Harry Dowds Green Shirt

One I remember was at Portsmouth under big Joe in probably his 2nd or 3rd season. David Cross was up front that day and we were unbelieveably 4-0 up at half time. During the second half Portsmouth bombarded us and pulled a couple back before our keeper got injured. I can't remember who was in goal, but it was during Gorams reign so it could have been him. I thought Nick Sinclair went on goal that day though after reading the ThaiLatics post it could have been John Bowden so I stand to be corrected. That Portsmouth result was one of the surprises of the season and we ended up hanging on to win 4-3. Thinking about it it must have been Royle's second season and Cross was signed after the sales of Atkinson, Ryan & Wylde. We went to Portsmounth having been given no chance. Its amazing how you get results like lickle Owdham beating the mighty Pompey on their own turf. I mean how does it happen. I bet the Portsmouth fans were saying things like sack the manager, because they had been beaten by a minnow of the division eh LaticsNik. The John Platt one was IIRC a night match. It was rare in those days, but I don't recall going to the game (there must have been a dam good reason!) so sorry I can't confirm who went in goal. But I will try and dig the information out. Also remember a certain Harry Dowd breaking his hand at Port vale on New Years day 1974. Again can't recall who went in goal, although that could have been Whittle. Cheers, Harry

What was Roy Butterworth doing playing Santa? Cheers, Harry

Sorry I think you slightly misunderstand on the second penalty. Mackail-Smith was never getting the ball, the "push" was exceptionally weak and had no bearing on him making contact to the extent that even Mackail-Smith didn't bother appealing. That is the point I was making. Players have their hands all over each other at corners and free kicks in the box and there is far more "contact" in those situations. By and large, players accept it as part and parcel of the game. If you think I am wrong on this, then watch the game this Saturday when there are corners for both teams, there will not be 1 corner in the whole game when there isn't at least the amount of contact that there was between Stam and Mackail-Smith and I would love to get odds on a penalty being awarded on that basis, because it will probably be 500-1. Hope that clears my point up for you. Cheers, Harry

Ah was waiting for that reply. You want to get into goals scored. Big mistake, huge. Check out Byfield's and O'Grady's career stats and goals per game ratio's and you will see why. On a previous O'Grady thread I made the exact same comment that Shez came out with and over half a season and the number of games he has played for us and on loan at Bury COG has not yet hit the back of the net in a league game. He has come from League 2 and and he has so far failed to make the grade in the goalscoring department, although other aspects of his game look generally good. Now turning to Byfield we are looking at a player who last season was top scorer for Bristol City in the Championship, a team that finished in the top 6 and went all the way to the playoffs final. The man has a proven track record at this level and above and from the 4 games he has played for us to date, looks like he still has it. The fact that he hasn't scored yet although slightly concerning is not a major worry as I am sure Shez will be wanting to judge him over a longer period i.e hopefully another month or so. It is also interetsing to note that Hughes has hit 5 goals in his 4 games partnering Byfield, which I believe is his best return of the season with any strike partner over a 4 game period. Byfield takes so much attention from opposition defenders that some of the focus goes off Hughes. His leading of the line yesterday was an example to any youngster (take note O'Grady and Alesandra) He wins headers, links well with Hughes and the midfield and makes inteligent runs all across the line. What he isn't, is a chaser of lost causes and for that he will get a tag of "lazy." The next question is going to be can Shez arrange a further months loan for Byfield. If he can, then I do believe that we will see the benefit on Saturday against Orient and over the Christmas period. He's not god but he sure as hell is a good partner for Hughes and if you are in any doubt please go on the 606 message board on the BBC and read the Peterborough fans comments. They were clearly impressed with our forward line. Cheers, Harry

