After somewhat of an unplanned hiatus from groundhopping, this week we decided to visit Southampton for their clash with high-flying Leicester.
Sometimes there comes a game where your just left wondering did that really just happen?
This was one of them.
When me and Harry made the very short trip to St Mary’s Stadium, neither of us could even fathom the concept of a 9-0 home defeat.
Goals from Ayoze Perez (x3), Ben Chilwell, James Maddison, Jamie Vardy (x3) and Youri Tielemans saw Brendan Rodgers’ side leave the South Coast with a record-breaking win that will go down in Premier League folklore.
Atmosphere
Well this was one of the most bizarre yet incredible atmospheres I have ever been a part of.
The Leicester fans travelled in numbers and were in fine voice through out the game.
The St Mary’s faithful began to understandably grow more and more toxic as the first half grew older. However, as the second half kicked off Southampton fans began to make a lot of noise, out-singing the travelling Leicester fans with their own self-deprecating chants as well as some nostalgic chants that would warm the hearts of the more senior members of the Saints’ fanbase.
English football fan culture often comes under scrutiny in comparison to foreign fan culture, however, this was one of those games where everything was so wonderfully typical of the English game.
A goal-fest, torrential rain and a self-deprecating yet partizan atmosphere. You just love to see it.
For me, I am going to give atmosphere a five.
Cost
With both myself and Harry currently studying in Southampton, travel was always to be at a very low cost.
As a result of us living on the doorstep of St Mary’s Stadium, we were fortunate enough to pay absolutely nothing for travel having walked from our new home.
Tickets were priced at £30 for me as I had forgotten to apply the discount code which would lower the prices to £25 like Harry did.
£25 to watch a Premier League game regardless of the entertainment on the pitch is fantastic.
Five out of five.
Entertainment
Well, how could this be anything other than a five?
Nine goals, clear-cut chances at a premium, a penalty, a red card and some horrendous breakdowns within the home end, what more could you ask for?
In spite of the relentless and freezing cold rain, we were distracted by the continuous free-flowing attacking football, as well as the calamitous defending.
Quite simply, the easiest decision we have made since the birth of this blog.
Entertainment, five.
Food
Due to the fact that my frozen hands couldn’t unzip my jacket to grab my wallet, I was unable to consume any food from the stadium so unfortunately I am going to have to leave this section to your imagination.
However, based on Harry’s visit to St Mary’s in August he awarded food a five.
So food will get a five.
Facilities
The stadium itself is your typical Premier League ground. It’s capacity of around 32,000 make for a great atmosphere throughout the match. What also helps the atmosphere and is a reason I especially like the ground is the fact that it is a bowl.
The facilities are also very nice. The ground on the inside and out is just stunning and I will definitely look forward to attending more games there as soon as I can.
For stadium, four out of five.
Man of the match
Well with Leicester City scoring nine, and two players both grabbing hat-tricks it would be silly not to choose an attacker as man of the match.
Or would it be? For me in spite of the overload of attacking excellence, there was one man that I was in constant awe of all night. Wilfried Ndidi, it seemed like every time Southampton had even a glimmer of hope going forward, the Nigerian was relentless in winning the ball back and setting up attacking moves for the visitors.
So what does this mean?
Taking into account all these variables, the visit to Southampton ranks as a 24/25
Meaning that Southampton ranks top of the groundhopping table, and realistically probably will do for the rest of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur have become one of the feel good stories of the last ten years in the Premier League, transitioning from a punchline to a potential powerhouse of English football.
Mauricio Pochettino has taken The Lilywhites from sixth placed finishes to four consecutive top four finishes, a Champions League final, a League Cup final as well as three domestic semi-finals in just five seasons. The outstanding management of Mauricio Pochettino coinciding with the move to a brand new stadium with a capacity of over 62,000 has cemented Spurs’ place as one of the big sides in the country.
However, rewind 18 years and Tottenham Hotspur were an unrecognisable club. A club in significant debt under the stewardship of notorious businessman Alan Sugar, Spurs were a club reminiscent of greater times, consistent mid-table mediocrity was not something to be writing home about for the White Hart Lane faithful, but change was forthcoming.
