greet him…it needed a good tackle, a PROPER tackle… if he mistimed it he’s either off or Morrison is through and scores but he goes in all blood and thunder and not only executes the perfect tackle, he comes out with the fookin ball and he’s up and off on the attack, wonderful….again it was found wanting at the business end but the start of that move from Purse was excellent. |  |
Coventry got a corner and Beevers was watching Woody like a hawk, it was a good tussle between the two all day and every opportunity they put Woody in the box, but Beevers got a bit hasty in his defending of his former team-mate and tried heading over his own goal only to see the ball hit the bar…GASP!
Then they had a good bit of play that saw Morrison and Sears team up well and end with Morrison putting the ball which was slightly behind him, into the net but he was easily offside and it was disallowed…the Wednesday fans seized the opportunity to take the piss out of him mercilessly…as he starts whinging at the linesman, walking up to him and throwing his arms about, he wasn’t a happy fella and he gets booked for his troubles…and all the time he’s getting it from Wednesday fans…and he’s getting madder and madder…
To be fair though, Coventry did have the best of it in the opening play this half although we probably had the best chance early on when Leon rose like a huge salmon to head goalwards, only for the keeper to tip it onto the post…That’s what we were told anyway…they’d just announced the crowd figure and we were discussing it when the Wednesday fans suddenly roared…we thought, what a strange reaction to the crowd figures but joined in anyway…we missed the real reason for the cheers and groans…it was gonna be one of them days wasn’t it?
Well, no it wasn’t gonna be one of them days…
 | Thanks to Varney and his superb goal….a proper individual effort
too…round his man on the left…down to the byline…dances inside…closer to
the goal….closer…and everyone’s expecting him to pass…he didn’t and he
didn’t just leather it blindly either, he guided the ball into the net
around the keeper, into the net, thank you and good night…and he was
off…so were we…. from a fookin ridiculous angle he managed to get that
bastard home…oh aye, we went fookin apeshit…I grabbed Hollie and we ran
up and down the seats before jumping on Tommo…get the fook in! It must have been very sweet for Varney as on one of the rare occasions the Coventry fans DID sing, they sang ‘Da-dada-da fookin useless’ at one of his shots…well have some of this fookin useless ya bassads! |
What a cracking goal….kudos to the bloke….to take them on like that, to have the skill to get that ball in the net from there…well…as Fred said to me after the game…’Waddlesque’ and the praise doesn’t come much higher than that.
Tommo started a chant of ‘Hark now hear the Wednesday sing’ and it was fookin wonderful…a proper fur up moment…the noise was incredible and it echoed around that horrible shell of a place and injected life and depth into the soulless place.
That was it, the game changed again and we started to boss it again, passing it around lovely with Potter and O Connor controlling things in the middle and even though I got all tense I couldn’t see us losing this now…we were controlling things again.
Then with ten minutes to go the ball was leathered upfield…and as is the case with all our old players coming back to haunt us…the clouds part…you hear a rumble of thunder….the sunlight shines down….the whole place is bathed in a sea of gold…the choir sings….the light shifts to a single beam of golden sunlight, which singles out the man and touches Woody and Woody alone as he’s lifted by an invisible hand to nod the ball over a desperate onrushing Grant into an empty net…
It should have been an easy ball for us to deal with … Hollie had just finished telling me that sometimes Purse and Grant don’t communicate well and go for the same ball too many times, they’d done it minutes earlier….no sooner had she done telling me than Grant comes out for a ball that had Purses name all over it…if Grant leaves it to him we win the game 1-0…it was undoubtedly a very poor error by Granty…
We were gutted but I think I heard some squeaking from the home fans…
| When Woody scored he didn’t really celebrate and he shrugged off the
congratulations from his Coventry team mates but Morrison was having
none of that malarkey and stood in front of Wednesday fans giving us
some right stick…ya see…again, I know no fooker likes that but I loved
it…and so did he…to me, it’s all part and parcel of the football
experience and what goes around, comes around. Varney had had his stick from the Coventry fans and slammed it down their throats…Morrison now had his moment to savour…or Woodys moment anyway and he gave us some back. Then the fookin Coventry fans, started the third of their vast repertoire of songs…’You’re not singing anymore’ Cheeky fookin bassads! It’s one thing Morrison doing that but they were proper cheeky sods. |  |
It didn’t take long for us to start up again though, even though we were gutted and we felt very hard done by, we STILL sang….
Coventry had their tails up for a few minutes now and it all got a bit too tense for me again but to be fair we coped with it easily enough as the minutes ticked away and eventually the whistle went, it felt like we’d lost….
We were gutted really and felt we hadn’t got what we deserved from the game but we sang to our team as they came over to us…
 | We watched and applauded as Woody, Beevers and Tommy went over to each
other to shake hands and talk like the good mates they had been at our
club…as they obviously still are…Tommy and Woody swapped shirts and all
three of them came right over to the Wednesday fans and applauded us. It was a lovely, lovely touch…they were the best of mates, they’ve grown up together, they’ve been through a lot together, us too, we’ve been with ALL 3 of them all the way, a long journey with Woody and they’re all still close, like brothers…it was a wonderful moment in my opinion, and to their credit, the remaining Wednesday fans accepted the moment for what it was too. The ‘abuse’ such as it was, was pantomime abuse…for 90 minutes Woody had been the pantomime villain, the fans had had their say and so had he by scoring but it was over and now it was time to say thanks for the good times to the last of the Cardiff heroes. |
This was one of the best moments of the season for me and kudos to all three of them.
Walking back to the car and the mood was the same as at the final whistle, a feeling of points lost rather than gained.
Not one of us would deny we’d have taken a point at the start but it did feel like we’d been robbed.
We need to keep it in perspective though.
If it hadn’t been for Granty this season, in fact the last few seasons, we really would have been in the shit. Some of his saves have been simply incredible and there will be no one at the club feeling as bad as him right now.
I’m absolutely sure Irvine and the players will rally round him to pick him up from this and I’m sure they’ll work on it in training, the communication…and I’m sure they’ll become better players for it eventually.
Once again, as a team, we’d demonstrated what we are capable of when we try. We CAN play good football. We CAN take the game to the opposition…we don’t need to be negative to get something from the game. There were excellent performances all over the place, the back line were outstanding again, the two centre halves look like they’ve played together since time began and Nolan just different gravy. If there’s any chance we can get him, if we find ourselves with money, then he MUST be top of any players to buy list.
The midfield worked hard, especially Potter and O Connor who controlled long periods of the game and Tudgay, even though he didn’t score, once again, his passing and defending was superb. Leon, on another day would have had least 2 goals and Varney once again showed how valuable he is to our run in and staying in this division.
Above all that, this was an excellent team performance.
There was no disjointed play, none of that ‘they looked like strangers’ rubbish, they worked hard for each other and they were a credit to the club and to us as Wednesday fans.
Not too long ago we wouldn’t have dreamed of taking anything from Coventry but that’s changed now. I think we should be going to places with a little bit of confidence, we should think about taking all the points and THEY should fear us. I STILL think we’ll give someone a hiding before the season ends…I can’t wait for the next game now.
Steve:Beastie
Owls Alive