MATCH REPORTS 1997/98

FEB 7 NORWICH - MANCHESTER CITY 0-0 (0-0)

Report by: Sharon Bennett

Yet another lovely, sunny day dawned as we set off to Norwich for the latest in an ever lengthening series of "top days out". The football, as usual, was not to contribute to the success of the day at all, but more about that later.

We arrived in Norwich just after 11 and went for a wander round the city centre before heading to the first pub at 12. Here we bumped into a rather large specimen of a City fan who took a bit of a shine to my mum so kept talking to us - he reckoned we should be trying to get Stuart Pearce as player-coach when he leaves Newcastle - hmm, why exactly would Psycho want to repeat all the mistakes he made at Forest and follow Clark into a dead end job which will end up in relegation? Anyway, enough of the optimism... Met up with some people (hello Mark, where's your match report then?) in the Complete Angler next to the river, which was very pleasant and full of Blues, then went up to the Coach and Horses, which was also full of Blues. But, eventually the fun had to stop and we went to the game.

City lined up with Wright, Brightwell (capt.), Symons, Tsh-thingy, Edghill, Russell, Kinkladze, Brown, Crooks, Rösler and Bradbury. Subs were van Blerk, Whitley and someone else, who I'm afraid I've forgotten but it was another defender - great attacking options on the bench then. We were right on the front row, which is about the only place in the stand where you don't get an obstructed view from one of the posts holding the roof up, and is also close enough to see the linesman's ears going pink when he has abuse hurled at him. Which he did, fairly regularly. City started as by far the better team, dominating the first 20 minutes in terms of possession and forcing the 'keeper to make, er, no saves. Crooks had a couple of good efforts which he hit straight at the 'keeper with no power, more like a pass back than a shot really.

It looked as if all we had to do was be patient and we'd score. Hmm. Gio was getting hacked nastily every time he touched the ball and wasn't at his best, although he still looked more likely to create a goal than anyone else on the pitch. He can't win though, he made a couple of runs early on which only led to him being crowded out in the area because he kept the ball too long, but when he did release the ball, whoever he passed it to (whether Russell, Rösler or Bradbury) invariably fluffed it completely. Still, surely we'd score eventually... After about 25 minutes there was another bad tackle on Gio from the Norwich number 10, Craig Bellamy (who apparently has been booked in the last 7 games, not surprising really). The Norwich fans (and Bellamy) thought Gio retaliated, Bellamy spat at Gio and was immediately sent off. And deservedly so - I didn't actually see the incident so don't know whether Gio did elbow him, as was alleged, but even the Norwich fans weren't surprised he was sent off.

So, Norwich were down to 10 men and only had Darren Eadie who looked as if he could be dangerous; surely we couldn't fail to capitalise on our domination of the game now? Well, not exactly, in fact City seemed to feel sorry for the fact their player had been sent off and stopped playing. We still dominated the midfield (hey wow) but every time there was a chance of a break or a goal scoring chance it came to nothing. Norwich had a couple of chances too but also didn't look as if they could score in a brothel (so to speak!). As this was my first match since Portsmouth I hadn't seen Bradbury play except on TV, but I hope he just needs more match practice. He's got a first touch like a fridge and is about as mobile. As for Rösler, well... anyone who watched the performance against West Ham in the Cup will recognise the same qualities in his game on Saturday.

Still, we were quite hopeful at half-time of managing to get a result in the second half, so Norwich would have been by far the more worried side during the half time interval. However, this being City, they let Norwich come back at them during the second half in a way that was embarrassing. Eadie looked dangerous on several occasions as he was cutting through the midfield but luckily Norwich are even worse in front of goal than we are. Tch-thingy (can't spell his name, sorry!) looked solid and, like Shelia, is very good in the air. I felt quite sorry for Brightwell for the abuse he was getting from some of the people around us during the second half, as he just couldn't do anything right - if he passed it back to Wright he was panicking and should just clear it to Row Z; if he headed it out for a throw in he was panicking and should take his time and play it out, and if he tried to take his time and play the ball out then he was having too high an opinion of himself and should just welly it.