Sorry OS but disagree. The first penalty I have seen again on my televisual device today and it confirms my opinion yesterday at the game that the incident took place in the box and Fleming gets the ball then the player goes over his arm. Therefore no penalty. However, as the incompetent official awarded the penalty and as Maclean (sp?) would then still have got the ball and had a chance to score the card should have been red. Fortunately for us Mr. Williamson was at his inconsistent best. With regard to the second penalty, again having seen the tv today Stam does indeed appear to have his hand on Mackail-Smith and therefore there is contact. However, as football is a contact sport, contact is allowed. The question for the official is did the contact affect the player reaching the ball or put him off in any way? was it any more than 2 players coming together? i.e. 1 slowing down and the other colliding with him etc, etc. Like others I have seen them given and I have no problem with refs giving penalties for such contact. However, that being the case, there would be a penalty awarded at every corner of every game I have seen this season. So we either have them given for each and every offence or they are not given. I just wish they would make their minds up. By the way, there was a very similar incident in the second half, yet we didn't get the penalty. Finally, if the ref saw the "push" by Stam as a foul, then surely he has denied a goalscoring opportunity and as such Stam should have been red carded as Fleming should have been for the 1st goal, having given the penalty. Cheers, Harry C

Nik, did you read my post? I think not. for your benefit here is waht I said about Bristol & Swindon: - "You will always get results like Bristol and Swindon, they happen and you don't go a season undefeated, unless you are called Arsenal." That answered your point O believe. How about turning your point on it's head, How the hell did we beat or pick up points against the mighty Leeds, Leicester, MK Dons, Peterboro etc who are all either "bigger Clubs" than us or wealthier clubs than we are? I mean we just shouldn't be beating such teams should we? With regard to your comment about "the Posh Crumbling," well we the simple fact is that we didn't crumble. We played well virtually from start to finish. Whilst key decisions and luck deserted us in the first half hour, we were never out of the game, but as was pointed out to you you weren't there and are commenting on something you didn't see and I presume reading your post didn't listen to either. Take your head out of your arse and keep the faith Cheers, Harry

:laught16: :laught16: :laught16: :laught16: :laught16: :laught16:

This is the 2nd post of yours that I have read Nik. So, Byfield has played 4 games for us. And you have seen what, 1 game at home to Walsall and feel you can make the above comment. You are so wrong. Byfield had, imo, a decent game against Walsall and today was his best to date. He led the line superbly, this in turn freeing Hughes who was a total pain in the aris to Boro. I know this is a message board and is about expressing opinions, but for gods sake make the comments on what you have seen not what you feel. Nik out Cheers, Harry

No Chance with either goal today and not too much else to do so it is hard to give an opinion to your question. However, with the 1st penalty, his challenge on the edge of the box looked perfect as he dived in and pushed the ball away. Also his save from the resulting penalty was excellent as he pushed the ball away towards the corner flag ensuring no follow up opportunity. For the Crossley outers (and there were a few muppets there today) there is, imo, no possibility to say that Fleming's performance today means that Crossley stays out of the team. However, as Fleming is now the player in possession of the shirt Shez as a decision to make. Cheers, Harry.

