Two minutes with… Northampton Town

 

Friday’s visitors to Underhill were Northampton, and in this instalment, Cobblers fan Damien gives his views.

Pre-match

Had you been to Underhill before?

No, I hadn't been before, but I'd heard some stories that I can certainly see now, such as the odd slope you have there.

How did you get to the game?

Got there by coach, which was a nightmare seeing as the traffic was diabolical and ended up missing 20 minutes of the first half. Who'd have thought that it would take three hours to get to somewhere that on a good day, takes an hour?

The match

Whereabouts in the ground did you sit/stand?

Stood in the away terrace, halfway between the corner flag and the halfway line. Let's just say the view wasn't superb seeing as we got there late.

What did you make of the game?

My honest truthful answer? The worst away game I've ever been to, from the Cobblers side of things. Everyone was a little surprised that Edgar Davids was starting, and we knew regarding his age, he'd still have something in him that shows the quality that he had/has. It wasn't the Davids show by a long shot, which everyone probably expects after the result. We were shocking in the first half, and made you guys look like a team at the top of the table, rather a team who hadn't won a game in 14 games. I wasn't happy on the way home.

Who (from either side) do you think deserved to be man of the match?

Well, I can only choose a Barnet player really because there was certainly no Man of the Match from our side. Probably John Oster - thought he did well and deserved his goal at the end.

Post-match

Was the score line a fair reflection on the game?

At the end, I'd say so because we didn't play at all. In fact, I'm surprised it wasn't more.

Who do you play next, and how do you think you’ll get on?

Well, we played Bradford last night (23^rd) and lost 1-0. We have Port Vale next at home. A game I'm worried about as it'll no doubt be three losses in a row. Having lost to you guys, Bradford and Port Vale are the teams we really didn't want to face next seeing as they are two of the in-form teams at the moment. We just need to start playing well and get our players back from injury.

Ratings

Cost of match day ticket

£16 is about the average for a ticket these days. On that basis, it's just standard. Based on the game and we arrived late, it's the worst £16 I've ever spent, but had the game been decent, and got there on time, it'd been worth it ––– 7/10

Purchases made at ground

Bought a programme, as I always do for away games. Most of them are all £3 anyway, so that's normal ––– 9/10

View

The view was okay, but didn't get the best of views because we arrived late. Had it been normal, then I'd have picked a good spot, but the view would have been good. Not restricted (unless you have someone with a big head) ––– 8/10

Quality of football

As I said earlier, I thought it was one of the worst away games I've been to. We didn't play, and had we have done, the score line wouldn't have been as big – and Barnet would have been an average team ––– 4/10

Overall experience

Horrid, if I'm honest. Diabolical traffic which made us get there 20 minutes after the traffic. Horrid performance and a horrid result which I'm going to be honest and say that I expected to win, because if we're to challenge in the top half, like some of us predicted, we have to beat teams who are on a poor run of form. Having said that, we always seem to struggle against Barnet, so the result probably isn't too surprising, just maybe the score line ––– 5/10

Total ––– 33/50

And you can follow Damien on Twitter @DHCobbler_NTFC

 

The Edgar Davids effect

It’s funny what difference a win can make, especially when it’s your first of the season! The weekend prior to last, I found myself moaning at a woeful display at home to Plymouth that saw us lose 4-1 at home. I write (or wrote as it was last Saturday!) this on the back of Friday night – our first win, against Northampton Town. Once again the weather was fairly miserable, but the football wasn’t, at least in the second half!

Like many others, I was caught in the traffic on the M25 which soon extended as far as the A1081 into Barnet, so I missed the first twenty minutes or so. Having spoken to a couple of people, it sounds like I didn’t miss much, and the rest of the first half wasn’t up to much either – with Northampton creating the best of the chances.

The second half was very good, and I think I’d go as far as saying it was the best 45 minutes I’d seen so far this season. It wasn’t even a case of Northampton looking extremely poor (did Stack even make a save?), we just upped our game. There have been times this season where I’ve been bored senseless at our attempt to pass the ball around, largely unsuccessful and to no avail. I’ve seen performances where we haven’t even had a single shot on target, whereas other times we’ve created chances but had no end product. On Friday we created opportunities and finished them – and we did it in some style, alright!

The main man

For most of Thursday and Friday, match previews highlighted the fact that Edgar Davids was eligible to play, having been assigned the number 38 earlier in the week. Maybe it was the cynic in me that said “he won’t play and if he does, he won’t last long. The club are using it as a ploy to get a decent crowd (like at the Plymouth game) and for obvious media coverage”. Boy was I wrong. He started, made himself captain and played all 90 minutes – also getting the ‘Man of the Match’ award. I think Yiadom deserved it, but never mind. His experience was there for all to see – his presence on the pitch was great: telling players what to do and encouraging the little ones, running his socks off and playing some great passes. It’s true to say he certainly hasn’t lost that skill – even at 39!

