Wombles v Bradford

[worried womble]

RefWatch; Ref for Bantams game (played 9 times at home since '78, W6 D2 L1, last D3 game we won 4-1 in Nov '83) is Graham Horwood, 40, from Luton. Appointed FL ref in '11, kicked out after a mistake-ridden year, then reinstated in '14. Gets injured a lot (only did 12 games last season); he went off at half-time during our game with Plymouth in '14, and went off again during the Cobblers v Gas game this month. The nature of his injury is unclear, perhaps it's a common ref injury; patella tendonitis from all the running; acute femur fracture from getting his dick stuck in a ballboy, or severe corneal abrasion from the half time anal bukakke orgy with the linesmen.

Reffed Wombles 5 times; the 2-0 away defeat to Grecians in '13 (4Y); the 0-0 draw with Pilgrims in '14 (2Y); the 2-1 away loss to Stevanage in Jan (2Y); the dreadful 2-1 loss to Forest Green in the FA Cup in Nov '15 (3Y); and the 2-1 win over Pilgrims in the Trophy this month (4Y). Reffed Bantams twice; 3-3 home draw v Crewe in Feb '14 (1Y) & the 2-0 away loss to Posh in Feb '15 (2Y). Hates the scum. Proper Hatter. Hates them. In 11 games this season he has given 52 Y & 4 R - over twice the average, very high.

AnagramWatch; Graham Horwood = Ha, Homo Drag Row. Bradford City = Do Cry, Fat Bird.
KettleWatch; 4th official in the Barnsley v Bristol City game. Gave his normal 2 pens & 6 Y in the Cobblers massacre of Shrews on Sat. Speaking of crazy refs, seeing as Bradford are in town I'll do a '99/00 Jeff WinterWatch tomorrow.

 

[F!RTHY]

Anyway......

Doyle

Darby
Vincelot
Knight-Percival
Meredith

Marshall
Dieng
Cullen
Law

Vuckic/Clarke

McNulty

 

[LS Bantam]

Anyway......

Doyle

Darby
Vincelot
Knight-Percival
Meredith

Marshall
Dieng
Cullen
Law

Vuckic/Clarke

McNulty

Can't see McNulty walking straight back in, saying that it's a lottery who starts up front this season. Not sure about the game, probs go for a score draw

 

[loz]

Why such a focus on the ref WW? Surely the main protagonists are the 2 teams. With the run your team are on, you must feel very confident of another good result. On top of that, I think we've lost every game that we have played at your ground.

 

[Wombletom]

Why such a focus on the ref WW? Surely the main protagonists are the 2 teams. With the run your team are on, you must feel very confident of another good result. On top of that, I think we've lost every game that we have played at your ground.

He does it for every game. He legendary for it around here.

 

[LS Bantam]

Got to question what qualifies for 'legendary' status down in Wimbledon

 

[NorfolkWomble]

Bradford fans seem to be bellends

 

[Wombletom]

Bradford fans seem to be bellends

To be fair, we have more than our fair share within our fan base.

 

[worried womble]

Bradford fans are the best you'll meet, it's the Leeds fans you need to be careful of. Anyway, here's JefWatch; A Wombling Winters Tale.
Ref for 4 Wombles games in the fun filled '99/'00 season was Jeff Winter, 61, a financial advisor from Middlesbrough. Reffed us at Goodison in the 4-0 humping on 25th Aug '99; the 2-1 away win v Huddersfield in the League Cup on the 30th Nov; and the 3-0 stuffing away to Fulham in the FA Cup on the 8 Jan. Then came the crucial away game at Valley Parade on 30 April 2000, with both of us desperately needing a win to avoid relegation, and we Wombles journeyed north that sunny Sunday to witness the worst refereeing performance we had seen in our lives. Winter was dreadful from the start, overruling his linesmen numerous times, always in favour of Bradford. He gave us 3Y & 1R (Hartson for swearing) with none for the Bantams, and, despite us missing chances in the first half, was the main reason we lost. The penalty decision for their first goal is still the worst I've ever seen.