Not surprisingly, when he did welly it he was criticised for that too. The Norwich No. 7 carried on where Bellamy had finished off and continually fouled Kinkladze every time he got past him. The stretcher had already been brought on once, and Kinkladze had recovered, when finally he suffered a crunching tackle that whipped his legs from under him. The stretcher came on again, and this there was to be no recovery. Gio went off, accompanied by some of the most disgusting behaviour from the home fans that I have seen for years. I can understand their booing Gio every time he got the ball - after all, he was instrumental in their player being sent off and he's a far better player than they could ever hope to have. Stevenage booed Shearer; I can understand that too although I'm sure they won't be doing it in France in the summer! However, the cheers that rang out and the celebrations that were going on in the home stands when Gio was carried off really sickened me. For all they knew he could have been injured so badly he never played again - would they be proud of their behaviour then? Probably. Van Blerk came on for Gio, no difference in the level of skill or talent there then. Whitley had also come on for Brown, who'd run around as much as ever but had seemingly taken over the Paul Dickov wearing-himself-out-with-nothing-to-show-for-it mantle. By this time, the sun had gone down and the pre-match drinks were starting to wear off.

I was getting bored and cold and was wondering more about how the rugby was going on than watching what was happening on the pitch. Eadie, thankfully, was substituted with about 15 minutes to go. One of the Norwich players also needed treatment at one point, so unsurprisingly the City fans reacted the same way as Norwich did when Gio went down. The mood was starting to get ugly in the stands when City reminded us just how awful they could be. A long through ball saw a Norwich attacker chasing towards it with just Symons (I think?) back with him. The attacker was closer to us so blocking my view of Symons, so when the ball appeared to come off Symons' foot straight into Wright's hands we weren't surprised when an indirect free kick was given in the area. A Norwich fan on the train later was swearing to us that he'd handballed it so should have had a penalty; if that's the case then we were lucky. The free kick, thankfully, hit Wright's foot and bounced away to safety. That going in would just have summed the match up.

So, another turgid game of football, another two points dropped that we really should have had. I've now been to Norwich four times, and have seen three nil-nil draws and a 1-1. All terrible games of football, all good days out. Strange. I was trying to think of an optimistic note to end the report on, and all I could come up with was "at least we didn't lose." That's not really much to celebrate is it? We've now drawn our last three games, three points out of a possible twelve is relegation form no matter how you look at it, and it isn't as if this is just a bad spell we're going through here.

Anyway, we had a laugh back in the Coach and Horses later on thanks to my mum and Willie Thorne (honest, it was him, especially with the Frankie Clark lookalike kit on!). No police escort this time but maybe there should have been - my mum ended up with a Norwich hat as a trophy, but then parents really do show you up don't they? I blame her for making me support City in the first place...

FEB 14 MANCHESTER CITY - BURY 0-1 (0-0)

Report by: Ken Foster

A no win situation for City really. Playing a very poor team who nevertheless knew how to battle and were the personification of commitment. City have shown us (once in a blue moon) that we can get it together on the skill/tactics front this season. They have also shown us more recently that we also have battling qualities. We have, however, never seen these attributes together and unfortunately today we saw neither.

Given the importance of this match it was a major surprise that we capitulated in quite the manner we did. Symons had a token header tipped over during our 2 minutes of sustained pressure in the first half and Tskhadadze had a similar effort saved in the second half. That, I'm afraid, was about it. Rösler and Bradbury were never in it. Rösler did his best to make runs but was either never found with the pass or was closed down quickly when he did receive it. Russell, playing behind the front two looked lively but unsure of his rôle. Crooks was the chosen playmaker but as a newcomer couldn't really be expected to gel immediately. Whitley worked hard but just wasn't involved enough.

I think the reason I'm going on about individuals here is our main problem. We play like a bunch of (not very good) individuals. There is no pattern, no width, no spirit, no confidence, no everything really. If Gio (missing because Georgia insisted on playing him with an injury in midweek) sometimes looks like making things happen for us, it's because he has enough individual ability to win a game on his own.

Bury's goal was a pantomime. Patterson's corner should have been cleared by Symons, but instead was headed straight back to the Bury man. His second attempt was met by Butler on the far post who squared it back across goal. Unfortunately Beesley couldn't get out of the way and knocked it into his own net.

