Leyton Orient v Doncaster Rovers

LEYTON ORIENT

 - V - 

DONCASTER ROVERS

A tiny, almost insignificant benefit of being relegated is the way you come across old foes and are reminded of great or not so great times in the past.

We all know how football has a knack for producing stories and for me, one of the most satisfying stories about the Rovers involves the O's as co-conspirators.  In the 1997/98 season no Rovers fan needs telling how awful we were.  The O's were the club that made the most hay out of this awfulness.  They notched 12 goals in our fixtures that season while conceding only once.  The 8:0 defeat we suffered at Brisbane Road was arguably the lowest of that season of lows. 

Scroll on six seasons and this fixture, Leyton Orient away looked like making for a tough-looking opening day on Rovers' return to the football league.  The 3:1 victory for the mighty hoops was backed up in January by a 5:0 win at Belle-Vue.  This just goes to show that in football, karma can come and bite you on the arse!

LEYTON ORIENT

It’s unbelievable. Training’s different class at the moment and everyone’s on fire. - Nathan Clarke

Clarke - Sounding confident

Leyton Orient lost their first 3 league 1 matches of this season meaning that I had an eye on this one as an away-win.  So when researching whether training was the only reason Clarke should feel optimistic, I was somewhat disappointed to find that early season woes look like they have been dispelled and the O's are on a four-match unbeaten run.  Good job I did my research before making my guess educated prediction based on the facts for the Donny Prediction League.

The manager, Russell Slade however clearly sees a tough task ahead.     

They want to play out from the back and get on the ball, but they can be more direct if necessary. 

Is that comment a polite way of saying that of late, Rovers' have either hoofed it or faffed about with it?  I'll leave you guys to decide.

Looking at the good run the O's are putting together, that 4:1 victory against Yeovil is the stand-out result.  They attacked the Glovers mercilessly during that match and were genuinely unlucky to only score 4.

Watching that game and the highlights from the other two fixtures either side of it, I see the fruits of what Clarke is finding so satisfying in training.  Crosses and set-pieces provide the O's major threat.  Expect big clearances to be flicked on to the likes of Kevin Lisbie  and Lee Cook and dangerous crosses that Ryan Brunt will be trying to feed on.  The good news about that of course is that Donny probably have the best equipped defence in the league for dealing with this type of threat.

Counter-attacking could be the way against the O's.  When the balls is moved quickly forward via strings of fast passes, the defence does look all at sea.  Cotterill and Bennett, if they a up for it could prove decisive players tomorrow.  I was also not so convinced by the Orient midfield as Brentford looked able to win balls in the middle all too easily.

DONCASTER ROVERS

It’s a tough place to go but we’ve got to try and make it an easy place to go - Iain Hume.

Hume - Keen

Classic quote - is he taking tips from his manager?  But Micky taking aside, that's a nice interview for Rovers' fans to read.  Hume  sounds to be enjoying himself more and more as he is returning to full fitness.  I've got a good feeling that this guy is going to be a very big player for us this season.

Wednesday evening saw us visiting Norfolk and while I can see how the game frustrated Dean Saunders, (it was a poor goal with Grant Holt picking-pockets as he has done for years),  I was delighted that we obviously gave Norwich a match.  The key point for me?  Shelton Martis not only returning to the side but also playing out of his skin.  It would seem that we do have an alternative at centre-back.  Sure, the million-dollar question is whether he remains fit, but we seem to have matured in terms of not rushing players back into games after injury.  This is currently being demonstrated by the treatment of Billy Paynter, who despite being rumoured not to be too badly injured, has not been risked.  Paynter remains a doubt for tomorrow.

So defensively, things remain very good for the Rovers now we just need to get in tune up front.  Hume suggests that opponents are looking to simply avoid defeat against us and so are content to defend deep.  If opponents would come out and attack more, gaps would be left that our attacking players are capable of exploiting.  The problem is, unless we score, there is no need for our opponents to come out.  In short, we have to crack the puzzle that our opponents defenders set for us, whatever that puzzle may be.

