Finally, pre-season has started. Tonight I went to Mynydd Isa to watch Bangor in action. More or less the same team as last season were there with the addition of Craig Hutchinson, Mark Limbert, Les Davies and Gareth Parry. Some promising signs of a decent season to come maybe but it's a bit soon to make predictions after just the one match.
Looking forward to my next outing now, West Kirby a week tonight. We're playing Denbigh on Friday night but due to my graduation I'm unable to go, part-timer!!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
I'm still alive!
After rather a long sojourn I return. This timely return coincides with the start of pre-season which has been rather long coming.
Quite a bit has happened, Nev has brought some decent players to the club so far. The re-signing of local boy Les Davies is sure to whet the appetite of many a local supporter I'm sure.
Having to make the most of the pre-season friendlies due to my impending move to Chester in September which will doubtless have some effect on the number of matches I'll be attending!
Quite a bit has happened, Nev has brought some decent players to the club so far. The re-signing of local boy Les Davies is sure to whet the appetite of many a local supporter I'm sure.
Having to make the most of the pre-season friendlies due to my impending move to Chester in September which will doubtless have some effect on the number of matches I'll be attending!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Welcome back to Bangor Nev!
Great news that Nev Powell has been unveiled as the new Bangor manager. I've no doubt that this will prove to be a shrewd choice. A big well done goes out to Ken Jones for getting his man. I, for one am very pleased!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Clayton Blackmore
He's gone down in my estimation today. He never got anything less than full support by the Bangor fans even when under his management we played some of the worst football I've seen at Farrar Road.
The fans had too much to say? I think he should clarify this one. Was it internet postings? The BCFCSA? Surely fans are allowed to voice disapproval from time to time when they feel let down by the team? Personally, it sounds like an attempt to endear himself to Port fans. Slag off Bangor and get the fans on board. Shame he had to resort to that, I thought he was a decent guy but I, along with many others, were obviously wrong.
Poorly run club also irks me, a lot of problems stemmed from his doing. The joke of a pre-season we had being a prime example.
I don't think he could handle the pressure of managing a club with any expectations.
The fans had too much to say? I think he should clarify this one. Was it internet postings? The BCFCSA? Surely fans are allowed to voice disapproval from time to time when they feel let down by the team? Personally, it sounds like an attempt to endear himself to Port fans. Slag off Bangor and get the fans on board. Shame he had to resort to that, I thought he was a decent guy but I, along with many others, were obviously wrong.
Poorly run club also irks me, a lot of problems stemmed from his doing. The joke of a pre-season we had being a prime example.
I don't think he could handle the pressure of managing a club with any expectations.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Get in!!!
Bristol Rovers are in the play-offs thanks to Rickie Lambert's late, late goal!! It's been a stressful afternoon glued to Sky Sports but finally the season has been extended.
Also, big congratulations to Wrexham on staying up! My nails are ruined thanks to the tension! Let's just hope that this is now the start of something good for Wrexham, regroup and start next season without the shadow of administration over them.
Also, big congratulations to Wrexham on staying up! My nails are ruined thanks to the tension! Let's just hope that this is now the start of something good for Wrexham, regroup and start next season without the shadow of administration over them.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Utter shambles.
Tonight I went to Llangefni looking forward to what would be a memorable night in Llangefni football club's history. On my arrival the big news was that the game had been postponed. Nonsense, I thought as I made my way towards the turnstile. At the turnstiles I was informed that the game had in fact been postponed 15 minutes earlier but now the game was back on, provided that both teams signed a disclaimer stating that the referee was against the game being played. Great, I thought. My journey wouldn't be in vain after all! However, at roughly 7:20 the news spread that the game had again been postponed. The reason given was that the pitch was dry, hard and therefore dangerous. I've never come across this before and like everyone else at the ground (barring the referee) wasn't sure whether to laugh in disbelief or voice my disapproval.
The result was the anticlimax of presenting the League trophy to Llangefni, what should have been a momentous occasion witnessed by a healthy crowd was reduced to being witnessed by a fraction of that crowd.
I've never seen a game postponed for this reason, makes you wonder if we should partake in pre-season friendlies, just in case...
Managed to catch the last twenty minutes or so of Llanfairpwll v. Bodedern, looked a decent enough game and as I made my way home I wondered whether I should have made the 5 minute walk to The Gors in the first place instead of the short dash down the A55.