Shortly after the goal a Kippax City fan ran onto the pitch and ceremoniously tore up the tickets from his season ticket and scattered them onto the pitch before being escorted off to tumultuous cheers from the crowd. Actually, although the guy was acting on behalf of a large contingent of the crowd, I didn't really approve as you could see the effect it had on the players. Surely waiting until the match was beyond reach would have been a better time to vent his frustration?

It could be argued that the match was beyond us at 3.00pm but if you've taken the trouble to turn up, you may as well support the team.

Final score: City 0 Bury 1.

On the way home the so-called experts were saying that this performance was the straw that broke the camel's back and that something has to be done. The line in the sand had been crossed. Personally, I think the line in the sand was crossed when we lost to Huddersfield back in November. At least then we would have had time to rescue our season. Now with 15 games left it's getting a bit tight if you assume a new man would take half a dozen games to assess the squad. By then it could be too late.

So what do we do? A guy called Makin claiming to hold 10 per cent of the shares said that he had been cold shouldered by FHL and that Franny's insistence on controlling everything with his overpowering ego was like a shadow over the club. He also claimed to know of a significant 3rd party who was waiting in the wings to take over. All this may be speculation but given FHL's record to date the only chance we have of saving our once great club is for FHL to stand up, be magnanimous, admit that he has failed, sell up and give someone else a chance.

I saw a fight between two City fans in front of me in the North Stand arguing about who was shouting the right things. I saw City fans throwing their scarves away as they left the ground. I felt sorry for Frank Clark when the chants of 'Clark Out' left him looking like an isolated figure standing on the touchline. Finally, I decided that I would not come back to Maine Road until something is done. It's the only way I can think of to force Lee out. It's not loyal, but my loyalty to City is more important than my loyalty to FHL, and I think I'm being more loyal to MCFC by staying away.

FEB 18 MANCHESTER CITY - IPSWICH 1-2 (1-0)

Report by: Martin Ford

City took the field to the original 'Boys in Blue', Oasis kicked into touch, Joseph was given a warm reception. The team lined up:

               Wright
      Symons Tskhadadze Shelia
Edghill                        Russell
         Whitley    Whitley
             Kinkladze
      Rosler          Beardsley

Subs Beesley (Crookes), Crookes (Edghill), Bradbury (Beardsley)

Oh things started so brightly, tackles being won, passes finding the man, some pride, commitment and passion and to cap it all, an opening goal after 5 minutes. A quick free kick to Russell, who galloped down the wing, put a wonderful ball into the area for Symons to majestically head home (OK maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, but it was certainly a good start). For 10 minutes City played well but then it just seemed to go downhill from there. The second half was a total anti-climax. City defended far too deep, the midfield was just in front of the defence, which left Ipswich unmolested to build attacks. When City did manage to break away, the lack of attacking players told, it was the norm to see 2/3 or occasionally 4 players faced by a wall of Ipswich players. The Ipswich midfield was everywhere on the field, supporting both the attack and defence. When are City going to lose this defence minded attitude more bodies have to be committed forward (look at the goal a defender getting forward)? Ipswich equalised when City succumbed to sustained pressure. Petta (?) was allowed to cross from the right (left-footed), his ball curled into the box, Mathie went to flick the ball (I'm still not convinced he got a touch) and the ball ended up in the back of the net. Still City couldn't break out and even Kinkladze was subdued in his right-wing back role (YES that's right, that's where he played the second half!!!) The only team likely to score the winner was Ipswich and so it happened, once more in injury time. Petta (?) this time on the left wing played a one-two, beat Tskhadadze (who slipped) crossed from the bye-line and Dyer beat Symons to the near post to score the winner! So another defeat, only 14 more games to go and by everyone's reckoning City have to win half of them (and we've only won 7 all season). Royle was upbeat about the game, he noted some good points, spotted the deficiencies and accepts it's gonna be a hard run-in.

Two points:

1. Both Royle and Symons stated that City defended too deeply - well the pair of them should have urged the troops out!!
2. Royle was concerned about several players fitness levels - hmm what happened to City players being the fittest they have ever been, that doesn't change overnight!

Hey hum, I know I shouldn't have but I've already accepted relegation - that way if we stay up I'll be delighted and if City do go down it won't be as much of a shock to accept.

FEB 21 SWINDON - MANCHESTER CITY 1-3 (0-1)

Report by: Paul Howarth

"Can we play you every week?"