Prediction for tomorrow?  I'm going for an unspectacular, narrow win for the Rovers.  1:0 with Iain Hume the scorer.

Canaries v Rovers

NORWICH CITY

 - V - 

DONCASTER ROVERS

The last time Rovers travelled to Carrow Road, Chairman, John Ryan actually moved to have the game postponed because Rovers were in the midst of an injury crisis and were really struggling to raise a team.  Rovers had 14 players of a 25 man squad unavailable due to injury.

Norwich CEO David McNally correctly refused the request to postpone the game.  It would have set dangerous precedents that teams would exploit should they feel that they would be missing a few key players.

Rovers' situation was eased that night by the recruitment of Jason Euell and Franck Moussa on emergency loans.  In the event, we ended up gaining a hard-fought point, which kind of made the whole story a bit farcical.

These days Rovers have 18 players currently available for selection if nobody is injured.  Still, it makes team selection less of a challenge!

NORWICH CITY

I only do that because at this moment the squad we have allows us to do it - Chris Hughton (on rotating his squad)

Well that kinda rubs in the differences between Premier League and League 1 doesn't it? For information, Hughton currently has a 29 man squad.

But those are the breaks and in the end, its 11 v 11.  Norwich have also started their league campaign poorly, yet to record a victory in 5 outings.  So indeed, their only competitive victory so far this season came in the last round against Scunthorpe.  So can the 18-man squad of Donny beat the 29-man canaries?

Well its always difficult to assess the chances of a lower league side against a Premier League so I took that performance against Scunny as my first pointer.  Sadly, there were only about 4 minutes or so of highlights available and what I saw was an attack much as I would expect; full of movement, always able to have a man free somewhere and quite deadly when they created a yard of space on the edge of the area.

But could the defence have been suspect?  Certianly, there was a break from the Iron that exposed the left hand side and the centre-back was very shy to challenge as Scunny's equalizer was crashed home.

Time to check some stats.  In terms of goals, Norwich have hit the net twice this season.  So the weaker opposition provided by Scunthorpe flattered that attack?  Not so.  In terms of shots and shots on target, Norwich are average in the division.  They make chances but just can't get them in the onion bag is all.  My bet would be that that will change at some time (hopefully not tomorrow). 

Looking at the defensive stats, Norwich's opponents get 37% of shots on target.  In the Premier League this need restricting (the average is about 30%).  Norwich's defence simply allow their opponents too many good opportunities.  Now that's something that isn't going to simply come right.

I looked at another two sets of match highlights and pretty much confirmed those stats.  The defence is at times tackle-shy, allow opponents too much space, especially wide and can be guilty of half-clearances.  Simply not good enough for the premier league.

Going forward, they are creative and find dangerous positions.  It just doesn't go in the net either by bad luck or bad finishing.  

Is their a chance for Donny?  Well yes, I think so as long as Norwich keep that mental block they seem to have about scoring!  And we know that potentially, Donny have a defence that will make that very difficult.

DONCASTER ROVERS

Everybody at the club knows their job, know what I expect of them, and they are all working their socks off - Dean Saunders

Saunders - Good Work ethic

Interesting interview there from Dean, a year on from taking the helm at Donny.  I'm not sure I agree with much of what he has had to say but one thing I will give him is that he is correct in the statement I have quoted.

I don't think Dean has got everything right and certainly, I demand more tactical nous from him.  But the squad do seem to work hard for each other and I'd call that a first requirement.

The last round for me delivered Deano's best result and performance as Rovers' manager. It didn't quite have everything that constitutes a great game but the only thing really missing was controversy.

But we had 5 goals, a comeback from 2:0 down, a red card for an opposing player (though not particularly controversial) a bit of handbags and a grandstand finish in which Hull could well have leveled as we could have made it safe.  Great stuff!

