In Salford's shadow: Div 4 2019/20

[Simon G]

The wife was fuming this morning because of my effing and jeffing when that goal went in, She was just drifting off to sleep and she could hear me downstairs.

I've calmed down a bit now. I can look back on a great season, very much unexpected in the summer. Last night is still raw, especially the way we capitulated, but it is what it is. The club is still in a healthy condition and we have a big summer ahead of what I hope will be another positive season. So what if we're going to Barrow instead of Sunderland, we're also going to Bolton instead of Fleetwood.

[slackster]

Ouch. Feel for you, Simon. Losing your most important match for years, when your renowned solid defence has a ‘mare after you are 2-0 up at “half-time” takes some getting over, I can tell you. E10 will know exactly what I’m talking about.

Hopefully your club will do well next season and it will be forgotten, rather than take the calamitous trajectory O’s did when it happened to us.

[Third rate Leszno]

Commiserations, Simon. I wanted Cheltenham to go up as they're a decent, well-run club (and being selfish I have mates who live near Exeter and Colchester so these are decent away trips for me). Oh, and Keith Curle. Strange fella, not dislikeable but definitely a bit odd. He took advantage of our chairman's good nature and pissed a shitload of money away on some absolutely terrible players (I'm looking at you Cole Stockton) and still didn't get us promoted, so I don't want to see him do it with someone else. So come on Exeter...

[Ray de Galles]

I can't quite get over the incongruity of the play-off final kicking off at 7:30pm on a random Monday night (tonight) yet still being played at bloody Wembley!

[Foot of Astaire's]

I can't quite get over the incongruity of the play-off final kicking off at 7:30pm on a random Monday night (tonight) yet still being played at bloody Wembley!

Bonkers isn't it? Much like the cup semi finals too

[DCI Harry Batt]

Wembley's a terrible place for football at the best of times.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Well, I suppose for some players it would have been a shame to take away from them the reward of playing at Wembley, having got this far. Even if some of Exeter's players have been there more often than Liverpool's in the last four years, there are a few young lads for whom this will be a first visit.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Yeah I just don't get the whole Wembley thing.

[slackster]

Only on Sky again. You’d think they’d put these sort of games on Pick (freeview) for the amount of punters they will draw, especially whilst the pubs are still closed. But they’ve put a PL match on there tonight instead.

[Ray de Galles]

Well, I suppose for some players it would have been a shame to take away from them the reward of playing at Wembley, having got this far. Even if some of Exeter's players have been there more often than Liverpool's in the last four years, there are a few young lads for whom this will be a first visit.

I have to wonder how much of a reward playing at an empty Wembley is. Bloody hell, I've been offered the chance to do that and it didn't excite me.

Anyway, the play-offs aren't an episode of 'Jim'll Fix It' for footballers.

[Simon G]

I've seen on another forum that some Exeter fans have gone up to Wembley - I have no idea if they're going to try and get in. Why would you go otherwise? Also, why would you even attempt it?

[Foot of Astaire's]

I've seen on another forum that some Exeter fans have gone up to Wembley - I have no idea if they're going to try and get in. Why would you go otherwise? Also, why would you even attempt it?

Well according to their former chairman, prize bullshitter, Uri Geller, Wembley was easy to sneak into, to bury crystals behind the goals and help England beat Scotland in Euro 96 . Perhaps they've taken inspiration from him?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Well according to their former chairman, prize bullshitter, Uri Geller, Wembley was easy to sneak into, to bury crystals behind the goals and help England beat Scotland in Euro 96 . Perhaps they've taken inspiration from him?

"Former chairman" is exaggerating that publicity stunt (both in company law and reality). Geller was never registered even as a company director, let alone the title he claimed for all of a month or so. It all seemed a bit of WWE stage management to distract people from the desperate financial straits the actual board had steered the club into. Still bloody embarrassing though.

[Greenlander]

Oh I don't know. Always good to be reminded of Uri Geller and his Exeter connections every so often.

And, seriously, all the best to ECFC this evening. League One seems to have a very northern feel about it so a couple of derbies would make a good counterbalance.

[Southport Zeb]

On the BBC website this is being described as "thought to be first-ever competitive behind-closed-doors games at Wembley". They clearly have doubts about whoever provides them with stats.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Northampton 2-0 up. Exeter have had no answer to Northampton's "big launch to the lads up front" approach so far, just being bullied off every ball.

[Ray de Galles]

8 shots on target to 0 is a pretty damming stat. You would say it was all over but for the tendency for comebacks in play-off games, most recently in Northampton's last one.

[tee rex]

Well, bollocks to all this. Thank goodness football doesn't matter now. I said it doesn't matter, OK? Not bothered. Not in the slightest.

[tee rex]

Matters even less now. Think of all the healthy outcomes when nobody in Exeter gathers to celebrate. That's what matters here.

(but any more goals and they might be gathering with rotten fruit ...)

[Ray de Galles]

https://twitter.com/simongleave/status/1277578009034338306?s=21