As the season drags on and the situation fails to improve, each game seems to become more and more important. After the Bury and Ipswich results last week, the importance of this game against out of form opponents who had been thrashed at Maine Road earlier in the season could not be overstated.

It was raining in Manchester when we set off but by the time we arrived in Swindon the weather was bright and sunny. Unlike last year when we had to occupy the uncovered Stratton Bank whilst the rain poured down on us. Still, the sun was right in our eyes and it wasn't easy to pick out the players who were silhouetted against the bright background.

It was good to Willie Donachie back in City colours, leading the lads in some pre-match warm-ups. With Mighty Murt and Michael Brown back from injury, and Lee Briscoe in on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, City lined up as follows:

                  Wright
       Symons   Tskhadadze   Shelia
Jeff Whitley                     Briscoe
            Brown    Jim Whitley
                Kinkladze
           Rösler      Russell

On the bench were Gerard Wiekens, Lee Bradbury and Peter Beardsley.

City started brightly, taking the game to their hosts and testing their reserve goalkeeper Mildenhall (Digby was injured last week) with some high balls into the penalty area. He seemed confident enough but his handling was a bit suspect which suggested we could profit from the aerial power of Symons, Shelia and Tskhadadze at set pieces. Briscoe looked useful, getting up and down the left flank though some of the through balls played to him asked rather too much. City seemed solid enough at the back and Michael Brown worked well with Jim Whitley to control midfield.

City took a deserved lead halfway through the first half, having gone close just a minute earlier. Mildenhall blocked a powerful shot by Rösler, Russell chipped the loose ball over him but it was cleared off the line for a corner. Roles were reversed at the corner, with Russell heading the ball goalwards, Bullock clearing off the line (with his hand it seemed) only for Rösler to smash the ball home from 4 yards. This led to some hypocritical chanting of Uwe's name from many fans who had been slagging him off only minutes earlier. He wasn't hanging around to listen to any of that though, instead choosing to charge towards the City dug-out to celebrate with Joe Royle. Normal service was resumed 5 minutes later though, his goal forgotten as he gave away a needless foul and the criticism resumed.

The Blues nearly doubled their lead after half an hour when Shelia powerfully headed in another corner, only to see the "goal" ruled out, presumably because Shelia was adjudged to be climbing on the defender. It didn't seem any different from Symons' goal on Wednesday though. I didn't worry too much about the decision; I thought it was only a matter of time before City would score again. Swindon had little to offer in the first half, a snapshot from Leitch which went straight at Wright being the only effort of note.

The second half started off very differently. Beardsley was on in place of Kinkladze who was still struggling with his ankle injury, but the biggest change was in the attitude of the Swindon players. Steve McMahon had obviously had strong words with his men during the break and they came out like men possessed, challenging strongly for every ball and pressing forward constantly. McMahon brought his subs on and things turned even more in Swindon's favour as City got the jitters just like on Wednesday night. An equaliser looked to be on the cards and sure enough, it came. A free kick came in from Swindon's right flank, and substitute Steve Cowe, unmarked, headed the ball in off the bar. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who expected City to cave in and lose the game.

What a pleasant surprise - we didn't! After six minutes of the Swindon fans poking fun at us, they were silenced again following a good move down the right flank which ended with Rösler converting substitute Bradbury's (on for Russell) low cross. Shelia picked up what looked like an ankle injury and was replaced by Wiekens, who slotted in as sweeper and looked right at home there. With seven minutes left, the win was sealed. Jeff Whitley pumped a high ball deep into the penalty area, Bradbury went up with Mildenhall, won, and knocked a looping header towards the goal. At first it seemed the ball had gone over the bar and it took a moment for everyone to realise that the ball had actually dropped into the net. Cue massive celebrations and some very premature chants of "Jingle Bells". I glared at a guy behind me who admitted that he'd joined in the chant at Birmingham - and he still hadn't learned!

This time though there was no comeback from the home side and City took home three very valuable points. The nine goals against Swindon this season could be very valuable on the day of reckoning in May too. Make no mistake, this was not a great performance. It wasn't even much of an improvement on Wednesday (though the attitude shown after letting in equaliser was), with lots of misplaced passes, panicky clearances and what seemed a willingness to concede most of the possession to the opposition. However, results are more important than performances right now and a 3-1 win will do very nicely thank you. With some of the other results on Saturday going against us, the result was even more significant; we need something similar on Tuesday too. I'll be there and no doubt so will most of the others amongst City's amazingly big travelling support who took up the full allocation once again.