After two unsuccessful attempts to buy Tottenham Hotspur in 1998 and 2000, ENIC’s Daniel Levy completed the takeover of his boyhood club after growing hostility between fans and hierarchy during the end of Sugar’s tenure made the TV personality’s position untenable.
Daniel Levy starts his reign at White Hart Lane promising progression and funds.
Levy’s first course of action was to appoint Spurs legend and former England manager Glenn Hoddle as first team manager.
Despite good intentions, Spurs began to live up to the reputation of being “Spursy”, with the departure of the infamous Sol Campbell to bitter rivals Arsenal on a free transfer befitting of the club’s then reputation.
After three seasons in the Spurs hot seat, Hoddle was relieved of his duties at White Hart Lane in 2004 after flattering to deceive as the club looked set to embark on a new operating system, with the appointment of Jacques Santini who would work with new sporting director Frank Arnesen who outlined his intentions on building a new look Spurs side with a young talented British core.
New Spurs manager Jacques Santini later brought former Bayern Munich, Coventry and West Brom midfielder Martin Jol to the club as his assistant manager.
The club began their new dawn with the arrivals of a number of exciting British talents, as Andy Reid, Michael Carrick, Michael Dawson and Paul Robinson aligned with the clubs new recruitment policy with added emphasis on homegrown talent.
Despite an impressive and un-Spurs like transfer window, Jacques Santini decided to call it quits just 13 games into his Spurs career. The neglect of talents such as Michael Carrick had led to a somewhat frosty relationship with the n17 faithful as well as a breakdown in personal relationship with technical director Frank Arnesen.
Martin Jol
Martin Jol was handed the task of steering the Spurs ship forward through murky waters.
Things didn’t get easier for Martin Jol, as Frank Arnesen departed the club after flirting with rivals Chelsea for months on end, the clubs eventually settled on a £5 million compensation fee.
Jol guided Spurs to a 9th placed finish during his first season, and set about seeking European Qualification the following season with the additions of Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone amongst others for his first full season in the Spurs hot seat.
The 2005/2006 season was bittersweet for Jol and Tottenham, with his side recording the club’s highest ever league finish during the Premier League era.
Tottenham suffer sickening Champions League blow after food-poisoning incident on eve of West Ham clash.
The club narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification on the final day following the lasagna-gate incident which saw Spurs finish below Arsenal.
In spite of the disappointment of the final day, Jol had installed a new found hope at Tottenham; something Spurs had been missing for a very long time. Playing attacking and expansive football whilst nurturing homegrown talent such as Carrick, Defoe, Dawson Huddlestone, Jenas, Keane, Lennon, Robinson etc.
The biggest earmark of the change in the club’s stature was in 2006, when Spurs beat off stiff opposition to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen, who would become an instant hero in North London.
Despite the loss of Michael Carrick to Manchester United at the start of the season, Tottenham enjoyed another great season under new found hero Martin Jol. Finishing 5th in the Premier League again, whilst reaching the quarter finals of the F.A Cup, the League Cup semi-final and the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup where they would controversially fall to Sevilla who were managed by Juande Ramos; a name Spurs fans would become synonymous with in the near future.
New signings Kaboul (left), Bent (middle) and Bale (right) figurehead a new look Spurs.
Martin Jol began the 2007-2008 season with more impressive transfer business securing the services og highly-coveted youngster Gareth Bale as well as the addition of Darren Bent who would add more firepower to the potent Spurs attack of Berbatov, Keane and Defoe.
Despite three and a half seasons in N17, Martin Jol was controversially relieved of his duties after defeat to Getafe, with news of Jol’s dismissal widespread during the game whilst the Dutchman was unaware of his fate.
A sour ending for Jol, but his legacy at Spurs lives on.
Harry Redknapp
After Jol’s dismissal he was replaced by Juande Ramos, despite the sweet moments of a League Cup triumph in 2008, a 5-1 win over Arsenal and the addition of highly-coveted Luka Modric, Ramos’ tenure wasn’t really one to write home about.
Ramos’ first full season started disastrously, losing star players Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane as well as gathering just two points from his opening eight games.
Harry Redknapp was handed with the task of steering the ship ashore after a rocky start to the season.
