17 October, 2007

Cyprus Kill

I've left writing this blog for a few days to allow time for me to calm down. Had I of written it on Saturday night it would have been a drunken rant held together with profanities. Truth is even though I left it a couple of days I still am unable to understand what the hell happen in Cyprus on the weekend. Well I do understand to some extent, Wales were embarrassed. Never at any point of the game did we look in control. Never have I seen Wales gifting the ball to their opponents so frequently. I spent the entire game willing us to keep the ball for any significant length of time. Our defense was a shambles to boot and Cyprus exposed it ruthlessly.

Limping in at half time with a 1-0 advantage I imagined Toshack was going to rally the troops for the second half . I had great confidence in this happening but it was more of the same. There was a sense of inevitability about the equaliser. Some times you can ride your luck with a great goalkeeping performance but poor Danny Coyne wasn't up to the job. Much like the Germany and Ireland games we rolled over. Heads dropped, then came the second closely followed by the third. And the horrible truth is the scoreline could have been worse. Dreams of third place shattered, another campaign dead in the water riddled with more humiliating memories.

The last few days I've been reading everything I can in the media on the situation. Post match, Toshack seemed to blame himself. Statements such as "I must be doing something wrong" and "I need to take a long hard look at myself" suggested he was going to walk away from the post. The FAW came out in his defense, "Give him more time" they requested. This was followed by what is becoming a fixture of Toshack's reign, a Robbie Savage rant calling for him to quit. I use to think Savage was great but his continuous attacks are becoming extremely boring. When he originally fell out with Toshack I think he had everyone on his side but I don't know what he's trying to achieve with these outbursts, all he's achieving at the moment is the loss of the respect of most Welsh fans. Then yesterday Toshack comes out and lays into the players, which wasn't the best display of man management. I worry another squad member will make himself 'unavailable' soon.

Anyway San Marino tonight and only a big win for Wales would do. I was reading earlier that Eastwood and Vaughan are doubts for tonights game which is a shame. I'd have loved to see Bellamy and him both on the attack tonight. On the plus side it's available to none Sky Sports subscribers again. Although tonight it's on BBCi rather than S4C. There was a weird 80s retro thing going on with the S4C coverage on Saturday. The studio set up was bizarre, they had a full on buffet laid out on the coffee table in front of the pundits. Various random people were sat behind them such as the Llanelli FC chairman who would offer observations when asked. The match coverage was equally strange. The way Malcolm Allen's head kept on popping up on the pitch during the game was like something from 'The Day Today' or 'BrassEye'. I kept expecting him to shout "Back of the net!!!" in Welsh. On one occasion the on screen phone in graphics were so big they covered the goal mouth action. Don't get me wrong though, I loved it. The more games on S4C and BBC the better.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

TOTALLY AGREE! LUCKY to still have a lead going into half time. you, me, my mates ALL expected a defensive kick up the arse at half time, solid us up like, but nothing... if anyhting it was WORSE! And as for last night... another rant? and the tat teledu efo buffet ROFLMAO! luvd it

David said...

Cheers for the comment. Yeah another rant has arrived today!!! Not a good situation at all.

Like the website, Marc the other blog writer is a keen follower of the North Welsh leagues.

Marc (North) said...

When you're found stood watching Sychdyn v Glan Conwy 'Reserves' and thinking of their respective league places in Clwyd Div 1 during the game, you could say i'm keen on the North Wales pyramid. I spent most of the game stood with the Glan Conwy coach and subs (2 of the Glan lads play on a Wednesday with us). Sychdyn won 4-1 by the way... I was asked pre-match to "run the line", i don't have a North Wales Coast FA Referees badge, so i could only call "in's or out's" for the ref... sound, no running the line for off-sides required!