FEB 24 READING - MANCHESTER CITY 3-0 (2-0)

Report by: Mark Stangroom

Weather - warm (compared to Swindon!)

I set off for Reading optimistic that City would go on from the Swindon game to record two wins on the trot for only the second time this season. The win at the County Ground had certainly been deserved and the performance was impressive, although not full of flair. But I was certainly not disappointed to see more passion and work being put in by the team. Having said that, the fact that Swindon failed to attack us for almost the entirety of the first half meant that we did get a 45 minute head start on them. Having now seen the performance at Reading as well, I am more of the opinion that it was the fact that Swindon were truly awful rather than the fact that we were good that meant we won.

Having not been to Reading's ground before, I found it easy to find (thanks to the useful travel guides in King of the Kippax) and parking was no problem. The City end was almost full half an hour before kick off and the Reading stands were empty by comparison. The City warm up looks a little more constructive now - instead of just running from one side of the pitch to the other JR seems to allow them to use a ball as well!

City lined up as follows;

                  Wright
     Wiekens      Symons     Tskhadadze
Brightwell                           Briscoe
          Jim Whitley     Brown
                 Beardsley
       Bradbury              Rosler

Subs:   Jeff Whitley 
        Russell
        Dickov

The team differed to that at Swindon, with Gio and Murtaz both being injured. Jeff Whitley and Craig Russell were both dropped, Bradbury getting a start instead of Russell.

City started off quite well, with some semblance of the attacking attitude that we saw on Saturday. The City fans were optimistic, the general feeling being that Reading were no better than Swindon - even Ball's Blunderboys had beaten them at the weekend. Rosler was put through early on from a promising attacking move ,and tried to beat the keeper, who made a good save at his feet. Sad to say, but this was more or less the sum total of our chances. Our midfield evaporated, which was a major disappointment given that Jim Whitley and Michael Brown had looked so commanding on Saturday. Beardsley was extremely disappointing - how much are we paying him whilst he is with us? His corners are good and well floated over the box, but we don't get enough corners to get the benefit of this. He could be lacking match fitness though it could also be the fact he is 37 and maybe doesn't have the pace he once had. His role seems to be to stand in midfield and try a clever chip over the defence rather than run at them a la Kinky to cause them problems.

Reading's first goal was very unfortunate for Tommy Wright who made an excellent save to deny the first shot, but he couldn't hold it. Hodges followed up and stuck the ball in the net, though the fact that he was first to react in a crowded penalty box again says something for the awareness of our defenders. Their second was a shot from Ray Houghton (his first goal since September 1996!) which went in from the edge of the box; and their third was on the 90th minute, which by then was academic.

There isn't much description above about City's play, but to tell you the truth there wasn't much of it. It was a bit like standing in a bad dream, as whatever the score was 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, the attitude or urgency of the players didn't seem to change at all. They really did seem to be going through the motions. There was no midfield bite at all, the defence were sloppy and looked nervous and lacking confidence (though after Saturday I don't know why) and the attack was clueless. Bradbury and Rosler were very poor and by the end we had 4 recognised strikers on, and still we barely got a shot on goal. The sum total that I counted in the last half hour were two weak efforts from Dickov, which were at least on target, but were never going to trouble the keeper. Tactically, we seemed to be all over the place, and the bench didn't seem to be shouting or cajoling the players too much.

Reading attacked us and were up for it, but they weren't that good - just determined. They knew the value of the three points and thought it better to get the job done now than to have to leave it to a nailbiter at the end of the season. I wish our players had that attitude. I think that now most City fans will be mightily relieved if we finish out of the relegation positions only on goal difference, but why do we have to make it so hard for ourselves?