Looking back after decades of watching football, it was the closest I've seen to a fixed performance. On one hand we had a dodgy ref (his house was raided by the cops in 2012 over sectarian comments on his Twitter account) who took pride in his past as a self confessed thug (in his 2006 autobiography), and on the other a Bradford chairman, Geoffrey Richmond, who went bankrupt in 2004 owing £3.3 million to the Inland Revenue. He'd sold Ronson's Lighters for £10 million in 1994, but didn't pay tax on the sale, and he's one of the reasons the pisspoor 'Fit & Proper' test was introduced by the Football League in 2004. He left poor Bradford with debts of £36 million in 2002 (taking £8 million for himself), and was so toxic even Peter Risdales's Leeds - the most corrupt club ever - kicked him out as a consultant. So was it fixed? God knows. If Euell had buried that open goal in the first half it could have been different, but Winter would probably have found a reason to disallow it anyway.

Sixteen years on, and both clubs are still recovering from the after effects of that period, albeit with better chairmen this time. Geoffrey Richmond has disappeared, probably to the Seychelles with the £8 million he stole from Bradford City. The 'Fit & Proper' test is working wonders in football - Leeds' present chairman is a paragon of virtue and will surely lead them back to where they rightly belong - the Northern Isthmian. As for Jeff, he's still up to his Twitter antics, in trouble again for posting more stupid sectarian shit before the Old Firm game last month. Plus ca change.

 

[loz]

Don't worry about the ref WW, all the poor ones have been reffing the franchise games (though that may now change). The Dons fans can now refer to me as a bellend as well. To your other wombletown colleagues, I humbly apologise for the outrageous thinking that the teams should be more important than the ref.

 

[bantamigo]

Will do my usual prediction of if we play well we won't lose. Wonder if Kilgallon will play if Meredith is fit, hope not but it could happen. I reckon McNulty will start, alongside Hiwula if it was me, he had a good game against Sheff U. I also don't give a feck about the ref I'm afraid, we had Jon Moss on Saturday and he was just as bad as the usual Div 3 shite.

 

[joethegill]

Keep fighting the good fight WW, always a good read!

 

[LadyWomble]

Bradford fans seem to be bellends

A tad harsh, Norfolk, just a sense of humour failure surely? Or they don't read match threads where their team's not involved so Worried's posts are new to them.

Anyway, to the less important stuff - 22 blokes attempting to kick a ball between 2 posts - I'll take a draw now but more likely to see a Bradfud win.

 

[LS Bantam]

A 'tad' touchy.

To the game... Can't see us winning this one and can see it likely adding to our long list of draws this season. We're still a million miles from a settled 11 and that up front at least goes someway to our lack of goals, a fortnight ago Hiwula missed enough match winning chances at Oxford to be rightly dropped but a goal last Saturday and alright performance will probably be enough to keep him in. Defensively, hopefully Meredith is back fit, McMahon's back in training and his quality on the ball over Darby may see him start if McArdle is to be moved/benched from right back

 

[LS Bantam]

The game has sold out completely, a spokesman said, "Well Bradford are massive aren't they, if anything I'm surprised it's taken this long, plus after we lost 3-0 against them 17 years ago revenge is on the cards, Jeff f*****g Winter. Jeffwatch, Jeff was born on a Wednesday, he officiated 32 Dons games from 1995-2001..."

 

[Wombling Kiwi]

pure and simple 1-0 Wombles

 

[womble76]

We are average at home and great away. nil nil or a narrow loss.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Wombles fans,
This fixture got me thinking.
Some 16 years ago Bradford were playing Premier League football.
Your club wasn't even formed until a few years later.
Now, here you are playing Bradford in a competitive league fixture, and feeling reasonably confident about it too.
For me it kind of highlights what a meteoric rise you guys have had.
Once you get back to Plough Lane then you really will have achieved all that you set out to achieve some 13 or so years ago.

Good luck to you.

 

[Neilo G]

Anyway......

Doyle

Darby
Vincelot
Knight-Percival
Meredith

Marshall
Dieng
Cullen
Law

Vuckic/Clarke

McNulty

Why don't we pick virtually the smallest team we have available against possibly the biggest & most direct team in the division who have scored more headers than anyone else in the football league?! I really do think your Hanson bashing has clouded all your pretty basic football logic!

I'd rest Vincelot for this one as he's been poor in the last 2/3 games. Bring Darby back at R/B as they have a decent winger and put Mcardle back alongside NKP to add height. Hanson has to play to add presence and assist in defending set pieces.
This game could easily go either way and i wouldn't be surprised with another 1-1 draw as we love a draw!

