Well, if you can’t be proud of that what can you be proud of? Considering the value of Virgil van Dijk alone would outstrip that of our entire squad quite literally twice over, we gave it a right good go and so nearly held out the Champions League winners who have only dropped two points all season after 26 games.
Dennis did its best to deliver the very worst of conditions but that notwithstanding the game was just as gripping as I had hoped for.
That Liverpool’s constant press eventually wore us down was, I guess, inevitable but we held our heads high and got forward in style when we could. Alisson’s superb save from the combination of Lukas Rupp and Teemu Pukki was matched by Tim Krul’s double from Mo Salah and Naby Keita.
I realise you probably weren’t there to watch our Tim, Mr Koeman, but take note nonetheless.
The subtle little push on Zimbo from Sadio Mane didn’t look VAR worthy to me. It’s part and parcel of the game and those are very rarely given in any case. Of course, VAR was obliged to check it but the outcome was always inevitable.
You have to feel for Sam Byram as if that’s a serious hamstring then his season is over. On a positive note, Jamal Lewis looked like he’d never been away when he came on. And well done to whoever decided to treat Byram on the pitch as the Reds had built up a real head of steam at that point and we got a couple of minutes of respite from it. Someone’s learning the dark arts, it would seem.
And in terms of learning, Grant Hanley and Kenny McLean [despite one almighty first half balls-up] seem to be getting better all the time which is just as well as they’ll both surely be lynchpins next season.
That fixture was a free hit anyway and we must have collectively gained even more belief and confidence from it despite the defeat.
Just a personal couple of views from my perch in the Barclay: yes there were a few disgruntled types in E block who were chanting anti-Farke stuff but I think it was specific to their wanting Emi Buendia on the second we went behind. Sorry guys that’s the Head Coach’s decision, not yours.
They kicked off Emi’s song when he did come on and the discontent seemed to dissipate as quickly as it started.
The tribute banner to Justin Fashanu’s goal all those years ago was a great idea from whoever thought of it. No wonder it was located in the River End – it would have become lost in the yellow and green sea that is currently the Barclay.
I rarely say this because we’ve had some right dodgy officials over the years, but I thought referee Stuart Attwell had a great game.
So now it’s on to Wolves with a team to be proud of – and with good reason.
If Daniel’s “little miracle” is to happen the process must begin on Sunday.
I thought I’d end with a couple of gripes about merchandising and “supporter packages” at NCFC.
But there’s nonetheless a big smiley moment at the very finish to counteract my moans.
When I saw that Tampa Bay Rowdies shirt with the Hard Rock Hotel logo on it I thought, shucks – I’ve got to have one of these and I’ll snap said item up before the Liverpool game. Coolest top I’ve seen since the Asics ones with the green diagonals on the right breast in the late 1980s.
Obviously the Rowdies have strong links to ourselves and a couple of our under-23s have been loaned to them. No treachery, no shame in wearing their colours as they are identical to ours. How could I go wrong?
The shame is this: NCFC wants £78.50 for one of these. That’s right, seventy-eight pounds and fifty pence. Even with ten per cent off on my season ticket that would still cost over SEVENTY quid.
We all know the shirts [whether courtesy of Errea or not] are made in Asia for a unit cost of much less than a fiver, so who are our merch crew trying to con?
Count me out, as dapper as the top is.
Then there’s the mascot experience manifestation which shocked me even more.
As our very own Robin Sainty quite rightly said on Archant the other day, the Club has to make money any way it can.
But when I found out that for a child mascot to walk out at Carrow Road costs £379 I fell off my chair and forgot to feed the dogs.
When I’d been licked almost to death to remind me of my dereliction of duty and scraped myself off the laminate I revisited the source and discovered it was £500 for a child to walk out with the captain of the day.
So what chance does the average working man or woman have of allowing their child or grandchild to enjoy that experience?
I can’t genuinely plead poverty but even so, I’d baulk at that amount of outlay, I really would.