The result was the anticlimax of presenting the League trophy to Llangefni, what should have been a momentous occasion witnessed by a healthy crowd was reduced to being witnessed by a fraction of that crowd.
I've never seen a game postponed for this reason, makes you wonder if we should partake in pre-season friendlies, just in case...
Managed to catch the last twenty minutes or so of Llanfairpwll v. Bodedern, looked a decent enough game and as I made my way home I wondered whether I should have made the 5 minute walk to The Gors in the first place instead of the short dash down the A55.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Who's for the Farrar Road hotseat?
This is an interesting one, I'm glad to see some urgency from the board. Ideally an appointment needs to be made within the next two weeks or so otherwise it's a big ask for any manager to come in and sort out a decent pre-season. Maybe some friendlies were already arranged by Bleo, time will tell. I have no real preference regarding the new manager although the rumour regarding Nev Powell is an interesting one and he'd certainly be a popular appointment.
It doesn't really make much sense to me, why resign after releasing Jiws and possibly Havard (although this has been disputed recently). If he knew he was staying around then surely he should have made it clear before making any decisions regarding the playing staff? An office manager/chief executive wouldn't sack some of his staff knowing that he'd resign the next week would he? He told Jiws that he wasn't in his plans for next season, funny that as his own plans seemingly didn't involve Bangor City!!
I know he stated that he was out of work and desperate for a job but surely before taking any job on you do a bit of investigating? I know that having to travel down to deepest south Wales in a week was a disgrace and it shouldn't happen but still he should have known that he'd have to go to both Llanelli and Haverfordwest at some stage in the season.
He also stated that he had problems attracting English players to the club, Dav seemingly never had problems attracting good English players to the club. But, I can sympathise here, it's a big ask to expect part-time players to travel down to Llanelli on a Tuesday night. Nothing short of disgraceful really. Even with a local team the players wouldn't get back to Bangor before midnight/1 in the morning and if they had to work the next morning it's a pain. Maybe they had to take time off work to play, again not good.
Bleo did underline the main problem we have, we can't compete financially with certain other sides. I might slag off the likes of Rhyl quite often but to be honest I'm jealous of them in many ways. Infastructure being the main one, their ground (although looking like a meccano fan's wet dream) is a damn sight better than ours, the fact that they can pay their players money we can only dream of is down to hard-work on behalf of their board, maybe that their league "win" helped in some way but it'd be wrong to attribute their success solely on that. We struggle to attract any investment and therefore we struggle on the pitch. You can spare me the nonsense that a local side full of local talent would sort this problem out, local lads still want paying! The legion of Bangor-area players at Port are certainly not playing merely for the love of Porthmadog. It hasn't helped our case that we've paid certain underperforming players too much in the past. One example was that after the Llanrug match one of the local players was a bit upset that another player was paid £250 for standing around looking disinterested while other players were paid less than half that amount.
I hope that Bleo has left us in a healthier position than we were in 6 months ago. It's now up to the new manager, whoever he is to build on his foundations.
It doesn't really make much sense to me, why resign after releasing Jiws and possibly Havard (although this has been disputed recently). If he knew he was staying around then surely he should have made it clear before making any decisions regarding the playing staff? An office manager/chief executive wouldn't sack some of his staff knowing that he'd resign the next week would he? He told Jiws that he wasn't in his plans for next season, funny that as his own plans seemingly didn't involve Bangor City!!
I know he stated that he was out of work and desperate for a job but surely before taking any job on you do a bit of investigating? I know that having to travel down to deepest south Wales in a week was a disgrace and it shouldn't happen but still he should have known that he'd have to go to both Llanelli and Haverfordwest at some stage in the season.
He also stated that he had problems attracting English players to the club, Dav seemingly never had problems attracting good English players to the club. But, I can sympathise here, it's a big ask to expect part-time players to travel down to Llanelli on a Tuesday night. Nothing short of disgraceful really. Even with a local team the players wouldn't get back to Bangor before midnight/1 in the morning and if they had to work the next morning it's a pain. Maybe they had to take time off work to play, again not good.
