John McCormick writes: I suspected this would be one of the grounds that Pete Sixsmith counts among his favourites. After all, not only is it old and venerable, like the man himself, with international matches and semi-finals galore on its cv, it has the Archibald Leitch connection that he relishes.
And there’s a bonus for me, by some coincidence. Some random bloke I met this morning started talking about the ’73 cup final and the save, which got me mentally singing “Aye Aye Aye Aye, Monty is better than Yashin”. But I couldn’t for the life of me remember who was better than Eusabio. Now I know, and I’ll sleep happily tonight. So it’s a double thankyou to Pete, for filling in that gap, and for another excellent read:
John McCormick writes – I do remember a trip to the Old Den in the ’70s but like Pete Sixsmith, I struggle to remember seeing Millwall at Roker and it’s possible I never did. From 1970 I was a student down south in Yorkshire and I often played sport rather than watched it. I did get back to some games so I can’t rule this one out, especially as it was played in May, but Pete’s account includes a player who, like the game, stirs nothing in what’s left of my memory. Luckily, that’s not the case with Mr Sixsmith:
The last time I reported in, Leeds were the only club from our readers’ pre-season choices to be in the top six positions. The other five – Cardiff, Wolves, Sheffield United, Bristol City and Preston, in that order – had together accumulated only 617 votes, about 7.5% of the total cast, and Wolves had had over half of them.
Four of our choices, it must be said, were queuing up on the boundary, ready to pounce on any slips from the leaders, and only one was languishing (with great languor) in the doldrums. That was just over a month ago, in which time there have been five games, potentially fifteen points, to contest.
With the arrival of another international weekend we have a chance to review the situation and see if the natural order (as defined by our readership) has been restored in those five games.
John McCormick writes: a few of the old grounds I’ve visited are not around now – Oxford’s Manor, Maine Road, the Old Den, Boothferry Park and the Brittania spring to mind – but what is strange is that I haven’t been to any, not one, of the new grounds that replaced them.
For some reason, though, I rarely think of Ayresome Park when I’m mentally checking away trips off. But been there I have, way back in the Sixties, though in common with my other dead grounds I’ve never been to its replacement.
Pete Sixsmith has, however. In fact he’s been to both and is thus able to inform, entertain and educate us with another account from his ‘first time’ series. So pour a Double Maxim, kick your shoes off, sit back, relax and enjoy:
John McCormick writes: half an hour in and my hopes of a mug were dashed. And though we continued our scoring run and equalised we also continued our home hoodoo and lost to a second-half goal.
Will that cost our manager his job? Pete Sixsmith’s seven word text, straight on the final whistle, suggests it should.
John McCormick writes: It’s a team effort, here at Salut! Pete Sixmith was engaged with a non-League fixture so Bob Chapman stepped in with his seven word summary, which was sent to Malcolm, who used it to finalise the draft I’d prepared.
And now M Salut himself has forwarded Bob’s post-match report. For me, it carries a hint that, while there’s some way to go, we are at least beginning to create chances. That could be because I thought we did something similar at Preston, so I suggest you tuck into this excellent read, bear in mind that not all our players are fully match fit, and decide for yourself.
John McCormick writes: We’ve now conceded 25 goals already this season, although it appears that the last of them came from a deflection that left our keeper no chance.
Still, I suppose a point away’s not too bad, especially as Brentford had 9 shots on target, but not being able to hold on to a two goal lead’s a concern. And that forms the basis of Bob Chapman’s (off the bench as Sixer’s sub today) seven-word summary:
Another international break, another chance to catch up on our favourites for the promotion and playoff places.
You might remember they were, in no particular order, Fulham, Leeds, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland. How have they done?
(If you’re new to this series, or if you want to catch up, you can trot over to Mccormick’s dodgy numbers, find the first post in the series (27th June) and work your way up the page).
Lime Street closed for three weeks on the day we played Preston and I suspect some of the direct trains that might have departed from there were surreptitiously removed from schedules in the months preceding. How else would I have found easy passage from Liverpool to Preston when mooching around in the relegation-threatened PDC days, and even when this season’s fixtures were announced, but nothing when trying to get there this weekend?
The last time I reported in, Leeds were the only club from our readers’ pre-season choices to be in the top six positions. The other five – Cardiff, Wolves, Sheffield United, Bristol City and Preston, in that order – had together accumulated only 617 votes, about 7.5% of the total cast, and Wolves had had over half of them.