Even looking back, I don’t really think anyone had a bad game. Oster was exceptional, him and Davids had a great partnership in midfield – and he capped off his performance with a super goal. The central defence partnership look reasonably more assured and even Kamdjo had a couple of good touches here and there. I saw a few negative comments regarding Hyde on Twitter, someone said he looked “anonymous” – he may not have looked likely to score but he held the ball up well for others and had plenty of options left and right to give the ball to. In the first half I thought we missed Holmes’ pace and skill down the wing, but having banged four goals in, I thought we did okay without him!

The plaudits

It was always obvious that Davids would come in and get the credit when we finally won a game and in my opinion that was the case after Friday. Of course it’s largely down to his status within the game. At the final whistle, the team from the Football League Show followed him off the pitch, interviewing him as they went. The post-match reports again were largely dominated by the famous Dutch man. But what was nice to see was the manner in which young Andy Yiadom celebrated his goal – running towards the bench and hugging Mark Robson. It was just lovely to see that his efforts (whether you think they’ve been good or bad) haven’t gone unnoticed with the team. One thing I will say about Friday is, the tactics looked a lot more positive than usual – there was still an awful lot of back passing which I imagine will be eradicated with confidence, but the ‘total football’ paid off.

The win got me to think about our previous form. The last time we won 4-0 at home was against AFC Wimbledon (28/04/12) – we won our following game (2-1 away at Burton on the final day of the season). The last time we scored four goals in one half, we won away at Burton (02/04/11) and Steve Kabba scored all four – we won the following game then too (2-1 at home to Crewe Alexandra). With the facts evident, I thought we’d win away at Wycombe (last night), as it was, we drew 0-0. Four points from six isn’t bad at all, especially with two consecutive clean sheets. Chesterfield away on Saturday – three points would be perfect, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

 

Fans’ season preview 2012/13 – part three

Gillingham

Michael – @mikeywoods89

8^th in League Two – “Just fallen short”

We lost a few players, in particular Paulo Gazzaniga who has joined Southampton, but we have brought in some good replacements and perhaps strengthened in areas that were otherwise weak last season such as the defence.

With the quality of players we have this season and Martin Allen in charge (hopefully he'll last the season), I expect us to make the play-offs as a minimum. I believe the highest we can aim for is 3rd but there are some strong teams in this league.

Rotherham and York are of particular interest – Rotherham because of the new ground and York because of the place itself, and it's a team I haven't seen us face before. Also looking forward to Burton Albion as it's the final game of the season and I have yet to visit Burton.

Morecambe

Jack – @MorecambeJack

15^th in League Two – "Room for improvement"

We have lost Lawrence Wilson our left back with a great attacking threat who I think we will miss terribly. We have brought in Robbie Threlfall as a replacement but it remains to be seen whether he can fill his boots. Garry Hunter was released, despite being Morecambe born and bred, but we have brought in Championship-level experience through Andy Wright from Scunthorpe.

Expectation is to stay in the league and with a reduced squad this year, anything more than that will be a success. We are going to heavily rely on youth this year and hope that we do not suffer many injuries. Showing relegation form over the last 7 months of last season, we really need a good start again this year to avoid being in a scrap at the bottom.

I think most Morecambe fans are looking forward to the Fleetwood games this year, as they become our nearest "rivals" once more. The York game also has some interest as we beat them in the play-off semis the year we got promoted (with a bit of controversy!). Other than that, I am looking forward to the Bradford games particularly at home on New Year's Day and our away game at Accrington which for the first time I can remember, is on a Saturday in spring rather than a cold Tuesday night in winter!

Northampton Town

20^th in League Two –

Oxford United

Jennie – @x_Jen_xx

9^th in League Two – “Disappointing, frustrating, inconsistent”

We've kept a lot of our key players, I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, because something needs to dramatically change in our squad! I’m glad that we've kept Constable and Craddock, so I’m expecting a lot more from them this season. We've signed a couple of players who could be vital for next season and have a couple more on loan, such as McGinty and Cox, which should hopefully get the players fighting for their places instead of becoming too complacent!

I think a lot of Oxford fans will expect us to be in the play-offs by Christmas and if we're not... then I think Wilder will be sacked. It's a shame because I do like Wilder, but we can't just keep finishing in mid table in League Two because people will just stop going. By the end of the season, I think realistically we would be lucky to get in to the play-offs, but anything less would be heartbreaking for the club. We have a new chairman so hopefully that should push the club forward. A play-off place will be good enough.

I’m looking forward to Wycombe away – bit of a local derby and it's always a game that we look forward to. Exeter away too, just because there's some old rivalry there from when we were in the Conference with them! I’m hoping for a good cup run going as we haven't had one in a very long time, but knowing Oxford, this will not happen this season either!