Bleo did underline the main problem we have, we can't compete financially with certain other sides. I might slag off the likes of Rhyl quite often but to be honest I'm jealous of them in many ways. Infastructure being the main one, their ground (although looking like a meccano fan's wet dream) is a damn sight better than ours, the fact that they can pay their players money we can only dream of is down to hard-work on behalf of their board, maybe that their league "win" helped in some way but it'd be wrong to attribute their success solely on that. We struggle to attract any investment and therefore we struggle on the pitch. You can spare me the nonsense that a local side full of local talent would sort this problem out, local lads still want paying! The legion of Bangor-area players at Port are certainly not playing merely for the love of Porthmadog. It hasn't helped our case that we've paid certain underperforming players too much in the past. One example was that after the Llanrug match one of the local players was a bit upset that another player was paid £250 for standing around looking disinterested while other players were paid less than half that amount.
I hope that Bleo has left us in a healthier position than we were in 6 months ago. It's now up to the new manager, whoever he is to build on his foundations.
Monday, April 30, 2007
On a more positive note.
Bristol Rovers kept up their good form on Saturday by beating Swindon 1-0. (Get in..) Sitting proudly in the play-off positions now. Beat Hartlepool on Saturday and that's the play-offs!
If there's any Wrexham fans reading this I have some "nail the habit" you can borrow for Saturday, it promises to be a nerve-wracking 90 minutes and I for one will be glued to the radio hoping that Wrexham stay up.
If there's any Wrexham fans reading this I have some "nail the habit" you can borrow for Saturday, it promises to be a nerve-wracking 90 minutes and I for one will be glued to the radio hoping that Wrexham stay up.
New manager please...
In true Bangor style we've lost another manager. I really don't know what to say other that I'm disappointed and very frustrated. Probably safe to say that next season's gone down the drain before we've even started it. I don't know why I'm even surprised at this. Not the first time, certainly not the last time that this football club will be plunged into a mess.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Finally, no commercial law essay.
Finished the damn thing at last as you may all be very pleased to know...
Back to my student roots for a bit, Doctors was terrible today. Seemed like it'd been produced by a goat.
No football for me this weekend unfortunately, wellI say that but I'll probably be checking the fixtures...
One match I'll definately attend is Llangefni v. Holyhead on Wednesday, last game of the season for Llangefni. The importance of the match depends on Bala's result against Holyhead on Saturday so Llangefni will be hoping that their island neighbours do them a favour and destroy Bala's promotion hopes.
Back to my student roots for a bit, Doctors was terrible today. Seemed like it'd been produced by a goat.
No football for me this weekend unfortunately, wellI say that but I'll probably be checking the fixtures...
One match I'll definately attend is Llangefni v. Holyhead on Wednesday, last game of the season for Llangefni. The importance of the match depends on Bala's result against Holyhead on Saturday so Llangefni will be hoping that their island neighbours do them a favour and destroy Bala's promotion hopes.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Llangefni 3 - Bala 0
Good result for Llangefni, deserved it on the whole. Whoever gets promoted have a lot of work to do to even survive in the Welsh Premier though, I could see the better sides in the Welsh Premier putting 4-5 past both sides as it stands. Good luck to whoever gets the promotion, I'll look forward to going to either Llangefni's ground or Maes Tegid next season!
Llangefni had some good players, Jackson the keeper was very good as was the number 7, Ywain Gwynedd played well. I think that both Llangefni and Bala will be financially capable of making the step up to League of Wales standard and will be able to reinforce their sides with the requisite quality players. I hadn't realised how much of a gulf in class there is between the Cymru Alliance and the Welsh Premier.
Llangefni had some good players, Jackson the keeper was very good as was the number 7, Ywain Gwynedd played well. I think that both Llangefni and Bala will be financially capable of making the step up to League of Wales standard and will be able to reinforce their sides with the requisite quality players. I hadn't realised how much of a gulf in class there is between the Cymru Alliance and the Welsh Premier.
A good night all around.
Firstly, congratulations to Bristol Rovers for beating Macclesfield - the play-offs once again look within reach.
Secondly, good win away for Wrexham against Shrewsbury. I'd hate to see them relegated as I don't think they'd bounce back instantly, irrelevant obviously as Wrexham seem to be putting together a good sequence of results when it really matters. Let's hope it continues and that the match against Boston won't be the game that decides their fate. Obviously going to Walsall and winning will be tough but who knows. Wrexham was the first 'proper' match I saw (Wrexham v. Halifax, lost 2-1) so I'll always have a tiny soft spot for them!
Thirdly, well done Man Utd for beating AC Milan. Very enjoyable match to watch and a good result, especially considering that their first-choice back line weren't available apart from Evra.