Redknapp guided his side to a eighth placed finish as well as to a League Cup final, whilst also bringing back fan favourites Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Keane.
However, the 2009-2010 season was the season where Redknapp made his mark on n17, leading the club to an FA Cup semi-final, a League Cup quarter final but most impressively achieving Champions League qualification recording a fourth placed finish (the club’s highest ever Premier League finish.)
Whilst Redknapp’s reputation was somewhat of an old-school 4-4-2, wheeling-dealing manager, the journeyman manager was changing his ways to further develop the reputation of Tottenham.
The deadline-day acquisition of the mercurial Rafael Van der Vaart from Real Madrid was a sign of the times for Spurs. With Champions League qualification sealed after defeating BSC Young Boys in the play-off round, Redknapp had the perfect platform to display his finest assets on.
Redknapp was packing an impressive side, Van der Vaart settled in superbly and was beginning to take English and European Football by storm, Luka Modric was his usual mouth-watering, silky self and between Crouch, Defoe and Pavlyuchenko Spurs were beginning to make a name for themselves alongside Europe’s elite.
However, there was one man that made the Champions League his own playground, a young man named Gareth Bale.
With Spurs 4-0 down to Inter Milan just 35 minutes and down to 10 men on their biggest European test so far, some Spurs fans would be forgiven for thinking that maybe Champions League football was a stretch too far.
However, a stunning second-half display from Gareth Bale breathed new life into The Lilywhites’ Champions League campaign.
A hat-trick at the San Siro and a dominating display on Inter legends Maicon and Zanetti showed Bale and Spurs’ potential.
A glory glory night for the Lilywhites.
The return fixture in the group stage proved to be one of the most iconic nights in the club’s recent European history.
Treble winning Inter Milan rocked up to N17 knowing that a win would all but guarantee top spot in Group A, however a masterclass from Redknapp’s Spurs insured a famous famous nights under the lights of White Hart Lane.
Maicon who was widely considered to be the greatest right back in world football at the time was shown up by Tottenham’s new prodigy Gareth Bale, “Taxi for Maicon” ringed around the Lane as Spurs edged closer to the European glory days that had proved to be so elusive for decades.
Tottenham went on to top Group A and defeated an AC Milan side containing Ibrahimovic, Pirlo, Thiago Silva amongst many other superstar names before being knocked out of the Champions League quarter final.
The 2011-2012 season was another rollercoaster ride for Redknapp’s Spurs, with the club on the fringes of a potential title race for the first time since the 1960’s, injuries alongside off the field problems surrounding Harry Redknapp’s personal life saw the club’s form take a nose-dive towards the end of the season. Spurs finished fourth but due to Chelsea’s Champions League triumph, it meant that the Lilywhites would start the 2012-2013 season in the Europa League instead of the Champions League.
After narrowly avoiding a jail sentence due to tax evasion, Harry Redknapp openly flirted with the England job but was pipped to the post by then West Brom manager Roy Hodgson.
Unhappy at Redknapp’s public disloyalty to the club following club support through troubled times, the Spurs hierarchy decided to part company with Harry Redknapp.
Mauricio Pochettino
Now for the more obvious name on the list, Mauricio Pochettino.
It’s 2014, two seasons after parting company with Harry Redknapp, Spurs have failed to return to the Champions League and the superstar names of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart that had all created fantastic memories on Europe’s biggest stage were now all but a distant bittersweet anecdote for the Tottenham faithful.
After replacing Harry Redknapp, former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas had tried but failed to live up to his potential.
Letting a significant points advantage over Arsenal slip meant that Spurs would again be condemned to Europa League football for another year.
Andre Villas-Boas’ over-reliance on superstar Gareth Bale had seen it’s final days, as the Welshman forced through a move to Real Madrid for £85 million.
The “magnificent seven” followed with AVB spending well over £100 million on seven players to replace Bale’s significant contribution to an inconsistent Spurs side.
The “magnificent seven” proved to be nothing more than a cheesy headline, with Roberto Soldado appearing to leave his shooting boots in Spain, whilst the likes of Capoue, Chiriches and Paulinho failing to settle and Chadli, Eriksen and Lamela still proving to be diamonds in the North London mud. AVB was sacked and then things turned from bad to worse under the stewardship of interim coach Tim Sherwood.