Plymouth Argyle

Edward – @ArgyleEd

21^st in League Two – “Difficult, stressful, successful”

Our biggest loss is Simon Walton who we let go to Hartlepool for personal reasons. Walton was never universally popular but in my opinion really came through for the club last season during difficult times. He was made captain after Fletcher became manager and I believe his leadership made a big difference to a young and inexperienced team that were really struggling. He was also our top scorer, they were mostly from the penalty spot but by keeping his head under pressure he scored several goals that turned out to be vital in our League survival. He was never as good as we thought he would be considering what we paid for him back in our Championship years and some fans always held that against him but I believe that in League Two he'll be missed. Other than Walton our only losses are the loan players who returned to their clubs, they all played a part in our improvement in the second half of the season, MacDonald, Hemmings and Tsoumou all gave us a greater attacking threat that what was provided by our permanent players.

Jamie Lowry was brought in not long after Walton's departure, he's got a poor injury record but fans of his previous clubs mostly think well of him and think he'll do a good job in League Two, unfortunately he has suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out for three months. I'm hoping to see Luke Young play a big role for us, he's only 19 but has shown a lot of promise despite mostly playing out on the wing which is not his best position, if he gets a chance in centre midfield I believe he could have a very good season. We really lacked a genuine goal-scorer last season, it was a position that needed sorting, I like Nick Chadwick and Warren Feeney but neither of them will score the goals to keep us out of a relegation scrap. Fletcher's solution appears to be Welsh striker Rhys Griffiths, he's got a fantastic record in the Welsh league (180 goals in 181 appearances for Llanelli) but no experience at a higher level and at 32 years old quite a bit older than most players who make the step up to League football. If he can reproduce anything like the coring form he's had in Wales it'll be a fantastic signing but if he can't then we'll be left with a real goal-scoring problem. Andres Gurrieri signed after being released by Burton, he impressed here on trial last summer (supposedly we couldn't sign him then due to his previous club wanting compensation) and Burton fans seem to think he was ok for them, I'm happy enough with the signing and he's not the only new winger, we've also signed Johnny Gorman from Wolves on loan until January. If they can replace what we had with Hemmings and MacDonald and allow Luke Young to play in the centre of midfield rather than on the wing I'll be very pleased. Our only other signing so far is goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin who was released by Watford who says he has signed to challenge Jake Cole for the number one spot rather than to be back up, Cole however was impressive for us last season and I'd expect him to at least start the season as number one.

I honestly don't know where we'll finish this season. I'm not expecting a promotion challenge despite our owner's comments on expectations and wage budget. We came very close to going down last season and at the moment I'm not convinced our team is much stronger, what we've lost has mostly been replaced but as yet the quality of the replacements is yet to be proven. Without the stress of administration and no wages and the experience gained last season I don't think we'll be in quite the same struggle as we were last season but I'm expecting to be paying more attention to the bottom of the table than the top. I don't think we'll get relegated but if we are to leave League Two at the end of the season it seems likely it would be into the Conference rather than League One. It's important for our fans to remember that rebuilding from the disastrous period in administration will take time and if we can't yet afford to immediately compete for promotion then we shouldn't try to, if spending within our means signing cheap, unproven players for now and having a few disappointing seasons then that's a price worth paying, I hope our fans don't demand we put our future at risk again if things don't go too well. Right now I'd be content with a mid table finish and a season without the constant worry of relegation, after four desperately stressful relegation battles in a row I think we deserve a relaxing year. I'm also hoping to see some more attacking football, our ultra defensive set up worked for us in the desperation of last season but it was not much fun to watch, Fletcher has said he'd prefer a more attractive style of football and I think we have the players to do it if they're allowed to and there's not the immediate pressure to get results that a relegation battle creates.

With all three of Devon's League clubs in the same division the obvious fixtures to look forward to are the derbies between us, Torquay and most importantly, Exeter. However, as I am not too confident about our chances there's a fair bit of worry mixed in with the excitement and as I'm not a season ticket holder I won't be able to get tickets for the away games and so will have to follow them from home which never helps the nerves. Living in London I usually look forward to our away trips to the capital and some shorter journeys to make, AFC Wimbledon will again be my local game so that's a game I'll definitely be attending.

Port Vale

Matt – @pvfc_matt

12^th in League Two – “A complete mess”

We saw a few of our key players take up offers from clubs elsewhere.  The main two were definitely last season’s top scorer Marc Richards and tough tackling midfielder Anthony Griffiths.

Richards leaving was always on the cards and once Chesterfield offered him a substantially better wage than what we could he was on his way; mixed views from Valiants as to how much he will be missed. The bigger and more surprising loss was that of Anthony Griffiths who decided to make the move to London to join Leyton Orient.  A tough tackling, fully committed, hard working midfielder who would put his body on the line for the sake of breaking up an oppositions attack.  His distribution was not always the best but was certainly a part of his game he had improved upon during the last season.