Sadly, since then, its all gone a bit flat.  I have been fair and have suggested that for Dean, the result matters more than the performance, the complete opposite to his predecessor.  So we've lost just once, away at Yeovil.  Won just once, away at Colchester and picked up two draws which I suspect will prove to be very good results; away at Sheffield United and at home to Stevenage.  

Defensively, its been very reassuring but there has been little to set the pulses racing going forwards.  Perhaps a good cup-tie where Rovers have nothing to lose and everything to gain is just what is required to bring back some zip to the football.

Doncaster Rovers v Stevenage

DONCASTER ROVERS

 - V - 

STEVENAGE 

Stevenage are the 2nd of two ex-conference opponents that we will face this season.  In Donny's last conference season, Stevenage finished 12th with the results between the two sides ending "honours even".  Stevenage were beaten 3:2 at Belle Vue while they were the victors in Hertfordshire by 2 goals to nil.  

Stevenage kind of reversed Doncaster's achievements of 2002/03 and 2003/04 in 2009/10 and 2010/11.  Where Donny gained promotion to the football league through the first ever conference play-offs in 2003 and were promoted to league 1 as champions in 2004, in 2010 Stevenage came into the league as conference champions and achieved promotion to league 1 through the play-offs in 2011.

In 2011/12 Stevenage nearly achieved what Rovers didn't by gaining a play-off place for what would have been a third successive promotion.  Sadly / happily (depending on your point of view) Stevenage were not to become the second team of the premier league era to make it to the championship from the conference but their achievements demonstrate how worthy they are of the respect of their  League 1 advisories.

DONCASTER ROVERS

Everybody thinks that they just launch the ball and are just big and strong. They are, but they also play football as well and their manager has done a terrific job since taking over from Graham Westley - Dean Saunders

There's a lot of respect for Stevenage coming from Deano...and as I've pointed out, so there should be!

Donny fans have been in very positive mood this week.... and so they should be.  Midweek saw Rovers travel to Bramall Lane, almost certainly the toughest place to visit this season and get a draw.

Rob Jones - Leader of an Imperious Backline

Spectacular it wasn't.  Listening to the match was like listening to paint dry (think about it...it works just as well).  But does that make it a bad performance?  I say not.  Sometimes avoiding defeat and frustrating opponents is the order of the day.  And, like with Crawley against us, occasionally you get more than the draw you deserve.  

So going forwards, with the exception of a heroic performance from Chris Brown, disappointing (but it wasn't a game to go forwards).  In defence we were imperious.  Gary, Paul, Rob, Tommy and Jamie...take a bow!  In the trade it was what is known as Checkmate!

And (for the first time from me....EVER)....Deano take a bow.  Tactically correct.  We played in a way that reduced our chance of losing (the priority) whilst not eliminating the bonus of a win.

For this match, don't be surprised if despite their doing what was required in the week, Dean makes a change or two.  What is required tomorrow is different and perhaps a few changes might achieve the change in objective.

STEVENAGE 

We've been decent on the road so far and we'll look to try to remain unbeaten if we can. - Gary Smith

Interesting comments by Gary Smith on that link.  Could Stevenage be coming to Donny with an eye on a draw?  For a side currently sitting 2nd in the table, that would be very respectful indeed.  Perhaps too respectful?  Well people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.  Rovers have just come home from Bramall Lane very pleased at the point they secured, so why shouldn't Stevenage feel the same way about us?

Robin Shroot - Good finisher

Robin Shroot looks like their main threat going forwards having netted in the last 4 matches and to be fair, the three of those that I saw weren't tap-ins.    Shroot is good with the ball on the deck and is a good finisher.  Certainly a Challenge for Jones and McCoombe in the Rovers defence.

From what I saw of the highlights, Dean Saunders is correct, Stevenage are not the hoofball team people make them out to be.  Coming forwards, there was plenty of decent pass and move football to admire.  I found their crosses particularly impressive.