Following an impressive spell at Southampton, Mauricio Pochettino was appointed as Spurs manager.
During his first season, Pochettino placed a large emphasis on youth and incorporated the likes of Nabil Bentaleb, Ryan Mason and Harry Kane in the side ahead of senior players.
Tottenham finished fifth and got to a League Cup final where they were narrowly beaten by Chelsea.
However, the 2015-2016 season was the perfect opportunity for Pochettino to display his credentials. With a clear out of Adebayor, Capoue, Chiriches, Kaboul, Lennon, Paulinho Stambouli and Soldado, the Argentine had a blank canvas to work with, free of any reported trouble makers.
Poch built his new look Spurs with the additions of Alderweireld, Son, Trippier amongst others, with Eric Dier now deployed as an auxiliary defensive midfielder, Vertonghen partnered with his international team-mate, Son supporting a revitalised Harry Kane and the emergence of MK Dons loanee Dele Alli, Spurs were ready to do some damage.
The 2015-2016 season ended in third place for Spurs despite challenging surprise champions Leicester City for the majority of the season, despite a “Spursy” end to the season there was fresh optimism and hope scattered around White Hart Lane.
The incorporation of youth and homegrown talent playing an attacking brand of football, all pulling together in the same direction with a brand new state of the art training ground built to go alongside a new 62,000 seater stadium was a sign of how far the club had come, and how far they can go during Pochettino’s tenure and beyond.
In the final season at White Hart Lane, Spurs finished second to Chelsea, collecting 86 points (club record during Premier League era) whilst gathering 53 points at home from a possible 57.
Ever since Pochettino’s arrival on n17, Spurs have made massive strides of progress. Achieving four consecutive top four finishes in Pochettino’s five seasons as well as reaching the Champions League final shows a change in emphasis and a shift in mentality has saw an overnight transformation of the club that is almost recognisable.
It might be easy for fans to beat Spurs with the trophy-less stick, but over the last 10-15 years has there been a club that has made as much natural progression?
Daniel Levy
Now throughout all of the chaos and quality over the last 18 years, there has been one man that has been a constant throughout; Daniel Levy.
Levy has cut a divisive figure during his tenure in North London. The man who is first to the blame during tough times, and the last for praise during the good.
Levy has become the man that fans love to hate, and hate to love.
The dismissal of Martin Jol halfway through a UEFA Cup game, the attempts to relocate Spurs from North London to East London and into the Olympic Stadium instead of rivals West Ham alongside the lack of support for Spurs fans singing the word “yid” has built up somewhat of a frosty relationship with the supporters.
However, Levy and ENIC have cushioned those blows over the years with the emphasis on building sides with a young hungry British core, the appointments of forward-thinking managers, a brand-new state of the art training ground, a stunning new 62,000+ seater stadium that coincides with the club’s future plans to become one of the elite names in world football.
Spurs fans have become frustrated with Levy at times during his reign for his tight-fisted negotiations. There was a common consensus that had Spurs invested during the 2011-2012 season that they could have won the league. A theory that will remain all but a conspiracy for years to come.
However, Levy’s tight-fisted approach has saved Spurs from some definite flops, there was discontent with Levy when the club failed to sign the likes of Morgan Schneiderlein and Saido Berahino, time has proved to be the greatest healer over these sagas, showing that Levy was correctly placed to miss out on these players.
With Levy at the helm, the club has transformed from mid-table mediocrity to a Champions League regular on the fringes of challenging for the most prestigious title in the English football pyramid.
The transition of Spurs from being a punchline to a powerhouse has been more of a long-term project than some will give credit for, with Levy and Enic beginning to dis-spell the myth of Tottenham’s rigid transfer methods alongside the fantastic man-management of Mauricio Pochettino makes for happy reading with Spurs fans.
Whilst some may say that Spurs have missed the boat in terms of winning the major domestic and European honours, the more optimistic football fans would suggest that incredibly, this could just be the start of Tottenham’s bright future.
After twice crossing the border last week, I thought I will make it a hat trick and visit Wrexham as they faced Ayr United in the Scottish Challenge Cup. I wasn’t originally planning on visiting the North Wales based side, but it came up for Opta and I took the job on shortly after visiting Cardiff.