However, we’re not all bad when it comes to shirts.
My oldest and best NCFC mate Keith King and I first met in the River End over 30 years ago. He turned 80 the other day and his granddaughter Anna works regularly in the programme section at Carrow Road although her full-time job is at Sprowston Tesco.
She told the Club that grandad had been a fan at the Carra since 1946 and much more about him. He’s had his season ticket for far longer than me and we have sat within nattering distance in the Barclay for well over 25 years since moving from the River End. We’ve exchanged lots of moans [I mean banter] and when Anna was a tiny, three generations of Kings were Barclay regulars until mum Jen moved to Essex.
Keith and Anna were invited for a special pre-match meal on Saturday where he was presented with a shirt with ‘Keith 80’ on the back and signed by the first-team squad. I believe it was presented to him by Ben Kensell.
It was so precious to Keith that he wouldn’t take the shirt out of the bag in a heaving Barclay to let me take a pic.
But he showed me it and it had been signed in indelible pen over 20 times.
When NCFC get it right, they really do.
My goodness Martin – IF we had had that level of defensive strength against the likes of Watford, the Blades and Wolves, we’d be on 27 point and relative safety!! I thought Gary’s article yesterday was spot on and I know MOST fans are truly proud of our team and what they’ve so nearly achieved this season.
Hanley has really impressed in the last few games and the midfield combo of McLean/Tettey is working well.
I’ve always liked TC this season, ever since I saw him in both pre-season friendlies and to hear Danny Murphy wax lyrical about him was brilliant and hopefully adds a few £M to his transfer fee. When you witness the way in which DF and his coaches have developed firstly JM and now TC, it must stand us in very good stead of recruiting up and coming young players.
The trouble is that several ‘bigger’ clubs will be trying to entice him away along with the likes of Aarons, Godfrey, Buendia, Krul to name but a few. IMO, he has more than justified asking for and wearing the number 14 and I’m confident that he’ll prove to be a better player than Wes was!! (dons flak jacket/tin hat!!).
Really bad luck on Byram’s injury, but at least it gives Lewis a chance to prove himself again..
As much as I wanted us to stay in the PL at the beginning of the year, one thing I didn’t want was for DF to give up on the style of play that saw us race to the Championship title last season and that has certainly been the case and if Pukki’s radar wasn’t slightly .off in a few games we could be relatively safe.
PS – What a heart-warming story re Keith and his shirt
3
Morning Ed.
Yes I am sure most of us are pleased with and proud of this squad, who have battled against the odds from day one.
No tangible investment in the summer, injuries, three loans that really haven’t worked out, VAR and sheer bad luck look like they will combine to send us down.
But we’ve been a joy to watch and with maybe the exceptions of Villa [h] and Man U [a] we’ve always turned up – and very often put on a show.
I wouldn’t compare anyone with Wes as he was unique, but do I think TC will become a better player than him and move on to a bigger club in the summer? Yes and yes.
Like a lot of ex-police officers Keith can be slow to show his emotions, but he was made up with the club’s gesture of the meal and particularly the shirt.
Thanks as always.
2
I love the story of Keith’s shirt and agree that the best part of £80 is far too much for a cheaply made piece of acrylic. It makes the Hugo Boss I bought for my brother’s wedding seem like great value for money-even though I broke into a cold sweat when it came to paying for it.
I agree with you and Gary about pretty much everything written about the game. But I am absolutely seething about their goal. If VAR can disallow Teemu’s goal against Spurs and Wolves’ goal on Friday night then surely this was a clearer infringement than either of those. Although the goal would have stood in any of the previous 100 years, under the current VARsical interpretation of the laws it should have been disallowed. I am 100% certain that if we had scored it, VAR would have rescued Liverpool.
The team, coaching staff and crowd are showing great spirit. There’s still lots to love about this team and still a slight (very slight) chance of miracle.
Roll on Sunday.
