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.

Only a very brief installment this week as it is international week so Dinamo have no game but Bristol Rovers did. They took on Burton Albion away on Saturday and then on Monday night ‘Prime Time’ the Packers entertained the San Francisco 49s. Lets get started.

All three of my teams are having a hard time at the moment which is making my weekends less than chilled! I need at least one of them to put a smile back on my face and return me to being a functioning human being once again. I am not going to hold my breath!

Bristol Rovers

After the promising showing midweek against Yeovil, expectations were rising again. It wasn’t error free but they played with confidence and determination to win the game. The midfield looked strong and dominant, keeping possession well and creating chances for the forward line. The strikers looked mobile and a threat was definitely evident, topped off by a beautifully struck goal by Alex Jakubiak. Jax, as he is affectionately known, has started to pull away from the other strikers in terms of goal threat and confidence. I am hoping he starts in the next game against Burton.

The Starting Line Up Prediction League.

Results for Yeovil

Chaney, Joe 3
Hols 5
Gaz 6
Mark, Parky 7

Table

Gaz 13pts
Hols, Mark 7
Joe, Parky 5
Chaney 4
Laura 3
Shaun 2
Geoff 1

This was a very difficult game to predict as there were probably 6 or 7 changes from the previous game.

My team for Burton

Bonham, Partington, J Clarke, Craig, Martin, Sercombe, Lines, O Clarke, Sinclair, Nichols, Jakubiak.

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My dad goes to all the home games and only a select few of the away games so we tend to skype each other during those away games so we can both watch and chat at the same time. We were both happy with the way the boys played midweek so we had a positive feeling that we could get a result in this game.

It was another of those games where we looked solid enough, keeping individual errors to a minimum. This helps to reduce the stress of watching because you are not on edge, thinking that they are going to concede every five minutes. We still look like we are going to struggle to create and score though and, compared to the midweek game, we look a little negative and sat a lot deeper in midfield to protect our own goal.

Half time comes around and the score is 0-0, unsurprisingly. I think we were settling for a single point rather than risk going for it and losing the match. I was wrong though and the manager made a change and added another striker in the attempts to take all three points.

This actually disrupted our shape and instead of pressuring them we started to lose the battle in the midfield and were under a little pressure ourselves. We still looked fairly solid though so all's well for now. Time was moving on and a draw looked inevitable and probably a fair result until…..

With seconds remaining, Ollie Clarke; who had performed well during this game, slipped on the edge of our own box and gave away possession. Two passes later the ball is in the back of our own net with virtually the last kick of the match. This was a repeat of the last league game against Walsall. It was a devastating blow to the team that had worked so hard to gain the point away from home. Once again I am left shocked and gutted at the final whistle. It took a while to shake that off.

Final Score: 1-0 Burton

As you can see from the highlights we have one chance and that chance was created by Burton’s mistake. Jakubiak should have scored as he was one on one with the goalkeeper but he didn’t and we subsequently couldn’t see the game out. The manager said in the post match interview that the players are at a low point and struggling for confidence. It needs to change or we are going to be relegated to League Two. Please, no! Not that.

Next up, a home tie against bottom of the table Oxford United.

Green Bay Packers

I had to wait what seemed like ages for the next Packers game because they we playing on Monday night in the nationally televised match. This game kicked off at 3:15am (GMT+3) so I had to get to bed earlier than normal and set my alarm to get up at a ridiculous hour in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, The Bears played the previous evening so, like a dutiful husband, I sat there and watched my wifes team trying to sound supportive and not take the piss every time they messed up. Truth be known, the Bears are playing some nice football under Coach Nagy and are far more organised and efficient than the Packers are at the moment. But have they peaked to soon? Everybody is getting to see what the Bears can do with all the fancy play calling and tricks. Teams will have plenty of game film to get them figured out. Whereas the Packers don’t even know who they are themselves, let alone anyone second guessing their play calling and their focal points. It’s all part of the plan. Cough!

So 3:15 on Tuesday morning I had a strong coffee in my hand and my Packers jersey on. Alongside the live game, I turned on Cheesehead TV’s Watch Party with Aaron Nagler and his special guest, Ryan Grant. Ryan is an ex player for the Packers. These guys chat about the Packers while watching the game. It’s always a lot of fun. Back to the game and we win the toss and defer, as always. ‘Let’s put it in the hands of the young inexperienced backup QB Beathard’, they said. ‘What could go wrong!’, they said! Touchdown 49’s! They averaged 10 yards a play and basically did what the hell they wanted. It’s was going to be another stressful night.

BAM! The Packers answer with a 3 play touchdown drive to settle the nerves. Then on the kick off return the 49’s fumble and we recover. Nice! Another 3pts on the board. Decent start but can we keep it going? The answer was Yes and No! We were all kinds of awful and brilliant all at the same time. We looked disorganised still and the penalties we commited just drive me insane but there are little glimpses of how good they can be every now and then. That was on offence. On D we were being gashed on the ground. Their O-Line was mauling our defensive front and their running back was doing the rest. The other issue we have is regularly getting beat deep and that hasn’t changed and will not change, especially if Kentrell Brice keeps making errors at Safety.

24 - 20 to the 49’s at the half.

Once again this season the defence quietly turned it around in the second half. It’s not obvious what they did; they were still being cut apart by the 49’s run game and getting hit by the backup QB on a regular basis, but when it counted they were able to hold to a field goal on create a turnover. The offence was still erratic but just about hanging in there. With just three minutes to go the 49’s are leading 30 - 23 and Aaron Rodgers gets the ball back after a Clay Matthews sack. Suddenly we look like the Packers of old. Davante Adams is giving his guy all sorts of trouble. A few awesome plays later and we get the Touchdown. 30 -30 with 1:55 remaining.

We need a stop by the defence and we get one. They tried to hit us deep again and this time Kevin King was there to make the interception. What a play. We still have a shot at this game even though we are so inconsistent and ill disciplined. I fist pump the air trying not to make too much noise, although by this time it’s daylight at 6am and Jayne is up and showering.

The precision with which Aaron Rodgers worked his way downfield was amazing to watch. It is a bit baffling how we can be so poor with a QB as good as he is but it’s there for all to see. On this drive to possibly win it, Aaron and the offence were immaculate. With 1:07 left of the game and no timeouts, we beautifully move into field goal range and Mason Crosby gets to redeem himself for last week and kick the winner. AND BREATHE!

Final Score: 33 - 30 Packers

The Bears lost their game (not laughing, honest!) so there is now a three way tie atop the division and all is still to play for. This is the bye week for the Packers so they don’t have a game. The Bears are playing the Patriots so I will have to sit there in mock support while it’s Jayne turn to suffer.

In other exciting news, my dad is coming to visit Bucharest for the first time, so he will have the pleasure of my Dinamo stress as we have a home game against Dunarea Calarasi on Monday night.

Thanks for reading and see you next week.

Gaz