Insomnia...


the illuminating point here, I think, is our perception of our own players. We tend to magnify the extremes of our own players' performance because we have an emotional involvement in that performance. An emotional involvement that carries us a little further than, say, a hearty applauding of a defender who finds the boundary line every time he kicks the thing, or a shrill
"c'mon number 18"
when the fancy takes us.

Dodd and Grover go alright. The fullback's job, when playing on a leading type forward, has become a lot harder after the 'hands in the back' rule. Perhaps we forget that? Also, again, the trap is to focus on one player's performance and criticise that when there are a chain of actions that lead to his and we forget to examine that.

If it's ok to make allowances for Pav when he struggles in the forward line due to the midfield getting smashed and not delivering decent ball, then it's only reasonable to look at what the defender is trying to mop up when it comes steaming into his player at pace and precision because the midfield got smashed.

In that respect, I reckon the two players mentioned go alright and I've breathed more than one sigh of relief when squinting down into the shadows to see that it's Grover who's got away from his man and is propelling us forward with the sort of run and drive that other fullback types get lauded for.

Just as an aside... who's playing the spare man role these days?