Delight for Gannon as Walker leads comeback
STOCKPORT County boss Jim Gannon heaped praise on the professionalism of his side after The Hatters snatched a late 2-1 win in the FA Cup second Qualifying Round at high-flying South Shields on Saturday.
After falling behind to a firsthalf strike by Carl Finnigan, Gannon’s men fought back via goals either side of the interval by Sam Walker, and a last-minute winner by substitute Nyal Bell, to advance to a home tie with lowly Corby Town a week on Saturday.
“I’m really pleased,” said Gannon.
“It was such a tough ask, South Shields have invested well and are in fine form.
“We did everything professionally. We travelled up together and had a pre-match meal and the preparation was perfect. It was a deserved win.”
The Hatters were led for large parts of the scrappy tie by the in-form Walker – who had earlier in the week revealed that claims from the South Shields camp that The Hatters were ‘running scared’ of the Evo-Stik Premier League leaders had ‘fuelled’ County’s desire to win the game.
The experienced midfielder, suffered a torrid first season at Edgeley Park last campaign, struggling for fitness before being loaned out to Curzon Ashton.
But he bundled home the leveller before teeing-up Bell for the stoppage-time winner – and Gannon was quick to express his delight at the 29-year-old’s performance.
“I’m delighted for Sam,” said Gannon.
“It was a tough season last year for him, and he’s in a highlydemanding environment, but he’s risen to the challenge this year and been great for us.
“The stats don’t lie, he’s the hardest working player and I’ve said in front of the lads how important he is to us.
“He comes in to training all the time, even the extra sessions, looking to work hard and so it’s really paying for him.” CITY should be performing in front of packed houses in every match.
If attractive football equated to bums on seats, the Blues would be the hottest ticket in town. But it doesn’t, and they’re not. The fact the Etihad Stadium was only three-quarters full for their Champions League opener against Lyon is a cause for concern for the club – and an endless source of amusement for rival fans who have been deprived of any other sticks with which to poke the Blues.
And yet City’s failure to sell out the ground for midweek cup games is long-standing ... and a trait not restricted to the Blues.
Midweek games are a problem for all clubs, especially those which draw their support from further afield than the local community.
And fatigue with excessive amounts of football, a railing at the ever-increasing price of the game, and the sheer inconvenience and often discomfort of travel - usually to a game available on the square box in your own living room - have all contributed.
Throw in a general dissatisfaction with some aspects of ticketing, and it all adds up to empty seats.
Of course, the charge levelled at City is that they cannot fill the ground as they are a ‘plastic’ club.
The clowns who say such stuff seem not to realise that the Blues have been around since 1894, and had a rich and varied history – and a support base bigger than the vast majority long before Sheikh Mansour’s takeover.
The same nonsense was not levelled at Barcelona, a club with a vast worldwide fanbase, whose Nou Camp stadium was nearly a third empty for the visit of PSV Eindhoven.
League attendances at both Barcelona and Real Madrid have slumped alarmingly in recent times - these things happen as part of the natural football cycle.
Pep Guardiola and Fernandinho will know all about it. The Brazil midfielder scored at the Nou Camp in 2008 to help Shakhtar Donetsk pull of a memorable win over Guardiola’s all-conquering team in front of just 22,000 supporters.
And do you remember an appalled reaction when Tottenham had just 42,000 rattling around inside Wembley for the visit of APOEL last season? Or Juventus when they got around 33,000 for the visit of Olympiacos? City’s neighbours United avoid the problem by forcing their season ticket holders to buy Champions League and FA Cup games as a condition of sale. Yet empty seats are a common sight at Old Trafford as well, when the Reds face undistinguished opponents. There is a common factor here pointless games against unattractive opposition. City sold out for Liverpool last season, and do so when they face Barcelona, and in other big games. And yet there remains an indifference to the Champions League among many City fans. Their holy grail has been the league title for the past 40 to 50 years – they won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970 but do not have the long tradition of involvement and success in the European Cup which Stuart Brennan