 

[F!RTHY]

Why don't we pick virtually the smallest team we have available against possibly the biggest & most direct team in the division who have scored more headers than anyone else in the football league?! I really do think your Hanson bashing has clouded all your pretty basic football logic!

I'd rest Vincelot for this one as he's been poor in the last 2/3 games. Bring Darby back at R/B as they have a decent winger and put Mcardle back alongside NKP to add height. Hanson has to play to add presence and assist in defending set pieces.
This game could easily go either way and i wouldn't be surprised with another 1-1 draw as we love a draw!

Who says their the tallest team in the league? What a load of fucking old nonsense you spout.

Just because they're direct, doesn't mean their bloody tall.

If we start approaching games worrying about the opposition, our good start the league will slowly start to go the other way.

We need to get that ball on the floor, just like we did at the start of the season, and pass our way through the midfield, just like we did at the start of the season - Y'know, the reason why we're sitting pretty at the right end of the table.

You ask a tall, blood and thunder defender who he would like to go up against, a McNulty and Hiwula partnership, of which poses quality, pace and a genuine threat to their back four, or Hanson and the long punt all game? Any defender would prefer the aerial battle, because it's potentially something they can control, whereas genuine pace would be a worry to any side!

Although, we all know Hanson will start - not down to quality, but his contract will state he has to if he's fit....and I could be wrong, but I'm sure we haven't won a league game with Hanson starting this season.

Ah well!

 

[F!RTHY]

Wombletom -

Tom, may I refer you to my desired line-up, and the fellas response. This is the kinda shit I'm talking about. Read my post, and then read his response to it. Was there really any need for such a shitty reply.

 

[NorfolkWomble]

Don't think we are anywhere near the tallest team in the league, CB's are quite big but our LB/RB aren't anything special, our CM's, Jake Reeves, Dannie Bulman, Dean Parrett, quite small players.

Obviously Elliott up front is massive but wingers aren't.


Your manager summed us up quite well, think he said that there aren't any stand out amazing players but our strength comes from how much of a unit we are.

 

[Neilo G]

Who says their the tallest team in the league? What a load of fucking old nonsense you spout.

Just because they're direct, doesn't mean their bloody tall.

If we start approaching games worrying about the opposition, our good start the league will slowly start to go the other way.

We need to get that ball on the floor, just like we did at the start of the season, and pass our way through the midfield, just like we did at the start of the season - Y'know, the reason why we're sitting pretty at the right end of the table.

You ask a tall, blood and thunder defender who he would like to go up against, a McNulty and Hiwula partnership, of which poses quality, pace and a genuine threat to their back four, or Hanson and the long punt all game? Any defender would prefer the aerial battle, because it's potentially something they can control, whereas genuine pace would be a worry to any side!

Although, we all know Hanson will start - not down to quality, but his contract will state he has to if he's fit....and I could be wrong, but I'm sure we haven't won a league game with Hanson starting this season.

Ah well!

We won at Peterborough when he played, and we haven't lost when he's played this season either.

Ah well!

 

[LS Bantam]

On paper we went OTT playing our tallest players to combat Sheff Utd's height last Saturday, then when they lined up it only seemed to be their defensive players who had significant height, Done/Sharp etc can't be more than 6ft if that. During the game we then played our shortest two defenders at centre half (NKP and Vincelot) and let in three from a headed cross and two set pieces. We drew a great game so you can argue playing with height worked but we let in three crossed goals so you could argue the opposite I suppose as well.
Last week McCall's team IMO was a direct response to Sheff Utd's, I don't see the same idea being used tomorrow, I think we'll go for our best 11 before we pick individuals based on who Wimbledon are likely to start.

 

[Robert Molenaar]

Have that Firthy.

H A N S O N

 

[Lancs@(Bantam)]

 

[LS Bantam]

BIG win at a very tough away game, get in there!!

 

[NorfolkWomble]

Apparently your pen was a bit dodgy, don't think a draw would have been unfair but no shame in losing to a good Bradford side.

 

[bantamigo]

Well played James, didn't know you could take pens with your head.

 

[F!RTHY]

Hanson scores, and all of a sudden, he's a great player and we're invincible again.

We were incredibly lucky to win that. Very unlucky, Wombles....although I did enjoy celebrating in front of your fans, after the abuse they threw at us most of the match.