Anyone that knows me or is familiar with my blog knows that I love my sport and I am particularly passionate about the teams that I support. Week on week the performance and results of these teams tend to dictate my daily mood. I have had the idea of documenting the trials and tribulations of following my sporting teams, to share the stress and see whether it can give me a little therapy and, in turn, give you guys maybe a few laughs and an insight into my temporary insanity.

This week in my stressful sporting agenda. Dinamo face a tough away game with Iasi, Bristol Rovers, uplifted after their midweek success have a home tie with Coventry City and The Packers are heavy favourites going into an away game versus Washington.

Dinamo Bucharest

We started on Friday night with Dinamo traveling to Iasi which is about 8 hours away by car. It was live on TV as usual but I was only able to catch part of the game. As has been the case for most of the season so far, Dinamo look a little disorganised and lacking any real plan. The team selection seems very inconsistent as well with players like Pesic not getting any game time, which surprises me a little.

I switched the game on about 10 minutes in and at 0-0. Dinamo were on the ball and were trying to create something with Subotic and Popovic, the main attacking players. They were not really hurting the Iasi defence and the final ball was wasted most of the time.

Iasi look determined and, of course, were playing a team from Bucharest, so they give it an extra 10% as well. They eventually catch Dinamo on the break and Flores finished a nice run with a shot across Penado’s goal and into the net. 1-0. I continue watching until half time and then I have to leave. It was a good thing to because Dinamo created very little during the rest of the game and looked very disjointed. The only chance of note fell to Sergiu Hanca who crudely smashed the ball over the bar when it looked easier to hit the target. I felt like something bad was brewing and that proved to be the case.

Final Score Iasi 1 Dinamo 0

The table shows Dinamo in 10th position on 10 points with 3 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses after 9 games. The target is a top six finish and the playoffs and they are only 4 points away from that goal, even after a poor start to the season. The big news is that Florin Bratu the Dinamo Manager has been fired after less than 8 months in charge. He has been replaced by Claudiu Niculescu who is an ex Dinamo player. I feel that the problems at the club go deeper than just the manager so I’m doubtful weather this change will make a huge difference but we live in hope!

Next up for Dinamo is a home clash with Sepsi on Friday night.

The Gas

Bristol Rovers entertained Coventry at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday in front of 8,500 people which was a slightly disappointing attendance considering the opposition. The poor start to the season has, unfortunately, put some of the casual fans off of going. We would usually expect to see around 10,000 for a game against one of the bigger clubs in this division and shows that there is work to be done.

The positive result and performance against West Ham in midweek, albeit against their talented but young under 23’s has lifted the place slightly and there is hope yet of a turn around to this season. Could they continue this trend against a Coventry side who have started well in League 1 after promotion, finally, from league 2. Coventry are a big club historically in England and it was a little strange to see them struggling in the bottom division.

Starting Line UP prediction League
This is the ongoing league that I created with some friends to try and predict the starting 11 players for each Bristol Rovers match. Not as easy as it sounds, especially with our manager.

Results for West Ham
Parky 6
Mark, Hols 8
Gaz 9 (2pts)

Table
Gaz 12 pts
Hols 7
Mark 5
Laura 3
Parky 3
Shaun 2
Joe 2
Chaney 2
Geoff 1

Back to winning ways for me! This was a difficult game to call because it was a cup game of less importance and big changes were inevitable.

Prediction for Coventry
Bonham, Leadbitter, Lockyer, Craig, Martin, Matthews, O Clarke, Upson, Sinclair, Jakubiak, Payne.

Straight after the kick off and the sky blues of Coventry were throwing men forward, trying to exert pressure on Rovers and hoping they would crack under the strain. They had a series of corners and shots and it was unbelievable how they had not scored. Once again Jack Bonham in the Rovers goal was performing wonderfully, making several classy saves. We were holding on by the skin of our teeth.

Seven minutes into the game and Bonham hit a hard, low goal kick up the middle. Their defender was in position to deal with it but he slipped. Reilly was on it like a flash, shrugged off the defender and calmly slotted the ball into the net to make it 1-0. This was totally against the run of play. It was an eye opening play for the new Rovers striker and an indication of the type of player that he could be for us. Reilly’s reactions and physical strength were on show but best of all was the composure that he showed to place the ball in the net.

This goal rocked Coventry’s world and having been piling on the pressure, were now dealing with an onslaught from the boys in blue and white. Suddenly Coventry’s defence looked shaky and Rovers pressed their advantage. We gained a free kick on the edge of the penalty box which Chris Lines was lined (excuse the pun) up to take. He dinked in a cross and captain Tom Lockyer was the man on the spot to head home unmarked. 2-0 What's going on? We looked dangerous for once!