2
Hi Don;
Totally agree with everything you’ve said, however, how did VAR not see the blatant foul by Rupp and co on VVD at a Livarpool corner, which surely should have been a penalty to them?
What a great performance from the guys on Saturday.
As put in Gary’s piece yesterday, we can be truly proud of this group of players and management.
And nearly 90 quid for a sort of City top?? Yes, I enjoy supporting my club, but THAT is nothing short of ludicrous!!!!
O T B C
3
Hi John
After a chat earlier with Bernie [below] I realised I was only looking at the junior shirt – the adult one was actually £91.50!!!
Yes I did see Rupp and somebody else do the dirty on VVD in tandem.
VAR didn’t do its stuff for Liverpool on that occasion.
Proud is the word.
0
Hi Don.
Hugo Boss?
Reminds me of the day I saw a tailored suit in Austin Reeds in Victoria St in the early 80s which was tailored for some dude who never came to collect. Down from £500 to “make as an offer if it fits you.” It did fit me so I got it for £100. I’ve still got the ba$tard and it still fits!
As for VAR I’m sure they’d have found a way to rule out the Pukki/Rupp effort if it had gone in. When you can’t spin off the shoulder of the last defender and head for goal it becomes farcical.
The Wolvers decision was abysmal. Trouble is, VAR owes them one now and who’s up next? Us of course, who else?
You nail it when you say how much love remains for the team from very nearly all of us. And I’m sure at the last home match they’ll get a roundly and soundly applauded lap of honour.
Presuming you’ll be there on Sunday give ’em a shout for me.
Cheers mate.
1
Did the assistant say ‘Oooh suits you sir ?
0
No mate SHE didn’t!
But Paul Whitehouse was probably still at Uni in those days.
It was a bit like Cinderella and the glass slipper really.
And said suit genuinely lurks in my Mundesley wardrobe to this very day. It’s had its turnups removed and a couple of invisible patches on the jacket but it’s still going strong.
The Alex Tettey of the couture world.
Cheers.
1
More like Trigger’s broom?
2
Yeah a bit like Trigger’s broom but as it’s deep midnight blue I still drag it out for funerals [the suit, not the amended broom].
On the Faces first album there’s a wonderful track that the Pistols used to rehearse with – it’s called Three Button Hand Me Down and is really worth a listen. It’s on “First Step”.
1
Read that and agreed with you , that’s really ott for a shirt. So I had a look on the rowdies home web site and there is the hard rock cafe shirt, all stripey Nike and yellow and green . Rowdies are selling it for $85. That’s £65.16 at today’s exchange rate chuck in a tenner for postage and packing and there you go.
Dug down a little further in Rowdies fans and it appears a lot of them buy the Tampa bay rowdies concept home shirt for 2019-20 season .its a white shirt with the stripes of yellow and green only on the sleeves.its designed by a Rowdies fan, and is a one off production run ,so when its gone its gone. Its available on line at £34.99 plus p&p. BUT its not the hard rock shirt. Seems it the Rowdies making most of the heavy duty profit from this Chinese made shirt.
On the game, we had chances and still couldn’t take them, but a much better and cohesive defensive showing .12 more of them and we will be cursing the fragility of our first half of the seasons defensive openness.
0
Hi Bernie – there’s no need to get shirty, that’s my job!
I really feel the Club have let themselves down on this one. A Rowdies shirt that most of us would be happy to wear but who in their right mind would pay £91.50 for it?
My guess is they’ll be kicking around in the shop for some time yet.
Grant Hanley is starting to really look the part. I fear it’s too late to save us but where there’s life, etc.
Thanks for the earlier chat.
0
I recently bought a black Norwich shirt from ‘Classic football shirts’ for about £50 which I have to say is rather fetching. They have a shop in Shoreditch, handy for us locals, and another in Manchester. Some of their shirts are ludicrously expensive but if you keep looking there are often bargains to be found, sometimes for as little as £15.