I was looking forward to my trip to the Racecourse Ground as I had never been before and it looks like a lovely ground from pictures and videos etc. The match itself was an interesting one.
Wrexham made 10 changes and scored first through Jake Bickerstaff in the second half. Sam Roscoe of Ayr equalised late on so the match went to penalties. A different Jake, this time Lawlor, scored the winning penalty for Wrexham who go through to the fourth round. So how was the experience?
Atmosphere:
Going in to the game, I wasn’t sure how serious the Wrexham faithful were going to treat this game. I knew the Scots would be eager to get one on the English/Welsh and boy did they show it.
The 421 Ayr fans that made the journey were brilliant throughout. Their vast amount of noise was helped by a loud drum that they smuggled in. The Wrexham fans on the other hand, barely batted an eyelid all game.
It was disappointing but understandable to hear the lack of noise, but I bet the stadium gets a good atmosphere for games they care a bit more about.
I will rate the atmosphere 3/5
Cost:
As I was working on the day I didn’t have to pay for a ticket but if I wanted to it would’ve been £10 which is what I what I would’ve expected. The train to and from the stadium was £50 which sounds a lot but I am coming from Bristol so that is a 7 hour round trip. Luckily it was covered by Opta so I didn’t have to fork it out.
For the cost I will rate Wrexham 3/5
Entertainment:
By the introduction you may not have thought it was the best of game, given it was 1-1, but that’s only half the story. The game was end to end for the majority of it, and even though there may not been a chance at the end of it, it was still exciting.
A penalty shootout is always exciting, no matter who is playing and I saw 12 penalties taken, with just one missed. The fans would’ve certainly got there moneys worth and enjoyed an entertaining encounter.
For entertainment I will rate it 3.5/5
Facilities:
As I said, I was looking forward to seeing the Racecourse Ground and I wasn’t let down. The ground is known as the official oldest international ground in the world, which is quite a feat. Unfortunately, the huge terrace behind one end is permanently shut barring any renovations but I won’t let that cloud my judgement.
Facilites I will rate 3/5.
Food:
Breaking News: I didn’t actually consume any food or drink inside the ground. I actually grabbed a meal deal from a nearby Sainsburys. There were some complimentary hot beverages in the media room and I did take a look at the food that Wrexham provide and it did look nice and reasonably priced. I can’t offer a stronger opinion than that so will have to rate the the food based solely on looks
For food I will rate Wrexham 3/5
Man of the Match:
There were a few decent looking players out there for both sides that could definitely do a job at a higher level but I am going to pick Dawid Szczepaniak as my man of the match. The young keeper was making his senior debut and made some good saves during the 90. He ultimately won the game for them with the penalty save and impressed on his first outing.
So what does this mean?
Wrexham score 15.5 which ties them with a couple of other clubs and sits them in mid table. It also puts them in between the two Welsh clubs, being ahead of Newport but well below Cardiff. Overall I enjoyed my time in Wales for the three matches but we will almost certainly be going closer to home for our next games.
With our move to Southampton beckoning, we thought we’d start the week going across the border for some League Cup action. Newport was the destination as they faced West Ham. Newport have played many Premier League teams at Rodney Parade lately and have more than matched some of them so we thought we could be in for some goals at either end.
After a number of missed chances by Newport, most notably from Padraig Amond, Jack Wilshere opened the scoring for the Hammers. We both already had a ‘W’ with Andreas Weimann scoring against Leeds on the first weekend of the season, which was disappointing.
West Ham were mostly dominant in the second half and Pablo Fornals pretty much sealed the win and despite being a Tottenham fan, just a small part of Luke would’ve been somewhat happy as he picked up his ‘F’ for the season. Harry got his earlier on in the season with Roberto Firmino so Luke has shortened the deficit.
With Luke being busy on the Friday night, Harry headed to Cardiff v Fulham without him, so he had the chance to make up for earlier in the week. There were only two goals in the game and they both came in the last five minutes of the first half. Firstly, Josh Murphy slotted home for Cardiff but with Sadio Mane’s goal against Southampton earlier in the month there was no new letter.
