COYI

[davidge]

5 hours ago, Jebb said:

See you at Dannys 23.45 on the 26th, thanks @davidge

Way past my bedtime. Though I could sell you some of my wine stocks (at a small discount) so you can drown your sorrows after the game.

[Essexman1961]

[Essexman1961]

On the coach now about an hour from home and things are a lot more subdued than in the pic 🙄  t was predictably pointless tarting Ant after his midweek game but he stayed on virtually to the bitter end

[hammerman]

Yep, disappointing watch. Antonio has one good game in 5 in him, and we have got nobody to replace him.

At least with Scammacca, I always thought, "give him the opportunity and he will score it" Micky struggles to just control it, it must infuriate the likes of Paqueta, Ward-Prowse and Bowen.   

Soucek looked out of his depth with anything more than a simple pass.

Behind us now, looking forward to the Olympiakos game on Thursday.

#Essexman1961 Enjoy your Greek awayday.

COYI

[Essexman1961]

25 minutes ago, hammerman said:

Yep, disappointing watch. Antonio has one good game in 5 in him, and we have got nobody to replace him.

At least with Scammacca, I always thought, "give him the opportunity and he will score it" Micky struggles to just control it, it must infuriate the likes of Paqueta, Ward-Prowse and Bowen.   

Soucek looked out of his depth with anything more than a simple pass.

Behind us now, looking forward to the Olympiakos game on Thursday.

#Essexman1961 Enjoy your Greek awayday.

COYI

Thanks .Soucek always gives his all but he isa strange beast, a midfielder who doesn't really want the ball.Given the importance of Thursday's game keeping Ant for 89 minutes really was flogging a dead horse.

[Essexman1961]

18 hours ago, Essexman1961 said:

Did you spot me in the pic Jebb?

[davidge]

On 13/10/2023 at 02:37, Jebb said:

See you at Dannys 23.45 on the 26th, thanks @davidge

 

On 13/10/2023 at 07:25, davidge said:

Way past my bedtime. Though I could sell you some of my wine stocks (at a small discount) so you can drown your sorrows after the game.

You should have taken me up on my offer 

[Jebb]

6 hours ago, davidge said:

 

You should have taken me up on my offer 

They outplayed us for sure.

[Daveo]

I stayed up too, Ings shite, Benrama lost his way mostly, I guess as were on 6 points in the group Moyes wasn't too worried. Would have been good to keep the record going though we got what we deserved with the side we put out?

[Essexman1961]

Just a few pics for you while I wait to board my flight at Gatwick for Athens

 

 

 

[Essexman1961]

On 27/10/2023 at 03:43, Daveo said:

I stayed up too, Ings shite, Benrama lost his way mostly, I guess as were on 6 points in the group Moyes wasn't too worried. Would have been good to keep the record going though we got what we desergved with the side we put out?

He cares more about the dinosaur derby tomorrow

[Essexman1961]

Time to put some flesh on the bones of the pics above  for those of you who are interested .First two are of the marble Panathanaeic stadium built in the 19c when the Olympic games were revived.

Weeks after the club knew, ( and weeks after some had booked hotels in Piraeus with a short walk of the Olympiakos stadium), they finally decided to tell us that 1/ we could only get into the stadium by taking special buses laid on for the away support from the above stadium in central Athens 2/ we would have to pay £20 for the privilege !

I arrived via a pleasingly cheap Ryanair flight from Stanstead (£60 -rug sack under the seat) which arrived Wednesday at 9pm .Their turnover from booze on that flight must have been massive as it was overwhelmingly our supporters .Good passport times and public transport (20 euros for a 3 day pass) saw me at my hotel around 10.45 and I was straight out for a couple of Mykos beers and the second half of CL games.

Thursday am saw a short walk to the impressive National Archaeological museum and a couple of hours resting up there before meeting my mate (who goes far more away than I do and I managed 18 games away last season) at Omonia square which was en route to our meeting point. He had got up at silly o'clock for a Gatwick flight that morning and had originally booked the 'colourful' Olympic hotel in Piraeus until the club deigned to show the travel arrangements with us Reviews often mention 'too many mirrors on the walls and ceiling' and 'strange noises from neighboring rooms and the hotel itself says it 'is not a family hotel'.

 After a huge mixed kebab lunch we headed off to the meeting point shown above and the police escorted a convoy of coaches to take the 1600 of us there. Pic 5 shows some of the coaches waiting to take us back. There was a massive riot police presence but they were not all heavy handed. WH had told us out tickets would be checked against Phot ID we would need to both board the coach and enter the stadium; guess what? In fact I saw not a hint of trouble during my stage or even any Rennes fans in the city either .There were none of the unsavoury and jingoistic chants I hear away at home or abroad, so that was good

My viewpoint in the corner was pretty good and close to the perpex screens and high nets(last pic above) we also had at Lyon. They kept us behind but far less than at Lyon and we managed a couple of post match beers at Omonia before going our separate ways at midnight .

( might add a bit more but not sure if only 2/3 people read this thread ?)  Time to head off to Whitechapel for beers and a Pakistani curry at Tayaabs with delicious sizzling lamb chops

[Essexman1961]

I thought we played well for the first 3o minutes v Everton with good one touch football but Everton were ultimately worth their win the Dinosaur derby.

[hammerman]

Anywhere to watch in Pattaya?

[hammerman]

COYI 

[davidge]

I always enjoy watching Arsenal lose…

 

 

 

…even if it’s against West Ham

[socrates]

Unexpected - but deserved ...

[Jebb]

I believe that Liverpool away is the doubtful reward for beating the Gooners....

[davidge]

[Daveo]

my normal routine for a late game is get up and watch the game replayed on HDPrimeTV without knowing the score and sometimes regretting not checking the score first? pleasantly surprised to see the other West ham play and not the one who played the blue shite at the weekend. cracking performance - then I saw the draw........FFS. 

[AngelCty2Nit]

6 hours ago, Jebb said:

I believe that Liverpool away is the doubtful reward for beating the Gooners....

Port Vale was available.....but Liverpool v West Ham probably brings in a bigger TV audience. 

Funny how luck of the draw works, right?

[davidge]

1 minute ago, AngelCty2Nit said:

Port Vale was available

A friend who lives in Pattaya is a Boro fan. He’s very happy today.

[Essexman1961]

Obviously I enjoyed the game tremendously and the club prices the C cup games very well, just £15 for my BML ticket but the game had a surreal quality with little atmosphere despite the large crowd and derby element .There were quite a few Arsenal around in the home stands but personally I didn't see  any in colours or openly cheering them .There was one just in front who was looking furtively a an Arsenal site and realised we had clocked him .After that he kept turning around anxiously and clapped politely at our second half goals but we just grinned at him which probably was more scary ...

[davidge]

[Essexman1961]