Ok, I’m off to lose a few pounds and grow a beard, when the rain has died down and the sun comes out you’ll find me posing down Brick Lane, pride indeed:
https://www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk/premiership-clubs/norwich-city.html
0
Ha!
I’ve got quite a collection of NCFC regalia myself, even though I sold off a raft of them when I moved from Blofield to Coltishall many years ago.
I retained Neil Adams’ black training top from the Youth Cup win, the 1902-2002 centenary top with my name on it along with hundreds of others and Mrs P has a training top with her initials on it.
I also sometimes walk the dogs in the height of summer in Darren Huckerby’s shorts but that’s probably too much info.
I bet Brick Lane has changed since I was last there, c. 1969 as a kid.
Enjoy.
0
Its changed beyond all recognition especially at the Shoreditch end.
1
I always knew it as Bow rather than Shoreditch and dad always used to let me come with him to Spitalfields, Smithfield, Billingsgate and [I think] Crisp Street markets just for the experience.
You could get a beer in one or two pubs just off Billingsgate at three or four in the morning if you chose to in the 1970s.
Not a place to stick your neck out.
0
The US has always been expensive for sports shirts, the Rowdies seem to be no exception. On their website it’s listed as $85 dollars, so by the time you take into account shipping, exchange rate etc £70 odd quid is par the course. Too much for my money but, I don’t think it is them at CR doing the fleecing here.
As for the game, of course the lads did us proud. LiVARpoo are an exceptional side and once they made their double substitution it looked like a case of when they might break through. Mane was absolute Mustard! Clearly no foul for my money, the wind I think just deceived Zimmbo.
I do think though there are a couple of issues from the game and not new ones either. Firstly and this has been a criticism that has burbled behind the scenes through out Farke’s tenure. But his us of substitutes seems poor. Saturday was a good example. The LiVARpoo subs, had made a very clear impact, the game for me had changed and turned into an alamo style attack vs defence game. Our ball retention was poor and Rupp and in particular Dudda were becoming increasingly peripheral to the game. Why no change? no counter? Now I wouldn’t exactly say we had a bench to rival or scare the champios elect, but for me we could either attempted to have shored things up by bringing on Godfrey, but arguable a win whilst remotely possible was what we needed. So a proactive change, i.e. bringing on Emi with 20-25 minutes to play might have made a difference. OK he made mistakes, gave the ball away and throw his arms around, but in that brief cameo, he still put Pukki through for our best chance of the game.
The subs were one of two types for DF, This one reactive, rather than the other, formulaic and too late to affect the game. To me as some others commented on Gary’s piece, it is Farke’s achilles heel.
I don’t necessarily suscribe to the notion that the players were tired and needed to come off. I think the sports science boys would ensure that if their level had dropped, they would get subbed, but I don’t think he’s getting it right.
The missed chance brings me on to my second issue. Pukki looks out of form/confidence/sorts and looks like a one trick pony that has been found out. He still works hard and it is very hard to question a player who has done for us what he has, but is it time to take him out of the firing line?
Weber has said it, we have all seen it and relished it, but Pukki was bought to take a certain type of chance and finish in a certain way. He has been mightily successful at it, but has he been sussed? The Pukki go to, is to fire across the keeper for the far post. I think we all know it, but so do the oppo, if you look at Becker’s position for his one on one at 1-0 (Awesome ball Emi) Becker is clearly lined up ready for the cross shot for the far post. So much so it looks like a pass back in the end. The near post looked gaping but the wrong option was taken. I think given the drought and lack of goals this year (especially from open play!) I might be tempted to see what Drmic can do.
Dons tin hat
Bah!
4
Hi General – good to hear from you.
The bottom line on that particular shirt was £91.50 as I’ve said above so that ain’t no bargain, as cool as the garment undoubtedly is.
I certainly wouldn’t have called a foul against Mane either as Jordan Henderson knew what he was doing with that chip forward and you’re quite right, Zimbo was slightly disorientated by it.