The Fulham equaliser was shortly after and it came from their talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic who looked dangerous all night. Another ‘M’ meant another frustrating non new letter. There weren’t any more clear cut chances in the rest of the game, but the best fell to Sean Morrison who headed wide.
So at the end of this week, Luke cuts the gap even though he watched one less match and that match also being attended by Harry. Next week will be interesting as Harry has a very interesting Opta match to attend.
After four rounds of Premier League matches we are now heading into the first international break of the season. It isn’t the stuff on the pitch that is getting all the attention though. VAR was introduced into the competition this summer and to say it has been a resounding success, would be a straight up lie.
To be honest, I was all for VAR after the World Cup as they seemingly worked it a lot better than the Premier League are, but now I can’t wait for the back of it. I think it causes more problems that it solves and overall lowers the entertainment and enjoyment of the league.
VAR does have potential but the Premier League have said they will on intervene with decisions if it is ‘Clear and Obvious.’ I have never despised two words more than those as it is so subjective and confusing that it just doesn’t help anybody.
There have been instances where VAR has stepped in this season and done well. Aymeric Laporte’s handball against Tottenham was correctly ruled out, abiding by the new handball rule which is barbaric in itself but thats a whole other story. Similarly, Willy Boly’s handball against Leicester rightly chalked off Leander Dendoncker’s goal, so after those decisions were made I was happy VAR intervened.
However.
In gameweek 4, pointless Watford had a big game at St James’ Park where points would be at a premium for both clubs. After taking the lead, Watford found themselves defending a set piece the ball eventually hits Isaac Hayden’s arm and falls to Fabian Schar who slots home.
Now, looking at the footage you can clearly see the ball hits Hayden’s arm/hand so you’d think it would be ruled out in similar fashion to Dendoncker’s and Gabriel Jesus’.
EVERY goal is checked by VAR, and with an experienced referee like Craig Pawson in the room at Stockley Park, you would stake your house that he would notice the clear violation of a BRAND NEW rule, but no!
In gameweek four alone there were several dodgy decisions by the men at Stockley Park which are inexcusable. Youri Tielemans got away with a potential ankle breaker and Sebastien Haller deserved a penalty to name a couple. The decision by Kevin Friend at Selhurst Park could also be a story in itself but for me VAR has nothing to do with it.
So what is the point of VAR?
VAR was brought in to help the referees and yet it is seemingly putting them in a worser light. After a month of the technology being in the best league in the world I cannot wait for it to go. As well as killing the enjoyment of a goal, it just dominates the headlines every week as it isn’t being used properly.
I don’t know the exact statistics but if referees get 90% of their decisions right and VAR brings that figure up to 95% is there really point using it. It slows down the game, kills the celebrations after the goal and the people at Stockley Park are too scared to overturn a decision that isn’t factual.
We’ve seen an abundance of penalty shouts which aren’t being given, that were rightly given in the World Cup just two years ago. Lamela on Laporte, Lascelles on Kane and Ceballos on All spring to mind but there will be plenty more I’ve missed and plenty more in the future which will be bottled.
In conclusion, I would take drastic action and abandon VAR if it continues to be used wrongly. The referees in the VAR room have to grow a pair and be prepared to overrule their mates for the integrity of the match. In the World Cup, the VAR officials would usually be from a different country than the match officials which I think is the way to go about it.
It takes that emotion out of it as these referees would have spent a lot of time together and made good friendships so it must be that little bit more difficult to overturn their decision. It sounds outlandish but this could be the case.
I’ve always been an advocate for foreign referees to come in to the Premier League as several high class managers and players have said that England has some of the worst referees in the world. It would be refreshing to have some new faces in the official’s department as the sights of Martin Atkinson and Mike Dean every week is slowly giving me depression.
After making the trip over the border with Luke on Tuesday, I thought that would be me done for the week as I planned for a relaxing weekend. However, on the Wednesday morning my brother said there was some Friday night football we could attend at Cardiff v Fulham. We checked the train and football tickets and before you know it, we were at the train station.
This match was a Premier League game last season so I was expecting an exciting encounter between the two sides. The game didn’t have the most goals I’ve seen this season but it didn’t lack drama. Cardiff’s Josh Murphy opened the scoring late in the first half before Aleksandar Mitrovic equalised even later in the half, which was the end of the scoring.