We have completed the ‘signings’ of six players to date, although these are still currently subject to the ongoing administration process.  At time of writing this we are under the belief that the Football League have authorised us to complete the deals whilst still in administration.  These players are:

Goalkeeper Chris Neal who played a full part in Shrewsbury’s promotion from this very league last season and will make a very adequate Number 1 for us.

Defenders Dave Artell, who captained Crewe to playoff victory last season and is a natural leader and Richard Duffy who played in League 1 with Exeter last season and comes to Vale with a lot of good reviews.

Midfielders Jennison Myrie-Williams who showed a lot of promise with his speed and trickery on the wing whilst on loan with us last season, Ashley Vincent who is another pacy winger and joins us from Colchester and finally Darren Murphy who we are lead to believe could do a similar job to what Griffiths has done for us in recent seasons.  Murphy was part of the Stevenage side which one back-to-back promotions from BSP to League One.

We also have Liam Dickinson who has agreed a deal in principle providing he can prove his fitness after fighting back from a broken ankle.  Hopefully Dickinson can prove to be the replacement to Marc Richards after scoring goals at this level for Southend, providing he proves to Micky Adams that his ankle is fully recovered.  We have also had Tadhg Purcell on trial following his release from Northampton and he’s been banging goals in for fun during our friendlies. All in all Vale fans are very impressed with the standard of players we have signed so far this summer after seeing plenty of dross and deadwood brought into our club on the ‘cheap’ in the past.

I’m not too sure how we will get on at the moment.  Back in July it seemed as though we had everything falling into place.  We had announced the signings of six players, all of which are so much better than the usual standard of player we bring in. Our preferred bidder was seemingly a signature away from taking control of the club and building on his vision to see us back in the Championship in the coming years.  There was a real buzz around Port Vale again (something we have not had for many years now) and there was genuine expectations of us fighting competitively in the top seven and finally getting ourselves back out of this league. Then everything just seemed to go stale and for weeks now there has been nothing positive coming out of the club.  It seems our ‘saviour’ Keith Ryder is struggling to complete his takeover with talk of him not having the funds to do so and we are now back to square one with our administrators re-opening the door to other prospective owners.  We apparently have two other bidders looking into buying us out of administration but this will mean the process beginning over and will almost certainly mean we start this season in administration. Despite this dark cloud hanging over us, we could still have a decent season providing the stories of the Football League allowing us to officially sign the players we have brought in during the summer are true, and providing the CVA we have in place stays in place for any new bidders and we are not hit with any further points deductions. If things take a turn for the worse with regards to the administration then who knows what this season will bring.  In fact I don’t even want to think about it.

Well we lost some of the closer games that Vale fans always looked out for. Crewe and Shrewsbury both went up and Macclesfield suffered relegation. These were all fixtures that saw a large away following from Vale and were always the ones to look for first. With the clubs that are in this league for this coming season, I think it has to be York followed closely by Torquay.  Never been to York’s ground so it will be another one ticked off the list plus I am told there is a cracking weekend to be had up there.  We always spend the weekend in Torquay and this season will be no different and can safely say it is one of the nicest places in the UK – there is nothing like an away win at the seaside!

My away day experience: Northampton Town

It has been a while since I’ve gone to an away game, as gone are the days of being a student and spending the majority of my loan on travelling the length and breadth of the country following the Bees. In fact, the last away game I went to was back last March: a 0-0 draw against Rotherham at the Don Valley. I thought I may as well start a new feature whereby I mark out my day away from home; it probably won’t make that much of an interest read, but never mind…

As you know, following my last entry – match report: Northampton Town v Barnet – my first away day experience is my trip to Sixfields.

8:30am – I woke up way before my alarm, which had been set for 9:45am, and was feeling undeniably tired and rough. I had been out the night before for a mate’s 22^nd birthday, and whilst it was only in Brentwood (pre-drinking at Slug + Lettuce before going to Sugarhut) and I left at  around 1am, I’d only had about five and a bit hours’ sleep. Maybe it was the excitement about the prospect of the day ahead?

10:40am – my mum dropped me off at Shenfield station, where I collected my pre-ordered tickets and bought some brunch – I knew I wouldn’t be eating on arrival in Northampton, and it made sense not to fork out a load of money on food in London – so I just grabbed a sandwich and a kitkat.

11:05am – my train for Liverpool Street departed and luckily it was the quick one, only stopping at Stratford and said destination (as opposed to the one that stops at every station from Essex to East/Central London). Despite it being packed out – I had to stand all journey – I can only assume most people were hitting Westfield and the other shops, it only took about 25 minutes; pretty standard.

11:30am – after arriving at Liverpool Street, I then had to have the mammoth task of taking the tube to Euston, which is where I’d be getting the train to Northampton.  As is the case, the majority of the time (how the hell are they going to survive when it’s the Olympics!?), a lot of the tube lines were either suffering severe delays, or simply not running. Normally I’d get the Metropolitan line to Moorgate, before getting the Northern line to Euston; instead I had to get the Central line to Bank, before hitting the Northern line. This ate into my journey somewhat, and it wasn’t made very clear what was going on, so there were a lot of people standing around, looking as confused as myself. I also fail to mention, I suffer from claustrophobia, and hate travelling on the underground, on my own!