The younger folks in the Lower Barclay had been braying for Buendia at exactly the time you suggest but that one was the original $hit or bust choice for Farke. You cannot keep it tight with Emi on the pitch and that’s for sure.
Pukki? I don’t see Drmic as a realistic alternative tbh [c’mon how often have we seen him so we can’t objectively judge] so I’d stick with the Goat.
Yes he’s been worked out but if we retain him he’ll still be too good for EFL defenders.
I doubt he had the legs left to do much with that very late chance, although it was disappointingly straight at Alisson when a Hail Mary top corner attempt would have been more appropriate.
Great comment – thanks.
0
@General. I completely agree re how Pukki goes for goal when one-on-one with the keeper and Buendia has tried the same type of shot along the ground and something needs to change in that respect. My granddaughter plays for her local Under 10 team and often hits shots so that they are a few feet off the ground and so the keeper has no chance of saving them by just sticking out a boot.
Surely Pukki could try and get closer to the keeper before ‘pulling the trigger’ and increase his chances of scoring.
0
I’m sure I’ve said this several times on MFW before but any incoming strike between knee and shoulder height really does give the keeper a better chance of keeping it out by getting a paw to it.
It’s the pacy ground-grubbers us lower level keepers don’t like, believe me!
0
Each one on one with the keeper is practically speaking a game of chess, an early strike or even the threat of an early strike can keep the keeper honest, take it in closer to a keeper of Beckers quality and it doesn’t necessarily get easier. But where for me Pukki is falling down is that if you do the predictable, the keeper will know its coming and prepare accordingly. Pukki’s precision at shooting across the keeper might be a strength, but if your enemy can turn your strength against you it becomes a weakness.
I agree with Martin though, mid-height shots are the easiest generally for a keeper.
Martin, Can you really say Pukki’s form is justifying unquestioned loyalty? Like you I only have had a very limited glimpse of Drmic so can’t shout for his inclusion. I guess if Farke sees him every day and he is clearly no better in training than Pukki, we must trust his ongoing selection.
Bah!
0
I find Drmic a bit like a side dish in a restaurant that’s on the bottom of the back of the menu that you’ve never tried properly.
If Pukki is my favourite [let’s use onion bhajee as an example in this case] then Drmic would have to be something along the lines of dahl which I’ve only experienced once and didn’t particularly enjoy.
I’m not blindly loyal to a burned-out Teemu but I struggle to see an alternative just now.
Put it this way if the Goat did table service I’d know where he’d put the dish before he’d placed it.
A strange analogy but at least I know what I mean:-)
0
I prefer to see Drmic in a different way.
Much Like Pukki who must appear in the Webber/Chef’s special section. So must Drmic, all of the specials may not tantelise in the same way, these things can be subjective, but until tried and tested how can we judge? Drmic has a similar pedigree to Pukki, some might argue his Pre-city CV is better.
The Chef hasn’t quite delivered the right finish on his Pukki’s since the turn of the year, surely time to send the Pukki back if a 60minute cook lacks the right finish and time to try a Drmic.
Drmic of course could but inedible slop or munchable michelin star stuff.
Bah!
0
Due to the wife coming down with the Flu, I only managed to see the first 25 mins. Which covered Byrams injury and Pukki having a very decent chance escape him. Otherwise we looked “on it”.
Thankfully Spurs did us a favor and stopped Villa getting out of sight, so not a terrible weekend, unless you ask the wife.
0
Hi Dave
It was quite some occasion and – yet again – we probably deserved something out of it when all is considered. We were indeed “on it”.
What I found hard to understand was the proliferation of “half and half” scarves sported by people of all ages. I can only guess they had never been to a match before in their lives. And all sold by unlicensed types as well – hardly official merch.
Best wishes to Mrs B – although manful has a bad rep the female variety isn’t that easy to live with either:-)
Thanks.
