Steve Walsh Blog: Blue Army on Song Ahead of Long Old Poke to Plymouth

Friday, February 19, 2010, 13:27 | Blogs | 0 Comments |
Steve Walsh Blog: Blue Army on Song Ahead of Long Old Poke to Plymouth

The 5 -1 thrashing of Scunthorpe was a massive result, but a bit of a surprise to score so many goals. We’ve been creating plenty of chances of late and threatening to give someone a pasting. Last Saturday was exactly that.

City are capable of playing some cracking football at times and when they get the ball down on the deck, they’re always liable to score a few. Once Michael Morrison powered in that header, you could see the fans and the players relax, which meant they could express themselves more.

After that it was the Paul Gallagher show. I was pleased to see him get his first hat-trick for the club as he’s been playing really well in recent weeks and been unlucky with a few chances.

The Scotsman took his third goal ever so well, showing for the ball and heading it over the keeper like that was class. He wanted the ball all the time and will be a key player if he keeps passing and finishing that well.

walshblog feb19 quote Steve Walsh Blog: Blue Army on Song Ahead of Long Old Poke to Plymouth

There were a lot of good performances on the day. The back four were solid, the midfield passed it well and the forwards always looked dangerous. Scunthorpe were poor, but I think City made them look poor. We could’ve had six or seven in the first half and when we pass like that we can beat any team.

It was a nice little tribute to Matty Fryatt and I’m sure the players will have wanted to put on a show for him. They have certainly responded well to the pressure of being without their top scorer. It was great to hear the fans singing Matty’s name too.

I didn’t text my mate Ian Barraclough, now a coach at Scunny, after the game to give him any stick. I thought he’d already be upset enough. Hey Barras, you’re boys took one hell of a beating! Starting so well and scoring four goals in the first half reminded me of when we silenced the Rams at Pride Park, live on Sky back in 1998… Happy Days!

City’s player coach Chris Powell was playing that afternoon and he was as shell-shocked as the rest of the Derby players. I’ve started reading his column in the Mercury and to be fair it’s quite good, but his stories are nowhere near as interesting as mine. I don’t remember him scoring the winner at Wembley or lifting the League Cup… Only kidding Powelly!

It’s a shame City couldn’t build on that victory with another win on Tuesday against Bristol City. We had the chances, particularly in the first half, to build up a good lead. Going behind so late was a massive blow, but the players showed some never say die spirit to grab an even later equaliser through Lloyd Dyer. Getting a point like that would’ve felt like a win. It just keeps that buzz of confidence going and that’s five games unbeaten now.

It’s great that City are still in the play-off places. A bit of a gap has developed between the teams just below us in the table and we’ve got games in hand on most of our rivals. I’m more than happy with that sixth position and would be delighted if that’s where we ended up.

There’s another long trip ahead for Foxes fans this Saturday as City travel to Plymouth Argyle. They’re another side fighting for their lives and it won’t be easy, especially if Plymouth play their danger man striker Dietmar Van Nostleboy! If the lads can muster another away performance like the one at Blackpool, I can see us getting the three points.

From what I’ve seen on TV, their pitch isn’t in the best of conditions, so it might not suit the way City have been playing recently. The lads will have to dig in and maybe play a little more direct, but we’ve definitely got the players for that.

walshblog feb19 Steve Walsh Blog: Blue Army on Song Ahead of Long Old Poke to Plymouth

I had the chance to sign for Plymouth when I was at Wigan, before Leicester came in for me. The Argyle manager at the time was Dennis Smith and he’d put a bid of something like £100,000 on the table, which was accepted. But, I didn’t really fancy the long old poke down to Devon!

I expect the lads will travel down early and stay in a hotel the night before the game. In the good old days we used to travel by coach on the day. I used to play cards pretty much the whole way there. The coach used to stop for videos and DVD’s at Video Zone near to the stadium and the lads would all pile out and chose what we’d watch.

Old spud ‘ed himself, Tater Peeler is back in football after landing a job at Bradford City. He’s got a contract until the end of the season and The Bantams have said that any extension to that deal is dependent on results, so the chances are that old Tater will be back at the Job Centre come May! That bloke must have a thing for collecting P45’s!

There’s a picture below of me and a proper Taylor made manager, former England boss, Graham Taylor, at a recent event where me and my business partners Upesh and Paul from Premier Promotions (also pictured) auctioned off some of our memorabilia.

My Q&A event with Iwan Roberts on Saturday March 13th is a complete sell out and it should be a cracking night at the newly refurbished Il Baffone Italian restaurant in Humberstone Gate. I’ve recently signed Neil Lennon up to do a similar evening. Keep an eye on my Legends UK website or email steve@legendsuk.com for more info on the night with Lenny.

For this week’s wager I’m backing Stoke, Chelsea and Swansea. Fitzy from Turner & Kendrick will be donating a £25 bet for Wishes4Kids.

Steve Walsh Blog in association with:

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