11:55am – I arrived at Euston in good time, my train wasn’t leaving until just before ten-past. The train was already on the platform (10) and there were signals to say it was already boarding. There was a little bit more confusion, as only a couple of doors were working, and people were still standing around asking “is this the train to Birmingham New Street?” and “were we allowed to board yet?” – I jumped on regardless, managing to grab a table, and having a spare chair for my bag.

12:06pm – the train finally left the station, and I met a friend (who was with a couple of other people) on the carriage; meaning my bag no longer had a seat, and I had to lug it all the way there on my lap. A couple of drinks were flying about, much to a few disapproving looks from the other people in the carriage. The time flew, although it’s a quick journey to Northampton – an hour in total, with only five stops.

1:06pm – arriving at Northampton station, we got a taxi to our usual drinking spot – TGI Friday on the Sixfields complex. The taxi was little over £6, which worked out to a couple of quid each. With just under a couple of hours until kick-off, it was fairly quiet at TGIs , with only a handful of fans either at the bar, drinking, or sitting at tables with food – I’d certainly seen it a lot busier in previous years. I caught up with a couple of friends, before deciding we’d all take it in turns to buy rounds (as well as shots). As is normally the case when visiting Northampton, I was on cocktails only, picking out a different one from the menu every time.

2:45pm – by this time most people had already left for the ground (which is situated just across the road), whilst myself and a couple of other people continued to drink. This time, I was with the guys that sit behind me at Barnet. We did finally leave dead on kick-off.

3:05pm – we got to the ground, and only one turnstile was open and we were unable to get our tickets from the usual portakabin, where away fans go. Instead we had to walk all the way back round to the main entrance, and get our tickets from the home fan ticket office/club shop area. I was unable to get my student/concession ticket costing £15 from here, so had to fork out an extra £4 for an adult ticket – after the amount of drinks previously thrown back, I couldn’t really be bothered to try and a blag an under-18s ticket. Walking back round to the turnstile we heard the home side were already a goal up.

3:15pm – we took our places in the back row for the game. My only gripe about Northampton would have to be the amount of fuss their stewards make, regarding standing. They constantly eye you like a hawk and make you sit down. They even do it to the extent of guiding you to your own individual seat, which rules out any chance of continuing to watch with friends and sharing two to a chair. As is normally the case, they reach the point of not caring and go back to being jobsworths elsewhere. Why anyone should obey their strict regime anyway is beyond me…

5:05pm – to be honest, everything between leaving Sixfields and getting the train back from Northampton station is a complete blur. I think being in the open air had finally reacted with me. I can only assume we got a taxi to the station, before boarding the train home. I couldn’t tell you who I was travelling with, or how it was paid for… I was fine, however, when I was on the train, and met with a couple of friends for the journey home. On arrival at Euston we went to the pub for a couple of post-match celebratory bevvies. Said friends has frequented this drinking spot on the journey up. Everyone then went their separate ways – myself, Essex bound, and others, various areas of London.

8:40pm – After getting the tube across London to Liverpool Street, I got the train home to Shenfield. My mum collected me at the other end and I came home to be greeted with a KFC – which, as you can imagine, after no proper meal all day, went down nicely!

And if you haven’t seen it already, I recently wrote my pre-match thoughts on ‘Claret and white, no matter how shite’ and you can read my piece here.

Match Report: Northampton Town 1– 2 Barnet (Barnet Fan’s Perspective)

It was three League wins in a row for the Bees, a feat not managed for 112 games, and unbeaten in 2012, after a 2–1 victory away at Sixfields. A massive game for both sides at the bottom of the table, in what was being described as a six-pointer – but a win that saw the Bees widen the gap between themselves and the other relegation candidates: eight points from the drop zone, and up to 18th in League Two.

The side was not too dissimilar to the one that won away at Accrington Stanley last weekend, with Mark Byrne replacing Mark Marshall in midfield; he played wide right, whilst Deering was on the left, and Ricky Holmes partnered McLeod upfront. For Town, a debut was made for Chris Weale, goalkeeper on loan from Leicester City.

Weale was brought into play straight away, saving McLeod’s first minute shot, after a route-one clearance from Brill set the top scorer up. It was Northampton who then had the better of the play, and went ahead on 10 minutes – an in-swinging corner from Cobblers’ midfielder, Harding, and a goal for Adebayo Akinfenwa.

There weren’t too many chances of note for either side, although Brill was called in to play just before the half hour mark – a fierce free-kick from Jacobs, and an excellent fingertip save from the Bees’ keeper, who definitely saw it late.

It was a different story in the second half, and being a goal down at the break spurred the away side on. Three minutes in, and Mark Byrne drew Barnet level – a certain contender for Goal of the Season! A 20-yard curler, on his left foot, straight in the top corner; a screamer the home side could have no complaints about.