They are no mugs at the back either.  Well organised with defenders prepared to throw themselves in the way of the ball if that is necessary.  If there is a weakness, I would say it would be at the inside-right position.  On a couple of occasions opposing strikers got between the left back and centre back to good effect.  There also looked to be an issue at the far post from corners.

The matches I saw also showed a bit of fight about the team.  Although they dominated Walsall, both Crewe and Coventry had them under the cosh at times.  In particular Crewe were leading 2:0 in that game.  But 'Boro remain unbeaten.  Frankly, its not too difficult to see why.

Blame the Blades!

SHEFFIELD UNITED

 - V - 

DONCASTER ROVERS

Just over 21 months ago, at 5:40 pm, I was happy.  I was just finishing off at work (in Switzerland, we did not have a bank holiday) while listening to the Rovers.   We were 2-nil up against a struggling Blades team.  Two goals in 5 minutes seemed an unlikely proposition so I wasn't particularly concerned when Danny Bogdanovic pulled one back.  When Rob Kozluk hit an equalizer 6 minutes into injury time, my desk took one hell of a kicking!

I didn't know it at the time, but this turnaround in a match represented the start of the more significant turnaround in Doncaster's fortunes that ultimately ended in relegation a season later.  So there you are Donny fans.  The Blades started it!  

This fact is of course purely coincidental.  The main causes of the Rovers' fall:  an injury crisis of depths explored by fewer people than have walked on the moon and a freeze on funds for wages / transfers / loans etc.  that resulted in an experiment as mad as the one conceived by Dr. Frankenstein when he awoke one morning feeling a little creative,  had little to do with the Blades.  But they were still there, at the start of it all!  Not that I'm bitter.  

As if we both needed an illustration of what relegation does to squads, only two players from each line-up remain in today's Blades' and Rovers' squads.  Sheffield United have Richard Cresswell, who is now Player-Coach and substitute 'Keeper George Long.  Both players are likely to be on the bench tomorrow.  Rovers 'Keepers Neil Sullivan and Gary Woods have switched roles with Woods being the only squad-member of that clash in January 2011 likely to start tonight.

SHEFFIELD UNITED

We don’t want to find ourselves in a position again where we are scratching around for goals. We suffered from that at the end of last season but now we have got the players. - Danny Wilson

The Blades finished in a clear third-place last season with just one win separating them from deadly rivals the Owls, promoted in second place.  Huddersfield, who agonisingly beat the Blades on penalties at Wembley in May  to deny them their Championship return lagged them by a full 9 points in the final League 1 table.  Normally, its not like me to evoke such painful memories for Donny's opponents, but sorry Blades.  That's what you get for being their at the start of our decline!

So I think we can say that United are somewhat unlucky to be playing in League 1 this season.  Indeed, in the last 10 seasons, the Blades 90 points would have won them automatic promotion on 7 occasions.  So you have to wonder why Danny Wilson has allowed 10 players to move away from Bramall Lane with 10 new recruits coming in (excluding loans).  A side that comes that close to promotion needs a tweak here and there, not a major rebuild.  Or at least that's what I would have thought.

That said, you can't argue with some of the quality Wilson has brought in.  Paul Gallagher, Dave Kitson and Nick Blackman could surely do well enough in the league above and with such talent you can see the 92-goal tally of last season (8 goals more than anyone else) being bettered.  The question is whether they will be meaner at the other end of the pitch, where 51 goals conceded, whilst hardly a disaster, placed them more within the chasing pack.  But looking at that line-up, I think tomorrow Rovers will definitely be up against a team who are genuine title contenders for the first time this season.

On Saturday, the Blades learnt something that the Rovers had discovered a few weeks earlier.  Bury have the capacity to frustrate in this league.  I even hear tell that the Bramall Lane faithful booed their new era side off the pitch!