Secondly, good win away for Wrexham against Shrewsbury. I'd hate to see them relegated as I don't think they'd bounce back instantly, irrelevant obviously as Wrexham seem to be putting together a good sequence of results when it really matters. Let's hope it continues and that the match against Boston won't be the game that decides their fate. Obviously going to Walsall and winning will be tough but who knows. Wrexham was the first 'proper' match I saw (Wrexham v. Halifax, lost 2-1) so I'll always have a tiny soft spot for them!
Thirdly, well done Man Utd for beating AC Milan. Very enjoyable match to watch and a good result, especially considering that their first-choice back line weren't available apart from Evra.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Where would we be without uncertainty?
So, the dust hasn't settled on another disappointing season and again we're plunged into uncertainty.
Jiws has left the club - hardly surprising as Bleo had hinted at this.
Mark Smyth has left to join Yeovil - can't blame him at all, I hope he fulfills his potential at a good level of football. Good luck.
Bleo doesn't know yet if he'll be offered a contract for next season, let's just hope that he's here and that we stay stable for a change, the last thing we need is another pre-season of major upheaval and mass player changes.
Problem is, we can dream of challenging but without the necessary finances it just won't happen, our players will move on to other clubs for more money and we won't be able to bring in the players who will enable us to be challenging at the top of the league.
Jiws has left the club - hardly surprising as Bleo had hinted at this.
Mark Smyth has left to join Yeovil - can't blame him at all, I hope he fulfills his potential at a good level of football. Good luck.
Bleo doesn't know yet if he'll be offered a contract for next season, let's just hope that he's here and that we stay stable for a change, the last thing we need is another pre-season of major upheaval and mass player changes.
Problem is, we can dream of challenging but without the necessary finances it just won't happen, our players will move on to other clubs for more money and we won't be able to bring in the players who will enable us to be challenging at the top of the league.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Does unman yn debyg i adra...
Well, there we go. Another season over for Bangor (although in truth it was over months ago!). Another season to forget really, brief glimpses of better things to come maybe at the tail-end of the season but that's about it.
The next few months promise to be interesting. Rumour has it that the manager has lined up a tough pre-season schedule for the team...welcome change from the last few seasons anyway.
Will we get an increased playing budget? The manager has asked for £1k more a week to spend on wages. Whether we get this or not could impact quite heavily on how we get on next season.
Who stays? Who leaves? What the hell am I going to do until the first pre-season friendly?
Wednesday night I'm torn between two matches to attend. On one hand there's potentially the Cymru Alliance decider between Llangefni v. Bala and on the other there's Nantlle Vale v. Llanllyfni. The latter interests me as it's a local derby match. Probably will plump for Llangefni v. Bala though. I'll be hoping for a Bala win as I spent my childhood in Bala. But if Llangefni win and gain promotion who will Bangor play on Boxing Day and New Year's day? Another discussion for another day perhaps..
Just got home, can't beat the feeling of arriving at Bangor station and walking up those steps.
The next few months promise to be interesting. Rumour has it that the manager has lined up a tough pre-season schedule for the team...welcome change from the last few seasons anyway.
Will we get an increased playing budget? The manager has asked for £1k more a week to spend on wages. Whether we get this or not could impact quite heavily on how we get on next season.
Who stays? Who leaves? What the hell am I going to do until the first pre-season friendly?
Wednesday night I'm torn between two matches to attend. On one hand there's potentially the Cymru Alliance decider between Llangefni v. Bala and on the other there's Nantlle Vale v. Llanllyfni. The latter interests me as it's a local derby match. Probably will plump for Llangefni v. Bala though. I'll be hoping for a Bala win as I spent my childhood in Bala. But if Llangefni win and gain promotion who will Bangor play on Boxing Day and New Year's day? Another discussion for another day perhaps..
Just got home, can't beat the feeling of arriving at Bangor station and walking up those steps.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Nice idea...
Firstly, an apology. I briefly lost the ability to read yesterday and thus stated that Wales were hoping to co-host Euro 2012...Pro plus bad, stressing over dissertation also bad! I've now corrected the above.
Performance-related pay is an interesting one. Of course, as a football fan I'm sure I'm not alone in getting a little bit annoyed at players' performances. Even at League of Wales level there have been times where one feels that the players "should be earning their wages".
It is frustrating to travel hours to watch your team play with the enthusiasm of a limp cabbage. I'm sure England's cricket fans would agree here having possibly forked out a great deal of money to support their country only to be repaid with pitiful performances.