They could, however, feel aggrieved not to have a penalty after Jacobs was adjudged to have been pushed in the area. There wasn’t really a lot in the challenge, but it was one of those decisions that could well have been given on a different day with a different official.

And it was the Bees who were to be in the ascendancy following that decision, finally going ahead on 69 minutes; Ricky Holmes grabbing the goal, with a through-ball assist from Deering. Another great goal, lashing the ball into the bottom corner – despite claims from the Cobblers that their player was fouled in the build-up. There looked to be little contact at the time, and after viewing again last night, still proves inconclusive.

Another three points, and fairly decent display defensively from the team; the Bees will play host to in-form Crewe Alexandra at Underhill next weekend.

Attendance: 4,561 (away: 485)

Starting line-ups:

Northampton Town: Weale; Crowe, Langmead, Tozer, Adams; Young, Johnson, Jacobs, Harding; Akinfenwa, Berahino.

Barnet: Brill; Hector, Dennehy, Downing, Saville; Deering, Hughes, Kamdjo, Byrne; Holmes, McLeod.

Barnet supporter: it's a tough life

When I decided I wanted to start blogging, I came to the conclusion I wasn’t going to write any match reports or post-match analysis on individual games. I mean for someone reading this who has no real interest in the club (much like yourself, reading this now, I guess!), it’d make for tedious reading; especially as so many are accessible on the internet. Also put into account, unless written by a neutral, match reports tend to be horribly biased; whenever I read ones written from a Barnet point of view, I can’t help but think the negatives aren’t fully addressed. This aside, there are so many points from the game against Northampton Town on Saturday that I’d like to point out.

It is often said that fans are unbelievably fickle, and to an extent I do believe this to be the case – we are never happy – but if you consider we, as supporters are paying good (and in our case, a lot of!) money, we have the right to voice our opinions and concerns. Over the last few weeks there have been a lot of those…

I’ll start with a positive from the weekend – Sam Deering actually started a game; for the first time since the Accrington game, which was almost a month ago now! There is without a doubt, that he was one of the best players of last season – a wonderful acquisition from Oxford United! He has of late been appearing as a substitute, if at all. I am still yet to find a reason for why this is the case; him and Mark Marshall make a wonderful partnership down the flanks and often cause defenders problems. I can’t help but think that maybe Sanchez doesn’t rate him as highly as the management teams of the last campaign; answers for this on a postcard please!

The performances of late haven’t been so good: a drubbing away at newly relegated Swindon Town the previous weekend (I didn’t go, so can’t really pass judgement, although the overall consensus was “not good enough” and “turned over too easy”) and further disappointing performances at home to Oxford United and Plymouth Argyle (despite a win against the latter). We started brightly on Saturday, though; trying out a 4-3-3 formation (although I saw it more of a 4-1-3-2, with Clovis Kamdjo in the solitary defensive midfield position). With both teams creating a number of chances and the respective keepers being pulled in to make saves aplenty (as well as the woodwork that came to the Cobblers’ rescue on a couple of occasions), it could have gone either way. We could have been a goal down, or easily been at least three-up! It was, however, 1–0 to us at the interval.

Now onto the negatives. With Ricky Holmes (the goal scorer) suffering from suspected concussion, Sanchez was thrust into making a first substitution at halftime. Would it be Kabba partnering McLeod again? Or maybe an opportunity to see more of new(ish) signing Lloyd Owusu? No, it’s Charlie Taylor! Now, I certainly don’t think my managing capabilities are any better than Sanchez’ but anyone could see this was a bad move, especially considering the other options on the bench. The general consensus from the Bees’ faithful is that Taylor just isn’t up to it – and may even be more suited to a loan move to the Blue Square Premier (particularly given the fact, we gained him from Non-League outfit, Sutton). Despite this being the case and I know this is going to be an unpopular thing to say, but I do feel sorry for the lad – after all, he’s only trying to do his job (albeit, not at a very good level!) and Barnet are his first Football League club. The abuse he gets every game is slightly unnecessary, and it started earlier on in the season, even in his first couple of games. The abuse isn’t going to help his confidence in any way, he’s not going to play any better and sometimes I just feel like shouting “come on Charlie, head up”, or “keep at it” – instead of abusing the individual player, maybe vent your frustrations at the manager instead, after all, he’s the one picking the team! I’ll even admit, I’m not Taylor’s biggest fan, especially when we have the likes of Steve Kabba only on the bench, but some of the comments I hear from the people around me are just not fair. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for voicing concerns at the final whistle, when I'm not satisfied - aimed at the team as whole, after all it is a team game! I just think the continued abuse up until Charlie leaves the pitch (whether that be as a substitute, or at the end of the game) is totally unneeded.