Incredibly sloppy marking allowed Nick Blackman to volley home emphatically from inside the 6-yard box to put the Blades on their way, or so they thought.  Peter Sweeney curled in a beautiful free-kick for the Shakers just 3 minutes later and Bury were proving that they can give as good as they get.  Indeed, the Blades will be thanking Mark Cullen's  lack of composure late on as he put a free header miles over the Blades' bar.

Boos from the fans aside, the Blades' attacking was still very pleasing on the eye.  Not the hoof-ball too often associated with them but neat passes interchanged around the box eventually finding a runner who blazes through the opposing defence.  Enjoyable to watch, if a little frightening.

The game before that saw 9-man Sheffield United earn a point at Scunthorpe.  Two straight red-cards nearly always means controversy.  Did Michael Doyle try to stamp on Mike Grella after fouling him?  I could see why the referee thought so, so with the amount of time he had to decide, a red card is understandable.  The replay left me in enough doubt as to whether Doyle was clumsy rather than cynical.  Certainly worth appealing the red card.  But Ryan Flynn's challenge on Christian Ribeiro really had me flinching.  Reckless in the extreme and worthy of a 6-game ban let alone just the three.  Why on earth Danny Williams thought that worth appealing I will never know!

The Iron had a real go at United, hardly surprising under the circumstances and whilst the defence generally held firm, the Iron's goal was preceded by particularly whoosy tackling.  

Finally, I checked out the goal-fest that was the Blades' 5:3 win against Bournemouth.  The attacking prowess was obvious with the Blades causing problems for the South-coast side on virtually every occasion that they ventured forwards.  But at the back, it looks like some sorting out is needed on corners.  Bournemouth's first was a catalogue of bad football.  A poor corner even more poorly dealt with followed by defensive admiration of the wide-man's dribbling skill.  In truth, there was nothing to admire.  He didn't need to beat anyone, he just needed to move the ball forwards into the space afforded him and pick out the striker who the ball-watching defenders had conveniently left unmarked.  

Bournemouth's second is another that the Blades defence will not want to see too often.  The corner was better  as was the marking so how did a Bournemouth striker get on the end of it?  Certainly plenty for Rovers to look at!

DONCASTER ROVERS

They are the biggest club in League One by a mile and I’m sure there’ll be over 20,000 there tonight - Dean Saunders

Isn't it bloody typical?  When your favourite Donny-Exile in Switzerland has to return to the promised land, everyone is on an International break.  Not only that but the very next week, Rovers have Derby with Sheffield United and a home tie on Saturday.  Am I miffed?  Just a little!

Sadly, my schedule also didn't allow a trip down to Colchester so I had to make do with going to the St. Leger where, in the last race, Viking Storm did the business at 7/2 yielding a nice £45 for yours truly.  If there were other fans at the Leger meeting who did not get that one with the race coming immediately after Donny had beaten the Us, you can now sit and wonder "what were you thinking!"

Cotterill - Star of the Saturday's show (along with Viking Storm)

At that match, David Cotterill proved to be the star of the show.  After just 3 minutes, An awful throw from the Colchester 'keeper straight to Paul Quinn allowed him to play in Cotterill for a wonderful curving finish.  Colchester then had the Rovers under quite some pressure as they looked to get back on terms which they did, mainly due to Rovers not getting their tackles in.  

Once again just three minutes into a half, Cotterill played in a good free-kick towards Syers.  Andy Bond got in front of Syers, but could only head into his own net.  The Us continued to press but the defence and in particular Gary Woods held firm.  By all accounts it was not the best Rovers performance but it was 3 points on our travels.

So to Sheffield and I'm already starting to flinch a little at injuries and the paper thin squad that we have.  Billy Paynter missed Saturday's game and is a doubt for this evening; David Syers came off after 75 minutes feeling his calf and James Harper is nursing a groin injury.

Hardly a crisis just yet but with the Saturday/Tuesday/Saturday rhythm back after the international break, you see why extra depth is needed.  It could be a difficult few months!