A few observations;

1. It would have been impossible to pick a man of the match for City. Not one player IMHO put in the required effort during that game.
2. Why change the midfield and attacking formation from Saturday? Okay, Gio wasn't playing, but he was largely ineffective against Swindon anyway. Russell did well in the first half on Saturday and his constant running contributed to the reason why Bradbury got so much space in the second half when he came on - the Swindon defenders had had to do some work.
3. Uwe has pledged his long term future to the club. Should we be celebrating this? He looked up for it at Swindon, but on Tuesday he was running around again like a headless chicken. Once incident occurred when he could have been following up on a shot, but instead chose to complain to the ref that he wasn't given a penalty. Play to the whistle for god's sake.
4. If we stay up by winning half our remaining games, then fine, but why do we always have to rely on this? We seem to lack the killer instinct and that only seems to come by being ruthless, both in training and in front of goal. I am glad to hear that JR has recalled Scully from Stoke - if he can supply the ammunition Rosler and Bradbury need, then great - let's spend the whole of the week practising it in training.
5. Opposition managers keep saying we won't go down. I'm still not convinced. I can see it going right down to the wire, especially now that both Portsmouth and Bury are getting results as well.
6. So much for talk of moving to a bigger ground. Has FHL got any plans in mind for moving to a smaller gorund when we hit the Vauxhall Conference?

FEB 28 MANCHESTER CITY - WEST BROMWICH 1-0 (1-0)

Report by: Sharon Bennett

I really wasn't looking forward to the game against West Brom at all on Saturday. West Brom have been on a bit of a slide recently, and with the possible exception of Swindon last weekend we seem to do that sort of team a favour - Bury, Reading, and Huddersfield earlier in the season to name just a few. As we were driving down Platt Lane there seemed to be no-one around, none of the usual hordes rushing eagerly towards the anticipated masterly performance that City would one day produce. Could this be the day that we'd all finally decided we'd had enough? Well, obviously not, when we got to the ground there was a huge queue for tickets - the attendance in the end was 28, 460, unbelievable. They must have all got there early and gone to the pub.

Anyway, we welcomed back Willie Donachie after all these years before the game, and he did look pleased to be back. Maybe he didn't go to Reading, or maybe he'd been in the pub too, who knows. I don't know whether Scully had made it back from Stoke or not but he didn't appear to be there, not even on the bench. Also missing was Kinkladze, who teletext had reported to be fit not 24 hours earlier. The rumours immediately started sweeping the ground that he wasn't there because he'd gone over to Liverpool that morning to sign for them for Stlg.7 million. Someone rang GMR after the game to say that this was a load of rubbish - he'd been sitting just behind the directors' box in the Main Stand and Gio and Shelia were both sitting in there having a right old natter during the game. City therefore lined up with Wright, Whitley jr, Symons, Tsh, Wiekens and Briscoe, Brown, Whitley Sr, Beardsley, Bradbury and Russell. Subs were Beesley, Dickov and Russell. We sat down, we shivered a bit and we kicked off.

City, as usual, kicked off quite brightly. Rosler was caught offside after about 15 seconds (at least he was running forward) and then was foiled by the keeper who came out from his goal line to collect a lovely through ball from Beardsley milliseconds before Rosler got there. We did look better than West Brom, which I have to admit was a pleasant surprise. The Baggies keeper (Miller, ex Boro I think) soon showed he was going to be a bit of a pain as he came for crosses well, dived and collected the ball well, commanded his defence well and covered his area well. I can't really understand why Boro let him go, after all they had Andy Dibble in net for them on Sunday and look how well he did... Still, City looked as if they were in command and it wouldn't be too long before the break through had to come. How many times have I said that this season? I hate to think. Lee Briscoe had an excellent game at left back. He has said he prefers full back to wing back but he played really well, keen to get forward and he put some good crosses in. He won endless corners and throwins in front of us during the first half. It's ironic really, that we've got him on loan because he's been pushed out of the Sheffield Wednesday team by Andy Hinchcliffe, Ah well, c'est la vie and all that. The only time Miller looked even slightly dodgy was from corners as he kept scaring his defence by punching out rather than catching the ball. Ooh, Eike Immel....

