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BORO'S DETERMINATION OVERCOMES ARSENAL'S STYLES 13-9-06
Peter Holmes
Dear Premier League,
Can we cancel our normal fixture schedule against all those other teams in the top flight and just play, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal every week with cup games against Sunderland and Stockport County?
The famous roller-coaster continues it's journey and with the help of some last gasp signings and some perfectly timed breathing space afforded by the international break, we once again confound the form book.
We turn over from easy-beats one horrible midweek to battling terriers who stone-walled a well deserved draw out of Arsenal and their extra man on the pitch Rob Styles. I physically groaned when I saw Styles on the pitch. Mr.Bassett coined it perfectly in his as usual blob-on article in his 'Anti-News' slot this week by asking; "if Arsenal had got a replica Rob Styles free with their purchase of Ashburton Grove."
We really did take the swash out of Arsenal's buckle and the team ethic was just superb. In the main, it was classic backs to the wall stuff marshalled by the superb Woodgate on his Boro debut and aided stoically by Mohican Davies with big Skippy Schwarzer putting an absolute stormer of a shift between the posts.
It nearly turned sour though, with the fatherless person dressed in anthracite, putting in one of the most inept refereeing performances I have ever witnessed, even by his own historically low standards.
On the galling subject of Nob Styles, I'd love to read our own refereeing expert Monty's acerbic analysis of the performance the idiot didn't give on the day as a referee. I have never rated Styles and he causes more frustration than any other whistler out there with his pedantic self-centered nature. He may understand the rules, although even that is debatable, but he certainly doesn't understand the game.
Have you noticed how he constantly goes for the great long winded I am lecture, even after he's dished the card on some poor sod and, always knows where the correct camera angles will show his smug arrogant visage on the big screen. Has the man never heard of the words, unbiased, advantage or flow?
Then to compound his ineptitude the absolute plonker sends captain George Boateng off for having the bloody audacity to pop his knee out and stumble over in twisted ligament agony resulting in him accidentally barging into doll's model Ljunberg, a man well known for stoically staying on his feet. Oh Yeh!
Ljunberg went down like a ton of elephant dung over the side of Kilimanjaro, while George went with his momentum in the throws of falling over the side-line in bloody agony to be stretchered off. Out came the red card immediately - no inquest.
The man is totally and utterly inept. I cannot believe that our captain's sending off is at all justified or any punishment should stand. You know, I really think that the arrogant official on the day didn't even allow our captain to talk to him and booked him some seconds before during that Henry free-kick furore for calling him Mr.Poll.
I suppose those testicles hanging in front of his eyes give him some excuse but quite how this man is allowed to officiate at the level or any level is atrocious. Sack him - he's a classic case of someone who has got his ambition mixed up with his ability.
Jumps down swiftly from soap-box and takes a happy pill or seven!
In the end though, I thought the Aussie boy Mark Schwarzer was magnificent, totally opposite to the floundering, anxious, annoyed and befuddled keeper who looked lost along with the rest of the team against Pompey. It was a goalkeeping display which I strangely think, owes a lot to Boro boy come home Jon Woodgate and his calm, mature, follow me style of leadership.
It engendered a level of belief and ability in the rest of the defence which gave the big Roo so much confidence that he felt invincible and the only thing to get past him all day was a goal from the naughty spot by arguably the greatest individual exponent of the round ball code on Planet earth.
I agree with young Toby Higgins, give the captain's arm-band to Woody while Boateng recovers.
Saturday was a big TV sports day for ErimusRed, which was probably good as I was nursing a hangover the size of the Indian Ocean and felt like some manic elves had decided to do a re-run of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre inside my skull while wearing tacky boots full of hobnails!
So it was coca-cola, bowls of ice-cream, cups of char and the best course of remedial action possible, vegetate on the couch, cuddle the remote and watch the various finals in the AFL, a string of games from the EPL and the rugger tri-nations.
At times it was a juggle with the remote and a few excursions to picture in picture, but the screen was firmly fixed at 10 o'clock local time for the kick-off at the new Emirates stadium. From my vantage point, prostrate, it looks a very good venue and you've got to wonder how the hell they've built that in a third of the time of Wembley.
Frankly, the whole construction process at Wembley stadium is made a mockery of by the way that the new Arsenal stadium has been whacked together. I know it's nowhere near as big and complex a job but you have certainly got to wonder where Multiplex, one of Australia's icon companies, went so far wrong. It's affected the company very badly in it's standing in the eyes of the share market because of the substantial losses with the overriding opinion of lack of understanding and knowledge of the fraught English and worse, City of London construction industry.
Their share price has had more kicks in the cods than one of those Jap extreme loonies, the Tokyo shock boys. The owner and founder of the company John Roberts, a local Perth boy, died recently, but the company he had built had an excellent reputation on huge projects, delivered on budget, within quality, on time. Witness the superb world standard Stadium Australia at the Homebush Parramatta Sydney 2000 Olympic complex.
Should have kept the twin towers of old Wemberley and made them a part of the new venue as knocking them over jinxed the whole thing and gave it crap karma. Hitting those famous landmarks with the wrecking ball broke any link to the old site and lit the curse.
One thing though about the Emirates and most other new venues that is a step backwards are those bloody electronic advertising banners. Frankly my dears, they give me the screaming jahoozibahs. Gone are the days when you found your spot in the stadium because you knew it was opposite the Durex franger banner or the Newboulds Pork pie advertising hoarding that had been there since you Grandad was a nipper. Now the bloody things look like a demented fairground Ferris wheel and flash, spin, morph then circle the stadium like a psychedelic episode of the Magic frigging Roundabout.
"Hey did ya see that, wasn't that a good goal Erimus!?"
" Wafuggingoal, my retina are burned ragged by images of LG, Emirates, Arsenal shop on line.com.....!"
Anyway me old Smoggies, I was very proud of the display and could see a galvanising within the squad that will only increase over the coming months and battles. It was all very encouraging and I think our Gareth is learning quickly. I like the fact that Gareth is setting himself up to be a footballing man, in the same way you could call Harry Redknapp, MON, David Moyes with Paisley and Cloughie of old, as football people.
Tracky on and pacing the technical zone cajoling, kicking every ball, living the game alongside that waste of space the reserve flagologist and whistle-blower.
Wonder if the next game against Bolton will be on the upward or downward side of that roller-coaster?
Enough said,
ErimusRed,
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE NEW HOLGATE MESSAGE BOARD
BACK TO PETER HOLMES' LETTER FROM AUSTRALIA INDEX
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