My next complaint – a double substitution made by Sanchez, with the score levelled at 1–1. Captain Hughes (on a yellow card) off and replaced by Mark Byrne (who I was surprised to see only on the bench) – no complaints with that, as it’s never worth risking players who could be shown a red. Now the second was just unbelievable – “number 23: Izale McLeod to be replaced by number 9: Steve Kabba”. One of the League’s top scorers and one of the better players on the pitch?! He squandered a fair few chances, a couple of those being deemed ‘easy’ one-on-ones, warranted, but to take him off when he looked like the only one likely of scoring? Sometimes, words fail me…

Now onto the manager and the abuse. I can’t help but think Lawrie may have brought it on himself. A comment a couple of weeks ago slating Nigel Worthington’s capabilities as manager of Northern Ireland and hinting at a possible move back to the National side (read here) certainly hasn’t helped matters – with chants of “Sanchez for Ireland” as well as other unpleasantries being thrown around the ground. He then came out last week and said he and his coaching staff were unsure of the best XI (read here) – certainly not encouraging news for us fans; if he doesn’t have a clue, we haven’t a hope in hell. The penny must have eventually dropped though, with Super Sammy Deering starting and playing a whole 90 minutes. The abuse rang out throughout the second half though, and continued at the final whistle, with Sanchez staying in the dugout for a good 15 minutes after the game; the final result a defeat, 2–1 to Northampton.

The table makes for grim reading once again, with us fourth from bottom in the League, above Bradford, Hereford and Plymouth. We’ve not yet reached double figures in terms of points tally, from 11 games and we are four points adrift of our nearest rivals Dagenham + Redbridge and Crewe, both on 13 points respectively.

We have near enough the same squad as last season and the way we finished the previous campaign was nearing promotion form – getting points on the board when it really mattered, albeit under pressure. So what has changed? If the team perform best and strive under those dreaded circumstances, it’s going to be a long and tough season for us fans.

So what is the answer?

Two minutes with… Northampton Town

‘Two minutes with…’ this week comes from the point of view of Northampton fan, Daniel (aka @BSCobbler). Again, I find myself compiling this on the end of another defeat!

01/10/11
Barnet 1 – 2 Northampton Town
(Holmes ’17 – Davies ’51, Tozer ’89)
Attendance 2304 (away 631)

How did you get to the game?

I got to the game by car as I only live in Kettering which is around 80 miles away.

What did you do pre-match?

I walked through the nearby chat, before chatting to some Northampton fans at the turnstiles, prior to kick-off.

Where did you sit/stand in the ground?

I sat in the North Family stand - near the back.

What did you make of the game?

It was a tale of two halves really – both sides were quite poor on the day and a bit inconsistent. Northampton couldn't string any passes together in the first half which gave away the first goal really – it was a bad clearance from the Northampton defender. Barnet definitely had the first half. The only way that Northampton looked like scoring was through a set play or a goalkeeping error. Even Northampton's fans booed off the team at half time and this doesn't normally happen at an away game. In the second half, Northampton's midfield was getting into the game more and in turn was how both Northampton's goals came about. The ref did okay but blew up for some fouls which looked like dives.

Was the scoreline a fair reflection?

In the first half Barnet were way on top and Northampton were hardly in the game at all. I thought Barnet should have got a point from the game as they tore though Northampton's defence. Northampton had more chances in the second half but Barnet also had their fair share of chances as well with a few one on ones which weren’t put away. Although a draw would have been a fair result, obviously I’m very happy with all 3 points.

Who, in your opinion was man of the match?

In the first half Mark Marshall, Barnet's winger was undoubtedly causing problems for Northampton's defenders and they couldn't deal with him – in fact they let all the Barnet's players have too much space on the pitch. But man of the match I think goes to Northampton's Marlon Jackson who completely changed the game and playing two up front proved more effective than one.

Who have you got next and how do you think you'll get on?

We have Crawley at Sixfields, which is going to be televised on Sky Sports. I don’t think we’ll beat them as we never do well when the Sky cameras are filming. I’d take a draw in that game.

Thanks Daniel

My final word:

I normally like to keep my final word short and sweet. Unfortunately there are too many pointers from this game that have got people talking so check out my next entry and find out why times are frustrating for our fans, particularly given the weekend’s result.

The magic of the game under floodlights

I don’t know about you, but I find there to be something really special about the beautiful game under floodlights. The atmosphere in and around the ground before the game itself is very different; in fact my whole match routine is very dissimilar to that of the average Saturday afternoon. With the visit of Andy Hessenthaler’s Gillingham to Underhill tomorrow night (which coincides with my first game of the season – once again my summer holiday clashed with the start of the season; hey, at least I have a real tan now!), I thought I would look back at my favourite five games from seasons gone by, under the floodlights.