Harry Arter was sent off in the second half for the visitors and plenty of other Fulham players were carded for time wasting which built up for a fiery game. So on the pitch it was entertaining but how did I rate the experience, let’s find out…
Atmosphere:
With the match being on a Friday night I was expecting a decent atmosphere. I didn’t really have any preconceptions about the Cardiff faithful so I went into it with a clear mind, unlike the times like Leeds and Liverpool where they have a internationally known atmosphere.
Despite this, I think the Cardiff fans should certainly be put in the same bracket. They were unbelievable throughout the night and deserved a late winner for all their support. Where I was sitting I couldn’t hear the Fulham fans as much but I they were still vocal throughout.
The atmosphere I will rate 4.5/5
Cost:
For a Championship I was expecting the tickets to be near £20 but I managed to get a ticket in the Ninian Stand for just £11, without having to pretend to be a year or two younger. With the train ticket being touch under £9, I managed to get there and in the stadium for under £20 which is quite brilliant. It could have been 5/5 if I didn’t have to take out a mortgage if I wanted a burger.
For the cost I will rate Cardiff 4.5/5
Entertainment:
I touched on it at the start of the piece but the game was a lot more entertaining than your average 1-1 draw. The atmosphere helped with that as there was a lot more hype around every corner and tackle. There was an abundance of chances at either end, and I was literally on the edge of my seat for a lot of the game.
For entertainment I will rate it 3.5/5
Facilities:
The facilities are similar to my local club Bristol City. They have a similar capacity and the concourses are also almost identical, although I think Ashton Gate edges it in that aspect. There are plenty of food stands around the concourse and the stadium itself looks fantastic from inside and outside. The leg room is surprisingly good at the Cardiff City Stadium which is rare for a football stadium.
Facilites I will rate 3.5/5.
Food:
As I’ve said there were plenty of choice when it came to what I was going to eat and in the end I went for a portion of chips which put me back £3.50. I went for that for the reason that it was the cheapest hot food on the menu as the burgers or pies would have cost a couple of quid more on top.
The chips were more like fries but nonetheless they were still decent and there were a good amount of them. If it wasn’t for the price of other things it would have been a solid 4/5 but I can’t ignore the other prices.
For food I will rate Cardiff 3/5
Man of the Match:
I can’t look any further than Fulham talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic. He was a handful for Aden Flint and Sean Morrison all game and deservedly got his goal just before the break. You can tell he is Premier League quality and I don’t doubt that if Fulham don’t get promoted, Mitrovic will make his way up to the Premier League another way.
So what does this mean?
These ratings put Cardiff in a very respectable 3rd place. It was one of my brother’s best ideas to head across to Cardiff on a Friday night and I am so glad I took him up on his offer. It was a great game and a great night out.
With Newport being a short train journey over the border away, Luke and I were surprised to find out that neither of us had ever visited Rodney Parade. The perfect time to do so came up as the second round of the Crabao Cup was made and Newport had drawn West Ham at home.
This was particularly good for Luke as there were genuine feelings against West Ham and for Newport before and during the game so if Newport could do the unthinkable, then it would be a well worth journey for more than one reason.
It wasn’t meant to be as goals from Jack Wilshere and Pablo Fornals condemned Newport to a round two exit to Premier League opposition. So how was our experience?
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere was actually better before the game than during the game. Before kick-off it was looking likely to be a loud encounter with a brilliant atmosphere but that wasn’t really the case. There were some funny chants throughout the night which made me laugh, which included calling West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna a “BALD C*NT” which lead to team mate Declan Rice, shining his head.
The occasional chants of “sheep-shagging b*stards we know what we are” also brought a confused smile to my face but the chant of “AMBER ARMY’ brought some atmosphere. The West Ham fans also tried weighing in throughout the game but couldn’t quite create the kind of atmosphere I was expecting.
The atmosphere I will rate 2.5/5
Cost:
The travel to the ground cost us just £8 on the train as the station was just two stops away so for the transport part of the cost we were pretty content. The match ticket itself however was £14 pound which I believe to be a tad steep. It is a good price to watch Premier League opposition but this is their going rate for League Two.
