[theo_luddite]

The Noo Yark Stadium
Definitely more "East of the M1"
Than "East Coast USA"
Get your Aesseals down there early.
What do you mean we've already sold our allocation?
S60 1FJ

Kick-off 12:30 UK Time
Saturday 31/08/24

How we started the month or What's the Story Town Fan's Glory?

Hello? (Hello, hello, hello)
Is there anybody out there?
Just like if you can read me
Is there anybody home?
Come on (Come on, come on), now
I hear you're feeling down
Well, I can ease your pain
And get you on your feet again
Relax (Relax, relax, relax)
I'll need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts?

Relegation you say? Oooh, nasty. Take a chill pill and pint of Yorkshire Terrier. It's from the House of Trembling Madness and it's good for you.



Not to be taken with a pint of Magnet or Greasy Chip butties, but then, they are prescribed for some of those of ill health in South Yorkshire to the west of the M1.

Is it really 5 months since I last did this thread a division higher? A game we probably expected to win as Rotherham hadn't won (or drawn) since just after Santa Claus went home to collect his pension for another 11 months and a bit. Seems like 5 weeks ago. For those that haven't been paying attention, zoom down to the Tables & Form section to see how much we've both, er, improved (?) since that exciting 0-0 snooze fest ....

This is the 2nd of 3 games on the trot against teams that play in red and white, let's hope things go a bit better than the 2nd half of the first one.

On the tellybox

It's been moved to an early kick-off so it will be on Sky+ in the UK and Ireland. For the rest of the world, HTTV, which is what used to be iFollow and is pretty much the same thing and price with the added bonus of replays this season, in case you've been writing (on) a thread, brewing a cuppa, weeding the garden, getting it on with your other half/neighbour or otherwise found a way to miss something, like a Town goal. Of course, if you've a dodgy-stick you might pick it up elsewhere, good luck with that.

Latest news

For the Town fans that have been camping with the fossils in Victoria Cave in The Dales, or any Rotherham fans reading, we signed two kids from Wolvo on loan, if 21 year old's can be called kids? Well that makes a change from old blokes with an occassional long throw and not much else from Stoke. Could one be the speedy centre back and the other the creative/destructive midfielder that can actually pass a ball we've been crying out for to go with the (ahem) goal machine we've got on loan from West Ham? Nigel Lonwijk (long what?, oh) was on loan at Plymouth when they got promoted and most recently was at Wycombe. Joe (Spiny Norman) Hodge was formerly a Blue Manc and spent the back end of last season at QPR. It appears they both owe us a favour after last season.

Pies, pees, how to get there - assuming you have a ticket.

I'm not copying and pasting this, but welcome to the info on The Rugby Union FC Stadium. What?

Noo Yark, Noo Yark

We've sold out - didn't I just mention that? So if you're otherwise going to Rotherham, find a pub to watch the game in. Why you'd go to Rotherham to watch a game in a pub beats me, but hey, it's like the Euro's, it's for the atmosphere and the fan parks innit? Quite honestly you'd be better off going to The Magna Centre to see how steel used to be made before we let China do it for us.
https://www.visitmagna.co.uk/
Otherwise go for a paddle in the River Don at the back of the stadium. Rotherham A&E, if you do, isn't far away.

Out Injured/Suspended/Isolating

We still seem to be in the habit of hurting ourselves on every Friday (or Monday) training session. On top of that Pearson has a ban for a straight red, unless we're first in the door for the appeals and it is somehow rescinded. Kasumu apparently will be out for 4-6 weeks, so I'd better fix my Town scorers on Snoots's weekly prediction thread. Kane will be out for a while as will Brodie Spencer. Could be a bit of a wonderwall when they all come back when you roll with it.

Spencer had been on the call-up list for Norn Iron, which partly lead to our home game v Blackpool being called off. The fact he won't be available to them or us doesn't mean the game will be reinstated.

Back training but not oven ready/Back in the frame

Tom Lees will be available, Healey definitely a maybe. More fixing on Snoots's thread required, afterall.

Musical Interlude

Could Town be in XTC with our new signings?



Of course, Joe could also be Stepping Out on Saturday


These lads seem all reyt too

https://www.thergf.org.uk/



Book 'em for a lunchtime session in your works canteen. What can possibly go wrong?
Wot do you mean the gaffer won't pay? They'll even cook your lunch.

Apologies, but these YouTuber's don't seem to like you transplanting their video's on here or elsewhere anymore.

Last time out

On a wet Tuesday night in Walsall, our lads turned up for some of the first half. The Keighley Cannavaro got himself a red card for daring to touch a Wa'sall lad who immediately fell to the floor - he'd 'a' got a good kicking if he tried that round here on a Sunday morning, even in the U11's. Black Country? No metal but saddle soaped the ref enough to get us down to 10 men. Our lad's stayed in the changing room for the 2nd half. We then saddled ourselves with a Round 2 Cup defeat snatched from the jaws of a 3rd round tie against Leicester. We got leathered.