Sorry Nik, but your way out of line. I'll put that down to the fact that you weren't there today and presumably not there at Southend or Northampton 2 games that we won of course. Your comment/opinion is wrong because firstly, we played well in the opening 45 minutes today, secondly, the opening goal was a pure fluke, with McClean floating over a cross which deflected off Stam and looped up in a different direction and over Fleming into the top far corner of the net giving the keeper no chance. Thirdly, the 2 penalty decisions were baffling! Ok they weren't. They were down right biased. The first followed a backward header from Hazel, which whilst a little short, Fleming got to and pushed sideways. The Liner, who was perfectly in line did not signal an infringement, however, the referee, who was some 30 yards behind play around the edge of the centre circle awarded the spot kick. An unbelievable poor decision which infuiated the players immensely. The second award followed an alleged push by Hazel on Mikel-Smith (sp) which nobody else in the gound including the Boro players had noticed or indeed appealed for. Again the liner was perfectly positioned and again did not attempt to signal an infringment. Even more baffling from the referee is that both these decisions must have led to denying goalscoring opportunities so having awarded the penalties should have resulted in red cards. In the event, Fleming was yellow carded and no action was taken against Hazel. Fourthly, we were forced to re-jig following the loss of Jones and the team adapted well (incidently, from my position I thought that their player had taken the ball first and must have caught Jones with the follow through, but the referee who for once was well positioned certainly believed that Jones had been fouled. Again our players were furious and the way their lad dived in, if he did not get the ball, then the challenge had to be a red card offence yet the ref bottled it as I said before - biased *) I cannot give much weight to your argument Nik that we are throwing away a weeks hard work in the 1st 45 minutes again and again. The results and performances particularly away from home do not back up your argument. We play 23 different teams twice a season and each of those teams have different styles. Some suit the way we play and some don't. Can we adapt to overcome those styles of play that don't suit our own style? The answer is yes and no. Sometimes we do and sometiomes like last week against Brighton we can't. Those that we struggle against tend to be the teams coming to BP usually 10 or 11 men behind the ball trying to frustrate us and without early goals the games do become frustrating. Away from home it tends to be different in that teams that would come to BP and defend in numbers can't do that at home (I don't know why, maybe its the expectancy of the home fans - now that sounds familiar) and we get more space to play our natural game. You will always get results like Bristol and Swindon, they happen and you don't go a season undefeated, unless you are called Arsenal. As for the Shez out comment, at 4.45 last Saturday, I could have sympathised with you as I was as frustrated and fed up as the next fan at dropping 2 points against 10 men that were imo there for the taking. However, today, was a point gained particularly coming from 2 down, 1 a fluke and the second from a (non) penalty that Boro were lucky came back straight th their player. Fianlly just going back to the Jones incident, although not similar, it reminded me of the Gregan sending off at Hartlepool. With the way the rules are enforced these days, if you don't get the ball you are going to see red for that type of challenge and if thats how they are going to enforce the rules the referees need to be consistent. ( See below for my thoughts on todays ref and consistency) Hope that helps. Cheers, Harry * Ian Williamson is a referee I have seen a number of times refing non tics games. He has a tendancy to favour the home team and is too card happy for my liking. He is also very inconsistent and fails to apply the laws of the game. That IMO is what makes him desparatly crap when he then referees your team. If I was a Peterboro fan I would be thinking that my team should have been facing 9 men this afternoon and in their position I couldn't argue with that. As a tic, we were hard done by today. 2 poor penalty decisions and the worst challenge of the match putting 1 of our players out of action and the ref if he sees it as a foul, which he clearly has, then fails to send the player off. It's a good job Shez was in the stand today, because he would have been sent off in that 1st half.

For me it's got to be 1) Morecombe - away 2) Barnet -away 3) Aldershot -away 4) Exeter - away 5) Dagenham & Redbridge - away. It would be a good pre-season tour, help team spirit prior to the start of the season and allow new players to bed in nicely. I Hope Messrs Hardy & Corney read this as it is clearly a good idea and far cheaper than going abroad. Oh yes and it will complete watching tics at the 92 for me. No ulterior motive then. Cheers, Harry

Maybe, just maybe, it was someone taking the p s just to wind you up Mike. I mean you have been going on and on and on and on..... about Gregan haven't you and as you say it "makes your blood boil" so possibly someone saw the opportunity. The words sinker, line and hook are starting to come to mind aren't they hometownclub? Cheers, Harry

F k me!!!!!!!!! I didn't know there were two 7.30's on a Saturday. :laught16: :laught16: Cheers, Harry