For the cost I will rate Newport 2.5/5
Entertainment:
It wasn’t a bad game to watch from a Newport perspective despite the scoreline. They should have been ahead at half time, and I think even West Ham fans would agree with me there. Padraig Amond missed a sitter and Issa Diop could easily have put through is own net.
What did ruin my entertainment of the game was one fan that was behind us in the Hazel Terrace. To be fair to this guy he tried creating an atmosphere, he just went completely the wrong way about it. A fellow Newport fan, finally snapped late in the second half which sparked an entertaining argument which fizzled out at the final whistle.
For entertainment I will rate it 3/5
Facilities:
We managed to take in most of the facilities at Rodney Parade just looking for the ticket office. The ticket office ended up being a couple hundred yards away from the ground which was slightly annoying but it was easy to locate everything after.
Newport is a different stadium and is certainly one I will remember as the terraces and seating arrangements are unique. The main stand seems to be a very cozy area for the passionate fans to voice their chants and I quite like it.
Facilites I will rate 3/5.
Food:
After all the kerfuffle of getting into the stadium all I wanted was some food so I grabbed a hot dog and a bottle of water. I wasn’t in the greatest of moods before ordering the food as I had just spent half an hour trying to get into the ground, but the food didn’t improve my mood at all.
The hot dog for me was quite frankly vile. I did break off a bit for Luke who didn’t think it was too bad but I couldn’t finish even half of it, which if you know me well, is very much unlike me. Peculiarly the bottle of water which was given to me had no lid which I felt was weird but I guessed had something to do with the environment in some way or another.
I did have a packet of Pombears to clear my hunger which was bought from outside the ground in order to use the facilities of the shop, if you know what I mean.
For food I will rate Newport 1/5
Man of the Match:
Given the scoreline you’d think I would opt for a West Ham player but as I said, Newport put up more than a good fight. A player I was impressed with was their left back Ryan Haynes. He had the likes of Felipe Anderson and Robert Snodgrass to keep quiet and he succeeded for the vast majority of the game.
So what does this mean?
These ratings put Newport firmly to the bottom of the leaderboard. After I got back from the match I firmly believed that this could be the case and it has been proven. It wasn’t a bad game to watch but my time there certainly could have been a lot better.
Going into this week, there was a huge chance for Harry to extend his lead as Luke would be spending the latter part of the week at the Reading festival, whilst Harry would be attending two Southampton youth matches.
The week started early for us with a trip to The Johnny Rocks Stadium for Carlisle’s visit to Cheltenham. Despite living within an hour of the ground, neither of us had ever watched a game there, so we were looking forward to it.
The game itself was decent, especially the first half. Gavin Reilly opened the scoring for the hosts giving both of us our first ‘R’ of the season. We wouldn’t have to wait much longer for Cheltenham an our second.
Former Premier League striker Luke Varney calmly slotted home later on in the half as we picked up our first and probably last ‘V’ of the campaign. The rest of the game remained goaless as we traveled back to Bristol very happy.
As mentioned above, Luke spent the following days at Reading which gave Harry a great opportunity to grab a couple more. He spent the Saturday at Southampton u18s v Chelsea u18s. It was a tight match that ended 1-0 to the visitors with Lewis Bates grabbing a brilliant winner. Harry and Luke for the matter, both already have ‘B’s with Patrick Bamford’s goal against Bristol City.
The week didn’t end there. Harry had another game working for Opta but this time the Southampton u23s as they faced a strong Liverpool u23s side. This match had quite a few more goals as Liverpool came out 4-2 winners at Staplewood Training Ground.
Promising young striker Rhian Brewster opened the scoring early on but that lead was wiped out within minutes by Will Smallbone. They regained the lead ten minutes later through Curtis Jones and extended their lead just after half time through Pedro Chirivella. Dan N’lundulu halved the deficit but Louie Longstaff completed the win after good work by Harvey Elliot.
From this, Harry gained two new alphabet scorers letter. ‘J’ for Curtis Jones and ‘L’ for Louie Longstaff. This gives Harry a lead of four now heading into to next month. We will both be heading to university in a matter of weeks so matches may dry up for a month, but next week will be jam packed once again so stay tuned.
For the love of the game 