But, as Alan Boore of the FSF states "It should be on a voluntary basis whereby players who do not think they have played well offer to repay some of their wages."
Stumbling.Block.
Maybe I'm being a tad harsh here but I doubt many footballers will go home racked with guilt about possibly not tracking back enough or any other various type of underperformance. Certainly not enough to even consider giving some of their wages back. Has anybody heard of any instances of this? I'd be interested to know.
Nice concept but I for one cannot see it happening.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to dance around my bound dissertation...
Performance-related pay is an interesting one. Of course, as a football fan I'm sure I'm not alone in getting a little bit annoyed at players' performances. Even at League of Wales level there have been times where one feels that the players "should be earning their wages".
It is frustrating to travel hours to watch your team play with the enthusiasm of a limp cabbage. I'm sure England's cricket fans would agree here having possibly forked out a great deal of money to support their country only to be repaid with pitiful performances.
But, as Alan Boore of the FSF states "It should be on a voluntary basis whereby players who do not think they have played well offer to repay some of their wages."
Stumbling.Block.
Maybe I'm being a tad harsh here but I doubt many footballers will go home racked with guilt about possibly not tracking back enough or any other various type of underperformance. Certainly not enough to even consider giving some of their wages back. Has anybody heard of any instances of this? I'd be interested to know.
Nice concept but I for one cannot see it happening.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to dance around my bound dissertation...
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Euro 2016?
So, the Welsh FA want to co-host Euro 2016 with Scotland. I sincerely hope that the Welsh Assembly only agree to help them out provided they sort out their own back-yard first, starting with the League of Wales. It's all very well sprucing up the big English league sides' grounds up for a one-off event when they can barely muster loose change to help the clubs in its own national league.
That said, I'm in favour of a Wales-Scotland Euro bid. It just seems strange to want to redevelop the Racecourse to hold 30,000 when in reality they'll only be full for a handful of games and then the 4 thousand or so who follow Wrexham will have a big shiny ground to entertain the likes of Chester and Shrewsbury.
That said, I'm in favour of a Wales-Scotland Euro bid. It just seems strange to want to redevelop the Racecourse to hold 30,000 when in reality they'll only be full for a handful of games and then the 4 thousand or so who follow Wrexham will have a big shiny ground to entertain the likes of Chester and Shrewsbury.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The end is nigh!
I've just about finished my dissertation, at last. Maybe 'exploring compensation culture' wasn't such a good idea after all...
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Last home game of the season.
Bangor City 5 - Newtown 2.
Good game on the whole, was nice to see Jiws score two goals on what will probably be his last game at Farrar Road in a Bangor shirt.
The only downside was the fact that during the second half I wilted in the heat but it was worth it for the cause.
Roll on next season, with more attacking performances like that we should do well next season provided the majority of the playing personnel remain at the club.
I'll be even more annoyed at poor performances next season as I'll be commuting in from Chester for the home games!
Good game on the whole, was nice to see Jiws score two goals on what will probably be his last game at Farrar Road in a Bangor shirt.
The only downside was the fact that during the second half I wilted in the heat but it was worth it for the cause.
Roll on next season, with more attacking performances like that we should do well next season provided the majority of the playing personnel remain at the club.
I'll be even more annoyed at poor performances next season as I'll be commuting in from Chester for the home games!
The time has come for a new blog!
I only just remembered about the existence of a blog, oops! In the meantime my old one was deleted so welcome to a new era etc.
Brief introduction coming up:
23 year old male, loves football and music. I follow Bangor City and Bristol Rovers, why Bristol Rovers I hear you ask...I lived opposite the ground for two years and enjoyed my time going to the Memorial Stadium. I'd always looked out for their results even before my move down to the west country as for a good few years they played their games in Bath.
I'm also a law student in my spare time so I apologise beforehand if I decide to have some law-related rants on here, its almost inevitable unfortunately.
Brief introduction coming up:
23 year old male, loves football and music. I follow Bangor City and Bristol Rovers, why Bristol Rovers I hear you ask...I lived opposite the ground for two years and enjoyed my time going to the Memorial Stadium. I'd always looked out for their results even before my move down to the west country as for a good few years they played their games in Bath.
I'm also a law student in my spare time so I apologise beforehand if I decide to have some law-related rants on here, its almost inevitable unfortunately.
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