With our safety confirmed by the 1-1 draw between Reading and Wigan yesterday which relegated the Lancashire team and almost left Reading at the point where they need snookers, I was prepared to be in a forgiving mood if City turned in their usual timid and inept home display against Huddersfield today.
After all, Sky TV had deemed that we play on Thursday at 8 o clock and then midday on a Sunday against opponents who had not had a game in almost a fortnight. You also had to think that there would be some sort of understandable reaction to the fact that we had, in essence, now become one of those mid table teams with nothing to play for that sides chasing promotion or fighting relegation want to come up against at this time of the season.
However, forget the 1-2 scoreline, until we roused ourselves around the eighty minute mark to at least make Huddersfield experience a modicum of anxiety, this was embarrassingly bad by City. There was a spell reminiscent of our inspired three goals in ten minutes or so at Blackpool in the second half except it was us on the receiving end – we came out of it 2-0 down, but it could easily have been five or six as we completely fell apart.
Neil Warnock is now on the brink of pulling off another one of his managerial “miracles” and although I wouldn’t rate this one in the Rotherham in 15/16 class, youve got to give the old sod credit for that. He will get so much kudost for keeping Huddersfield up, as he no doubt will, but, in truth he didn’t need to do anything brilliant here because his team were up against probably the most disinterested and ordinary opponents they’d faced all season.
There was a meeting between Chairman Mehmet Dalman and supporters’ group after the game – I won’t be so naive as to say I expect Mr Dalman apologised on behalf of the club to supporters for three season’s worth of shockingly bad home results and performances, but someone at City should.
There was a very impressive near twenty seven thousand there today which means we have had crowds of over twenty thousand for each of our last four home matches – they’ve had one draw to “cheer” in that time and the other three have seen visiting fans celebrating victory because, in case we forget, Cardiff is “a tough place to come to” (where’s a laughing emoji when you need one!).
Add the game with West Brom to those four and we’ve not been in the lead for one of the four hundred and fifty minutes we’ve played in our last five home matches.
I’m sorry to keep on banging on about home performances and results, but I think it’s now reached the stage where time and effort need to be put in by the club over the summer to try and get to the heart of a recurring problem which is nipping any hopes of the team moving forward in the bud.
After all, a virtual total overhaul of the squad last summer has made no difference to our wretched home form and you think back to the start of the behind closed doors Covid season and there’s only Joe Ralls and Sheyi Ojo, in his loan spell, who would have been playing for the first team at that time.
20/21 saw many of the advantages of playing at home nullified and the results from that season reveal that away teams prospered more than usual. However, compared to what was to come, 20/21 seems like a fantastic home season now.
After all, the number of defeats did not get into double figures (there were nine) and there tended to be plenty of goals scored when we won (we scored three or more in seven of the eight home matches we won). Disgracefully, more than half of our home games were lost in 21/22, so ten defeats this season, seems to be an improvement on the twelve we suffered last year, but our pitiful six home wins this time around means that the number of points gained, 25, was the same as the long suffering supporters only had twenty City goals to celebrate.
This week finally saw the release of season ticket prices for 23/24 (no doubt, they were waiting for confirmation of what division we’d be in next season) and I must congratulate the club on keeping the same prices for what seems like a third or fourth consecutive season. However, although the decision is welcome, there was probably also a feeling that they could not put up prices when the fare on offer has been so uninspired and miserable for so long.
Anyway, let’s leave our home woes there and quickly go through today’s match. The first half won’t take long, it was your usual playing like an away side at home stuff from City – Jonathan Hogg ran true to form by injuring Kion Etete inside the first fifteen minutes and Sory Kaba, apart from one contribution, came on to play as poorly as he’s done for us in his loan spell so far. Huddersfield were committed and urgent in all they did and forced Jak Alnwick into a save inside ninety seconds. As halftime was reached with the game goalless, the visitors the better team and City’s only worthwhile attack saw Jaden Philogene play a lovely one two with Kaba which ended with the Villa man dinking his shot into the side netting.
The start of the second half at least saw City step things up as they forced a few corners, although there were still no on target efforts and visiting goalkeeper Lee Nicholls was still a spectator.
Nevertheless, I was just about getting to the stage where I was thinking we might just nick a win, when we presented Huddersfield with a goal around the hour mark. Alnwick had been more willing to throw the ball to defensive colleagues and there were occasional short goal kicks as a reminder to those early season days when Steve Morison was turning us into Man City. Back then, Ryan Wintle was the apex of the triangle that would see the ball shifted between central defender, midfielder and other central defender, today it was Romaine Sawyers whose form has somewhat fallen off a cliff since the last international break.
Granted, Jack Simpson’s pass to Sawyers wasn’t a good one, but the player often referred to as the best technician at the club should have been able to do more than feebly leave a back pass short which sub Joseph Hungbo took on to finish impressively past the helpless Alnwick.
City made changes and with Ralls having to go off injured in his three hundred and fiftieth match for the club, Ojo filled in at left wing back (Joel Bagan, who Sabri Lamouchi tells us he rates, played for the under 21s at Hull last night), but, in the short term at least, the substitutions only made things worse as Huddersfield swarmed all over us, only for City to strike back as Wintle glanced on a free kick and although a Huddersfield player got the first touch on the midfielder’s headed flick, Simpson stuck out a foot to jab the ball into the net from six yards.
Oh hang on, that was a goal for Huddersfield wasn’t it where City provided the both the assist and the scoring touch – sorry, it made the score 2-0 to Huddersfield, not 1-1. The ten minutes or so following this were amazing as City collapsed completely and Huddersfield looked like they could score every time they came forward – there was one amazing scramble where our woodwork was hit twice within a few seconds, but there were plenty of other times when the ball could have ended up in our net.
Insanely, things were then turned on their head in the last ten minutes or so as we managed to get out of own half and have a few attacks of our own. We actually managed to score our second goal from a corner this season when Huddersfield lost concentration to allow Wintle to play one short to Philogene whose fierce low cross was smartly back heeled in by sub Isaak Davies to give us hope following our first on target attempt of the game.
We only managed one other though when another sub, Rubin Colwill, let fly from twenty five yards to bring a good diving save out of Nicholls.
Colwill and Davies did a few things wrong while they were on, but, compared to most of their team mates, were at least trying to make things happen – you’d like to think they’d get another chance next week at Burnley in the season finale, but you can’t help thinking that they could and should have been used more this season,
I mentioned the under 21s game at Hull, which was lost 2-0, but, to balance that, there was a 2-0 win for the under 18s against Burnley thanks to a couple of Trey George goals – incidentally, Lewis Benjamin, the goalkeeper who was very impressive in a game for the under 21s in January and was expected to sign for Man City played in this game despite being linked with Wolves to create hopes that he will stay with us after all. Also in the Highadmit South Wales Premier League AFC Porth we’re beaten 8-0 by Aber Valley as Ton Pentre and Treherbert Boys and Girls Club had a free weekend.
Finally, there are still a few signed copies of my latest book “Tony Evans Walks on Water” available from the Trust Office (near Gate 5) on matchdays at the reduced price of £9 for Trust members.