Moments later we were on the attack once again and Ollie Clarke picked the ball up about 25 yards from goal and pulled the trigger. He hit the shot to the keepers right with decent power. The keeper got a hand to it but could only push the ball into the inside netting and allow goal number 3 after only 25 minutes of the game completed.

Things did settled down after this franetic spell and it became more of an even affair. Coventry looked good going forward but definitely were a little nervous at the back. The challenge for Rovers was to keep a clean sheet up until half time and that would give them a great chance to take all three points from this match. Alas, with seconds remaining Coventry scored from a header from a free kick and we went in at half time at 3-1. It was a blow but I would have snapped your hand off for a 3-1 scoreline at half time before the kick off!

The mission in the second half was to remain solid in our defending and not risk too much going forward. The longer we held out the better the chance of winning the match. Chances were now at a premium as both teams needed to shore up dodgy looking defences. Coventry had little choice but to try and get a couple of goals but Rovers we definitely defending well, boosted by the electric start. On a rare break, substitute Payne chased down a long ball, directed it into a dangerous area and Stuart Sinclair burst into the box, hit a low drive but the Coventry keeper was equal to it and parried it away.

The Sky Blues did get a chance and put the ball into the net late on in the game but it was called for offside, much to the disappointment of the traveling fans. Rovers saw out the rest of the game fairly comfortably and notched their first home win of the season and a much needed three points.

Final Score 3-1 to The Gas

Rovers are in 17th spot having played 9 games with 2 wins, 2 draws and 5 loses. It goes to show that one win will lift you up the table quite quickly at this stage of the season. Next up for Rovers is an away tie with Bradford City on Saturday.

The Green Bay Packers

The Pack travelled to Washington in a game where they were 7 point favourites away from home. We were also expected to have 40% of the crowd as Washington’s fans were not showing up and Packers fans travel well. I was really looking forward to this game as it was the first time we were expected to win comfortably this season and I could do without the craziness of the first two games. I even tweeted, ‘I wonder what ingenious way Mike McCarthy will use to help me to blow another fuse?’ Should I have more confidence in my team? Hhhmmmmmm! I’m not so sure at the moment.

We came out flat! Extremely flat! It was clear that Aaron Rodgers was still struggling with his knee injury and a lack of mid week practice was having an impact. The timing on offence was just not there. Players like Randall Cobb and Davante Adams, who are usually telepathic in their understanding with the QB, were not on the same page.

On the flip side of the ball the defence were being battered! Alex Smith was throwing at will, testing our young secondary and winning. Their was little to no pressure on the QB and the deep pass coverage, especially at Safety, was poor. One of the most stressful parts of my sporting week is a defence that cannot put pressure on the Quarterback and we cannot rush the passer. It is the thing that sets me off every time. I just cannot deal with it.

This game was so poor by the Packers that I don’t even want to run through the plays. With all due respect to Washington, the Packers beat themselves and not for the first time. Killer drops on 3rd down by Cobb and Kendricks, a fumble by Cobb, Countless penalties on both sides of the ball, ugly pass protection, a Peterson TD that should not have been called, an inexplicable red zone ineptitude and another heartbreaking ‘roughing the passer’ call at a crucial time in the game that just rocked us. All of these things just managed to keep us off balance and not able to mount a serious comeback on offence, even after our defence rallied after a bad start and playing well in the second half, again!

The NFL only allow this clip to be played from Youtube. Click on play and then follow the link.

Final Score: Packers 17 Washington 31

The injuries are mounting up too. We are now nursing Rodgers, King, Bulaga, McCray, Cobb and Perry, have put House on IR and lost Mo Wilkerson for the season. To replace Davon House we have signed Bashaud Breeland who is an intriguing prospect. He signed a 24 million dollar contract with the Carolina Panthers in the off season only to fail the medical because of a foot problem from a injury un related to football. If we can get him up to speed quickly he could be a fabulous edition to the squad.

Next up is a home game against a resurgent Buffalo Bills that looks very different now than it did a week ago. Buffalo went to the Vikings and nearly shut them out while putting up good numbers. It was a shock because they have looked poor up until this game and were huge underdogs for the trip to the Vikings. Rookie Josh Allen with his cannon arm at QB and a defensive front that can disrupt any offence will cause the Packers staff a few sleepless nights in the lead up. Can we overcome?

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Thanks for sharing my highs and lows.

See you next week.

Gaz