1.    04/09/09

Coca Cola League 2

Northampton Town 1 – 3 Barnet

The match that saw us go top of the league, albeit over night, as the game was played on a Friday. Undeservedly, we were losing at half time – Town scored after half an hour (against the run of play!). However, three second half goals (all in front of the Bees fans) meant the three points were heading back to North London and jubilation at the final whistle – with “we are top of the league” ringing around the Sixfields complex for minutes after the game. I remember it well – we completely dominated the second half, and to be honest, it could well have been more than three goals! The equaliser was an absolute beauty – a free kick from Ahmed Deen. The second, a volley from Paul Furlong had us all in raptures – another fine goal! And the game was over three minutes later, when after 70 minutes John O’Flynn joined in the scoring – a cheeky shot through the legs of the Cobblers keeper. Again, everyone went mental – and I can remember it clearly as one of my mates was on crutches at the time; the celebrations didn’t do his ankle any favours! It’s a shame the season pretty much went downhill from there, though!

2.    22/01/08

FA Cup Round 3

Barnet 1 – 1 Swindon Town (Barnet win 2 – 0 on penalties)

Certainly a game I’ll always remember, although it can’t be said it was that entertaining – despite over three and half hours of football! For the second season running, a win against higher places opposition meant a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Two goals for Billy Paynter – one in each net, in each half – sent the game to extra time and consequently penalties. The win, which amazing considering the difference in leagues of the two teams was made even more note-worthy considering we had 10 men for much of the second half and subsequent play. Michael Leary saw straight red for a challenge on a Swindon player who had to be stretchered off. The penalty shootout will be one I will always remember, although it certainly was no thriller! Swindon missed all of their penalties – and if I am correct, Beckwith made one save with their other attempts going high and wide of the target.  Bristol Rovers (who beat Fulham in their tie – a shame!) at Underhill followed, where a loss incurred.

3.    09/01/07

FA Cup Round 3

Barnet 2 – 1 Colchester United

A fourth round appearance in the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history awaited as we beat a Championship Colchester side 2-1 at Underhill. Despite the U’s taking the lead, after half an hour of play – through Jamie Cureton of course – there was no real gulf in class between the two sides and we were unlucky to be behind at half time. With the likes of Bailey and Sinclair dominating the centre of midfield with their partnership, it was always obvious we were to equalise – and we did. A deflected goal from centre back Ismail Yakubu on the 62 minute mark and game on for the remaining half hour. From what I can remember it was end to end stuff with chances a plenty for both sides afterwards – the Bees dominating for the next 5 or so minutes after the goal, in the ascendancy. But Lee Harrison in the Barnet goal also was called for a number of saves. The winner came in the 80^th minute – Jason Puncheon the hero this time with a 20 yard curler; Dean Gerken had no chance. Plymouth were the visitors in the fourth round, where we were, unfortunately, knocked out.

4.    26/10/05

Carling Cup Round 4

Manchester United 4 – 1 Barnet

Okay, so not a game we won, but a special occasion nonetheless. The magic of the cup once again pulling out one of those ties smaller teams can only dream about – Manchester United at the theatre of the dreams for us. 4,500 Barnet fans made the journey and the overall crowd was well over 40,000 – twenty times the average amount usually at Underhill on a Saturday afternoon! A game myself, or any other Bee will ever forget – unfortunately, probably for all the wrong reasons! Ross Flitney was sent off within 90 seconds for handling outside the area – with young Louie Soares off and substitute keeper Scott Tynan on, his first job was picking the ball out of the net as United went ahead from a free kick. At half time it was 2-0, with Kieran Richardson  also netting. Things could certainly have been different had Grazioli’s goal after 15 minutes stood, but alas it was offside. Manchester United made their class and extra player count when Rossi scored after 50 minutes. But Dean Sinclair, scoring in front of the United fans got a goal he’ll never forget, pulling back a mere consolation. The match finished 4-1 with Sylvain Ebanks-Blake scoring a minute from time. Despite the scoreline, it was probably one of the best moments of my life and one I’ll never forget. Regardless of all the incident early in the game, the Bees fans never stopped singing and chanting and I’ve never seen an atmosphere like it.

5.    28/09/04

LDV Trophy Round 1

Barnet 3 – 1 Stevenage

A win against your fiercest rivals is always good, no matter what competition it’s in – particularly as it’s a while since we have beat Stevenage! In fact the last time I saw a win against the ‘scum’, I was 14 and it came in the LDV trophy first round, where we won 3-1. With both sides playing weakened sides, it was clear neither was going to take the competition too seriously. The ever-popular Nicky Bailey opened the scoring after the break, from the penalty spot after a foul on him by the Stevenage keeper. Anthony Elding got the equaliser almost instantly for the visitors and despite constant pressure from the Bees afterwards, fair play to the Stevenage keeper that kept them in the game. However, the constant barrage of pressure paid off with Bailey getting on the score sheet again, capping off a man of the match performance – and also preventing the game from going to extra time. Lee Roache completed the rout within the five minutes of injury time, meaning the Bees entered the second round of the cup; as well as having the Hertfordshire bragging rights!