0
At the start of the season I think many of us felt that the two areas we would like to see money spent on were
defensive midfield (back up for the “frail” Tettey)
and central defence, because Hanley was not up to PL level. Indeed the moment he got injured in autumn 18 was the moment we finally were able to fully play the Farke way and it looked as though he would again be limited to cup games.
I don’t remember anyone saying we needed these extra players in case we had a long run of injuries in the defence. We just felt we needed better than Hanley and even Zimmerman.
How ironic that Tettey has just signed yet another new contract and the new Hanley has become a key figure. It wouldn’t surprise me if Tettey has a player-coach role in 12 months time, though not necessarily with us.
What has actually transpired is that much as we love Pukki, we actually needed someone even sharper up front, or better better backup from goal-scoring midfielders than last year’s regulars -Buendia, Vrancic, Trybull and McLean – have been able to provide. Because in the end it’s really been our failure to convert numerous chances when we’re on top that has dropped us so many points, certainly since we’ve had 2 or more centre backs available.
The trouble is that you can pay £5-7m and get a Naismith or RvW, or £15m and have Che Adams and it still isn’t guaranteed to work. The last of those has made so little impact I had to google “Birmingham striker sold 2019” to remember his name. At least Pukki has done considerably better than him. (For even more you get Jarrod Bowen who could well be heading back to the division he came from.)
I still think we can win 5 or 6 games and give ourselves a chance of survival. But if we don’t survive then it looks as though we are going to pocket a lot of cash for 3 or 4 players. I know some will claim that cash will go into the owners’ pockets. I’m not one of them.
We’ve clearly already committed some of that cash on what we hope will be the next generation of players, McCullum in particular. Who else we will buy to fill the gaps remains to be seen. The fact is that if we do go down we are likely to be in a financial position the likes of which we’ve never seen before in similar situations – in fact I doubt if many clubs have.
0
PS, you could read
“I know some will claim that cash will go into the owners’ pockets. I’m not one of them”
as meaning “I don’t think it will go into the owners’ pockets” or as “I am not one of the owners”.
Both are correct!
0
Yeah.
As much as I disapprove of the owners’ faux humility I don’t think they trouser much more than a few liquid freebies and tickets for friends.
I’m actually quite happy with that tbh – I’d do exactly the same if I were them.
As cynical as I may be I don’t object to that stance at all.
0
On the subject of a striker it seems city have agreed to sign the leading scorer in Luxembourg on a free due to his contract expiring this summer surely if he is doing that well and out of contract could we have afforded a fee for him, he just might have been able to put one or two chances away and it would have got him use to the English game instead of coming in next season and having to adapt in friendlies
0
I think we were playing a necessary waiting game on that one for the usual reasons such as the influence of agents.
Can’t think of a single English club with a Luxembourg international on the books – here we go, City groundbreaking again.
0
Hi Keith.
Some very apposite observations there.
Alex Tettey as a player-coach with us – why not? His reputation and achievements precede him, he has respect from all of us and as far as I know he speaks quite a few languages too.
He’d be ideal and his young family appear to like being here as well. One more year as a player and then let’s see.
Moving on, Zimbo’s been under a lot of on-field pressure for some time now and it was after all a very big step up for him. He’ll be going nowhere and could be colossal for us next season when the inevitable happens.
Finally we’re back to the age-old. Our end of season revenue will not be pocketed by the owners as such [see below] but will be retained so they can carry on operating under their own terms for another few years yet.
And that’s the part that makes me want to retch. They have to realise that although they consider themselves custodians the club belongs to all of us.
Not them, all of us.
Thanks a lot.
0
Hi Martin
Were should I start on what has been a wet and windy weeekends and lots of ups and downs??
Firstly my commiserations to Harry Greggs family the hero of the Munich air crash despite his own injuries he goes back into the wrecked plane to rescue team mates, should have been knighted years ago, so a sad day all round.
Secondly Larry long gone at Blackpool no points in 12 games, signed 10 players in the summer 8 of them left come January 6 more arrived that is some turn round.
