Holmes_and_Watson

"When SOG said he was bringing all his friends to school, I thought I'd be getting loads of dog treats. But it turned out they were all imaginary. We couldn't wait to leave school and leave him and his virtue signaling behind." From Shep: My School Days.

As each of the others shares their anecdotes of "Out of a group of my old school friends who failed their 11 plus", they pause. "Of course, it didn't work out for all of us. One of us ended up as a pious imbecile, with fixations against Jewish people and anyone on the right." Worst play park in the universe: SOGWorld.

SR hire soft drink swilling rugby players on deadline day. "It's even more left field than getting Woodward in," shouted Rasmus, booking luxury trips to convince tennis players to join in the next summer window.

World

VA fail to find the gear to drive to success. VA motor to towards the foot of the table. Taxi for SR! Oh, the motor puns are all there to celebrate Toyota's links with the club. VA came out brightly enough in the second half. Abi managed a couple of touches, to get it under control through on goal only to put it wide. El Hadary took an extra touch before shooting, where an earlier effort looked more likely. At the other end Orleans found themselves through on goal, a good dribble through the defence going wide. The game began to dip after that. Moulin brought on 3 subs on 65 and another 2 on 75. An Abi effort is the only thing that comes to mind. VA have struggled to look coherent with the basics this season. It's no surprise that they always look worse when they chase the game, and have too many attackers on. Our Rento was one of those coming on in the 75th minute. His effort was put off by Abi being in close proximity. The longer it went, you could see it weighing on the players. They're all too familiar with this. With VA pushing up, Orleans had a couple of breaks, but couldn't take advantage of any of them. They preferred to manage the game by milking each foul and goal kick. This always infuriates Courtet, so often trying to get VA back into a game. So, he picked up a yellow again for that. Big boos at half time, and more boos at full time. A broader picture is that VA had chances to win it, only to be undone by another defensive blunder. There were positives. But clutching at them, considering VA's resources, doesn't reflect well on SR.

Orleans 1 up at half time. VA defender tried to chest it back to the keeper. Orleans I tercepted the ball, and passed it into the centre to be put in. Saying Orleans looked likely from that flank would be overstating it. They had a couple of glimpses, as they had a glimpse on the break once. Louchet hasn't had much to do. Not that VA have been miles better, but we're clearly the dominant team. They started with, and maintained, more urgency than usual. Having Abi once again gives more of a focal point. A nice through ball to Courtet on 20, resulted in a ball across to Abi, only for the Orleans defender to get to the it first. A strong header went over around 30, to be followed by another header, on 36 hitting the bar. Courtet was left in the middle of the box a few mins before the break. He chested it down, only to snatch it wide. He had a lot more time and space than he thought. He had snatched an effort well wide earlier on, after it had rebounded to him. VA have to at least keep their pace for the second half. We've seen heads drop before, after defensive errors. There's no need for it, as there's plenty of time to turn things round.

Carragher can only spit 9 feet?

Still Fabrice29 wasn't it? and the reason that user name was picked back then. 🙂

Caught the first half and highlights. A Tonda plus has been a starting eleven that allows changes on merit and circumstances. Bree in for Jelert; Welington for Manning for example. Today, and with a previous glimpse, we've finally got a formation to match. Tricky wide midfielder finally gets to play in tricky wide midfield role! And as Fellows provides one outlet, it requires a Stewart type forward in the middle. That keeps defences occupied, allowing for support from Azaz, who has more options in front of him. Meanwhile, Scienza offers tricky runs and direct efforts on the other side. Having had to try and dig us out in early games, Leo is now going to have to let others have the ball now, when they are in much better positions. As we've got more attacking options, Downs and Jander have a little more room. Both had good moments today. At the back THB has done okay, this transfer window. With it closing, hopefully that continues. Lovely through ball. Stephens deserved a nod for the Derby feisty showing. Despite a blooper a game or so, Peretz has looked a better all round keeper. And one who is a lot more vocal and engaged with his defence. A couple of excellent saves today. Stoke allowed space for balls in behind their defences, which suited us. Even so, there was a better balance to our team and play today. The main concern is still competition/ replacement for Stewart. And, unless we're changing the profile of our attack completely, someone to fill an Archer/ Armstrong role should they both go.

... where the boat is sinking, surrounded by sharks, who all have Noravirus, botulism and a legionaires disease. 🙂

Agreed. That's the side and Archer and AA protected ahead of potential moves.

Tectonic

Thanks. I went scurrying off to find a link last night, wondering where my Friday evening football had gone. 🙂

The one on the right is Johannes...