Ricardo's report v Chelsea

[ricardo 7,345]

On the way to the ground tonight it dawned on me that I no longer have that feeling of nervous expectation and anticipation that has always accompanied my stroll to CR. All unbeknownst to me it seems that I''ve worked out in my mind that everything from hereon in is totally futile because we are going down anyway and I might as well enjoy whats left of this Premier League season. It may yet not turn out like that but the first minute of play seemed to confirm that my thoughts were generally in the right ballpark.City kicked off towards the Barclay, lost the ball in midfield, Chelsea sprang forward, biff bang bop, nil one. Oh dear, enough to make some people suicidal. That''s what''s known as silencing the crowd and for a while City were shaken but to their eternal credit they were soon flooding forward and putting pressure on the Chelsea back line. Jerome nearly got on the end of a Redmond cross and then a minute later spun away from a defender and squared to the unmarked Hoolahan but the little man dallied and the chance was gone.Chelsea looked swift and skillful on the counter but with an early lead they had no need to commit too many forward. City were having a fair balance of territory and possession and in the 16th minute Wes picked out Jerome at the far post only for the header to fly a foot over the bar. It was encouraging stuff and but for the early setback you would have been correct in thinking the boys were doing o.k. Unfortunately, for all the decent play, there always seemed to be a wrong decision at the vital moment. Wes had a couple of chances to set Redmond going on the right but with the winger in acres of space he choose to try and weave through three defenders with predictable consequences.Tetty went down in a three way clash on 30 minutes and had to hobble off and was replaced by O''Neil and a while later Klose, who was having a decent game was also left limping but managed to carry on after treatment. Mr Mason was doing himself no favours with some one eyed decisions and when the Chelsea keeper picked up Cahills back pass without any sanction from the man in black the crowd quite rightly began to feel hard done by. Minutes later he gave Chelsea a free kick and marked off the line with his shaving cream. At one end of the line it was ten yards and at the other it was fifteen. Thankfully Ruddy pulled off a good save to prevent further injustice.Chelsea won a throw in first half injury time and when the ball was flicked forward Costa who was clearly offside dinked the ball over Ruddy and into the net. Mr Mason and his cohorts saw nothing amiss, so 0-2 at the half and mayhem in the stands as they came off. Jesus Christ! what do we have to do to get a rub of the green.City really gave it a go as the second half kicked off. That nearly man Jerome, nearly steered in a Redmond cross and then again nearly hit the target with a header, but not quite. Redmond was playing well and almost weaved a way through before shooting just wide. It was virtually all City and you began to think that we might still get something. On 55 minutes a fine move down the right left Martin with a head back across goal that invited a goal but once again Jerome could only slam a shot against the bar. Don''t get me wrong, I like Cameron Jerome, he is oh, so nearly a Premiership striker, but just not quite. On the hour AN went four at the back by taking Bennett off and bringing Mbokani on. Brady then did well on the left and if only Jerome had left it to Mbokani we might have had a goal.A goal did eventually come with about twenty minutes left. Again there was some nice pass and movement down the right before Wes slipped Redmond in on the angle to finally get City on the scoresheet. From then on it was end to end stuff with Costa squandering a couple of good Chelsea breaks and at the other end Redmond going agonisingly close after a couple of mazey runs.At the final whistle the boys were given deserved applause but once again it was a good performance but a poor result. All in all I think my initial thoughts will be confirmed if things carry on as they are. We look like going down with all guns blazing which might make the purist happy but oh, what I wouldn''t give for a scrappy old three points now and again.Klose and Martin were superb at the back while Redmond was back to his best but in truth they all gave everything tonight and you can''t ask for more.

[Thecanaryfan 0]

I can''t ask for more? Of course I can''t.

Something is not right on this forum. We tolerate poor football almost like we deserve it.

[ricardo 7,345]

[quote user="Thecanaryfan"]I can''t ask for more? Of course I can''t.

Something is not right on this forum. We tolerate poor football almost like we deserve it.[/quote]I think we all know what beat us tonight and it wasn''t the poor football.

[mrs miggins 0]

Indeed, I really enjoyed that 2nd half; the players gave everything.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Thecanaryfan"]I can''t ask for more? Of course I can''t.

Something is not right on this forum. We tolerate poor football almost like we deserve it.[/quote]Have you considered that you may be an idiot? And just don''t realise it?

[Spillay 179]

[quote user="morty"][quote user="Thecanaryfan"]I can''t ask for more? Of course I can''t.

Something is not right on this forum. We tolerate poor football almost like we deserve it.[/quote]Have you considered that you may be an idiot? And just don''t realise it?[/quote]

Whenever I see that South Park avatar Morty, i pretty much know its going to be complete boll*cks.. again.

[ron obvious 1,499]

Including two teeth & about half a pint of blood, mrs. m.

Anyone who says our players haven''t got character wants to watch that a few times. Actually you can:

http://talkingbaws.com/2016/03/willian-should-be-ashamed-of-himself-after-reaction-to-gary-oneil-and-robbie-bradys-head-collision/?

Can you imagine how Willian would have reacted if he''d actually been hurt?

Klose & Howson (how much better is he in the middle!) both played through painful injuries. In fact the whole team showed tremendous guts & determination.

Great report Ricardo. I''ve said in another thread that someone needs to give some extensive one to one coaching time to Jerome; he''s got everything except that little bit of self-belief needed to be a top striker. I suppose you might call it Heskey syndrome.

[Len 74]

We''re going down because we concede too many goals, very often conceding first. If we''d opened the chequebook and bought players in the summer, especially a defender, it would have helped immensely. But with our poundland manager and coaches we were always on a hiding to nothing.

[komakino 272]

We got relegated in the summer as that transfer window was a shambles and we have suffered the consequences. Never mind, we''ll be back to our comfort zone in May.

[ricardo 7,345]

Now that the calming feeling of acceptance has overwhelmed me it wouldn''t surprise me that we go on a run and hope will be revived.

The bastards won''t even let you die in peace.

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

I agree with everything you say Ricardo , from the feelings before the game , acceptance of Relegation , and the fact that once again , when we do " turn up " something else robs us of a result .

I posted on another thread that only Martin and Pinto applauded the Barclay after the game ,, the players looked done , like they also know what that defeat means .

Now I am feeling " gutted" again 😁

[ricardo 7,345]

[quote user="Barclay seats 48 49 the 3rd"]I agree with everything you say Ricardo , from the feelings before the game , acceptance of Relegation , and the fact that once again , when we do " turn up " something else robs us of a result .

I posted on another thread that only Martin and Pinto applauded the Barclay after the game ,, the players looked done , like they also know what that defeat means .

Now I am feeling " gutted" again 😁[/quote]It''s the cross we bear, up one minute down the next.Look on the bright side, you might have been born an 1p5wich supporter.

[AJ 1,218]

I agree sadly Ricardo, even the most optimistic NCFC fan with tinted spectacles must look at our form since the turn of the year which is on par with Aston Villa''s first half of the season. Utterly terrible.

Games like Chelsea we never expect to win anyway, so have to enjoy the football on show and relatively it was a good game aside of the first minute and the IQ level of the linesman.

Sadly this season has turned into a lot of What If''s

What If Cameron Jerome could actually score

What If we had spent the money in the summer instead of waiting until January and then falling to pieces

What If we had actually figured out a good system to play

And What If we actually had a striker who could score 15-20 goals a season at this level.

Of course it is not over yet, so we have to back the team every time they play. But I would bet that McNally and AN already have half an eye on the plans for taking a drop next season.

I''d love NCFC to prove me wrong though, it''s happened before and it''s still in our hands.