Thirdly how can we not stop euloging about how England won the last T20 shows great promise for the T20 world cup later in the year.
City gave their all on Saturday evening and as ithers have commented we all must e proud of their efforts, Hanley I have mentioned a few times during the season is an old fashion CB but learning a few new skills from the coaching staff, Tettey never lets the side down and how would the Barclay have erupted if ye had scored from a misque lol.
This Livarpool side reminds me of the Don Revie dirty Leeds teams play good football but always try the niggling tap foul and try to bully the Ref to give a decision in their favor, continously disagree with any and all that are not in their favor as well, Henderson and Milner are prime examples of the 60’s /70’s Leeds players.
Livarpool will win the title in a poor premiership if that gives them bragging rights so be it but some of their online supporters haven’t put nice remarks about city saying going down without a fight and 11 man defence, and yes I don’t like Livarpool and never will put statistics show that any 50/50 always goes their way.
Great Spurs result by the way.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
0
Hi Alex
On the off-topic front [too much of that from me today already] I think Blackpool were quite lucky to attract Larry in the first place.
It didn’t work out as results have proven.
I only know Harry Gregg as a name, along with say Bill Foulkes and Duncan Edwards. I was in nappies when it happened although of course I know the history.
The T20 was a great fillip for our cricketers – sorry I’ve been calling it the 20:20 but that’s what it used to be known as.
We did NOT put up a 10-man defence, not at all. We adapted to the Scousers and the conditions and played accordingly. I – and most of us if not nearly all – are very seriously proud of our team and with reason.
Well done you Spurs!
Cheers mate.
0
Full agree city have proved the can play as well as anyone just a pity that the points on the board doesn’t show that.
City for ever
0
Martin, there is no end to the amount of revenue streams at Carrow Road these days. It’s just the way modern football is. Can we say that the match programme is really worth £3.50 in an increasingly digital world, for example? Bet not many are sold, but I imagine it isn’t loss-making. And then look at the VIP away match experience – £270 for going to Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham! £30 for your ticket, chuck in a programme, food and travel and I still don’t see how you get anywhere near this price.
Anyway, all good stuff – just a shame we may have to wait a while for such an ‘occasion’ against such a big club again. Yes, we could draw Liverpool in a cup tie next season, but it just wouldn’t be the same.
0
Hi FASTH.
You nail it by saying “It’s just the way modern football is” I’m afraid to say.
The mascot issue particularly riled me because I genuinely didn’t know the undoubted privilege had to be paid for. For a club that boasts of being family friendly I reckon that smacks of hypocrisy. And if Everton and others can do it for free via some form of lucky draw then so can we.
It could be argued that the incoming revenue of say £4k per home match so some £75k a season is welcome but I’m not sure I approve of the source in this case.
And as for £91.50 for a shirt? Perleese.
You make a good point about the “VIP” away match “experience”. I’ve never experienced the experience and at that price I won’t be experiencing it anytime soon.
I’m hoping to go to Arsenal and it will cost me my train fare, the price of a few beers for my Gooner mates and that’s, erm, it. I’m not even paying for the ticket as I’m in with my Arsenal mates. I know, I know.
Thanks.
0
Now here’s a thing… Arsenal away this season is actually going to cost more for City away fans under the £30 maximum scheme. Previously, as we were considered one of the least attractive opponents to the Emirates, my tickets cost £25.50 and £26 when I went in 2013/14 and 2015/16.
0
I go to Arsenal, Sheff Weds, Brighton and Fulham because I have friends in those places and go in with them. That’s no big deal to me but I understand why younger folks wouldn’t be too happy.
Get an away ticket in our area? Not a cat’s chance in Hades for me and I will not pay the lottery levy in any case. NCFC gets my home ST revenue and I am happy with the value I receive but I am not going to cough up any more.
I really hope they return to the previous system next season.
They should re-evaluate things and respect the integrity of those who can commit to an away ST.
You never know… they might. Ben Kensell’s no fool.
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