West Brom did have a couple of good chances in the first half hour but didn't ever look like scoring. Tsh was good in the air again and I thought Symons had another good game - I know many people will disagree with me and I accept he can't pass the ball, but he made some superb interceptions so at least give him credit for that. I didn't know Jeff Whitley could play at right back but he had the best game there that he's had for a while. The first chance of City's that should have been a goal came after about 25 minutes. I'm afraid I didn't see who played the shot, but Miller produced a wonderful diving save at the foot of his right hand post to prevent what was a certain goal. Not many keepers would have saved that - remember the Banks save against Pele? I'm not exaggerating, it was on that level. Git. Just after that, Wiekens hit a volley that unfortunately hit one of the City players in the box. Knowing that a draw could leave us bottom if Portsmouth and Bury both won, we were starting to get a little bit nervous. Moonchester decided to have a wander round the ground to cheer us all up a bit, which was appreciated most by the West Brom fans who started a rousing chant of "what the f*** is that". I wish they'd been put in the tinpot scary stand, would have served them right if they got snowed on, having a go at our Moonie - what do they do for a mascot anyway? Some bloke with a paper bag over his head? On the pitch, Bradbury created a good chance for Rosler when he actually won the ball from someone half way in the West Brom half. I don't know who was more surprised, Bradbury when he won the ball or us that he'd tried.

Anyway, while Moonchester's attempts to make us smile may not have worked, Rosler's suddenly worked a treat. A pinpoint cross from Symons (yeah okay, it may have been a hoof but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one) found Bradbury's head. Inch perfect lay off to Rosler, WHAM in the net goal 1-0 go absolutely wild. If the Baggies fans had been singing it would have shut them up.

As soon as we kicked off though I found myself wondering if we could hold out till half time or if the usual lack of concentration would result in getting West Brom an instant equaliser. Well, call me a kipper if we didn't go straight on the attack again and almost get a second goal. This wasn't City I was watching, it was a football team.

They were deservedly cheered off at half time. The only possible disappointment for me from the first half were the performances of Jim Whitley and Michael Brown, who weren't throwing themselves around nearly as much as they can do. Whitley kept getting caught in possession all the time and Brown seemed to be hanging back from making tackles rather than diving in with his customary, er, commitment. Still, Beardsley was having his best game yet and Rosler and Bradbury hadn't stopped running all half.

No changes at half time and the second half seemed to pass really quickly. A big fat West Brom fan took his shirt off and ran down to the front of the North Stand then back up to the top again in an attempt to wake the Baggies fans up, but only succeeded in making himself very cold. We should have scored a couple more in the second half (to add to the 3 we should have scored in the first half, why do opposition keepers always play blinders against us?) including one powerful header which was again going in by the foot of the right hand post, only for Miller again to somehow stick out a foot and stop it going in. I was beginning to seriously dislike this man. Something really strange happened early in the second half too. We'd just been commenting on how Jim Whitley hadn't been playing well at all, when he was substituted for Beesley. Eh? What sort of tactics are they? Aren't we supposed to take off Beardsley, or Rosler, and bring Brannan on? None of this making the right decision and strengthening the defence for me, thankyou very much, I'd rather have the old "bring a striker on with three minutes to go" tactics employed by Clark. AARGH am I saying, Royle you're a genius, you understand what substitutions are for.

We aren't used to this. Beesley happily settled into the middle of our (now) six man defence and looked very competent. The last five minutes or so were as nervy as ever, but that really was down to the fans panicking rather than the players. Brown remembered what the best bit of his game was and started tackling in the middle of the pitch, and anything that did get past him was easily cleared by the defence or collected by Wright. We hung on, and the chant of Blue Moon at the end could probably have been heard in Liverpool. Where Gio wasn't signing a contract that morning. Honest.

So, conclusions from the game. Well, we really shouldn't get too excited by it all. West Brom were pretty clueless all game, we had lots of chances but only managed to put one away, and the two players who put in really excellent performances are only with us on loan. Having said that, it would have been easy for the confidence to be completely lacking after what had happened at Readin,g yet Rosler and Bradbury had their best game together yet. I still think Bradbury has some way to go before being anything like the finished article (or a 3.5 million pound player) but he's getting into position far better now than he had been. I don't know why City are incapable of being consistent but if they could put in steady performances like Saturday's every game then we wouldn't have the relegation worries we do have. You'll never have an ideal run in to the end of the season, but we've still to play Huddersfield, Port Vale and Stoke who are all as crap as we are. I'll be amazed if we do beat the Udders on Tuesday, but then I'd settle for win one, lose one right the way through now. Another six wins should see us safe. Hmm.

Yet another lovely, sunny day dawned as we set off to Norwich for the latest

by Svenn A. Hanssen, svenn@hanssen.priv.no