Whilst my post was not intended as a get at COG post, on re-reading I can see why it might be interpreted as such. What I was intending to say was that I can see some of the reasons why Shez liked him enough to sign him, however of our 4 forwards (if you include Davies or Byfield) I believe he is 4th choice, because despite is excellent work upto the edge of the area he looks the least likely to score in that he doesn't do enough in the box. Shez's comments in tonights rarely wrong back up my line of thinking: - "Sheridan was pleased with the performance of Chris O'Grady on his return after a loan spell at Bury, but added there is plenty of scope for improvement from the front man. He said "While Chris worked hard, strikers are judged on the number of attempts they have on goal and I don't think he had any." "The lad works his socks off and is very honest. I am not trying to put him down but, at the end of the day, it is about scoring goals." Now I know how I meant to say it. Cheers, Harry

Corporal, if your going to make these comments and quote people, then at least quote the right people. I think you will find that Saturdays report was written by Tony Bugby. Cheers, Harry Edit: Reason for edit - Need to read the full thread and see alll posts on thread to realise that others have already posted my point. Doh

There is no ability to appeal this rule. Furthermore, once clubs are promoted to Championship or above level, their grounds/stadiums have to become all seater within 2 years of promotion to that level. The only exception is if the club is having a new stadium built as in Cardiff's case. Once the ground becomes all seater you cannot change back. Following Hillsborough, it was originally decided that all football league grounds (divisions 1-4 inclusive) would become all seater. After much pressure (2-3 years) divisions 3 & 4 were given the dispensation not be become all seater, but on the proviso that once their stadium was designated all seater following promotion to division 2, then the stadium had to remain all seater even after relegation. As we became all seater in 1994, we cannot change back Sorry folks but those are the rules. No exceptions or appeals allowed. Don't comply and your safety certificate is withdrawn by the licencing authority. If you want to change this "law" you need to support the proposal raised earlier in this thread. Cheers, Harry

Shouldn't you be blaming Gregan for that. After all he is the captain and therefore responsible for all that goes wrong. Cheers, Harry

Sorry, can't agree with your opinion of MOM. O'grady is very good at this level of all things outside the box and it is this part of his play that I can see Shez was impressed with when looking to sign him. He holds the ball up well, can bring the midfield into the play, has a decent first touch and is clearly a team player. HOWEVER, he is a front two player and his play, positioning and intuition inside the box is clearly lacking. This leads to one thing! A lack of goals and I'm afraid that this is where forwards are ultimatly judged. He is no Hughes, Davies or even Alesandra in the box. For that reason, of the four, he would always be 4th choice for me, unless we are 1 up in a game and looking to close it down as at Tranpmere. It's also interesting to note that Alan Knill, who knew him so well from Rotherham, signed him for a month at Bury, because his front two of Hurst and Bishop had started to fire blanks, and during his month at league 2 (division 4) he failed to score or even start all the matches. If we were to be promoted this season, O'Grady for me would not be good enough for the Championship and would need replacing. Cheers, Harry.

Barry, Why have you sent the replies to Shez? Oh sorry, I misunderstood. But I still don't understand why you sent them to Maddog. Cheers, Harry

According to today's Sun, Stockport say they are losing the battle to retain Craig Davies at the end of his loan spell on the 3rd January and the story further suggests that he will be signing for Leeds for £300,000.00. Cheers, Harry

Hicks did actually score 2 OG's in that match. IIRC we were actually winning at half time. Cheers, Harry

Was season 1974-75 4th home game of the season. After promotion from Division 3. Now that is sad. Cheers, Harry

How you can show someone a red card after your ...... shall we say mishap on Saturday, that brought 8 pages and 142 replies is beyond me. Although, red does seem to be a repeating theme with you these days for some reason. Does that mean that you have gone off tangerine or has colour blindness crept in? Cheers, Harry

We could always buy Rickets back from Warsaw. After all, he does seem in the habit of finding the net at Boundary Park. Cheers, Harry

For me this does not add up. If Hughes was going to Doncaster, I think he would have already gone "On loan with a view to a permanent transfer in January" and it would have been done at the time Byfield came to us. That would have made more sense. Doncaster don't loan out one of last seasons league 1's top scorers and not have a replacement lined up. The added fact of the Brooker deal suggests that this story has little foundation. Cheers, Harry.