I wasn't going to blog about yesterday. I didn't want to start the season like this. Three months ago I sat at The Arsenal as we slumped to Aston Villa. The atmosphere was poisonous. Boos rang out while Gooners fought among themselves in the stands. Things needed to change.
Three months of promises and that's what we get. Now, we didn't blow a 4 goal lead so this was a far less damaging draw than last season (ignoring the red card and possible ban for Song for a moment. Hold on! It is a pretty damaging draw!) It's just not how you want to start. It's hardly hitting the ground running is it? I thought we kept the ball well. Tried hard to get it back but did very little to actually beat a very poor Newcastle. That was our easiest game this month and we blew it.
The positives, after a summer of worry, were the back 5. Sez looked commanding in the box. There's a lot of pressure on his shoulders this season. He's our number 1 now and thank goodness as there is little in reserve to challenge that. The defence kept a clean sheet which makes a nice change but before we get over excited Newcastle were about as threatening as a baby with a spoon. If they finish above the bottom 3rd they will have done well.
And that's the crux. If we don't have the ideas to take 3 points off a poor side after 3 months of preparation I despair. It was a poor 0-0 with hardly a shot to register in the memory. Without Joey Barton the game would probably be forgotten already. What an absolute arsehole he is but yet again we fell for it. Did nobody warn Gervinho about him? That whole couple of minutes was a disgrace. Firstly it was a penalty. Gervinho was clipped. He was then assaulted while the ball was in play so that's a penalty too. These two penalty shouts ended Gervinho's debut and let Barton off the hook. Poor refereeing. Somehow we had a man fouled in the box which led to him being sent off. Staggering. Worrying too that Barton goes down easier than a crack whore holding a fiver and one of the Taylors thinks a stroke of the face is the same as an elbow. God help their wives for very different reasons!
What worries me more is that the side that played yesterday can only be strengthened by bringing Jack in. There is really nobody else that would make a difference. We have the cast of Glee (or Kids from Fame for older viewers) chomping at the bit on the bench but are any of them ready to invigorate a lacklustre show? In a couple of days this squad needs to try and keep us away from the prospect of unthinkable Thursday night football.
Turn it around boys. Give us fans something to believe in. Show us Arsene still knows. It's the least we deserve.
- Posted using BlogPress from an iTelephone.
What seems to happen (not just against us) is that an incident occurs which fires up Barton who then is given licence to ref the game. Song was stupid, and it led to a number of incidents with Barton up in the ref's face demanding decisions go his way. Rather than the ref telling him to back off or booking him for dissent, he somehow manages to get inside the head of the official until a flashpoint such as Gervinho happens. As we saw, it was a penalty but Barton rushed into the situation and diverted attention from that decision with his baiting of our man into a silly flick at the face. The rest is history.
ReplyDeleteHow is that runt allowed to do this? Are our referees so weak-willed that a 'strong personality' on the pitch can literally distract them into making/reversing decisions? And if so, what are the linesmen for? And if so, why do we not have video referrals!
Still, at least we kept a clean sheet :(
The whole incodent leves a nasty taste in the mouth. What was worse (if that's possible) was Taylor denying he'd seen anything in the interview after, and Pardew as well sticking his oar in. How he can defend Barton after he did what he did is unbelievable. Fair do's Song was lucky to escape earlier, and Gervinho should not have raised his hands but if this is a so called hars man of football, i really despair. Had it been the other way round gervinho would have been heavily criticised for making so much of what amounts to a caress!
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting what the fa make of it tomorrow.
On another note i am kind of half pleased about the melee that ensued, at least it shows the boys stick up formeach other. Great pity they all shook hands with barton afterwards. I would have completely ignored him.