The Swiss 36 No. 8 St. Jakob-Park - FC Basel

FC Basel v FC Zürich

The time has come to stop messing around on this Swiss Tour of football grounds.  I feel my Swiss readers thoughts pulsating through the ethernet.  Give it up Fuzz - just go to the top Swiss Football club and you can quit all this comparing stadia rubbish.  After all, can Old Trafford really compare with Brunton Park (for the Swiss, home of Carlisle United)?  

They're quite right.  You get much more true emotion watching a game in Carlisle than you ever will at the Theatre of Dreams.  Think about it for a moment.  For dreams, it helps if you sleep.  To sleep, it helps if it's quiet!

Basel are the current Power-House of Swiss football with 7 of the 13 Super League titles this century so far going to St. Jakob-Park.  They finished as runners-up for 3 of the remaining seasons so that's ten from thirteen league campaigns ending in a top 2 finish.  Not bad, I suppose!

I've been to the stadium before, on two occasions to see Switzerland play first against England and then against Wales.  Good occasions, I throughly enjoyed both experiences.   But on those occasions I did not have my critical eyes open.

As usual, my good lady searched for the tickets for this fixture online and that's when we received the first shock.  Our tickets cost 48 SFr (£31.68) each!!  Admittedly, you could get cheaper tickets for this fixture and also even this price is cheap when compared with the entry price for top games in England.  But we have not sought out the cheapest ticket prices on the Swiss 36 tour and, in their own market, the next most expensive ticket so far has been the 30 SFr that we paid to watch FC Zürich play Grasshoppers.

So is the Basel experience worth 50%  more than the price of the most expensive of the rest?  Is it worth saving the 48 SFr to visit Basel by missing 4 home games at FC Winterthur?  This should be interesting!

Outside - Not much to look at

Like pretty much anywhere in Switzerland, getting to Basel is no problem with the train.  From Basel centre to the stadium, you have a choice of Train or tram.  Its not a problem although having gone on the tram on this occasion, I'd recommend the train in future.  The tram was very full.  The train would be similarly full, its just that the train is quicker.

The outside of the stadium looks like a cross between a block of flats at one side, and a bouncy castle at the other. 

Time to test those security guards and on this occasion we had a new strategy.  PET bottles are dangerous, Tetra-Pak Cartons are dangerous so how about paper cups from Burger-King?  Unanimously rejected by Basel's security guards!  We had to drink them or lose them.  There was not even the offer of a plastic cup in which to decant our drinks as has been offered at every single other stadium.

Long-Island Iced-Tea is a potent mix.  But my wife and I are from Yorkshire.  Tip away good quality beverages - never!

Inside - Now that's more like it!

At the end of the match, when we'd sobered up a little, my wife asked one of the security staff the idea behind this practice.  Paper cups are not regarded as dangerous, which is good because Basel serve Popcorn in them.  Apparently they don't want alcohol taking into the stadium.  I have not yet found any other stadium that applies rules on taking alcohol in.  They may be ferociously anal about the drinks container, but not the drink itself.  Can you buy alcohol in the stadium?  Yes, of course, they will serve beer at your seat!

Inside the stadium and you see how much that exterior under-sells the stadium.  Its a proper, 38500 capacity purpose-built football stadium and looks great!  Those expensive seats were great too, right on the front-row aligned with the edge of one penalty area.  Comfortable seats too.  Could I be warming to Basel?

A Fenced in Kop

Well I might have been had I not looked at how Basel's fabulous support are treated by the club.  First of all, the most vocal support stand on terraces behind the goal.  Now you you know what I think of fences.

Bizarrely, there are only these high fences at the kop end and around the away section.  Anywhere else and there's just a small perimeter wall and an electronic advertising hoarding between you and the pitch.  Obviously the fans who sing are the ones who need to be caged.  Its totally ridiculous as nothing would stop these fans from buying the ticket that I bought and sitting in the area without fences.

