robbwfc

Wanderers 2-0 Spurs Davies 9 Campo 13 19/8/2006 at The Reebok (attendance 22,900) Wanderers: Jaaskelainen, Fortune, Ben Haim, Meite, Hunt, Campo, Speed, Nolan, Diouf, Vaz Te (Stelios), Davies. Subs (not used) ??? Walker, Tal, Smith, Fojut. Spurs: Robinson, Assou-Ekotto, Davenport, Dawson, Lee (Huddlestone), Zokora (Keane), Davids, Jenas, Lennon, Defoe, Berbatov. Subs (not used) ??? Cerny, Gardner, Ziegler. Ref: Phil Dowd I don???t think I???ve ever enjoyed an opening day victory so much. Maybe it was all the negative comments from the majority of Wanderers fans pre season. Maybe it was how proud I was that once again we???ve proved we can hack it in the top half of the Premiership. Or maybe it was just that I took a Spurs fan to the game and got to ram all his smart arse, cocky cockney comments back down his throat after just 13 minutes. I was worried to begin with ??? with all the injuries and lack of new signings I thought Spurs would turn us over with their clutch of England ???starlets???. The atmosphere before hand and lack of people in the ground only fuelled my pessimism and I feared having to eat my own confident words in the pub beforehand. Fortune didn???t start too brightly, getting in the way of a clearance and handing Spurs a throw in. From the throw in Lennon got past him far too easily for my liking ??? he seemed to lack timing and pace ??? Diouf tracked back well though to clear. However, that was pretty much the only time Lennon troubled him after that, Fortune never let him out of sight again and along with Hunt put in some crucial and excellent tackles throughout the match. Meite and Haim were also solid in defence ??? Meite looked a bit ruff round the edges at times, particularly with his passing, but I think he???ll develop and slot into central defence really well. The midfield really got their heads down to the job in hand and never stopped working and hustling for the ball, unlike Davids who spent the entire match moaning and whinging to the Ref and anyone else who would listen whilst he lost possession. I???m always impressed with Gary Speed???s professionalism, he can still play 90 mins at 100% and never lets the side down and I don???t know what Big Sam said to Campo during pre-season but he looks like a completely different player than he was last year. One moment stood out for me, when Spurs broke quickly and Campo realised he wasn???t going to be first to the ball ??? last year he would have just taken the opposition player out, receiving a needless yellow card and giving away a free kick in a dangerous position. However, he let Ben Haim deal the situation and went back to cover in central defence. He fully deserved his magnificent goal. As for in attack, Spurs are supposed to have one of the best around. Defoe? What has he been doing to himself in pre-season? He was awful ??? although that may have something to do with how well our defence played, I don???t remember him having more then one attempt on goal and he nearly always lost the ball. It was a horrific performance in front of the England manager. If McClaren wants an effective player up front that???s going to send out a message to the rest of the team, then he should ditch Defoe and take a look at big Kevin Davies. I may only be young and only been watching the whites for 15 years or so, but I have never seen one player put in so much effort for so long. He chases everything down ??? he doesn???t know the meaning of the term lost cause, and the Spurs defence found it almost impossible to shake him off the ball. Ok, his goal shouldn???t have counted, but it was still a great header right into the top corner of the net. Even if Dawson (another England ???starlet???) had still been able to mark him, I would have always have backed Kev to get his head to the ball first. Davies was nothing short of magnificent, he seems proud to wear the shirt and to play for this club and is the kind of player that the team is lucky to have in it. It was this work ethic that the team displayed that really got us the win yesterday. We made a decent spurs team look very ordinary by being patient and sticking to our game plan. Spurs came to the Reebok trying to match us in every department, from formation down to types of players, but they just couldn???t hack it. If ever there was a game that demonstrated Big Sam???s talents as a manager I think this was it. The back room staff had done their home work, come up with a battle plan and deployed it. Spurs weaknesses were looked at and worked on in training and each player was given a job which he???d had drilled into his footballing brain. The lads deserve a big pat on the back for a good, solid performance that should shut up all the pessimists for at least another 4 days or so. I just hope we can keep up this level of dedication in games, and if we can, I think that maybe, just maybe, we???ll be in for another good season. Robbwfc (faith fully restored)

It's tonight - 7:30 kick off. I walked past their ground this morning and there's posters up everywhere

Pontefract!

I did Politics at College and now do it at Uni. And I remember doin bugger all coursework, infact I'm not sure if I've technically done any work in the last 4 and a half years

the bank are being mean - they wont extend it anymore. I did lie and say I was in my 5th year, but they wont budge. I'm making money out of the manure ball, other wise I would be more than happy to take it down the Reebok for ritual burning

Right then, I've come to the end of my student overdraft, have finished my contract at work with no new one ready to start, and need to pay off my deposit for my new house by next Friday. I need ?????? quick and want to sell the following sharpish: 1 - a manure ball signed by the entire title winning squad from 92/93 (which I won in a raffle years ago before I get stick) 2 - a wanderers signed ball from when we won at Cardiff signed by the whole squad 3 - a wanderers shirt from our first season back in the premiership worn by..er...Ricketts Does anyone know any sports shops or places I can sell these (other than ebay) that will find them a good home (for a good price ). Cheers

it'll be anything between a fiver and 10 quid - they dont usually decide until the last minute

I'm goin alty, but only cos there my local team and I fancy a laugh every pre-season

Album - anything by U2 Film - 24 hour party people Book - Dead famous by Ben Elton Person - alibob

kaching

Right - I was after some tickets for U2 On Tues - I already have 2 standing ones, but needed an extra 2 for a mate. I won 2 that were advertised as standing, but at the time of the auction I asked him to confirm that they were definitely standing and to send me a picture of them (as he said he would in the description). I won them on Thursday. This morning he replied, saying that they were not actually standing tickets, confirmed by the picture. Obviously I wasn't pleased because they weren't what he had advertised, so I went back on and won some that were definitely standing tickets. They were also ??20 cheaper. Then I remembered that surely I'd have to pay for the other ones even though he'd lied. I could just pay for them still and get rid of them to other mates, but I cant really be arsed with the hassle.

Well the seller lied in his description and I then got the same thing cheaper, so really he's the w****r

If you win an auction for something on there, do you have to buy it? It's not exactly clear in the rules

sport

Is your location - The Toon - not going to be a stumbling block? or can you do a webcast trainining sesh? I'm back from uni for the summer now

1. Tony Blair 2. John Aldridge 3. Souness 4. Fergy 5. Barry Knight 6. Savage

have bin messing me around for months -student loan "wouldnt cover bill " (bollocks) so they are chargin me 56 quid for one month!!!!

I have a FIFA level 2 badge if thats any help - more then happy to lend a hand.

I'm up for it - only a 5 min met ride from home ( or from manchester if I'm workin)

its kak dont waste your time and money. full of drunken lads and old perverts If it's that bad, where can I take a uni football team on tour jay c?

Right then, organising footy team tour to Prague in October. Got flights booked, but with easyjet, so does anyone whose been know: How close t'airport is to the city centre? Any good youth hostels/cheap hotels in city centre? Is it really as cheap as everyone says it is? Cheers

barrier

Gartside in the paper this morning calling him an idiot

crown green

Just popped into me local after uni to see the manager - the cctv footage makes excellent viewing. Barman that was on and the manager are both up for taking the matter further - but the cops have said today that its none of their business because the bloke that did it says it was an accident . At least the pub manager has some sense of decency!