Rotherham meanwhile lost (again, though they did score) 2-1 at Fleetwood. Fat Boy Slim aka Steve Evans is getting the same out of the Rotherham squad as predecessor Leam Richardson managed to get.






Strangley it wasn't raining in my part of Wolvo during the game. I was stir-upping or rather BBQ'ing my steak dinner whilst we were falling apart in the 2nd half.

This was after extending our winning run to 3 in the League in a game that was so boring I've already forgot who we played. (Checks fixture list) .... Shnoozebury.

The Sack Race

Things seem to have quitened down in Greater Lancastria and elsewhere ... for now.

Tables, Form

In the League, whilst Town have got out of those losingsville blues that got us relegated last season, you wouldn't have thought so Tuesday. If those new Wolf Cubs were watching us they'll know we're not the snappiest of Terriers. That said if they we're watching Wolves last weekend agin Chelski .... 'nuff said.



The Millers meanwhile ...



Innies and Outies

The doors and windows ain't quite shut yet, so who knows?

For us


For them


Who's banging 'em in

Helik is yet to get his name on a scoresheet for us, just what is he doing? I mean, Wiles is our leading scorer? A midfielder. Ooo'd a thunk eh?

Down Noo Yark Stadium way, Rotherham are carrying on where they left off. Not a goal to be seen in the League so far. I'm guessing we might fix that for them. We often do.

They only won 2 games in 2024 last season. They only scored in 7 of them. After a run of 11 games where they only scored (and won 2:1 v Millwall) in one of them, they somehow won 5:2 at home to Cardiff in the last match of the season. It's not known if Cardiff complained that they took the bell out of the ball.

They can't all win

Town are one of 3 teams with 9 points from 3 games, can we make it 12 points?

Smogport, current leaders, are at Mansfield, Charlton are at Reading, so all 3 of us are away this weekend. Darn t'other end, The Shnooze are home to Orient, can either or both get a point? Blackpool are home to Wycombe, we know what Rotherham are doing and Cambridge are at Brizzle Rovers.



We've played 'em before

For a change, we have played them more than a handful of times and we're well in the lead.



Next up?

Donny Rovers away in the EFL Trophy (Paint, Car Windscreens, Car Dealers, Pizza, Leasing, Vans, Checkatrade, whatever ....)

Pressers

Duff Duff and Lee Nicholls get the grilling on the spit this week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wl1t8H7C74

You'd have thunk by now we could edit these, especially with an IT/VPN company sponsoring us, but no, we still can't.
Nicholls wastes time for about 10 minutes, starting about 12:00 minutes after the kick off before getting yellow carded. Duff Duff turns up around 50 minutes in.

The views from Tinsley Viaduct

Steve Evans Sings Mary Hopkin/The Byrds

Mary Hopkin sings the original
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjEu5vlRfiY

How we are finishing the month?

Well it's all hands to the pumps so a back five of Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb is my expectation. Windy Miller can then grind his way up the wing and get some floury balls into the area for Mitzy, Daphne and Lulu to get on the end of in the hat box. They are the nearest we've got to terriers up front right now. Will Captain Flack be replaced by Spiny Norman? Gotta roll with it. Watch this space.

There's pain again, we are receding
A distant win smokes on the horizon
We are only coming through in (occassional) waves
Your hips move, but I can't see where you're passing
When I was a child, I ducked a wayward shot
In the corner of the Cowshed End
I turned to look, but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown, the ball is gone

Grab a drink and get yourself Comfortably Numb.

Apologies to Plank Floored - The Dark Side of the Shed, though this was really down to banging my head on a big bit of The Wall that Banksy hasn't defaced yet.

[Lord Snooty]

That's a cracking thread, ar theo. Got a lot of popular music and childhood telly references in.

[Lord Snooty]

Looks a strong line up. Nigel the new lad starts.

[theo_luddite]

Full line-ups



Wasn't expecting Healey on the bench

---

Healey has dropped out during the warm up, Turton replaces him.

[Lord Snooty]

Not a bad first half. We look good going forward, Marshall looking sharp. How the hell did Lees miss that header though?

---

And the Lonwijk booking? Terrible refereeing. he's having his shirt pulled and then the Rotherham lad falls over. Free kick to us but somehow ends up a yellow card for us. Very strange!

[theo_luddite]

Get in Hodgey, that was another dodgy red card.

---

Well that lead didn't last long.

[ritchiebaby]

Madness, madness, they call it madness.

[Lord Snooty]

What a bloody shambles!

[St Charles Owl]

Well at least you get a quid from me on the basis of an ex-Owl scoring against you!!

[Lord Snooty]

Duff red carded at full time as well.

---

Although the best team won and we got just what we deserved, the refereeing was shocking once again.

Ward, daft thing to do, but he didn't lead with the arm as the commentator suggested. He jumped into him and their player made a right meal of it. Yellow at worst.

The penalty. Absolutely outrageuos decision. How on earth has he given it? That's three penalties we've conceded already and all three have been unbelievably soft.

One bright point in the game was the goal. Great work from Koroma and a nice finish from Hodge. Scored too soon though. Fifteen minutes from the end is leaving us far too much time to hang on.