In the fan-shop we found a Basel shirt for 130 SFr.  I was amazed at this price as the same shirt is available in sports shops for 110 SFr.  I am hoping the shirt in question had a pre-preinted name and number although as in England, normally this is an option.

Points Time.

Getting There

8/10.  Easy enough by train or by tram but I did not see any dedicated match services,  certainly not on the tram.  Maybe they are there on the train?  With the support Basel have, it would be worth considering as the trams were very crowded.

Friendliness

7/10.  Security was consistent but flawed. Alcohol is their concern but its freely available in the stadium.  Alcohol or no alcohol, Basel are the first stadium I have visited not to offer plastic beakers to allow any drink, alcoholic or otherwise, to be taken into the stadium.  Fans have to booze it or lose it.  Oh, and if they suspect the fan is trying to get alcohol into the stadium, watching them drink that alcohol rapidly before entering the stadium really is going to maintain the sobriety of the proceedings isn't it?  

Safety

Flares? Fine but NO PAPER CUPS!

6/10.  Absolutely no problem where we were but I didn't like the standing areas or the away fan areas.  And look at what the paper-cup conscious security missed at both the home and away ends.  Flags being waved, flares being waved.  No chance of a flag catching light from a flare and starting a fire in those areas enclosed by high fences?

Basel do get big crowds so is there the potential for a Hillsborough or a Bradford fire?  Its fair to say that St. Jakob-Park is a great deal more modern than either Hillsboruough or Valley Parade (as it was then) but why take the chance?  Take the fences down and make it a good deal more safe.

View

8/10.  From my seat, 10/10 but I wouldn't have liked to be behind those fences.  (Is there some theme to this?)

Basel kop in full Swing

Atmosphere

8/10.  30400 spectators in a 38500 stadium isn't exactly a sell-out for arguably the biggest rivalry in Swiss football.  Perhaps Basel do need to look at those ticket prices.

That said, the atmosphere was very enjoyable even for a 0:0. Basel have a very vocal kop who keep going throughout the game.  I can also vouch for their away support's noise as when they played FC Winterthur they were similarly noisy.  

But FCZ played their part too.  Noise from both ends from where I was sitting but nothing from the sides.

Refreshments

FCZ played their part too

7/10.  Predictably Feldshitschen beer as it is the local brewery to Basel and its reasonably priced at 5.50 SFr for 4 dl.  But they did drop a clanger on the soft drinks.

With our rapidly slugged Long Island Iced-Tea still taking effect, we opted for a soft drink at half time.  Citro sounds like lemon but was in fact sparkling water.  Mrs. Duck does not like sparkling water!

So up she climbed to the concourse and tried again for a lemonade.  The same Citro was ordered and it tasted like lemonade!  What's going on Basel?

The standard sausage and chips menu was augmented by Pizza.  Like FC Luzern, there are executive facilities where I am sure 3 course menus etc. are offered.   But for proper fans, sausage, pizza, chips and popcorn is about it.

Redeeming Feature

The thought of how good it could be if they ripped those bloody fences out!

Overall

You've got to be joking love, it cost 130 SFr.!

45/60. 

The Match

0:0.  Basel were the better team on the day but Zürich kept their discipline well and deserved the point.

When I say deserved the point, it would be fairer to deduct points from both sides. In the first half, the well know Dave Bassett quote about not being able to hit a Donkey's arse with a frying-pan rang true.  Not one effort on target for either side.  Whistles from the Basel kop at the break.

It was marginally better in the second half.  David Da Costa, the Zürich 'keeper, was called into action twice: a decent effort from the edge of the area from Marco Streller came at a nice height for him to push away and a more demanding though less spectacular save at the feet of Valentin Stocker.  At the other end, Yann Sommer twiddled his thumbs.

Miss four FC Winterthur games to watch "der Klassiker" at Basel?  You have got to be joking!